So I've started excerising again and I everything I thought I knew about excerising and blood sugars is apparently wrong.
The class happens twice a week(monday and wednesday nights after dinner) but monday is an aquafit while wednesday is a aqua jog.
Both monday night and tonight, I was running above or at my target all day. Before dinner on monday i was 15. I did a correction, but didn't bolus the complete dosage amount for the meal. I also ate a pear on my 10minute walk to the gym with my girlfriend. Did a 45minute aqua workout and headed to the sauna for about 5-10minutes. After the class, we walked home and I was feeling tired but alright. By the time I got home 10minutes later, I was 4.6! I thought it was just cuz of the excerise and corrected.
Woke up in the morning and did my 18u of Lantus as usual and went to work. All day I was running in the high 4's to 6's(my target) with a few spikes. By 430pm when my boyfriend came to get me at work, I was 4.3. Afternoon lows only usually happen for me if my morning dose is too high(lunch to dinner is usually when I tend to run higher, but even a slight change in my lunch carb ratio will make me go low). Everything I ate Tuesday had been packaged, so my carb count units were dead on. And I rounded down, rather than rounding up like I usually do if it's a 3.5 dose or something.
Should I try lowering my Lantus dose a bit the morning after these classes? I never had to do that before when I was working out with a trainer, but I was also taking a different AM/PM Lantus split...
Today I've been running in the 10's for most of the day. At dinner I was 9, and instead of correcting and dosing for dinner, I skipped the correction. I left for the gym shortly after eating(about 15-20mins) so I didn't check my bg before getting into the pool. I worked out again for 45minutes, headed to the sauna for 5-10minutes and then tested in the change room. I was 4.2! So I drank the can of pepsi I had and walked home with my girlfriend.
I'm now an hour since testing at 4.2 and 20minutes since getting home, I'm 14.2. Which is frusterating. I thought that by treating my low, my liver wouldn't start pumping out glucose.
I guess what I'm trying to get to by explaining all of this is...what should I be doing before and after the gym? Should I avoid treating my low after the class, to see if my liver kicks in?
It can be confusing. My wife is on shots (not pump) and kept wondering why her BG would spike up AFTER exercise. Answer: adrenaline. Being so focused on insulin, I think that sometimes we forget there are other hormones in the body.
I think adrenaline is probably why I didn't feel low after the first class, but I'm wondering if I should ignore the low(unless it drops more) and see if my body is going to rebound itself?
First, good job on the exercising! Keep it up! Next, do you regularly treat your lows with the can of Pepsi? If so, did it make you higher after the exercise than normal, or was that a spike you have seen before? When I exercise I have to be really careful treating my lows because I tend to spike after I treat as well. Probably because I am usually starving and eat all sorts of stuff. There is so much sugar in Pepsi, but not much else, that it totally messes with me. Maybe try have a different snack/treatment once you are done, something with a little less sugar and some protein, to help stabilize you. Maybe an apple and some peanut butter or something. If you need more sugar than that to correct, maybe something like a poptart would help. I think they have about as many carbs as Pepsi (don't just believe me, check first since I am not sure), but it may take a bit longer to digest as well, hopefully not causing that crazy spike.
I usually treat my lows with coke actually. but pepsi is the only canned sugar in the house at the moment. i grabbed it and put it in my bag which I brought into the pool area with my test kit in case i started to feel low in the water, since pepsi and coke are the fastest way to get sugar into your body other than eating real sugar. since I have to walk home after, I figure any excess sugar would be worked off..as I usually don't spike that high an hour after treating with pop.
I don't think bringing an apple and peanut butter to the pool is a good idea, or any kind of food I'd have to touch with my hands or keep dry. I could try juice boxes, but I end up feeling like I need more sugar since it doesn't hit me as fast as coke, so I end up pigging out on whatever I can find at that point. :/
This morning I was 15 when I woke up at 6am. I took my 18u of lantus, but didn't do a correction as I knew I was going to the pool. Did 20minutes of slow laps(haven't done laps in forever) which is less energy than the aqua classes but still a workout. After the pool, 5minutes in the sauna, then tested. 15.5!
I still didn't correct to see what would happen.
it's now 8am, my last test was at 720am and I walked for 15minutes to work. I'm now 15.8! I guess I'm going low after class due to doing corrections?
Could be! Since you are more active, your body is using more of the sugar you normally correct for. Good job figuring it out, and good luck keeping it up!
Your new exercise routine sounds fun! Wish I could come join you. (:
This doesn't really answer your question, but for me, swimming (or even literally standing in the pool hanging out) makes me go so much lower than any other exercise. I think it must be using your whole body or something, no idea. But, anyways, I always try to start out on the high side before swimming, so then if I don't have to eat something for a low, I'm less likely to spike up after. I usually try to start out around 200 (is that 11??).
Yeah I go low pretty quick in the pool too, and in the hot tub/sauna. I'm surprised my blood sugar didn't change at all..but then again, I was taking my time with the laps.
I've got a new work out routine which I'm hoping will help my bg, help me lose some weight, help my back(whiplash) and help my right knee which is swelling a lot more now(I am gonna ask my doc to send me to a specialist to see if I have arthritis blah). Monday/Wednesday night will be aquafit classes, monday or wednesday or thursday mornings will be physio(i do it before work), thursday nights will be yoga/meditation and friday mornings laps before work. hopefully i keep up with it!