Hi,
I’ve been swimming lately and have noticed that my BG is going pretty high after I’m done. It’s not the pump or basal, I’ve noticed it when I’m sick and when I’m under pressure. Is there a cognitive or herbal way to remain calm enough to get in a good work out without massive adrenalin rushes? Just curious, I love to swim but I’m concerned about all these highs after wards, my last A1C was 8.0. So as you can see, I need to work on this.
Thanks,
Blessed Diabetic
Hormones like to make diabetes hard to control. Stress, illness, adrenaline, all tend to raise BG levels. What you can do is ncrease the basal % for that time. But be careful doing it, the last thing you want is a low while swimming, because you probably won’t realize that you’re low until you get out of the water.
I’ve never gone up to 300 while working out though. I’m not saying it’s not possible (things happen to me that seem to not happen to anyone else (my doc gives me some strange looks sometimes)). So I think there is something else at play. How is your non-exercising BG control? What is your BG level like when you start exercising? Do you have a Dexcom?
One thing to note - I was advised to NOT exercise when my blood sugar was above 260-280… Was told that exercise could drive my sugars higher.
On the other hand, stress, hormones, illness all make your sugars go high. I can rise 100 pts in 10-15 minutes when under stress. All you can do is carefully adjust (per Scot G’s comments)
Curious what time of the day you are doing your swims. I’ve noticed that when I race or run hard or long in the morning hours, I go high during and after the run. Same goes for cycling. Even if I’m sitting low or normal before the workout, the combination of the morning’s naturally elevated cortisol and the hard effort causes the liver to break glycogen into glucose and dump it into my bloodstream faster than the working muscles can burn it off. So the BG rises. If I work out at the same effort in the afternoon and evening, the same effort level nearly always drops me low.
I’m on Lantus, so my basal rate is essentially constant; so that would not account for this time-of-day difference for me. My doctor and others have backed up my theory on this, but your mileage may vary.
Best regards!
-Tom
My swimming is from 7:00-8:00 am then water walk from 8:00-9:00. I was told to workout in the mornings because that is when I’m the most resistant, but it doesn’t seem to be working out very well. I’m going to have to bring this to the attention of my Endocrinologist to see if my basal needs to be adjusted during that time. Thanks for sharing your experience with me, it lets me know I’m not completely unusual. LOL
Hi, I’d have to say I don’t have Dexcom… in fact I don’t even know what it is. as far as lovely hormones I just wish I knew what I could do to prevent them from taking over. I truly do love to swim, but if it keeps bringing me up like this I’m not sure what I can do. Thanks for the advice though, I’ll contact my Endo doc about this.