I know this is a strange question, but I've always found great answers here so I thought I'd try. I wear the Omnipod and the other day tried Bikram yoga for the first time. For those unfamiliar, that's the one in a room heated to 105 degrees. I lowered my basal rate prior to the class (as I usually do for any type of evening exercise) and hadn't eaten anything for 4 hours prior to the start. At the end of the class (which was 90 minutes long, so at that point I was nearing 6 hours since I had last eaten), my blood sugar was sky high (330)! It went down a little but was still above 200 when I woke the next morning, despite bolusing quite a bit. Here's what I'm wondering - 1) would the heat affect my pump? The only thing I was told was not to wear it in a hot tub. It's held up to really hot weather conditions, warm baths, etc. in the past... OR, 2) would the heat itself send my blood sugar skyrocketing? This being my first time trying the class, there is a certain amount of discomfort with both the heat and the challenging poses. I plan to try again, next time maybe without the temp basal... but I'm really unsure if the temp basal on its own, with no food intake, would have had this profound effect on my blood sugar. Any feedback? Thanks!
I've done Bikram with my Omnipod several times and noticed a moderate rise after 90 mins: i.e., starting at 90, ending in the 120's. I've always done it in the morning before breakfast. However, everyone's metabolism is different. Also, I found the best location for the pod with lowest risk of it getting in the way while doing this is the back of my arm. I haven't witnessed any issues with pod performance and the heat from Bikram. These pods are pretty rugged and I've put them through their paces from everything to saunas, steam rooms and motorcycle racing in the African desert.
My guess is that the strenuous exercise you're getting from Bikram might be causing an adrenaline release which is spiking your BG. This is what happens to me if I try crossfit. I would suggest trying it at different times of the day and maybe considering a pre Bikram bolus.
I think that yoga might get more anaerobic, as you're using muscles, etc. I haven't done Bikram as there's a place in town but I'm not a big fan of getting hotter. I get pretty warmed up w/ the yoga all by itself. I'd say that if your BG went up, try turning the basal rate down less. Maybe see what it does. I hate taking breaks to yutz around with stuff. I've been playing around with taking my tubed pump off, taking a bolus to "Cover" the missing basal and working around it that way, as it's more fun to do yoga without worrying about the pump. But I still have to worry about it to make sure the CGM stays within range.
Thanks, this makes a lot of sense. I've definitely experienced a blood sugar spike from other strenuous exercise, and I'm not sure why I thought this would be an exception! Evening exercise is always tough for me to predict, which is why I try to keep it to first thing in the morning whenever possible. I will definitely try at different times of the day and also skip the basal reduction to see what happens.
I was surprised that once I survived this first class I actually really want to try it again! I was talked into going with a friend as part of a "bring a friend" promotion for the studio... It is very different from "regular" yoga but a really great workout, and I've got plenty of room to grow since this first class was so tough. I will definitely skip the basal reduction next time around, which I think I can safely do since I spiked SO high. I don't have a CGM so I'm always erring on the side of high vs. low, especially with new activities. Live and learn! I agree with you - would be much nicer to experience yoga without concern over pump/BG/etc.!
here's a few other discussions on the subject
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/bikram-yoga-cgm
http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/blogs/bikram-yoga
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/YogaWithaCGM/forum/topics/is-bikram-yoga-compatible-with-our-technology-ies
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/type-1-and-hot-yoga-1
and a related group
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/YogaWithaCGM
Thanks for sharing these! A quick skim tells me my experience is quite common... I'll just have to tweak until I figure out the right way to handle this new workout in my life.