Muscle Spasm during an Endurance Cycle Ride/Race

Hello @Naeem Sonpra

I haven't heard of muscle spasms being caused by high bg levels, I'm not saying it could be unrelated just haven't heard of it before, I ride a road bike in warmer months here and have had sessions with running high levels but have never experienced a muscle spasm whilst riding.

Hi @Naeem Sonpra ,

Welcome to the forum.

I used to cycle for miles.. A lot as a kid. Not even a meter back in those days..
When low. (Oooh, & I was low.)
I did have involuntary spasms in the legs. Kicking off the pedals & down right dangerous as I lost balance in a sweaty mess..

Hopefully, someone can pinpoint your specific enquiry.

Great to see you here.!

..& I can barely afford to self fund a CGM set up either..

Just a thought, could your muscles be starved of energy due to not enough insulin in the system working at optimum capacity, thus the "spasms."
The ones I had was due to low sugar depriving my young legs at the time.. Hope you can get my "train of thought?"

I'm hoping someone comes along with a bit more "substance" on the topic..

Given what is known about muscle cramping, especially during or after physical activity, it is unlikely to be caused primarily by higher serum BGLs.

The topic is covered extensively in other T1 websites.
I have read plenty of research papers on this, because I have always been prone to lower leg cramps during or after vigorous exercise, especially in hotter, humid climates.
When on MDI but pre-keto yet exercising a lot, my night cramps returned. When on pump and keto, sometimes I would be hit with simultaneous cramps in both calves and maybe in upper legs as well - a lively way to be woken from sleep. This would not happen during or soon after long, sustained running.

Trial and error, learning that different people with T1 have different experiences so there is no single golden rule for cramps or managing them, I now resort to making my own version of "keto-aide". Google it.

Into a large water bottle goes a smidgen of a product from the supermarket that has small amounts of sodium and potassium and also (from the pharmacy) a tad of a powder with magnesium (citrate).
I sip this throughout the day before exercising hard and on the day, before and after.
I lapse on other days.
I tend not to have cramps anymore and I seem to have more reliable "energy" during training and racing.
There could be many factors, so it's not clearly causal from my keto-aide.

The discussions on the T1 websites on this topic show that some sip their keto-aide all day, everyday. There's some apprehension about recommending any extra potassium.
I suggest you need to be aware of all of your intake of at least those micronutrients from all sources of your own diet and adjust from your own experience.

The aim is to have sufficient electrolytes readily available in your system, during exercise and afterwards.
This will need adjusting by you for your body, your exercise, the ambient climate, your other foods and hydration and whether you are ketogenically adapted and how much training you have adapted to that fuel source.

The different electrolytes excrete at different rates, and are needed different levels, so it is complicated, not manageable simply by another person's magic formula.

So, yes, it's primarily targeting the metabolism under and after physical activity by ensuring sufficient electrolytes.
It's not in isolation of serum BGLs.

Best to learn from others, cautiously experiment, adapt for yourself.

Naeem Sonpra said:

I am a T1 Diabetic. I am currently using a Glucose Meter for checking my BG levels. I cannot afford to use a CGM.

I did a cycle race and I find it difficult to stop and test my BG levels while I am on the bike.
While I was cycling, I had a muscle spasm on my thigh. Could the spasm be caused a high BG level?
When I finished the race, I tested my BG levels and it was 13.3 mmol/l.

On my training days, I ride very similar to a race day event. So my muscles is used to hard efforts.

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Muscle cramping is a common issue that is experienced by many in endurance activity.
The common reason is loss of fluid and electrolyte. If you keep yourself hydrated with ample electrolytes the issue should not appear. If you where amply hydrated with proper electrolyte intakes then it could be because of High BG

None the less, good to see you participating in Endurance Cycling do share more details about the ride

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Naeem Sonpra said:

Hey everyone. I’m really glad to be here and thanks for the feedback.

I’ll share a bit of the race that was held this weekend. It was a 100km with 1385m Elevation gain. My BG levels was 6.8 mmol/l. I had a small energy bar just to keep the levels in line. There was about 4000 + cyclists who took part. It wad held in Pretoria (South Africa).

Along the route I was sipping on the energy drinks and had a banana, muffin, small energy bar and 2 energy gels.

I kept on thinking, ‘Is my bg levels ok???’
At around the 75km mark I could feel a twitch on my inner thigh muscle. There was a 1km climb and it was a 22% gradient. As I begun climbing, the twitch in my thigh kind of got furious and I stopped pedaling because I was afraid of my leg locking and not able to move, which would cause me to fall off my bike. I walked up the hill for about 350m and got back on the bike seat again and pedaled over the hill and to the finish line. Now and then I could feel the spasm.

My time was 3h05. I really enjoyed the route with some beautiful mountain views. In 2 weeks time I will be taking part in another race. I will give the Keto-aide a try.

I’m also hoping in the near future, the price of a CGM can be reasonable, so that every Diabetic can use it.

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Thats a well paced 100Km, I did 100Km leisure ride on Sunday with friends and took around 4hrs
No Energy drinks, banana, muffins or energy bars/gels just 1.5L of water and a fresh coconut water at around 75km mark.

Maintaining cadence is also key to ensuring calves are not stressed unduly on climbs. Do share some pics of the event. It would be inspirational to others too.

Naeem Sonpra said:

Can you tell more about Fresh Coconut Water. Is there something about the electrolytes....?

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Yes it has high constituent of both Potassium and sodium.
It also has minimal sugar as compared to other energy drinks.
So works fine for most of the people. Rest one can test how it affects.