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Type 1 Just had an awful workout after a high blood sugar

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Vanchatron

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I'm a 33 year old male and have been Type 1 insulin dependent Diabetic since the age of 9. First off, I should say that 99% of the time my Diabetes is managed almost perfectly. Unfortunately today was not one of those days. I'd had a rare this hypo morning, and made sure to sort it out as quickly as possible. An hour later my blood sugar was 20.5 mmol, which is obviously due to perhaps having too much sugar in order to amend the hypo.

As a constant gym goer, it was almost time for my daily workout as well which was unfortunate timing. I won't go into detail about the amount, as it varies for different people, but I made sure to give myself a few extra units of insulin in order to bring my blood sugar back down to normal. I then waited half an hour, and set off to the gym. I then unfortunately had an absolutely awful workout. My mind wasn't focused, my strength was lacking, my stamina was almost non existent etc. I was barely able to do more than 4 reps on a specific exercise, which I can always do 8+ on, yet my diet, sleep and everything else was exactly the same as it always is. The ONLY variable today was the hypo followed by the high blood sugar.

So basically my question is... Does this seem normal? Can hypos and high blood sugars affect your physical and mental strength/focus like it did to me today in the gym? I'm actually hoping it does to be honest, otherwise it'll mean that there's another reason for my awful workout today and I just can't put my finger on what that reason is. When I was AT the gym and working out, I didn't feel hypo at all so I don't think it was a hypo that caused this, but could it've been the fact that my blood sugar was so high before the workout and I'd had to have some extra units of insulin to bring it back to normal?


This may seem like an odd question considering I've had Diabetes for so long, but as mentioned above my Diabetes control is almost always near perfect so for ME this is actually a rare occasion and perhaps something I need to learn from.

Thanks in advance for any help, much appreciated.
 
The simple answer to your question in my personal experience is yes,I k ow that highs and lows affect my concentration my strength my ability to stick to a task , seeing as this seems like a Rare occasion for you it does sound like it could be the hypo , that with exercise which in itself can make bs go up or down might explain why your gym session didn’t go to plan , I would test myself before and after gym during if possible ( Libre is great for that ) and see how it goes
 
When I had poor control apart from feeling rubbish all the time I didn’t notice lack of concentration or strength

But now I have really good control if I have a bad control day then yes.. I can feel like that.. and tired.. and a pounding head

So if you are normally well controlled I would say your body isn’t used to these extremes

I also tend to over correct a hypo.. think they say 2 glucotabs should do it.. but after those if in don’t see a rise in a few minutes I start to panick and have more
 
Vanchatron said:
I'm a 33 year old male and have been Type 1 insulin dependent Diabetic since the age of 9. First off, I should say that 99% of the time my Diabetes is managed almost perfectly. Unfortunately today was not one of those days. I'd had a rare this hypo morning, and made sure to sort it out as quickly as possible. An hour later my blood sugar was 20.5 mmol, which is obviously due to perhaps having too much sugar in order to amend the hypo.

As a constant gym goer, it was almost time for my daily workout as well which was unfortunate timing. I won't go into detail about the amount, as it varies for different people, but I made sure to give myself a few extra units of insulin in order to bring my blood sugar back down to normal. I then waited half an hour, and set off to the gym. I then unfortunately had an absolutely awful workout. My mind wasn't focused, my strength was lacking, my stamina was almost non existent etc. I was barely able to do more than 4 reps on a specific exercise, which I can always do 8+ on, yet my diet, sleep and everything else was exactly the same as it always is. The ONLY variable today was the hypo followed by the high blood sugar.

So basically my question is... Does this seem normal? Can hypos and high blood sugars affect your physical and mental strength/focus like it did to me today in the gym? I'm actually hoping it does to be honest, otherwise it'll mean that there's another reason for my awful workout today and I just can't put my finger on what that reason is. When I was AT the gym and working out, I didn't feel hypo at all so I don't think it was a hypo that caused this, but could it've been the fact that my blood sugar was so high before the workout and I'd had to have some extra units of insulin to bring it back to normal?


This may seem like an odd question considering I've had Diabetes for so long, but as mentioned above my Diabetes control is almost always near perfect so for ME this is actually a rare occasion and perhaps something I need to learn from.

Thanks in advance for any help, much appreciated.
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Yep, I can confirm. High BGs during a days graft & I also perform in a band.
It's a labour like wading through treacle. & any lows will take the wind out the sails.
 
I agree with the others. High blood sugar leads to reduced performance in just about anything.
 
EllieM said:
I agree with the others. High blood sugar leads to reduced performance in just about anything.
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Thank you to everyone for replying, it's made me feel better. @EllieM based on what you said above, is there a specific reason for that? I do believe you, but would just like to know the reason WHY it causes reduced performance in things, as it'd be interesting to know. I know that during a hypo your brain lacks glucose for energy, so it can cause issues, but in terms of HIGH blood sugar I don't understand what why it'd cause a reduction in performance (i.e. lack of strength, etc).

Would love to know more if anybody has that information available, thanks.
 
EllieM said:
I agree with the others. High blood sugar leads to reduced performance in just about anything.
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Oh hell yeah. Including high BGs & an invitation for intimacy? I'm like, "not tonight dear.."
I tend to become more "reclusive" with a high than I would with a low..

@Vanchatron , why? I feel it's like a simalar deal to a low. But in this case the means to fuel it is there. But either too much to metabolise in one go. At any one time till the correction dose has brought BGs within range..?
At 20.5mmol. I just don't wanna know.
 
Vanchatron said:
I know that during a hypo your brain lacks glucose for energy, so it can cause issues, but in terms of HIGH blood sugar I don't understand what why it'd cause a reduction in performance (i.e. lack of strength, etc).
Click to expand...

Well, I personally start feeling pretty sick if my bg goes that high, which definitely impairs my performance. Plus if I'm doing weights etc at the gym I find my bg goes up anyway, and starting high just makes my insulin resistance worse and makes me need even more insulin to get normal again. (But I have some IR going, aka T2 genetics from father, so don't know whether that would apply to you).

As to the biological explanation, am not sure. Dr google suggests you are not getting energy from carbs, but am not sure how that works when it's a rebound high from too much hypo treatment. In the short term, your kidneys will be pumping sugar into your urine, so I don't know whether that makes a difference.
 
EllieM said:
Well, I personally start feeling pretty sick if my bg goes that high, which definitely impairs my performance. Plus if I'm doing weights etc at the gym I find my bg goes up anyway, and starting high just makes my insulin resistance worse and makes me need even more insulin to get normal again. (But I have some IR going, aka T2 genetics from father, so don't know whether that would apply to you).

As to the biological explanation, am not sure. Dr google suggests you are not getting energy from carbs, but am not sure how that works when it's a rebound high from too much hypo treatment. In the short term, your kidneys will be pumping sugar into your urine, so I don't know whether that makes a difference.
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Snap.
I had a T2 dad too. (No longer with us.)
However personally, 1 unit correction brings me down consistently by a certain amount no matter how wayward BGs might go?
On average with Novorapid I see a turn around in just over an hour with a steady slope heading in to if not towards the right zone in 3hours? 4 tops..
 
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