Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Christina on July 11, 2009 at 9:35am

I buy small caramels and keep them in my purse. 5 pieces are 31 carbs. I usually just eat two and see if I feel better and keep eating another piece until I do. That way if 15g is too much, I cant eat less and still come back up from the low, but not skyrocket with a high

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shell on July 11, 2009 at 9:43am

Sorry I dont have any useful suggestions. I'm in the same boat. was hoping my cgm would help me manage the exercise probs...but I still havnt summoned the motivation to start.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Di on July 11, 2009 at 11:08am

Welcome to the club. Happens to me a lot, too. One thing that works for me (but can be hard to do depending on your schedule) is to work out first thing in the morning before breakfast. Depending on what my BG is upon waking, I may have 1/2 a banana (no bolus), and that gets me through my workout. Bg sometimes rises to the 140's depending on intensity, but with the correction bolus and breakfast bolus, it usually stays ok. My #'s, I've noticed, are pretty decent throughout the day if I've worked out in the morning (unless I'm hormonal, which is a whole other can of worms!) When I can't get a morning workout in, I reduce my basal rate to about 60% an hour before exercising, depending on intensity of the workout.

I still struggle with the lows, though. I don't know if there is one solution. You just have to keep playing with it until you find what works for you. Good luck. I know it's frustrating!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on July 11, 2009 at 7:52pm

Di-I hadn't thought about working out before I ate breakfast, I may try this if I can drag my lazy self out of bed :) Thanks for the suggestion!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Anna Kingsbury on July 11, 2009 at 11:12am

I am in an exercise program with all cardio. I have to turn off my pump an hour before I exercise, and turn it back on once I get home and eat. It is usually off for about two hours. My blood sugar can drop a good 70 points. I test right before I begin exercising, and if not "high" enough, I have something with sugar in it. Seems to work. I have not had a crash the last three sessions.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kelly Rawlings on July 11, 2009 at 12:12pm

So sorry to hear you're having trouble. It's just not fair when you're trying to do the right thing and exercise.

Resistance training can temporarily increase blood glucose. I'm wondering if while the carbs are raising your lows somewhat, your muscles are releasing glucose, too? The blood glucose lowering after-affects of exercise should keep working on the blood sugars.

Did you test after the 170? If it comes down quickly to target, I wouldn't get too worried. A reading of over 170 but under 200 for an hour or so is really not out of line.

Also, you may be getting old like me :-) I need different correction ratios for different times of day. 1 glucose tab is plenty to treat a morning low. Or do you think it's simply all that Diet Coke we drink? Or wait, have you been good and cut back?!!!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on July 11, 2009 at 7:48pm

I did test after the 170. I went up to 198 and it didn't come down. I had to correct. I do notice that at different times of the day a glucose tab will raise my BG differently too!

I did cut down on the diet coke :) I haven't seen a big change in BGs

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on July 11, 2009 at 7:51pm

I am doing 50% right now so I am glad to hear I started the reduction properly dose and time wise. I am keeping a log with lots of notes so I can attempt to figure it all out. I promise not to give up, I will keep at this!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on July 12, 2009 at 7:35pm

So would I not reduce the basal if I exercised within an hour of eating breakfast, just cut the bolus in half? I can envision the idea of working out an hour after breakfast working much better for me, I just need to know about the basal part.

Sorry to hear your arm is giving you problems :(

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kristin on July 12, 2009 at 9:04pm

I used this method when I was on shots and it worked well. (i.e. I could not reduce my basal so only reduced bolus by 50%)

That's worth a try as well. You will likely go high before the workout and start dropping during, but hopefully without going low.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kristin on July 12, 2009 at 4:08pm

I usually exercise in the morning, before breakfast, or at least 4 hours after the last bolus (either correction or meal bolus) to make sure that I don't have insulin on board / active insulin.

For me, a workout without active insulin is the only way to stable blood sugars. Otherwise, I end up on the rollercoaster that you described.

I use the same method as your described with the temporary basals, but I don't eat any carbs unless I am low. I start a temporary basal of 50% 1 hour before exercising and have it end about half way through my workout. When I get back, I bolus for breakfast and add any missed basal into my bolus (because I was experiencing highs post-workout). If I try to skip the breakfast and the bolus, I tend to go high.

If I wake up high (above 180) and need to correct, I usually skip the workout (I know it's not the best decision) because I can't correct without causing lows. If I am under 180 mg/dl, I will work out and only correct after the workout.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Suzanne on July 12, 2009 at 7:36pm

I am so not a morning person, this is going to be a hard thing for me to do but if it will be the only way it works, I am willing. Thanks Kristin!

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page