# BS and exercise



## mikeb (Nov 11, 2012)

I sometimes run in the morning before breakfast or any injections (T1). I've noticed that BS increases significantly after the run, but before any food. I'm told this is because the body want carbs, the liver releases stored carbs but low insulin levels means it doesn't get to the muscles! OK so far! I haven't tried yet but I guess if I take insulin before the run it will assist the carbs getting to the muscle. But by the time I get around to eating breakfast the 2 hour window for the rapid acting insulin will have almost gone., so breakfast (usually cereal) will push up the BS!?

What do you do?


----------



## Copepod (Nov 11, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, mikeb.

The best source of online information about managing exercise with type 1 diabetes in http://www.runsweet.com/ - lots of pages covering underlying physiology and specifics for specific sports, not just running.


----------



## Pigeon (Nov 11, 2012)

Hi Mike, I've not recently tried running before breakfast. But I sometimes swim before breakfast and found the same as you. I'm too chicken to take insulin before exercise without any carbs, so now what I do is I have 200ml orange juice before swimming and take half my normal novorapid for that (in this case I take 1U instead of the normal 2U for 20g carbs). Then after swimming I have my breakfast and take about 75% of my normal breakfast insulin.

I'm not recommending these ratios for you or anyone else, just giving an example of what works for me.... you'd have to work out for yourself and your exercises what suits you. Keep a diary of what you eat adn inject adn adjust if your BG results aren't right.

Good luck with it all!


----------



## Northerner (Nov 11, 2012)

mikeb said:


> I sometimes run in the morning before breakfast or any injections (T1). I've noticed that BS increases significantly after the run, but before any food. I'm told this is because the body want carbs, the liver releases stored carbs but low insulin levels means it doesn't get to the muscles! OK so far! I haven't tried yet but I guess if I take insulin before the run it will assist the carbs getting to the muscle. But by the time I get around to eating breakfast the 2 hour window for the rapid acting insulin will have almost gone., so breakfast (usually cereal) will push up the BS!?
> 
> What do you do?



It's a dilemma  For many years prior to diabetes (diagnosed aged 49) I would get up at 5 am, have a mug of tea and go out for my run, shower and then have breakfast. Can't do that now, as - like you - exercising without insulin will just send my BG levels soaring. The thing is that they will do this whether I run or not, as like many people I suffer from Dawn Phenomenon i.e. I am much more insulin-resistant in the mornings and my liver doesn't help by releasing loads of extra glucose to help me start the day  You need insulin circulating in order to get the glucose into your cells, and you may need more than at other times of the day because of the insulin resistance thing. So, now I inject immediately on waking, then eat a slice of toast around half an hour later. This means I have insulin circulating and food digesting and this works for me, but people can vary so much that you have to be methodical and experiment and test (a lot!) to find out what works for you - I have read of people who inject nothing and then run marathons, this would be disastrous for me!


----------

