Yogi,
I am way passed my honeymoon stage about 5 years and a DKA ago…lol…I take Lantus about 35 units and Novolog, I was taking Humalog which I liked. NovoLog has a delayed reaction that I do not like…Well I know from trail and error that my BG needs to be slightly high when I exercise but not over 230 or it will not go down.
I dont have sugar in my urine, my BG levels are often around 200 and I never have sugar in my urine. I do not smell sweet either. Somehow my BG is still controlled even though it can be around 200 at one point in the day. When my BG was around 300/400 on a daily that is when I was smelling like maple syrup and peeing out sugar. Plus its not like I go all day with BG at 180. But if I exercise in the normal range then I will drop very quickly. The low will last for a couple of hours, last week my BG was 153 before I worked out 15mins later it was 73. You can look it up, some diabetics have to make sure their BG is slightly high before a work out to avoid a low.
That’s a pretty dramatic drop. I will on occassion drop like that when I exercise within two hours of taking a bolus. The insulin on board really whacks me and as a result I try to wait until 3 hours out…
Take care,
Maurie
The CGM is on my belt so I try to keep an eye on it and don’t have to stop for that. I have some shorts w/ pockets that hold my meter which works ok, except when it’s too cold out and it freezes. When I’m using the meter, I’m usually just double checking the CGM and that’s usually around the 1/2 way point of whatever distance I’m running although I only lug that if I’m running like > 8 miles most of the time, or if there’s some pre-running events that might spill over into my BG during a run? Walking for 10-20 sec to load it up isn’t going to destroy my time and, at any rate, I’m 43 and only competing against myself.
Almost every running book I’ve read (Running Marathons for Dummies, 2x Jeff Galloway books, the book by that Penguin guy, Born to Run, the Haruki Murakami running book…) all suggest walk/ running to some degree helps prevent injury and extend your ability to run longer distances smoothly so I don’t mind occasionally slowing to a stroll.
Here is a link to an article on Diatribe that Gary Scheiner wrote about exercise – maybe that will give you some tips.
http://www.diatribe.us/issues/24/thinking-like-a-pancreas.php
Although I don’t exercise hard anymore, I used to run 10 miles a day. I ate a peanut butter & raisin sandwich before heading out for a run and did not have problems with lows.
See why I exercise with it slighty high. I think its because I gained so much weight when I started taking insulin especially in my stomach area where I shoot up. Its very noticeable how the fat has formed on my stomach. I tried asking a doc about it because I thought it was strange and they just said sometimes you just can gain weight differently. But I think when I exercise it releases some of the stored insulin in the fat…
Thanks!
There’s basically three pathways that your body can take to produce energy, and it will choose the most efficient. But basically low intensity longer workouts will lower your BS a lot more than shorter high intensity workouts, which cause the liver to release glucose for energy. So, when you say “working out”, make sure you’re aware of the glucose response to high intensity.
I like to go the gym for cardio and lifting. Here’s what I do:
Start at a good blood sugar. (100-130, ideally). I’ll skip working out if my blood sugar is too high. That sucks, but that’s life.
Then I take off my insulin pump for the duration of my workout. I usually have a small amount of food and insulin in me, and just hope for the best! 
Then I do a warm-up: stretching, exercises without weights, some yoga moves… high-rep low intensity stuff. Not for very long… 5-15 minutes. But I feel like this will get my body revved up a bit (increased insulin sensitivity) to where I can then get on to the heavier lifting without a risk of running high. I’ll do heavy lifting for awhile, and when my body gets weak, I’ll sometimes do a test in the middle (it’s usually fine), and wonder if it’s the diabetes or maybe I didn’t eat enough or maybe, you know, heavy lifting just wears a person out after awhile.
I always do a test before I move on to cardio. Sometimes I’ll need to eat some carbs, and I just eat what they’ve got there, which are protein/energy bars. I’m the only one in the gym who walks around eating, or walks around with a half-eaten protein bar in his pocket, as far as I can tell. Oh well.
I’ve read that it’s good to eat immediately after a workout (for the muscles to replenish optimally), and this is the tricky part. It’s hard to not spike and then drop. So I’m sort of learning that “immediately” just won’t do. I have to give myself some insulin and then wait. The post-workout is actually the hardest to manage, but frequent testing and a bit of discipline with regards to carbs can help.
As far as the belly fat / insulin connection goes… well, I don’t know. My upper belly is pretty lean, but the lower belly (where I’ve been giving insulin for 27 years) is a little soft. I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with the diabetes or not. All I can do is just continue to work out and hope for the best. My health is more important than a good looking stomach, anyway, and I always feel better after working out.
Thanks for your reply and gving me your workout steps. I am learning the ropes of the balancing act thats going on in my body. I do notice a change in my body when I work out and I love the way it feels. Its so hard sometimes figuring out what to do sometimes and the worst part is everyone’s diabetes is different so its not like I can just look it up or ask and I have the answers. I do really appreciate everyone who shares because sometimes what may work for you may be sometghing I have never tried…
Water doesnt help me like that, its all I drink…Exercising between 200- 240 is not bad for me…It depends on what your body does and if I wait to exercise when its lower then it will drop. My concern was more about if it doesnt get lower is that just as bad as increasing?
I have trouble balancing as well. I try to be between 110-180 when I exercise because I can drop by 150 sometimes. Recently I was 157, had a glucose tab, ran 2miles and was 70! I would say don’t be above 180. If you are working out over 30-60 mins, the glucose that you’ve eaten will eventually get to your blood stream so let it happen as you workout. I also try to workout after a normal snack or meal so I’m not eating too much just to workout and I tend to never bolus… I’m also not eating pasta right either 
The few times I bolused (less knowing that I was going to exercise) I crashed to 30 really quickly.
I also always need to check a lot during and after exercising because it’s NEVER precise.
So… maybe try to start your workout before you BS gets that high, constantly check, and be proud of yourself for exercising! I know that if my BS isn’t in the right range, exercise is the last thing I want to do!
Hi Rye
I, like you, have been told by my Dr. to exercise with a higher number. I don’t know about you, but I have been called “brittle,” although they don’t really use that term anymore. What this means is I easily drop low and easily go high, and have a seriously hard time staying at normal blood sugars.
What do mean when you ask if a sustained higher number is “bad?” Do you mean something like, will it harm your kidneys, or make you gain weight, or what? That will help to answer your question.
I always drink water when my BG runs up. I read somewhere (online?) that it’s good for your kidneys and “every little bit helps”?
Rye, what time do you usually work out and bolus/ eat before you work out?
Hi, Rye. I’m a fitness professional and a T1. I’ve always been told not to workout with high BG’s. A correction bolus followed by a light/moderate workout works for me when my BG is a little high. I know they’re not glamorous, but have you ever considered a pump? The way they allow you to manipulate your insulin needs based on your activities is definitely one of the advantages of using one. Good luck!
If BG doesn/t go down, and you are doing exercise of a type that normally drops your blood sugar, let’s say by 80 points an hour, I would look at your basals for the time period. Don’t have much experience with adrenaline highs, but thought that would occur only for races, certain types of exercise, short sprints… Although high blood sugars are never good, I think it is standard to raise the blood sugar to 180 before an hour of exercise. Basically, you raise it by the amount you know, from experience, with the particular exercise you are going to do, is going to drop you. I suppose you could raise your BS to 140, stop at the half hour mark, carb up to 140 again and you will be 100 by the end of the next half hour if you don’t want to go too high initially. Walking, biking, trampoline, swimming… our DD has never had adrenaline highs from these activities. Though a short race, either swimming or sprinting, would probably trigger adrenaline. Or you could just drink Gatoraide every fifteen minutes to keep from dropping. You can get a good idea of how many ExCarbs you will need for different activities, based on light, moderate, or heavy exercise in "Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner.
Brittle…Never heard it but I def fit that description! I guess I was wondering if it was bad for weight loss…
I drink like a gallon a day, I pretty much always been that way. My mother never raised me on anything else and I get really dehydrated quick.
I drink 1/2 a pot of coffee and a few beers most of the time too? And Gatorade and Propel.
I eat before I workout…I dont have a set time, I am not a morning person and I hear working out in the morning is best. I dont like it. Usually in the evening or night.