Best long lasting carbs to eat before bed and exercise

[ILikeSugar :|]

So before bed I've started eating a sandwich as I was constantly going low but it seems to go a bit high early in the morning and then drop a bit and also I bit to work and back everyday I go so I was wondering what the best thing to eat before exercise is too I normally have a flapjack which works sometimes but not all the time

 

[helli]

If you are constantly going low at night, you may want to consider adjusting your basal dose.
Depending upon what basal you are on, you could reduce it on the days you cycle. Tresiba can take 3 days to see a difference in the dose so there is no point adjusting that but Levemir and/or Lantus could be reduced on cycling days.

You mention a morning rise - this is more likely to be Dawn Phenomenon than a sandwich you ate more than 4 hours ago.

Regarding what to eat whilst exercising, I found the best thing for me was to maintain my levels during exercise by adding something slightly sugary to my water bottle (such as dilute fruit juice) instead of starting with a higher level which makes me sluggish. The level of dilution took a bit of trial and error to work out but if you are doing the same trip you have plenty of times to experiment.

 

[ILikeSugar :|]

Yes I am on lantus at the moment so ever since having covid I was changing around my doses constantly I was pretty much taking no quick acting insulin as I was going low all the time Amy time I took insulin so am figuring that out now as well and oh right ill give that a try I've had a couple of different items to experiment before exercise like belvita soft baked biscuits flapjacks and toast

 

[Nick Young]

Hi - I also adjust my basal level on days I do exercise and/or set a temporary level (on Omnipod DASH). I also adjusted basal level for morning phenomenon which seems to strike before getting up and then immediately after! Both have helped. In terms of food - I find oats/porridge are very slow release so don't give a BG spike at the beginning of exercise and then as suggested above top up when needed with glucose in a drink - most economical way to do this is with a powder you can dilute to a strength that works.

 

[SB2015]

Hi @ILikeSugar :| have you considered asking to switch to Levemir for your basal insulin.
I did this when on MDI as I f got frustrated with lows at night and the lack of flexibility with exercise. Because of the action profile with Levemir it is worth splitting the dose to am and pm. This way I was able to reduce ine without impacting on the other. I then adjusted day time ones if exercising, whilst leaving night one consistent.

 

[ILikeSugar :|]

Hi @ILikeSugar :| have you considered asking to switch to Levemir for your basal insulin.
I did this when on MDI as I f got frustrated with lows at night and the lack of flexibility with exercise. Because of the action profile with Levemir it is worth splitting the dose to am and pm. This way I was able to reduce ine without impacting on the other. I then adjusted day time ones if exercising, whilst leaving night one consistent.

No I haven't thought if switching to levemir it might be a good idea but worried about changing things as I'm so used to using lantus I'd basically be starting over again

 

[SB2015]

No I haven't thought if switching to levemir it might be a good idea but worried about changing things as I'm so used to using lantus I'd basically be starting over again

It gave me a lot more flexibility band took away some of the frustrations that I had with managing exercise. Your team would help you work out an appropriate split am and pm if you wanted to do this, and the only impact is that it is an extra injection each day. I found that it was well worth it.