Help! started exercising and my basals are insane :(

Type 1 and LADA
1

I haven't exercised regularly in several years, so I decided it was time to get with the program (even though I would much rather be sitting on the couch), but it has been a blood sugar nightmare. At first I was having lows right and left and now I'm going to high. I think my basals are just completely wrong now. But I'm not sure how to get them back in line.

I already fast for long periods every day (normally eat just once a day), so I don't mind doing lots of fasting and testing, but I'm wondering when is a good time to do it. Like, I feel like part of the problem is that my body is really changing in response to the exercise. Should I wait a little while to do the testing? Like maybe a weeks or so (I'd say it's just the last 8 or 10 days that I've been exercising regularly and I'm still kind of ramping it up).

I'm also wondering, if you do different kinds of exercise, do you have to test your basals for each type? And if so, for what time period? Like, if I spend an hour walking hills on monday morning, how long can I expect that to be affecting my basals? I would think certainly through monday night, but what about tuesday night?

And, sadly my copy of pumping insulin is in storage in another state and I don't really remember the protocol recommended for testing. During the day, I'm thinking I should test every hour (for how many days, though???), but what about at night? Maybe every two hours, or every three? I have kids that always end up in my bed by about 2 a.m. which makes it feel much more complicated to be getting up and testing all night.

Also, I'm in the process of getting a dexcom and I'm wondering if having it already would just make this so easy that I shouldn't kill myself trying to work it out now. I'll have to ask the dexcom guy tomorrow what the time frame is going to be like. If it's a week... well, seems like I should wait, but, ugh, if it's like three weeks, that'll suck. But I haven't used a cgm before, can I rely on it that way? Or would I still need to be up all night testing?

2

Good job exercising! I am a big fan of sitting on the couch too but think that it feels better after I move!

Re the adjusting basals business, if you do strength exercises, (anaerobic, e.g. pushups, weights, box jumping, etc. it will usually boost your BG up). Cardio types of exercise (aerobic, such as walking/ running/ swimming especially seems to kill my BG although I don't do it very often...) generally push BG down. BOTH kinds of exercise will typically cause increased insulin sensitivity, I've read as long as 48 hours, after you exercise, after the initial adrenaline boost from lifting wears off.

I like to lift in the AM and treat it with a basal boost, keeping an eye on where it is. Even like 15 minutes (3x sets of pullups and pushups...ok, maybe 20 minutes...) will get my BG jacked up 20-40 points, I dunno if it also fires up DP or what but I agree it can be crazy. I'll wake up, test, workout (while I make coffee...) and then be higher so I bolus, incl correction, take a shower and am usually ok by then.

I also like to run after work, as it sort of clears my head. For 3 miles, I can get by with a glass of skim milk for fuel a bit more if my BG is higher and if it's 120+ I'll run it off, or maybe do a "cut" correction and try to run fast to get done before it hits. If I'm running farther, I will usually lug some Gatorade along.