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Type 1 control with exercise, need a little advice,

A

AlisterBurt

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Hello everybody, this is my first post on this forum and i need a little help
I'm 15 years old and was diagnosed a type 1 diabetic 2 months ago. I think im in the honeymoon period, or so im told.
Anyway, basically my problem lies in that i do A LOT of exercise, as odd as it may sound, I am a trials unicyclist, very energetic thingy (www.youtube.com/user/aliburt1994 If you're interested :D)
Today i knew i would be doing lots and lots of exercise, so i thought i would try something, I am on a regime of one injection before i go to bed of glargine which is slow releasing. Then novorapid at every meal. I am currently taking 12 units of glargine per day and one unit of novorapid for every 10g of carbs.
The thing i thought i would try, as i CONSTANTLY have hypos after exercise, would be to have no insulin at my mealtimes. just my glargine for one day.
My blood sugar never went above 6, i checked every hour so that i would know if i was going high! (i hate my numbers being over 7, OCD much? :P)
I had two hypo's in total and didnt take any insulin, just a lot of exercise (6 hours in total today)
Is this okay to do? My mum went totally angry on me for not having any insulin even though im thinking that if i'd had any insulin i would have just gone more hypo?
But i was told I always need insulin no matter what?
Im very confused, do i need to just stop exercising as much? :(
some advice please, is it okay to not inject if exercise alone keeps my blood sugar low?
yes, i am type one, not two. :D
 
Hi Alister,
Your Mum is right in one way, you need some circulating insulin and it is important that you have enough but you did have some from your basal (and probably some of your own still)
During exercise , insulin needs often fall considerably. Whilst exercising and for a while afterwards some (but not normally enough) glucose is able to enter the cells without insulin and the cells also become more sensitive. As you were having hypos you still had too much insulin for the amount of food you ate and the exercise you did. It is a balancing act and not always easy to get right. Most people are able to reduce, though not necessarily cut out, their bolus insulin before and after sustained exercise, even after the honeymoon period,
At this stage I think its important to get advice from your diabetes team (the nurse or a doctor) It is possible that they might suggest that you reduce your lantus for heavy exercise days. I used to have to do this.
(I now use a pump and I can vary my basal at will, makes things a lot easier :D )
The testing you did though is imperative. Even though you didn't have high levels after eating this time, it may not be the same next. Your insulin needs will be changing rapidly, both because of your age and because of your 'honeymoon'. If you spike too high after a meal without bolus insulin and then try to exercise there may not be enough circulating insulin. In this case your blood glucose can rise higher and you can rapidly develop ketones. (It's back to the balancing act)
.
There is a very good site which explains the mechanics of exercise and sport which might be some help.
http://www.runsweet.com/


I've just looked at your videos, it looks like a lot of fun :D but I can see that you're using up a huge amount of energy.
 
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