I would like to hear from those who use a pump and are doing regular exercise. What are some of the things that you do before,during, or after exercise as far as pump settings for basal rates? What about eating before, during, or after exercise to provide the energy needed to exercise?
Is anyone doing weight resistance training and using a pump?
Thanks for your help.
Florian
I am currently getting back into the running game so I’m doing small jogs every other afternoon. There are 2 ways I keep myself on track: 1) turn my basal down by 50% an hour before, disconnect during, and wait about 20 minutes before re-connecting after or 2) eat 16 grams of carbs before, disconnect during and reconnect after. The 2nd option is when I forget to turn down my basal and I end up with a lovely 85 staring me in the face before exercise, or when I just feel like going for a jog. As my runs get longer, I’m sure 16 grams won’t cut it, but I really don’t want to eat for exercise anyway. I hear that anaerobic exercise can make your blood sugars levels increase, though.
Hi Florian,
I do a lot of cycling and have tried reducing my basals, but I’ve found that this makes me feel really fatigued if I drop them by 50% for more than an hour or two. Unless I’m exercising for a very short time, I prefer to keep my basals as they are and consume 15-30 grams of carbohydrate every hour. But I do eventually drop to about 50% of my basal when I do really long rides and find it hard to keep my sugars up by eating.
I used to turn off my pump during exercise until a diabetes trainer advised me not to, saying “non-diabetics don’t turn off their pancreas for exercise.” Made sense to me.
If I’m exercising (running or body weight and core strength exercises) and eating before hand, I reduce my bolus by one unit for each hour of exercise.
If I’m going to be exercising more than an hour, I reduce my bolus by 50% an hour ahead of time and keep the bolus low for the duration of my session.
Remember that what you do now with your pump affects your bg two hours from now.
I try to start my sessions a little high and test every 30-40 minutes. Resistance training seems to knock my sugars down more quickly than aerobic exercise and for a longer period.
You might want to try borrowing or buying a book named “The Diabetic Athlete” - author I forget. You can find it on Amazon easily.
Terry
The Diabetic Athlete helped me in a big way. Love that book!
The author is Sheri Colberg I believe, and I think she’s currently working on a new edition (I received a questionnaire a few months back).
CORRECTION to Paragraph 3.
“If I’m going to be exercising more than an hour, I reduce my BASAL by 50% an hour ahead of time and keep the BASAL low for the duration of my session.”
Hope I didn’t mislead anyone.
Terry