How many minutes of walking to drop BG?

[Skater P]

I use walking to try and get a quick BG drop if it looks like I'm going hight, but I may not be walking for long enough.

It looks like cycling takes about 15 to register a drop (though there is a lag between my CGM and my bike computer) so it might be shorter, I may need to look at more than the most recent 6 rides.

 

[helli]

I find my BG is impacted too much on too many other things for me to use exercise to reduce my BG.
For example, how much IoB? When did I last eat? What did I eat? How intense is my exercise (walking could be a "saunter" or a "forced march")? How stressed am I? Am I unwell? What is my current BG (high BG will rise further if I try to exercise)? When did I last do intensive exercise?

And then I have the issues of having time available. So, insulin is far more suitable for reducing BG than a walk or cycle ride so I do the opposite - adjust my insulin if I am doing or have done recently) exercise.

 

[Lucyr]

use walking to try and get a quick BG drop if it looks like I'm going hight, but I may not be walking for long enough.

Try a longer walk? Or more / better timed insulin to prevent the high?

 

[Mike3]

Hiya @Skater P tonight i misjudged the dose for my meal as I was preoccupied with a drop just before eating. After about an hour and a half my BG was creeping up to 13 so I went out for a 15min walk with 1.5 units (probably half what I really needed) fast acting peaking. It brought me down to 9.5, sat there for half an hour and now it is at 8.

Had a similar experience earlier this week after having my pre diagnosis fav, southern fried chicken and chips. Wow that was a troublesome meal - never again. Somehow I jumped to 15 which persisted. On this occasion IOB was waining so a 25-30 walk brought it down to 9 where again it sat there for a while before gradually coming down. I had a digestive just in case it continued to creep down through the night which worked well.

Walking really works when I get things wrong, but it also works too well when I get things right, and then I go low. I’ll be asking for advice on this one soon as I think my increasing insulin sensitivity is making things complicated.

 

[rebrascora]

If I don't have IOB then about 40 mins brisk walking will show my levels starting to drop a bit.

If I have IOB then 10-15 mins can sometimes turn things around and start to drop them. I find running up and down stairs 10-20 times with IOB is pretty effective and doesn't take long. Sometimes I can't be bothered though and just jab more insulin. In some respects as Type 1s we should be using our insulin to manage our BG (just like our pancreas did before it ran dry) and I didn't run up and down stairs before I got diabetes, but doing regular exercise/movement particularly after meals can be a healthy choice, so may be one of those situations where our diabetes makes us more healthy because it prompts us to get active more frequently as well as making us more conscious of the food we eat and how that impacts our BG levels. .

 

[SB2015]

Had a similar experience earlier this week after having my pre diagnosis fav, southern fried chicken and chips. Wow that was a troublesome meal - never again

Had fish and chips recently. A rare choice for me, and the batter was so crisp and delicious I ate the lot. Levels went bonkers afterwards, and took some time to recover, but it was worth it. It will be a while before I do it again but sometimes life is more important the D.

 

[Skater P]

Had fish and chips recently. A rare choice for me, and the batter was so crisp and delicious I ate the lot. Levels went bonkers afterwards, and took some time to recover, but it was worth it. It will be a while before I do it again but sometimes life is more important the D.

That was the last meal that messed me up good and proper, took ages to hit then just kept on rising, and of course it was in the evening so couldn't take off for one and half hours on the bike. I wonder if the oil and protien delays all the carbs.

 

[Skater P]

Okay, thanks everyone.
It looks like with IoB we are looking at 10-15 minutes, without I might double that.
I've found a local loop that is 15 minutes if I stride out/push on (which is kind of my plan)

...oh and @rebrascora I did used to run up and down stairs (rather than walk up them) but had to walk slowly up them one at a time before diagnosis, which should have been a clue if I'd known more about the condition. 😳

 

[SB2015]

That was the last meal that messed me up good and proper, took ages to hit then just kept on rising, and of course it was in the evening so couldn't take off for one and half hours on the bike. I wonder if the oil and protien delays all the carbs.

I use the rule of thumb (most of the time) - Don’t sit down for 15 minutes after a meal.
That could be do a walk, do the ironing, clear up, … anything. It certainly helps to reduce the spikes after a meal.

I also remember someone saying run up the stairs whilst you can. Still doing it sometimes but not for a prolonged flight any more, and quite often it is more of a slow ascent. It is amazing what the power of the mind can do though. If find if I can ‘think I am fit’ I can tackle things more positively and for longer. Realise that I am now sounding old.

The fat in meals is what causes problems for me (Pizza), and also large meals (over 60 g of carbs). Before I was using a closed loop I found I would need to adjust my delivery of insulin for such meals. Splitting my bolus for fatty meals, and increasing my bolus for big meals. We each find what works for us, and the D decides to play silly …… and change everything, or the weather changes, I put on odd socks, …. Excellent brain gym.

Glad that you have found a circuit to use. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Mike3]

Okay, thanks everyone.
It looks like with IoB we are looking at 10-15 minutes, without I might double that.
I've found a local loop that is 15 minutes if I stride out/push on (which is kind of my plan)

...oh and @rebrascora I did used to run up and down stairs (rather than walk up them) but had to walk slowly up them one at a time before diagnosis, which should have been a clue if I'd known more about the condition. 😳

On the flip side, if you have IoB and your BG is about right for what you ate and timing, if you have to pop out which would mean a 15min walk is there anything you do to avoid having too bigger drop? These are times when you can’t plan ahead and adjust your bolus beforehand.
I never know how long to leave it before going out, or what to eat which will keep things stable.

 

[helli]

On the flip side, if you have IoB and your BG is about right for what you ate and timing, if you have to pop out which would mean a 15min walk is there anything you do to avoid having too bigger drop? These are times when you can’t plan ahead and adjust your bolus beforehand.
I never know how long to leave it before going out, or what to eat which will keep things stable.

Welcome to my world!
This talk of planned exercise and time to go for a walk after eating is a mystery to me.

With regards to your question, what you need is some extra carbs to mop up the spare insulin when your unplanned walk is likely to make the IOB more effective.
As with all things diabetes, it will take some trial and error to work out how much extra carbs as we are all different. I would start with a biscuit as I was walking out the door. And make sure I have plenty of hypo treatment with you.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

With the MM780G I’m not supposed to add ‘fake carbs’ as the system will detect the rise and add any additional insulin needed.

In practice I find it can be rather slow on the uptake. Even if it has made a ‘safety’ reduction to the bolus my ratios etc suggest because of BG behaviours on previous days (the exact way all this works seems shrouded in mystery, but I find Deep Thought often lops a bit off boluses for it’s own reasons).

If I am feeling frustrated and/or don’t want to wait I set a 30 min ‘temp target’ which tells the pump I am exercising, and go for a brisk 10 min walk. Sensor lag means the effect is rarely visible when I get back, bit as long as I have 1u or so iob it’ll ciontinue to drop, but hopefully not too far.

Last night’s example:
10mins walk at 10pm. You can see the rise in BG up to 10pm (ate at about 7pm), and the pump recommencing basal (pink) and adding micro boluses (blue dashes). Without the walk I’d have been in double figures until the early hours.

 

[trophywench]

Most of us (ie those without dogs!) would never dream of going out for a walk at 10pm !

 

[Skater P]

Most of us (ie those without dogs!) would never dream of going out for a walk at 10pm !

It's something I'd do but that is a much easier choice for men

 

[adamrit]

If I don't have IOB then about 40 mins brisk walking will show my levels starting to drop a bit.

If I have IOB then 10-15 mins can sometimes turn things around and start to drop them. I find running up and down stairs 10-20 times with IOB is pretty effective and doesn't take long. Sometimes I can't be bothered though and just jab more insulin. In some respects as Type 1s we should be using our insulin to manage our BG (just like our pancreas did before it ran dry) and I didn't run up and down stairs before I got diabetes, but doing regular exercise/movement particularly after meals can be a healthy choice, so may be one of those situations where our diabetes makes us more healthy because it prompts us to get active more frequently as well as making us more conscious of the food we eat and how that impacts our BG levels. .

What is IOB?
Apart from that. Why is Type 1 so completely mysterious? Everyone has different strange results. I keep tabs almost by guesswork. My 30 day average today is 80% in range and very nearly always between 80-88%, so I'm doing fairly OK. It can drop, or shoot up in the daytime without reason. I used to complain at the irrationality of the disease (sorry, condition) but I was told I was making mistakes, or it must be stress, or infection, or heat, or cold. What sort of condition has so many unexpected effects? When I started on the Medtronic 780G pump 21 months ago with CGM Sensor 4, I was told to put in all carb intake when I had anything to eat. It didn't work. I sharpened up my carb ratios and it got marginally better, but now I don't eat any breakfast (which made a huge improvement in levelling the CGM readings and for lunch and dinner, I just normally take 4.3 units of NovoRapid before each meal with whatever the pump offers in carbs. I eat as much as I feel is right. Guesswork, but it seems to work OK. That has given me 88% time in range until non-functioning infusion sets or sensors has led to this months 80%. I look at my glucose levels on the phone app maybe 5-7 times a day. I am changing from Mia Advance infusion sets back to Quickset because I had fewer problems with them, though it may be the damage subcutaneously after 69 years of sticking things in my stomach. I check that insulin is coming out of the infusion set so the problem with non-delivery must be in the 69 years of pin damage or in the 90* bend going into the body. I love the 580 because my nighttime CGM are almost always a very gentle curve ending in 5-6 in the morning. My wife used to have to force feed me sugar at least once a week in the middle of the night because of severe hypoglycaemia and me struggling to stop her. I don't know why she stayed. It must be love. We are doing the 5 mile London Bridge walk again in September and hope to raise a few pounds for Diabetes UK. Hope you can join us?
7.5mmol, 73kg, 1.8m high, 85 years about 32units a day

 

[Skater P]

What is IOB?

I think "Insulin on board" so any active insulin

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I think "Insulin on board" so any active insulin

Yes. IOB = Insulin On Board. Which is for Medtronic used to mean Bolus And Correction On Board. Other pumps only used to count Correction On Board.

Usually the number ticks downward, based on whatever Duration of Insulin Action you set.