The months fly by and as we head towards summer and Christmas I thought it time to do something that I never thought I’d do and I joined the gym..... I’ve always been more interested in group or team training but as I have time it is the moment to do 2 thing -
1. Get fit and increase the strength in my legs after getting the knowledge that my MS has taken effect on my left leg and weakened the hamstring and calf.
2. Try to lose a minimum of 20 kgs 😬
Now the first one is easy enough with determination and a good plan... the second though is a little more daunting due to the fact I have to manage my BGL’s and insulin intake while doing intense workouts... what does make it a lot easier though in both mentally and physically is doing it with my Medtronic 640g with sensor. Let me explain this a little further.
Around 12 years ago I went on a similar path and lost considerable weight however at the time I was on MDI with only manual bgl teats. As you will know this information is good when you do the test however you loose the ability to know what is happening at any time inbetween the tests and this is where my problems occurred. As the body makes its own mind up for when it will loose the weight it caught me off guard on numberous occasions which saw the worst hypo’s I’ve had in my time with T1. They would hit in the middle of the night, in the morning or afternoon as a matter of fact any time at all. This was both a time of achievement and fear because everything had to change and I had to do it half blind.
This time though I am put at ease with Smartguard on my hip. I have been working out doing a rotation of high cardio, group training and weights 4 - 5 days a week for the last 3 weeks and my blood sugar levels have been great averaging between 4 and 6 day and night. I have been reducing insulin intake on the nasal rates as required or as a pattern is formed. When I say a pattern I mean if I see the same thing happening for 3 consecutive days then I will make the change to the settings. This could be to the basal or bonus rates but depends on the situation.
Now I mentioned earlier I had Smartguard on my hip and this is actually a massive piece of mind while I am going through this and pushing my body further.... the sensor gives me the information to make changes where needed however the algorithms that predict a low before it happens is a true life saver. I wake to the morning and reach down to take a look through to see what my levels had been doing in my sleep. I see a fairly straight line with a few dips. In those dips my pump automatically shut down and then restarted when my levels were back into safe range. Now you could think that by shutting off the insulin then you could shoot up high but the algorithm takes it into consideration and sees my numbers sit between 5 and 6 on return. To many people this may sound weird but to not have to treat a low and to have the technology to do it for you is such a great relief. I still treat some stubborn hypos but at the same time if I do that I will restart the pump manually so that I’m not double treating which will cause a high.
So there has been a few other things I have noticed while I have been doing my workouts -
1. While doing weight work outs with cardio at the beginning and end my blood sugar levels will raise slightly during the workout and by eating high protein afterwords I am able to maintain an even level for another 4 hours or so.
2. High cardio such as spin bike classes do have the ability to drop my blood sugar during the session so keeping an ear out for my pump to shut off before a low is also a reassuring sign that I have the technology to help me through all I can push myself through.
So far this has only strengthened my satisfaction with the diabetes management that I have chosen with the 640g pump with CGM. It give both me and my family confidence that things will be ok.
