Hi! I am new to this website and very happy to be here. I try to be extremely active and with my pump i am able to work out for at least 1 1/2 hours a day. However, even when I completely suspend my delivery during workouts I seem to have too many lows.
I was wandering if anyone had any suggestions for an average BS reading that I should strive for before working out, or if anyone had any suggestions on when I should suspend my delivery or set a temp. basal before working out. Thanks everyone!
Tammi,
I have been struggling with this myself. My CDE told me to put a temp basal of 50% one hour before working out, 0% during and 50% right after I leave the gym. It has been helping a bit. Sometimes eating something high in protein helps before too. Just dont bolus for it. But, you should make sure with your doctor it you make any changes.
Let me know what happens.
G
Hi Tammi! Glad that you found us!
I used to have to eat 2 bananas in order to go for a 40 minutes run (when I was on Lantus). With the pump, i am able to stay between 80-150 on the run. Here’s how I do it:
One or two hours BEFORE i start running, I turn my basal down to 50%. I leave it on 50% until I am done running. The point of this is that any insulin that goes into is active for around 4 hours. So… if you only turn your pump down when you start running, you are starting the run with your full amount of basal. By turning it down earlier, you can be sure that you have less than the usual basal insulin active.
Also, I try not to run for two hours after a bolus. The remaining insulin from the bolus will make me drop too quickly. I like to run in the morning— so I can even program a basal pattern that turns my basal insulin down before i wake up.
I have found that I rarely have lows while exercising with this routine. BUT I still seem to have highs about 2 hours later. So I think when I stop running, I need to give a small bolus.
Thank you so much! I will definately try ya’ll’s suggestions for my workout today. I have tried talking to my endo about it, but she just keeps telling me that I will have to play with numbers until I get it right. I don’t like that idea, though. Playing with my numbers just seems like asking for it to me.
Thanks again,
Tammi
I’m with Kristin. Turn you basal down at least one hour before exercise. Though I generally turn it down for about the length of the exercise. If I leave it down too long I’ll end up with horrible highs.
If I’m starting the exercise with much insulin on board that’s going to cause problems, so I try not to eat/dose for at least 90 minutes beforehand. If I can’t avoid it, then I’ll try to eat some fast-acting carbs at least 15 minutes before exercising.
And don’t forget that intense exercise may cause your blood sugar to drop several hours later.
good luck! its a lot of trial and error.