I'm still tying to regain some of the weight I lost before being diagnosed, so I've maintained normal basal and bolus injections, but have had additional carbs (without insulin) to cover the exercise.
Readings before, during and after have mostly been ok, with the odd low during/after some runs. It seems to be 8 hours after that I get a sudden drop in blood sugar....
Hmmm, I'd be interested to see what others say about this.
If you'd said that you get a BG rise during or after your run, I would put that down to you liver kicking out glucose, which can happen with an elevated heart rate. As a consequence of this, not only your muscles but also a depleted liver have to re-stock with glucose post run. Because of this it can leave you more susceptible to a hypo in the hours afterwards.
Okay, so if it's not that, then potentially your 35g of carb isn't replenishing your muscles' energy stores adequately. Your idea to use slower acting carbs may help in the hours after exercise, but in the 30min window after exercising your body (and all the GLUT4 receptors in your muscles) are primed to replenish with glucose. Your body will actually recover quicker if you use a decent recovery drink at this point.
When you exercise, your body becomes more sensitive to insulin - the GLUT4 receptors (basically transporters that enable glucose to enter cells without the need for insulin) are stimulated ready for action. This extra sensitivity can last for 24hrs or more. Consequently I wonder if your low in the hours (8hrs) following exercise is due to your increased insulin sensitivity, and actually you could reduce your nighttime basal to reflect this added sensitivity.
It will be a case of making small adjustments, and testing to see what works. You should be able to get your regime pretty well fine tuned, to the point where the unexpected is at least a rare event.
Keep up the good work - you may like to join the Sporty diabetic type 1's Facebook group too.
