Swimming always drops K's blood sugar levels, sometimes worryingly low. She has to ingest quite an amount of carbs pre-swim and, obviously, check her bg's before, during and after a swim. K also tends to stay low all evening and even the next day after swimming.
Yesterday we went for a long bike ride. I didn't expect her to join her brothers and I until she heard we were cycling to her cousins (about 3kms) to pick them up & cycle in the local park (another 2.5kms or so), a round trip of about 11kms (about 7 miles).
I knew this would be a long cycle for K and that her BG would have to be watched.
We started off at 12:20p.m.with a reading of 11.3 (204). Not only did we not treat we also had 15grams of carbs (2 biscuits) uncovered.
At 12:52 we go to my sisters; BG 7.3(131) - gave 21grams (3 biscuits) again uncovered.
At 13:28 we stopped in the park - yet another test - this time we were at 5.4mmol(98). Flip-sakes, 3 jelly babies (15grams) and 3 more ginger nuts (21 grams) - still no insulin.
We cycled back to my sisters - 14:07 - reading was now 5.8 (105) and we still had a 3km cycle home...My sister made K a ham & cheese sandwich; 32 grams of carbs (uncovered), and off we went home.
On reaching home (14:55) we tested yet again (now at 5 tests in 2.5 hours!!) - K was at 8.3 so i figured yippee, an absolute carb fest but we kept to good numbers.....big mistake on my part.
K tested before we went out for a meal at 16:39 - she had jumped to 17.9 (322) and, despite corrections, stayed in the 10-13 range until that night (190-240).
So, cycling is different to swimming....yes K needs even more carbs during a cycle, but doesn't go low afterwards; or else (more likely) i overestimated the carb need and should have at least half covered that last ham sandwich. Another explanation though, is that we are not giving enough carbs for swimming, and should just expect a post exercise high afterwards.....
A good bit more experimenting required; pity it takes a blood poke each time we want to know what is going on.....
The good part is.....enjoyment all round.....
This is what I love the CGM for... It's great to be able to feed Elise food on the fly without needing to do a finger poke each time. As long as we know the CGM is accurate (and the one we use is almost always right on), then we feel comfortable not checking.
ReplyDeleteWe have the same problem when Elise plays soccer, mostly low during the game, then she usually goes high from all the uncovered carbs.
But you're right, it's worth it if they're having fun