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Pump and exercise - any tips?

MushyPeaBrain

MushyPeaBrain

Well-Known Member
Messages
647
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hello

Before starting the pump I went to the gym 3 times a week, doing approx 45 mins of cardio each time. I also did Davina aerobics with weights twice a week. I had to stop these as my BG levels were too unstable initially and now I would like to start with adding the gym back in.

I go in the evenings after work so I go straight home and have a light dinner. I then try and leave it 3 hours before I go so that most of my bolus has finished. I am hoping to lose some weight so I don't want to eat anything extra after that if I can avoid it.

So I tried the following on Thursday - reduced my basal by 30% 2 hours before exercise, then by 50% 1.5 hours before exercise. Just before the gym my BG was 8.6. I was worried this was too low so I drank some lucozade. I did my cardio and felt it was really hard work, like I had nothing to give, but figured it was cause I haven't been for a month. BG after I'd finished was 4.3 :shock:

So any advice much appreciated!!! My DSN kept saying it was easier to exercise on a pump but doesn't seem to have any advice or guidelines for how.
 
Hi

I'm a fitness instructor. You start to lose condition if you miss 2 weeks of your usual exercise. So bearing in mind you missed a month it would have felt much harder than before.

Sorry no tips on using your pump!

Annette
 
Hi Mushy

Have you got the Pumping Insulin book (Fourth Edition) by John Walsh? There's some excellent stuff on exercise and carbs needed in there....

Basically:
Based on body weight:-
Intense activity requires one half gram of carb per pound of body weight per hour.
Someone who weighs 120lb would normally require no more than 60 grams of car per hour for strenuous exercise.

Or 15 to 30grams to consume during exercise for every 30-60 minutes....but that time and quantity of carbs seems vague to me....

However, it really depends a little uponwhether you are high, normal or low before exercising. This can have an impact too.

Pumping Insulin book has an excellent chapter on exercise, it really is worthwhile reading it a few times to take it all in though, as it tackles things like when your BG's are too high-NOT to exercise, anaerobic exercise, why the blood sugar may rise after exercise, ways to avoid exercise lows etc...

Afraid I can't give you more info than that, hope it helps....being the only person that has tried to answer this question, it makes me wonder just how many of go to the gym!!!!
Sharon
 
Hi,
I didn't answer before because I think my own experiences are very diferent to yours so wouldn't be much help.
Much of the info included in the John Walsh book , including the ex carb chart has been used to compile this paper(It's not that easy to follow though, far less user friendly than the book as it's written as an academic paper)
http://www.diabetes.ca/files/Perkins--FINAL.pdf
 
Hello :D

Thank you all for trying to help and Phoenix I intend to read that link fully as it looks very detailed and may well help. I do have the John Walsh book but I kind of gave up when it started saying I had to eat carbs before exercise...

My main problem is that this seems to be the theme with diabetes and exercise and as I am trying to lose weight this would defeat the point of my exercise. I work out hard each gym session but only manage to burn 250-280 calories. I need to burn this as a minimum 3 times a week combined with a 1200 calories a day diet just to lose 1lb a week. I try to eat less than the 1200 cals on gym days just incase I go hypo. So if I eat anything extra I don't lose any weight :cry:

It has taken me a year to lose 2.5 stone (gained due to chronic fatigue syndrome) and although my weight is now within ok guidelines I would like to lose a further stone to get back to where I was before the CFS. Diet alone does not reslut in weight loss for me and I have to combine it with exercise 5 times a week (3 at gym, 2 doing davina dvd). It just seems such a fight :x
 
hi
probably a late answer as I am new today to this forum!
I run my first half-marathon last Oct and I am type1 with a pump too! I ended with a worse time than expected 2hr6mn but my sugar levels were 5.4!!!!!!!! I thought WOWWWWWWWW
What I can say with my experience both gym/swimming/running is that have as little insulin running from a meal as possible, have a slow carb before exercise and reduce the pump before during and after and experiment. Some days I went out running training for this half-m and I had hypo after hypo and pannicked thinking i would never be able to achieve it but I did. I find there is an exact figure to reduce, it epends on many factors and i analize my day and take it as it comes. I always have a meal after exercise, never before otherwise I can garantee a night of hypos.
I hope you are getting on alright!
 
I too struggle with exercise carb intake basal/bolus reduction & the pump.

After a long period of trying to exercise without additional carb intake, I have had to accept that it is often necessary. These days, I do the following (which seems to work most times):

45min/2000m swim before dinner:
Reduce basal to 40% for 1 hr commencing 2 hrs before the swim
Test before swim, if BG under 8, drink sports drink during swim, between 250-500ml depending on starting BG. If BG over 10 no extra carb.
4 hrs after swim reduce basal to 80% for 12 hrs then to 90% for 12 hrs.

For 30 mins x-training I try & do less than 2 hrs after eating as I have been advised that a bolus reduction of 50% with the preceding meal should push my blood sugar up enough to exercise without additional carb intake and without having an impact on overall Hba1c results. (this stat is also written on WWW.runsweet.com which although difficult to navigate, does have some useful info if you can find it). I also test before the exercise & have additional carb via a sports drink if I think I need it.

It's unfortunate, but with type 1 it's almost impossible to exercise more than 30 mins without additional carb.

There's a summary of the Pumping Insulin exercise section on WWW.diabetes.net I have found this very useful as it provides simple to understand explanations about how to balance reducing basal, reducing bolus & adding fewer carbs for a good result.

Trial & error are unfortunately the only real ways forward.

Keep plugging at it, it'll all work out in the long run (as I keep telling myself).
 
WARNING

This works for me, but really think about it before you try the same!

I am like you Mushy...I exercise to get firt, and lose weight, so teh idea of eating to exercise seem rather wrong, although I completely agree with the logic.

I also exercise for about 45 minutes (classess mainly). I test about 3/4 hour before hand. Assuming that I am between say, 4.5 and 7, I do nothing, except take my pump off half an hour before exercise. Once I have finished, I put teh pump nabck on, test, and adjust as necessary. the main difference though is that I exercise before meals, ie straight after work..and I am also very sensitive to exercise.(ie it make my levels plummet) I can usually get by with no hypo, or maybe just 1 glucose tab if I dip a little low. It is important though to test after the exercise.

i was finding, particualt if I was at the gym, that I would have to wait around for ages after a gym class, to get y BG up enough to drive.

Obviously, this may be completely wrong for you, but I find it usful to learn what works for others, so I can sometimes adapt their approach to work for me.
 
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