Type I Diabetes and Exercise
jesslintch
Posts: 63 Member
My husband and I have decided to follow a Ketogenic WOE. He is a Type I Diabetic and has a question about exercise. As a cyclist, he spends 1-2 hours on his bike during a workout. He generally turns his insulin pump off and then still must rely on Gatorade gel packs or gummies to keep his blood sugar from dipping too low. Of course, just one of these is 20 g of carbs. How do others handle this dilemma or are there any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
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That seems pretty tricky to pull off. Has he read Bernstein's book? He's a low-carb MD with T1D:
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Bernsteins-Diabetes-Solution-Achieving/dp/0316182699/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372080802&sr=1-1&keywords=richard+bernstein
In theory, he can lower his need for glucose and insulin, but obviously not to zero. The brain needs about 40g/d of glucose even when keto-adapted, so I would be hesitant to recommend any sort of aggressive change in his approach to exercise.0 -
Could he just set a temporary new basal rate for the pump based on the reduced need for insulin? I know my daughters pump has a few basal rate options for exercise or overnight differences.
But he should consider wearing a CGM if he has one while he's adjusting and getting to know how this new way of eating will affect things. It could also automatically suspend the pump if BG is dropping. I don't know if he has the kind that works like that though.
My daughter won't even try to go under 150g a day, but I know it would be so helpful for her if she would track more strictly and cut back abut more. For her, 150g carbs is still 300 units of insulin a day, plus any needed for corrections and slow acting insulin too. She doesn't wear her pump anymore because she didn't like it. Silly girl would rather take 6+ injections a day and leave that insanely expensive piece of equipment in a box collecting dust!0 -
Thanks! Wabmester, he is currently reading that book! He began it for a grad school project and it is what got us both started. I don't know that he has reached a part with information about adjusting for exercise. I'll have him look.
Sunny_Bunny_, I've sent him a screen shot. He understands better than I do. He does wear a Dexcom. We are amazed at how even it is after just one week.
I appreciate the input from you both.0
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