# High BGs after exercise



## Cleo (Mar 29, 2013)

Hi all

I go to the gym about 3-4 a week - usually doing group exercise classes  - I am rubbish on my own so I need the motivation from a group 
I do a one hour pump class on Mondays and then on Tuesday, Wed and Thursday I do 45 mins to one hour classes of aerobics and Zumba.  All the classes are in the evening after work around 6 pm - 7 pm

My issue is that after the classes my BGs tend to go sky high i.e. last night I was 7.5 before Zumba, I took 2CP as per DAFNE guidelines and I was 19 after the class!!!!!!.  I find it so frustrating because I exercise for my overall physical health but feel that I cant be doing much good for my diabetes if I'm ending up with those types of figures.  I'm also going through the pre conception stage and need to bring my HbA1C down to below 6.5 in order to get the green light so I dont think these figures are helping much either...

I obviously have a tendency to go high during exercise so maybe I shouldnt take any carbs ?? - but then I fear that I have a hypo and need to stop what I'm doing.....

Any thoughts on the way(s) you manage your T1D during exercise would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks 
C


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## Northerner (Mar 29, 2013)

When do you inject prior to exercise? For me, I need to arrange my exercise around 1.5-2.5 hours after injecting/eating, so that I have insulin circulating to allow my to use the energy, and also some slowly digesting food to keep my levels above hypo. This is usually sufficient for exercise of 45mins-1 hour. After that time I find I need to top up with 5-10g fast carbs, like a couple of jelly babies to keep my levels above hypo.

If your levels are going high it means that you do not have enough insulin circulating to use the glucose in your blood. There may be other factors involved depending on the type of exercise - for me strength-training will drop my levels fairly quickly, whereas running won't make any difference.

As people vary so much though, all you can do is experiment and test. It's tedious and frustrating, but I wouldn't try and rely on what the DAFNE 'rules' are because there really is no one-size-fits-all.


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## grainger (Mar 29, 2013)

Hey, 
I can only say what happens with me but I tender to experience similar and now find that I don't need to eat anything before exercise (I tend to do high intensity interval training or zumba), after this my only change is a reduce my insulin for my next meal by about 25%... the only difference is when I do something like yoga and then I find this doesn't impact my sugar levels at all!

Unfortunately... as Northener's says it's not a one size fits all and what works for me may not work for you.

I know that my old DSN recommended I sip orange juice from time to time while exercising just to stop a drop (when I first was diagnosed) so I think there are various things you can try 

Good luck - hope you manage to find a solution that works for you soon.


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## Cleo (Mar 30, 2013)

Hi
Thanks for both your responses - very helpful!

The Wednesday class is from 10-11 (forgot to mention that in my original post!) and come to think of it, my levels are usually quite respectable after that class - probably because I usually have breakfast between 8-9am so there is still some insulin circulating in my body..The evening classes are usually the problem -  I have lunch around 12 - 1 so by the time I do the class the insulin has run out.  I think I will try to lower the amount of carbs I take before hand and see how that goes..

Yes, I dont think the DAFNE guidelines are the best as everyone is an individual so you cant really use a blanket approach.

thanks 
C


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