Increased activity............

[novorapidboi26]

Just looking for some educated thoughts on the following theory.........

I have started to "work out", both cardio vascular exercise and muscle exercise for primarily general fitness and to aid in weight loss.....

As my muscles grow etc in turn they will need more energy [glucose] throughout the day to function and to replenish their stores. So in theory the increased sensitivity of my muscles will result in me needing less insulin. At the moment I seem to be needing more as my blood sugars are going up.

Could this be down to my liver adjusting its output to meet the greater needs of the muscles and so requiring me to increase my basal dose as opposed to increasing my bolus dose......

I think I am going to at least increase my basal anyway but would appreciate some other thoughts from the more active of the community.......

 

[Robster65]

The only thing I can think of to explain it is the weights. ANy anerobic activity will cause your liver to dump glucose to fuel your muscles.

So weights, sprinting, any quick bursts of exercise will bring them up. In theory, if you finish on a warm down aerobic such as a light jog on the treadmill, it should then bring your BG down again but when I last used a gym, I wasn't testing as much and didn't really understand the workings of it all.

There's also the possibility of going hypo and swinging up from that.

Rob

 

[MrsCLH]

Hi there

Just wondering when you are doing your exercise in relation to when you are taking your insulin?

When I trained for the London Marathon I used to work out/run after work but before my evening meal, so my lunchtime insulin was pretty much out of my system and at that time I used to take all my background insulin in one go in the evenings and as it doesn't last 24 hours, it would often be running out by the time I did my run or work out. If you don't have insulin in your system when you work out then chances are your blood sugar will increase - something scientific to do with adrenaline or something, don't ask me 😉 In the end I started splitting my background dose and taking half of it in the morning so it would still be in my system by the time I was working out. And occasionally I would have a snack and say one unit of short acting to keep me going.

It's very much trial and error when you start an exercise programme but it's so worth keeping at it. Like you say your insulin requirements will definitely drop when you start building muscle.

There is a good website www.runsweet.com which is all about diabetes and sport - might be worth a look.

Hope this helps!

Mrs H x

 

[MrsCLH]

ANy anerobic activity will cause your liver to dump glucose to fuel your muscles.

That's the scientific bit I was struggling to explain 😉

 

[novorapidboi26]

Thanks for your comments so far..............

When referring to higher blood glucose I am talking about all day after a night or exercise, and I suppose if I continue to work my muscles, from now on, so a light jog wouldn't really reduce my muscles capacity and need for energy in the long term...........

I am doing the exercise about 2-3 hours after dinner, so still some active insulin on board...........but my problem is not keeping my BGs down or up during or prior to the activity, its purely a general need for more insulin, or at least that's what I am observing at the moment...........so an increased hourly output of glucose from the liver is all I can think of as to why I would need more insulin, so seeing as the basal insulin is what deals with this glucose supply I think that's what I have to try first as opposed to increasing my insulin/carb ratios..........

Oh why cant it be simple...........

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Just shows how different we all are NRB. I rarely go to the gym during school hols, but usually go 3x a week when the kids are at school. I have to reduce my basal after a few days of gym visits to avoid regular hypos as it seems I generally need less insulin when gym visits ramp-up. When I had a month or two of 5x a week I had to reeduce it futher.

M

 

[tracey w]

I too have to reduce my basal for a while after exercise......

I tend to run on the treadmill before tea, so not much if any fast acting around. I take on glucose drinks during exercise and reduce basal (pump) by 50% but always have some going in as its needed. Afterwards i reduce my basal by 20% for 13 hours (dont ask its just what ive found works for me)

Sorry this hasnt helped your predicament it just shows we are all different, maybe its just coincided with a time when your basal needs adjusting up maybe??

 

[novorapidboi26]

i think the aerobic and anaerobic element is definitely a factor.........

the more your muscles grow, the more the liver needs to supply on a daily basis, and the more you deplete their energy stores during exercise, the more you should need to drop the basal........

 

[tracey w]

how are you doing now with the exercise and bg levels? any better?