Home Diabetes Care HOW TO BALANCE YOUR INSULIN DOSE WITH YOUR EXERCISE

HOW TO BALANCE YOUR INSULIN DOSE WITH YOUR EXERCISE

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HOW TO BALANCE YOUR INSULIN DOSE WITH YOUR EXERCISE

 

Exercise has a huge impact in your blood-sugar levels. That’s the reason it is vital to balance your insulin dose along with your exercise

There’s no easy formula—or rule—for balancing an insulin dose whenever you exercise with diabetes. That’s since the kind of exercise you enjoy—and the way your body and health responds to it—is exclusive to you.

Nonetheless, knowing which exercises cause high and low blood sugars is useful. For instance:

  • Aerobic exercise—like jogging, cycling or swimming—puts you susceptible to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
  • Anaerobic exercise—like weightlifting, sprinting or high-intensity interval training (HIIT)—can put you susceptible to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), especially in case your blood-sugar levels are elevated before starting exercise.

Because each insulin and exercise affect blood-sugar levels, you’ll must know how you can balance your insulin dose along with your exercise routine.

Remember though—your individual insulin needs may vary.  So, refer to your healthcare team to allow you to make adjustments!

Methods to Avoid Low Blood Sugars During Your Exercise

Crashing mid-workout due to a low blood sugar may be frustrating and demotivating.

With “fasted exercise,” you possibly can reduce the danger of going low.

Fasted exercise is exercising very first thing within the morning before eating or taking an insulin bolus.

A fasted exercise can be an exercise after not eating for around 10-14 hours.

Your body mostly burns glucose for fuel whenever you take a rapid-acting insulin bolus with a meal before figuring out. Fasted exercise, nonetheless, makes your body use fat for energy as an alternative, which reduces your risk of getting a low.

After the next sorts of high-intensity exercise, try having a direct post-workout protein shake or meal:

  • Weight lifting
  • HIIT
  • Endurance training like long-distance running or cycling
  • Any intense exercise over 60 minutes
  • High-intensity competitive sports like soccer, tennis or racquet ball

In the event you often go low during fasted exercise, this might be because your basal (background) insulin dose is a bit high and wishes to be adjusted.

For instance: In the event you take 12 units of Lantus (long-acting insulin) at night and go low during your next-morning’s fasted exercise, taking 11 units as an alternative might allow you to prevent those lows.

In the event you’re only a bit low whenever you get up, try eating a small amount of carbs without an insulin bolus, and exercising—if it feels secure.

For instance: For low- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise lasting between 30 to 60 minutes in a fasted state, 10 to fifteen grams of carbs may help prevent low blood sugar.

What if Fasted Exercise Isn’t For Me?

If fasted exercise isn’t feasible, don’t sweat it! You would possibly just need to regulate your meal timing and insulin dose.

Exercising inside three hours after eating and taking a full insulin bolus could cause low blood sugar. Subsequently, you could need to regulate your insulin dose.

The kind of exercise you select—e.g., walking vs. jogging vs. lifting weights—the duration and intensity can affect how much you’ll need to cut back your insulin.

How Do I Adjust My Insulin Dose If I Eat Before Working Out?

If you would like to eat before exercising, you could need to cut back the quantity of insulin you normally take for a meal.

In the event you exercise inside 2 to three hours of taking a bolus, reducing your normal insulin dose by 25 to 75 percent—depending on the sort, intensity and duration of exercise—reduces your risk of low blood sugar.

For instance:

  • In the event you’re going for a 30-minute walk after lunch (mild aerobic exercise), you may must cut your lunch bolus by 25 percent—or 1/4 unit of Novolog (fast-acting insulin) in the event you normally take 1 unit with a meal.
  • In the event you’re going for a 60-minute jog (moderate aerobic exercise), you may cut your lunch bolus by 75 percent—or ¼ unit of Novolog in the event you normally take 1 unit with a meal.

You could also need less insulin—each fast-acting and long-acting—in the event you engage in endurance training.

Check with your healthcare team in the event you’re planning on starting endurance training. After taking your normal insulin bolus with a meal, prolonged aerobic exercise can lower your blood sugars even greater than shorter bouts of exercise.

Methods to Avoid High Blood Sugar During Your Exercise

If exercise makes blood sugars burn faster, how is it possible to go high when figuring out?

Good query!

A number of the explanation why high blood sugars during exercise can occur are because:

  • Anaerobic exercise could make your body convert lactic acid to glucose for fuel.
  • The adrenaline you produce during competitive sports tells your liver to release stored glucose for extra energy.

In the event you start in your goal range—which should ideally be between 90 mg/dL and 250 mg/dL before exercise—a spike in blood sugar during exercise might be brought on by:

In the event you go high while figuring out, you may need a small bolus of rapid-acting insulin mid-exercise or to chill down with a lower-intensity aerobic exercise. You must stop exercising in case your blood sugar levels rise above 250 mg/dL.

Take Out the Guesswork by Logging Your Insulin Doses!

You would possibly have heard of logging insulin—i.e. keeping track of all of your insulin doses and blood-sugar readings—which may allow you to understand how insulin impacts your body and adjust doses.

Adding exercise to your record keeping can allow you to high-quality -une insulin doses much more.

And yes—this may take a number of trial and error, not to say patience!

Ultimately, it’s price it though. Exercise shouldn’t be only healthy for you, but it might also allow you to manage your blood sugar and relieve stress!

Remember:

    • A routine—including record keeping—is your friend.
    • All the time be prepared for lows with fast-acting carbs or emergency glucagon.
    • You’re not alone! Ask your healthcare team to allow you to spot patterns and make adjustments.

This content was made possible by Lilly, a Founding Partner of Beyond Type 2.

Beyond Type 2 maintains editorial control over its content.

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