Howdy from Atlanta,
How is everyone doing? Great question from Stella's mom, about why I wasn't back on the pump. In diabetes, there are a million ways to skin the cat. I had raced for 6 years on Lantus, and made a lot of mistakes, but more importantly learned a lot of lessons. So when I was on the pump, I found I was having a lot more lows on the bike, and then off the bike too which was causing me to eat way too much food. With Lantus, by making a 1 unit adjustment of Lantus/day, I can essentially make a .05 unit/hr basal adjustment, which is a big deal. I change my basal daily, and doing this on the pump for me is too much manual labor. I have done over 50,000 injections in my life, so 5-7 more a day, to me, is no big deal.
Also, why does exercise = less insulin: When exercising, the muscles become more sensitive to insulin, both basal and bolus. The body will naturally burn more calories per day, which means less basal needed, and the muscles are much more sensitive to insulin post exercise which = less bolus/meal. Not sure if there has been a science experiment, and I could be wrong, but that is my guess, and I have not had a doctor argue yet...
So the diabetes game: Last weekend I cut it a bit, and on Sunday was good. Blood sugars were up in the 200's, and I was eating a bit, but felt good. I have decided to start doing my 2nd shot of Lantus after my rides. So it is kind of a temp basal. Lately I have been doing 6 at night, and 3 in the afternoon. Tuesday I did that, and went pretty high on the ride up to 257, before I started trending down. I only had to eat about 400 calories on a 3 hour ride, and I was flying. Wed, I had a bit more basal, 7 units night, 3 in am. I went up to 220, before dropping to 150, and was eating a bit more. 800 calories on a 4 hour ride. After that ride I kept dropping, so I that night I dropped Lantus dose again to 6 units. Had to do a small bolus of .5 unit of Apidra in the middle of the night. Thursday was a 3 hour ride, and I can't really remember what was going on...ha Lots of activity this week. I have done yoga on Tues-Thurs, and Sunday this week. Stretching every am. Friday I only road for 1.5 hrs and was real tired, then Saturday did a mountain bike ride with my buddy John Martin!!! I figured this was going to be hard, and slowly rose my BG to 200 at the start. Within 20 minutes I ate a king size snickers, and 15 minutes later some other bar. Blood sugar was 220 trending up said the Navigator! So I began to drink water, until at some point I saw 287. For the last 2 hours, I did nothing but drink water, and dropped to 215. These #'s are a bit higher than I would like. I am obviously under insulinized, so I think the switch needs to be 7 units at night, and then 3 after ride of Lantus.
But the higher blood sugars are making me feel very, very good on the bike. But I don't want to completely sacrifice a good A1C for performance. If I could raise it to 5.8-6.0, I would be happy. Higher... not so sure. But that is me.
Yesterday a good friend got some great news, and I am happy for her. I got some bad news, and it was a rough day. All will be ok in the long run... The work week was pretty stressed. But the thing is, making time every day to ride, really, really helps. No matter how much crap is piled on, I have not given an inch when it comes to my riding, and yoga. So for anyone out there if the stress seems to pile up, I would encourage you to get out and ride a bike, take a walk, or bit the gym, as it puts everything else at ease.
Thanks for reading, and sorry for the jumble of #'s.
Have a great night, and Happy Holidays!!!
Phil
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