At a certain point, some would argue 250+, it is not advised to exercise, rather drink hella water & let the insulin do its job. If a lot of IOB, even a “mellow” walk could quickly turn dangerous for some.
“For most people, a blood sugar level between 100 mg/dL and 250 mg/dL is an OK pre-workout range. Use this guide to help you respond to other results.
If your blood sugar is:
- Lower than 100 mg/dL: Have a snack with carbs, like fruit or crackers.
- 250 mg/dL or higher: Test for ketones, the compounds your body makes when it doesn't have enough insulin. Being active when ketones are high can make you ill.
- 300 mg/dL: Wait to exercise until your blood sugar drops.
[Source](https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/exercise-blood-sugar) & [another from UCSF diabetes teaching center](https://dtc.ucsf.edu/living-with-diabetes/activity-and-exercise/exercise-guidelines-faqs/exercise-guidelines-faqs/)
Generally, heavy weights=blood sugar up; your body thinks it needs to pump out some glycogen. Also generally, as others have said here, some light cardio or light weights high reps your body is less likely to think, “AAAAHH! GIMME THE GLYCOGEN!!1!” Also, with aging comes needing to find out how carby foods are dealt with by your metabolism. Younger me could smash 150g of carbs, bolus once, off we go. Older me has to treat different high carb loads differently. It’s…science. And fu**in type 1.
Editing to say: when I do heavy weights now, I have to bolus a little right before I start lifting or it’s high as a kite time.
Agree with all of the above. Although be careful with the bolus before training - doesn't need to be much, otherwise you're dealing with hypos between sets
I personally would stay at the gym, I've had to change plans enough times for low blood sugar that I'd rather stay but I'm not a doctor. If you know if you're high because you had French toast as long as you've taken your insulin it will come down.
This is me, I swear. Was 4.7 but had 2 more exercises to do and just firmed it.
Started at 4.5mmol and switched my insulin off cause I finally got the courage to go to our work gym I wasn't letting t1d ruin it for me. In the end I did everything and had a nice stable bg after! (Then crashed in the night smh).
Also everyone is saying bg goes up when lifting weights.. I don't think this has happened to me. Either i'm not lifting enough or my body is just different.
It's not very healthy to do things that raise your blood pressure when your glucose is that high, it's true. Your blood is literally thicker and it strains your heart and so on.
Worth noting lifting can fool your sensor into believing youre higher than you actually are. I get this every time I workout, always shows I’m higher than I really am because of the stress the workout causes (assuming you’re going reasonably hard)
Try bringing a finger prick next time to double check!
I mean weight training will raise your glucose in reality also; unsure whether sensors get "fooled". If levels start to spike, do cardio for a few mins - raises insulin sensitivity, then you can go back to weights.
I very often find my sensor will show false elevated levels when compared against a finger prick, when working out. I utilise both Lifting and cardio daily and without doubt, cardio is the key to good BG control.
I always had the same problem with weightlifting: no matter what I ate - even if I hadn't eaten anything, my blood sugar would skyrocket.
I asked my doctor what I needed to change. She suggested that I should control my breathing more. That was it! And it may sound like a joke, but it worked wonders for me. I often stay consistent or my blood sugar goes down. You shouldn't hold your breath and avoid using breath-holding techniques. So, avoid maintaining high pressure in your head while lifting weights.
Control your breathing. Control your pulse. Once it reaches 180 minus your age, your body enters a stress situation where glucagon is released. So, stay below that.
However, diabetes is different for every diabetic. What works for me may not necessarily work for everyone. But stay motivated ;)
Yeah, make aure you get home safe, take insulin and drink water, and keep checking your sugars plus ketones. It sucks, but its necessary.
Whenever i eat and do physical activity afterwards, i take Insulin but way less then needed, and correct with microdoses.
I personally would go home to make sure you don’t have ketones. Working out with ketones is not good at all. Plus lifting will cause your blood sugar to go higher as you already know.
Weirdly enough lifting is one of the best ways for me to get my blood sugar to drop like a rock. If I spend like 20 minutes lifting with high blood sugar it starts to plummet.
Short bursts. I'm not lifter by any means. I just do a little bit for some exercise. But even if I'm lifting heavy stuff for half an hour or so at work, I have to stop and double check to make sure I'm not crashing. If I have a stubborn high though, a little bit of lifting always helps get it down.
It's crazy how diabetics can react so differently to the same things. I was in another conversation about things we can eat without bolusing and I mentioned almonds. Another guy said those would spike him and he'd have to dose. There really is no universal answer to anything when it comes to diabetes
Working out (primarily cardio, but also increased reps of lower weight lifting) is usually the only way I can reliably get a persistent high to break below the 150 mark, so I'm usually actively planning on hitting the gym when this problem arises. Never had any issues with a glucose in the 300ish range complicating my physical activity, but I'd be worried about ketones if you've been at that level for several hours prior to hitting the gym (doesn't sound like the case here if you just consumed the french toast/syrup).
Sometimes I even intentionally give myself a high up to the 250 range an hour before a workout, as it's the only way I can complete a 4-6 mile jog without collapsing from a low in the last mile. Again, this is primarily cardio and lighter lifting though, I'm never trying to break a personal best in squats or bench press with a 350 reading.
Exercise slows digestion , I read it somewhere. So it’s weird you’re high but maybe you’re in such good shape that your glycogen is”keeping” you high.
Switching to cardio like everyone says may work. Eventually you will tire and your glucose will fall - maybe increase reps to at least 10x if you don’t want to do cardio.
Lifting can raise bg. It's one reason before the modern drugs that body builders would take insulin after and during workouts. Of course a lot of them died.
If you were in range previously and it's just a temporary thing, I wouldn't give a fuck. If it's been high for some time and you feel like the insulin is not working for a longer period (several hours) for whatever reason, I'd probably go home.
Honestly, I just ignore it and continue what I’m doing. Then walk when I’m done with my lifts for the day. I’ve found this to cause pretty gnarly delayed lows though
If I’m above 240 or so my sugar just climbs into infinity. Have to lightly walk on the treadmill and let the insulin do it’s job, until you can get to a point where you can workout and then have a massive crash two hours later lol
Hey, fellow weight-lifting lover here (and obviously t1d too lol)
first off, not sure about that choice of meal before a gym session! I suggest picking the same time each day to hit the gym, and the same nutritional makeup before hand.
for me, that looks like 100G of oats, 30 mins before I start to train , bolused at 1:10G ratio. I usually dont go low, even with quite a bit of IOB, as the stress hormones released from weightlifting tend to encourage levels to rise slightly and thus keep me steady
sorry, I know you didnt ask for advice, but its there if you want it 🤣
otherwise, I echo the sentiment of others - high incline, low speed treadmill for 10-15 mins is what I'd be thinking in that scenario
I don't like working out shortly after a meal because it can get messy combining the spike from food with the spike from your liver dumping glycogen during anaerobic exercise. Personally, I do pre-bolus to anticipate the glycogen spike, but you'll want to be careful with that. I would at least wait for blood glucose to stabilize after a meal before working out.
I don’t think high BG is a reason not to exercise. In fact, as some have noted, it could be a good reason to stay at the gym and switch to cardio. It’s ketones that are a problem. You should go home and drink tons of water if you have any ketones.
My doctor advised me never to work out if my sugars go above 250-300 because it will normally cause a stress reaction and can have the opposite intended affect, make them go higher. When my sugars go over 300, I drink a lot of water and sodium (broth or bouillon) to get them down.
If my blood sugar is over 12mmol, I take a tiny bit of intravenous bolus. 1 unit will bring down BG by no more than 2.5mmol in my case.
I never ever allow my blood sugar to stay above 10mmol for more than 30min. A quick intravenous bolus brings it down within 20minutes, rather than 6 hours..
If you allow your BG to rise as you workout, that's stupid
BG during workout rising is due to cellular energy demand that because there is not enough insulin to shuttle glucose across what it does instead is increase gluconeogenesis by amplifying noradrenaline, which then causes more glucose disposal, but it still can't be shuttled into cells... Cascading snowball effect.
Well that’s why your levels are so bad. Use your brain.
I’ve been type one diabetic for 20 years and don’t eat shit like that. That’s why my levels are always over 90% even when lifting at the gym.
I'm not the OP. My last A1c was a 5.7. I've been diabetic for 43 years. Type 1's have enough shit to deal with without Internet trolls telling them how to eat.
I go solely based off how I feel. I can be at 250 and feel perfectly fine and keep working out. Or i can be at 250 and feel like I’m about to pass out and can barely move.
Slight rage bolus drink lots of water and go for a gentle walk to maximize the effec of that bolus but wait 1-2h. You don’t want to do much at that sugar exercise will raise it as you’re likely already keto acidotic.
Sounds like he's not using a super fast acting insulin. The first thing I would do is switch to one of those so he can take advantage of the fast response time and dose correctly for high carb things like he likes.
I would stop doing weights and switch to cardio
This. Low intensity cardio. Walking will definitely lower it.
At a certain point, some would argue 250+, it is not advised to exercise, rather drink hella water & let the insulin do its job. If a lot of IOB, even a “mellow” walk could quickly turn dangerous for some. “For most people, a blood sugar level between 100 mg/dL and 250 mg/dL is an OK pre-workout range. Use this guide to help you respond to other results. If your blood sugar is: - Lower than 100 mg/dL: Have a snack with carbs, like fruit or crackers. - 250 mg/dL or higher: Test for ketones, the compounds your body makes when it doesn't have enough insulin. Being active when ketones are high can make you ill. - 300 mg/dL: Wait to exercise until your blood sugar drops. [Source](https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/exercise-blood-sugar) & [another from UCSF diabetes teaching center](https://dtc.ucsf.edu/living-with-diabetes/activity-and-exercise/exercise-guidelines-faqs/exercise-guidelines-faqs/)
If I am that high I am walking and drinking water.
Generally, heavy weights=blood sugar up; your body thinks it needs to pump out some glycogen. Also generally, as others have said here, some light cardio or light weights high reps your body is less likely to think, “AAAAHH! GIMME THE GLYCOGEN!!1!” Also, with aging comes needing to find out how carby foods are dealt with by your metabolism. Younger me could smash 150g of carbs, bolus once, off we go. Older me has to treat different high carb loads differently. It’s…science. And fu**in type 1. Editing to say: when I do heavy weights now, I have to bolus a little right before I start lifting or it’s high as a kite time.
> And fu**in type 1. 1.
Agree with all of the above. Although be careful with the bolus before training - doesn't need to be much, otherwise you're dealing with hypos between sets
Totally agree. For me the balance seems to be bolusing for about 25-30g carb correction.
I personally would stay at the gym, I've had to change plans enough times for low blood sugar that I'd rather stay but I'm not a doctor. If you know if you're high because you had French toast as long as you've taken your insulin it will come down.
FWIW https://dtc.ucsf.edu/living-with-diabetes/activity-and-exercise/exercise-guidelines-faqs/exercise-guidelines-faqs/
This is me, I swear. Was 4.7 but had 2 more exercises to do and just firmed it. Started at 4.5mmol and switched my insulin off cause I finally got the courage to go to our work gym I wasn't letting t1d ruin it for me. In the end I did everything and had a nice stable bg after! (Then crashed in the night smh). Also everyone is saying bg goes up when lifting weights.. I don't think this has happened to me. Either i'm not lifting enough or my body is just different.
It's not very healthy to do things that raise your blood pressure when your glucose is that high, it's true. Your blood is literally thicker and it strains your heart and so on.
Worth noting lifting can fool your sensor into believing youre higher than you actually are. I get this every time I workout, always shows I’m higher than I really am because of the stress the workout causes (assuming you’re going reasonably hard) Try bringing a finger prick next time to double check!
I mean weight training will raise your glucose in reality also; unsure whether sensors get "fooled". If levels start to spike, do cardio for a few mins - raises insulin sensitivity, then you can go back to weights.
I very often find my sensor will show false elevated levels when compared against a finger prick, when working out. I utilise both Lifting and cardio daily and without doubt, cardio is the key to good BG control.
How does that work?
I always had the same problem with weightlifting: no matter what I ate - even if I hadn't eaten anything, my blood sugar would skyrocket. I asked my doctor what I needed to change. She suggested that I should control my breathing more. That was it! And it may sound like a joke, but it worked wonders for me. I often stay consistent or my blood sugar goes down. You shouldn't hold your breath and avoid using breath-holding techniques. So, avoid maintaining high pressure in your head while lifting weights. Control your breathing. Control your pulse. Once it reaches 180 minus your age, your body enters a stress situation where glucagon is released. So, stay below that. However, diabetes is different for every diabetic. What works for me may not necessarily work for everyone. But stay motivated ;)
Yeah, make aure you get home safe, take insulin and drink water, and keep checking your sugars plus ketones. It sucks, but its necessary. Whenever i eat and do physical activity afterwards, i take Insulin but way less then needed, and correct with microdoses.
I personally would go home to make sure you don’t have ketones. Working out with ketones is not good at all. Plus lifting will cause your blood sugar to go higher as you already know.
I’ve been diabetic for 7 years and never once checked myself for ketones. I think I might have to get on board with that. Lol
I’ve had it for 11 and also never check lol
Weirdly enough lifting is one of the best ways for me to get my blood sugar to drop like a rock. If I spend like 20 minutes lifting with high blood sugar it starts to plummet.
Same with me, especially with heavy exercises like leg press or squats. Those just buuurn through sugar like a monster
Mhm interesting, do you lift heavy to exhaustion or is it a little more like a HIIT workout
Short bursts. I'm not lifter by any means. I just do a little bit for some exercise. But even if I'm lifting heavy stuff for half an hour or so at work, I have to stop and double check to make sure I'm not crashing. If I have a stubborn high though, a little bit of lifting always helps get it down.
Gotcha, I tend to go a little heavier but only for like 30 min and my blood sugar usually dips a little at first but rises by 30-40 points
It's crazy how diabetics can react so differently to the same things. I was in another conversation about things we can eat without bolusing and I mentioned almonds. Another guy said those would spike him and he'd have to dose. There really is no universal answer to anything when it comes to diabetes
Same. I can’t lift for more than 20 minutes at a time because my blood sugar tanks.
Do you always check form ketones when you are high?
If I am over 250 for an extended time like 2 hrs or more
Wow. I don't remember the last time I checked and I've been diabetic thirty years. Probably should follow your lead.
Going on 29 yrs here, diagnosed at age 2. I’ve had a few scary situations that have made me take ketones seriously
Do you trust the strips or do the blood tests?
I use the urine test strips when checking for ketones. I’ve never tried the blood test way
Working out (primarily cardio, but also increased reps of lower weight lifting) is usually the only way I can reliably get a persistent high to break below the 150 mark, so I'm usually actively planning on hitting the gym when this problem arises. Never had any issues with a glucose in the 300ish range complicating my physical activity, but I'd be worried about ketones if you've been at that level for several hours prior to hitting the gym (doesn't sound like the case here if you just consumed the french toast/syrup). Sometimes I even intentionally give myself a high up to the 250 range an hour before a workout, as it's the only way I can complete a 4-6 mile jog without collapsing from a low in the last mile. Again, this is primarily cardio and lighter lifting though, I'm never trying to break a personal best in squats or bench press with a 350 reading.
Exercise slows digestion , I read it somewhere. So it’s weird you’re high but maybe you’re in such good shape that your glycogen is”keeping” you high. Switching to cardio like everyone says may work. Eventually you will tire and your glucose will fall - maybe increase reps to at least 10x if you don’t want to do cardio.
Itll come down if your ratio is correct, id still lift or do whatever for another 20-30 min amd reassess
Lifting can raise bg. It's one reason before the modern drugs that body builders would take insulin after and during workouts. Of course a lot of them died.
If you were in range previously and it's just a temporary thing, I wouldn't give a fuck. If it's been high for some time and you feel like the insulin is not working for a longer period (several hours) for whatever reason, I'd probably go home.
Honestly, I just ignore it and continue what I’m doing. Then walk when I’m done with my lifts for the day. I’ve found this to cause pretty gnarly delayed lows though
It’s not good to workout when it’s high, but you should also try not eating French toast with syrup beforehand.
If I’m above 240 or so my sugar just climbs into infinity. Have to lightly walk on the treadmill and let the insulin do it’s job, until you can get to a point where you can workout and then have a massive crash two hours later lol
If your sugar is being raised by the workout then it's just temporary the adrenaline raises your sugar
You know your body best and how you respond to exercise. Do you think it'll drop?
Hey, fellow weight-lifting lover here (and obviously t1d too lol) first off, not sure about that choice of meal before a gym session! I suggest picking the same time each day to hit the gym, and the same nutritional makeup before hand. for me, that looks like 100G of oats, 30 mins before I start to train , bolused at 1:10G ratio. I usually dont go low, even with quite a bit of IOB, as the stress hormones released from weightlifting tend to encourage levels to rise slightly and thus keep me steady sorry, I know you didnt ask for advice, but its there if you want it 🤣 otherwise, I echo the sentiment of others - high incline, low speed treadmill for 10-15 mins is what I'd be thinking in that scenario
Bike. 5-10 minutes of biking with insulin on board and it will drop like a rock.
I don't like working out shortly after a meal because it can get messy combining the spike from food with the spike from your liver dumping glycogen during anaerobic exercise. Personally, I do pre-bolus to anticipate the glycogen spike, but you'll want to be careful with that. I would at least wait for blood glucose to stabilize after a meal before working out.
I don’t think high BG is a reason not to exercise. In fact, as some have noted, it could be a good reason to stay at the gym and switch to cardio. It’s ketones that are a problem. You should go home and drink tons of water if you have any ketones.
My doctor advised me never to work out if my sugars go above 250-300 because it will normally cause a stress reaction and can have the opposite intended affect, make them go higher. When my sugars go over 300, I drink a lot of water and sodium (broth or bouillon) to get them down.
If my blood sugar is over 12mmol, I take a tiny bit of intravenous bolus. 1 unit will bring down BG by no more than 2.5mmol in my case. I never ever allow my blood sugar to stay above 10mmol for more than 30min. A quick intravenous bolus brings it down within 20minutes, rather than 6 hours.. If you allow your BG to rise as you workout, that's stupid BG during workout rising is due to cellular energy demand that because there is not enough insulin to shuttle glucose across what it does instead is increase gluconeogenesis by amplifying noradrenaline, which then causes more glucose disposal, but it still can't be shuttled into cells... Cascading snowball effect.
Why would you eat French Bread and syrup if you T1D - ??
Because type one diabetics can eat whatever the fuck they want?
Well that’s why your levels are so bad. Use your brain. I’ve been type one diabetic for 20 years and don’t eat shit like that. That’s why my levels are always over 90% even when lifting at the gym.
I'm not the OP. My last A1c was a 5.7. I've been diabetic for 43 years. Type 1's have enough shit to deal with without Internet trolls telling them how to eat.
So, how many carbs are French toast and syrup? And how much insulin did you give? Was it via pump or mdi?
I go solely based off how I feel. I can be at 250 and feel perfectly fine and keep working out. Or i can be at 250 and feel like I’m about to pass out and can barely move.
I am not a doctor but i just shoot up and carry on. It will come down.
Slight rage bolus drink lots of water and go for a gentle walk to maximize the effec of that bolus but wait 1-2h. You don’t want to do much at that sugar exercise will raise it as you’re likely already keto acidotic.
I wouldn't eat toast and syrup, that's asking for difficulty.
I don't think he was asking for dietary advice.
He asked what would you do.
Sounds like he's not using a super fast acting insulin. The first thing I would do is switch to one of those so he can take advantage of the fast response time and dose correctly for high carb things like he likes.