Hi
@dotsy1990 , I started pumping back in October, and I felt (and feel) exactly the same as you're describing in your post about how to deal with pumping and exercise. I'd only started exercising regularly last April, and had built up to the amount of swimming I was doing when suddenly I was on the pump and had to re-think all the hard work I'd put into working out the daily routine of swimming on MDI! I'm such a newbie exerciser and newbie pumper that it's all very - well - new! - so I'm just doing trial and error for a bit to see how I get on. Here's how it's going so far.
Swimming - I do this 5 days a week (soon to be 3 thanks to the couch to 5k thingy I've just started)
I find that swimming makes me go high - which makes me feel really bad about the fun-sized Mars bar I would be made to eat before ever swimming as a child!!!
I do a 50% health event when bolusing for my small bowl of pre-swim porridge, disconnect the pump to swim, then after my swim I set a 150% TBR for either an hour and a half or an hour and three quarters (depending on how many lengths I've swum).
Running - sort of running anyway
Running (and walking, even if just 'going for a walk' walking) makes me go low.
I did the first NHS 'Couch to 5k' podcast session on Saturday morning (am wanting to do our local 5k in August), which was just under half an hour of walking and running (8 minutes of running in total, interspersed with walking).
I did a 50% health event again with my porridge, then did the podcast, and as I was then dropping rapidly afterwards I set a TBR of 80% for 2 hours. No hypo, no hyper, just beginners' luck on pump programming for that one!
Cycling
Cycling makes me go low.
Dragged husband out for a bike ride yesterday - 5 miles there, 5 miles back.
Set at 3-hour TBR of 50% an hour before starting out, and after that first 3 hours expired I set another 2-hour TBR of 50%. The last hour of that second TBR was after we'd finished the bike ride. Was a steady 4-6mmol/l all the way through, including a 5g CHO snack twice (once an hour in, once an hour from home), and a picnic lunch (on a bench and everything - in February!) for which I did a 50% health event when bolusing. Went up to 10mmol/l after I got home but was then 7ish at supper time.
Oh, it would have helped had I not been 3.8 when I set off, but that's what glucose tablets are for. All was well.
With hindsight I think a TBR of 40% would have been more sensible, as I was kind of 'bouncing along the bottom' of where I'm comfortable blood sugar wise.
I know this reply is all very 'well, this is what I did', and I know we're all very, very different - but what has worked for me so far (which admittedly is not very far!) has been to
a) not have too much bolus insulin on board (and for me it seems that exercising any time later than half an hour after breakfast results in a hypo)
b) consider that exercise may raise or lower blood glucose, so keep testing
c) be prepared keep a close eye on post-exercise levels and set a TBR accordingly
d) always have glucose on standby
I noticed a few minutes ago that
@tim2000s has put up a brilliant post with tips for what to do when exercising, and I'll be following that thread with interest.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/exercise-and-type-1-tips-for-making-it-easier.96313/
Oh, and just in conclusion, my husband has recently categorised walking, running and cycling as 'sponge legs' activities - he's convinced that 29 years of injected-in-the-legs insulin is getting squeezed out of my legs and into my bloodstream every time I use my legs. Oh, the romantic....
