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Hyperglycemia after exercise

deborabaratto

Well-Known Member
Messages
115
Location
Finland
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Hypos and hypers
Hey guys! I'm a type 1 DM and I use the insulin pump and low carb diet. I started exercise for 2 weeks now and I'm having a problem with hyperglycemia after training, 1 hour after it gets around - 7 or 9. Usually I eat 15g of carbs right before the exercise and right when I finish my glycemic is usually around 5.

Does anyone have the same problem? And anyone has any advice about it?

Thanks in advance
 
Try dropping your basal an hour or more before you exercise and maybe during the exercise too, this way you can avoid eating before and dropping after. Its a bit swings and roundabouts also if you plan to exercise then your plans change its annoying too.

Dont let it put you off though - you will find a way to manage it
 
Hypoglycemia during the exercise. I tried to eat less (10g of carbs) but I get hypo the same :/
 

Thanks for the advice! I will try that
 
@chasC I just get a bit nervous about doing that because I tried a while ago, not eating and putting a low basal dose during and I got higher glycemias after the same. But I never tried doing it before the exercise!
 
If you're on a pump, you could use a tiny correction dose (if necessary) after the exercise to stop the rise. Some people do,find certain exercises raise their blood sugar.

If you do correct, start off doing a really small correction and see how,it goes. You don't want to go hypo later so be very cautious and see if that helps at all.
 
What do,you have for your snack? Perhaps trynthe same amount of carbs but a different food?
 

Yeah, that's sounds a good idea - I started to try it yesterday (0,7u) but I got a 9 after 1 hour the same. But I'm gonna try again tomorrow!
 
@deborabaratto I don't have a carby snack before exercise, and if I'm running or cycling I drop my basal to between 20% and 50% of my normal rate, until the moment I stop, which is when I raise my basal rate to between 130% and 150% of my normal rate, for 1 to 3 hours, depending on how hard and how long I've been exercising.

Before swimming (which I do before breakfast, and for which I disconnect) I have 0.5u. After swimming I have my breakfast insulin as soon as I reconnect the pump, plus I raise my basal to 130% for 90 minutes. 20 minutes later I sit down to a cup of tea and several boiled eggs for breakfast, with a blood sugar of between 5 and 6mmol/l. On a good day, that is. And then I can be confident of being between 5.5 and 6.5 pretty much until lunchtime.

If I don't use a raised temporary basal rate after exercise I find I can be above 11mmol/l for hours. I just get 'stuck' there.

Now I'm exercising a lot more (every afternoon at the moment trying to burn off excess energy) I find my blood sugar drops ever more suddenly around 6 hours later.

If I get back from the gym at, say, 5pm, I make sure I have just half of my normal bolus insulin with my evening meal, otherwise I drop very quickly in the late evening and overnight.

My own general pattern is a four-stage process, it seems:-
  • getting higher after starting exercise
  • dropping during exercise
  • higher after exercise for up to several hours
  • getting much lower much later

But thanks to making ongoing adjustments to my pump and a lot of testing and flash monitoring I mostly manage to stay in a straight line. Since starting my relatively-new exercise habit I have treated it as a research project - it's an ongoing 'study', if you like, and I'm only just getting afternoon exercise sessions sorted, but it's fascinating.

Oh, and frustrating....

If I didn't adjust my pump in this way, my sugar level would be in range, then high, then low, then I'd have glucose, then I'd have a post-exercise post-carb hyper, then I'd be low much later. The process described above works pretty well for me.

 
azure said:
What do,you have for your snack? Perhaps trynthe same amount of carbs but a different food?
Click to expand...

I usually eat a gluten free piece of bread, but I can try something else, maybe sweet potatoes, I don't know. What would it be good to try it out?
 

Hey! Thanks a lot for replying! I thought it was just me that had such problems with exercise - I, too, have these stages: normal Pre exercise, high after 1 hour and then about 4 hours later it starts to go down and since I usually exercise latter in the afternoon I'm getting hypos during the night. Today for example, I woke up with a 2,1!

I'm gonna try to put a temporary basal rate after the exercise maybe 130% to see how it goes.
I also thought about making a special basal rate program for the day after I exercise (lower than normal) so I don't get these severe hypos.

I'm a bit lost, as you can see haha
But let's try the change of carbs before the exercise and increasing basal rate right after it to see how it goes!
Thanks again
 

It's worthwhile testing your bg whilst exercising just to make sure your not going hypo whilst exercising @deborabaratto

But agree with @Chas C ,do make use of the TBR's as they are a fantastic feature of insulin pumps.
 
I think you should do an increased basal rate at the times you experience highs, but personally when I go to the gym I've found a small snack beforehand and a sports drink throughout works perfectly
 
deborabaratto said:
I usually eat a gluten free piece of bread, but I can try something else, maybe sweet potatoes, I don't know. What would it be good to try it out?
Click to expand...

That might be being absorbed slowly and causing the later high.

I don't do exactly the same exercises as you, but, for example, before swimming I have some glucose tablets or a flapjack (mix of quick and slow acting carbs) or a small caramel bar (quick acting carbs). I never go high after exercise but that may be because I've always stuck with the same foods pre-exercise because it works for me. A piece of fruit might also work, I guess eg a some mango or a banana (sweeter fruit).
 
Well, I'm just back from the gym, where I needed 4 Glucotabs (16g CHO) to get through my workout, despite reducing my basal to zero partway through..... Admittedly I erm had forgotten to reduce it to 50% before I set off for the gym.....!


Now sitting at 6.4mmol/l and running a TBR of 130%.
 
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