T1D's got me thinking .. and analyzing.. again

As I have mentioned numerous times - exercise - ANY form of exercise - plays a role in Eden’s Type 1 Diabetes blood sugar management..

The thing is - although exercise is excellent for Eden - it causes additional challenges in management as all exercise is not equal and does NOT cause the same reaction to her blood sugar numbers

one day her blood sugar can skyrocket -

one day it can plummet and be immediately dangerous

what we have learned..

  • running suicide sprints at basketball practice cause a big rise and a steep fall off hours later
  • playing a basketball game depends on the intensity
    • some days her blood sugar is steady as can be
    • some days it drops and doesn’t want to rise
    • some days it shoots sky high
  • pushups cause her to drop
  • core training causes her to drop
  • swimming causes FAST drops
  • multiple days in a row of exercise cause blood sugars to run low for days to follow

Almost ALL exercise will cause her blood sugar

to be affected to some degree HOURS later

(usually the middle of the night)

running - long distance running -

well, we are still trying to figure that one out

We have gotten VERY used to basketball and how it impacts Eden’s body.. even though it doesn’t always follow the same pattern - we are pretty good at knowing and understanding how to adjust insulin requirements

We are still new to this whole Cross Country running thing..

Basketball is generally shorter bursts of intensity whilst Cross Country is all about endurance..

Cross Country practice entails running - lots of it - pretty much consistently for 45 minutes

It is totally throwing us for a loop - the only semblance of a pattern I have noticed..

Is that there is NO PATTERN besides 2 nights of high and then low blood sugars

image found on Pinterest
image found on Pinterest

Since I have had absolutely no luck with being able to download Eden’s pump data to my computer (another story!) I have resorted to “old school” data collection for the past 10 days and have been writing all of her blood sugar numbers down in a log book to try to find some rhyme or reason.

Good thing my brain likes to analyze things - because D causes me to go over and over and over these results in my mind trying to figure out how we can improve things..

yup - that's ME image found on Pinterest
yup - that's ME
image found on Pinterest

Last week wasn’t a very good indication as she ran high almost all week for various reasons.

Yesterday her blood sugar was SKY HIGH after practice - clearly adrenaline induced. She said she felt great running - last week she had been extremely droopy and had to stop and walk when she was experiencing consistently high numbers. Clearly blood sugar related if you ask me…

We want Eden to be able to perform at her best

- in life - at school - on the basketball court

and during her first Cross Country meet this week.

It ALL boils down to D and where her blood sugar numbers are..

I don’t want to blame D for not performing well -

but it has a HUGE impact that cannot be denied..

It is my job to figure out how to manage and adjust her insulin requirements so that Eden can be the best she can possibly be..

let the thinking and experimenting and analyzing begin - again..

every.single.day.

http://edenseffort.wordpress.com

Running is a challenge for us all. I am currently trainnig for a multi-day 150 mile race and have the same issues. What meds and foods do I take etc. All I can say is look at the food before running as this has a major effect. I use banana's to mantain good levels running. The more effort you put in the higher you levels are as the body is dumping food for the effort.You have to track the food with the B levels to be able to get a pattern at all that is slightly reliable.