Exercise and Insulin
 

Hello I have had Type 1 diabetes for almost 10 years and I'm a student in university. I've never gotten much exercise in my life and I'm only just starting now but a few times I have done cardio workouts and take a normal amount of insulin and my blood sugar would drop like crazy! So I would sometimes not take insulin before a workout in fear of ping seriously low and sometimes it would work perfectly while other times my blood sugar would spike very high afterwards (20.6)! Please help I haven't done much exercise because I want to make sure I do things right first

Welcome to the Forum! :)

You may find some of your answer here.

Hey! I just joined. I noticed your post is a month and a half ago, so you may not end up seeing this, but I'll proceed with a brief post just incase. I am a physiotherapist, exercise enthusiast, and have had diabetes for 26 years. Exercise and diabetes is my specialty:) you will notice variances in your blood sugar response depending in the intensity of your exercise. Mild exercise will usually slowly drop your sugars with minimal effects in the 24 hours after (ex. Golfing), moderate exercise (ex. Pilates or snowshoeing) may drop the sugars more intensely and likely would require a greater insulin decrease up to two hours before, during, and potentially for hours later. Intense bursts such as racing/running intervals or intense video exercise like "insanity" can rapidly increase your blood sugars due to the stress hormone response. They can spike within a few minutes of a sprint, so ideally you should check your sugars every ten minutes or so the first few times you perform an activity to determine how your body responds. Some people require additional insulin to accommodate for the interval training, but then you need to remover the sugars may be more prone over the 24 hours following intense exercise and then a decrease in insulin would be required! Don't let it overwhelm you:) just prick your finger lots with any new exercise, and it will become second nature what to do once you see your patterns! Good luck!!!

Welcome to the Forum! :)

Thanks for your contribution! :D

You may wish to post in the Type 2 Section in the "Exercise; Will it work for you?" thread, as well. ;)

My levels get really crazy. Today I check before my workout (89), 30minutes later was 59, I left because I didn't have nothing with me (not to smart) got home and eat really stupid & now it's 254...hmmm 10 yrs with this & still can't control it.

Over treating the hypo is one thing that many of us have done. I have found that the 15-15 Rule works really well for me. Perhaps it will work well for you.

I used to have to cut my humalog in half during the ski season