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Exercise & pump device

RacheyEliza1

RacheyEliza1

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi, I'm looking for some advice re exercising with T1 diabetes. What blood glucose level do you find 'safe' to start exercise on (example moderate jog or cardio for about an hour)?
For anyone on an insulin pump, do you generally keep this on (and turn down basal rate) or take it off if going to be exercising less than an hour?
Thanks so much!
 
Everyone is so different, I think you have to experiment by turning it down a good way first time and seeing what happens, taking note, adjusting next time.

If I go on a dog walk for one hour, i need to change my basal rate down to 5% of what it is usually, and also drink 3 glucojuices over the hour. Other people would need a lot more insulin than that and maybe no glucose. I react a lot to exercise. Only you can know what happens to you.
 
Hi there @RacheyEliza1,
Great you're out exercising!

Everyone is different just as @LizLola says. One thing that will have quite a significant effect on how your BGs behave when you exercise though is how much insulin you have on board. If you've just eaten and bolused for a fairly high carb meal and then go for a run, you will probably find that your BGs drop pretty rapidly. Go for a run after a plate of scrambled eggs first thing in the morning however and your BGs will probably remain pretty stable.
Over time you will probably find that you can begin to predict more or less how your BGs behave (even building in fluctuations caused by varying intensities of exercise) Insulin and bolusing can often be the spanner in the works!

Somewhere else to go for information: ww.teambloodglucose.com and also the sporty Type 1 Facebook group (link through TeamBG) which has hundreds of peeps at all ranges of ability to help too.
Best of luck!
(Oh, perhaps take a read of this too - it may help explain what happens to your body when you exercise)
http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Diabetes_Alex.html:)
 
I am not a pump user so i have no option in reducing basal rates - but when i get a pump i certainly will reduce them!

Currently i check about an hour before i want to be at the gym and i eat a snack (nothing special, just whatever is around) to get my sugars on their way up. Then i check again before i start my workout to be sure they are at least 7. I know that they will rise higher then 7 because i usually eat 30-40grams of carbs, but the goal is that as they rise your exercising so that will cause them to drop so that over time they stay flat (the rise and fall cancel out).

Typically i check and am around 5, then i eat 40g of carbs, get to the gym do cardio and weights (takes about 2 hours) and when i get home i check and they are usually back between 4-6, at which point i eat and take a bit of insulin.

I was told that i should consume 15g of carbs for every 30 minutes of mild cardio.
 
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