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Hypos exercise and Pump

Tracyann35

Well-Known Member
Messages
131
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hey, does anyone else find they have lots of hypos when exercising? I’m turning my Insulin down about 1.5 hours before going for 45 Min walk last 2 mornings had hypos, today again turned pump down my levels were 6 before walking so had to take a few jelly babies before walking, just feel like it defeats the object keep having sugar to cope with the exercise! Being referred to see Dr Ian Gallen Steve Redgrave Consultant so quite excited about that!!!
 
Hi @Tracyann35 I pump and exercise, it depends what exercise and how long but avoiding hypos is possible. I run in the morning about 20-30 mins so always aim to start with bg at 6mm/l or higher, have carbs on board and put a temp basal setting in my pump to 20% it’s a different intensity to walking but it works if I follow these set of rules, doing exercise is about establishing rules for the exercise through some trial and error, also look at runsweet.com
 

Hi, thanks for the advice, every morning this week having a hypo I can only put It down to the walking though? It’s just a brisk 45 minute walk in my lunch hour I will try turning insulin down maybe 2 hours before my walk see if that makes a difference and it did have a quick look at Run Sweet yday
 
Hi @Tracyann35 Yes keep trying but don't let anything put you off exercise, the benefits are huge for us, so find a way to crack it, another tip try eating a small carb snack so 10g of carb beforehand, small banana is good
 
No I don’t want to stop exercise I am really determined to lose weight as well yes will try small amount of carbs before thank you!!!!
 
I pump and exercise.
It has taken some trial and error to work how to do it without hypos and it depends on a lot: what type of exercise I do, when was the last time I did it, what is the time of day, how much insulin and carbs I have on board, what intensity, ...
Like @Juicyj, I have my little regime of setting the temporary basal about 90 minutes before exercising and then setting it again after exercise for the next 12 hours.
We are all different but I find the following works for me before exercise: for gym (running, cross-trainer, cycling followed by weights), I drop the basal by about 30%. For climbing, I increase my basal by about 40%.
 
 
I struggle with Hypos when exercising. I generally do an Aqua Aerobics class of about 45 minutes then swim for about 10 minutes after. I have the Medtronic 640 pump, 45 minutes before the class, I set the basal to 75% I remove the pump for the class, even though it's waterproof(had a pump failure after a class in November) so I'm disconnected in total for about 1 hr 15 minutes. I usually go low at the end of the class, or sometimes during the class. Once my BG is back on track, I add a bolus of about 0.6 which covers the basal I've missed. I usually find my BG soars later in the day. Any ideas! Would be appreciated.
 
Hi @Ann48

What’s your BG reading like before exercise ?

I find my BG can drop when swimming, so try to start out at 7+mmol/l and as I prefer to remove my 640 too instead of a temp basal I have 10-15g of carb and no bolus, I try to test after 30 mins to see how my bg is doing and if safe say above 6 mmol/l will carry on if any lower then 2 jelly babies. Then test every hour afterwards in case I rise and correct then if necessary.

Summing is a difficult one for me as the pool temperature doesn’t help as it’s quite cool so more glucose is required to keep my body warm.
 
My BG is usually around 9mmol sometimes a tad lower, as its around 2 hours after breakfast and normally have some active insulin. I have a drink of ribena by the pool and will often have a sip throughout the class. The pool is quite warm. On Wednesday for instance I was 9.6 at 10am and 4.9 at the end of the class, i had the Libra sensor on and it detected I was dropping fast, at 12.29 before lunch I was 10.1 going up and at 2.30 I had risen to 20.3. This could be down to a mid calculation of carbs as I ate out, but this is quite common. I think I might try the extra few carbs before the class, Thanks for your input Juicyj.
 
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