My story begins in a very peculiar way… (I’m in Canada, so values are mmol/L)
Sometime in 1998, my Father at the age of 55 was diagnosed as T2D, with fasting sugars at 6.1, and A1C.
In May 2003 - I had my annual physical, Dr was a bit concerned about my weight (I was about 205lbs), blood pressure (borderline), cholesterol (borderline), but not my blood sugars (I was increasing, but not high.
Through out the summer, I had a highly stressful project, was in the Gym 2-3h/d, was getting really thirsty, and taking Gatorade to keep electrolytes up. (Oh, and eating like crap).
Sept 2003, I get on a scale and I’m 184, that was not right… and I’m urinating lots, vision is crappy, always thirsty… and still at the gym lots but burning out. Mom recommends I see my Doc, but he’s off, and replacement was reluctant to give me bloodwork.
Dec 2003, I finally get Req for bloodwork… and results come in… I’m at 23.5, high A1C, and Ketones. - but the Temp Dr. is too laid back to make decisions.
3 days later, My father gets me in with his endocrinologist, and I’m at a clinic 2 days later, on MDI (Novorapid + NPH), with the next 6-12 months being significant learning path.
March 2004, while travelling in France for a wedding, a guest (also the town drunk I was told) shows me his pump – My gut feeling was negative. As I was moving in the direction of IT Security, my concerns around safety, and hackability of such devices increased,
2004-2011, I switch to NovoRapid+Levemir and eventually Lantus, and by now, I started to be more interested in pumps as I did lots of research.
September 2011, I decided to start on Medtronic, MMT754, and over the next few years made a number of attempts to use the CGM, but my body did not react well (burning as a result of adhesive, and infections where the punctures were) - thus giving up on CGM in under 2 years.
By fall 2016, Diabetes Fatigue was starting to set in, but I did not realize it… and i was missing appointments, and stopped most follow-ups, but still self managing…
Summer 2022, my A1C was up to 8.6, and in the previous few years had seen a few friends/acquaintances go through severe complications, my pump resetting every battery change, so I needed to replace it. I decided I needed to be back in control.
Fall 2022, I researched new Generation of Pumps and CGMs, evaluating both G6 and Libra 2, and chose to continue with the Libra 2 until I decided on a pump…
Jan 2023, A1C was now 7.8 (Thanks to CGM), and I decided to go with OmniPod Dash (And stay on Libra 2)
One week into Podding, I’m loving it, no more snagging tubes, but the rapid changes are a pain (I last about 2-2.5d). Now, I’m preparing to study looping, and seriously look into it.
Some Things to note:
I am unable to do Cardio for long (or significant weight training), as my body gets stuck in “Fight or Flight” for 6-8h, keeping my blood sugars hovering about 10-12.
I have found that Yoga significantly reduces my stress and blood sugars.
My BP is rarely about 120/80.
I walk lots (sometimes brisk) to help keep blood sugars down.
Great introduction and timeline of your diabetes journey. Welcome to the group here. I have a few thoughts about your last 4 points:
I can understand that weight (resistance) type workouts can cause stress that will elevate blood glucose levels, but for me at least aerobic/cardio type exercises tend to not stress me physically and are a drain of emotional stressors. The only way that doesn’t happen is when I do hard intervals, but then that is pushing myself in the anaerobic zone.
Good for you doing Yoga. Anything that reduces stress is good for stabilizing blood glucose levels. And the walking. I am in south central Texas with normally fairly mild winters. (Ironically trying to ice today). Are you doing your walks outside or on the dreadmill? I find being in a more natural setting is more beneficial.
Good that your BP is in a good range. Mine has never been high, but my doctor prescribed (off label) a very low dose of an ACE inhibitor, Lisinopril, because it has a protective effect on the kidneys. That is something to consider.
Thanks for the offer @Eric , but it seems my issue is hereditary,
I’ve managed to slowly increase my cardio endurance to about 15m (before needing to keep heartrate down for at least half hour). Weight training, is a different stress type for me, though I’m working on resistance based exercises instead.
I try to stick to the natural/outdoors, but sometimes do indoor walks within my condo unit. I hate dreadmills as well (Love the name). I also bike lots when weather cooperates (I use the local bikeshare program to its limit).
With Yoga, one instructor at my work was so good, I would actually suspend my pump 30m before class, as it wasn’t uncommon to see 3-4 mmol/L drop in blood sugar levels over the 45m class. Even when I cant, I just “visualize” the doing the class while seated, and I have about 75% of the positive impact.
With BP, my fathers side of the family has always had High BP, so I tend to border low on sodium intake, and Dr. does not feel I need to consider ACE inhibitors for likely another 10y.
Welcome @Al.S! That is a story. That is an incredibly lazy physician that saw the weight loss and the high A1c and does nothing. Wow, it doesn’t get any more clear than that. Glad your dad got you in with an endo. At least it prevented being hospitalized with DKA.
As Eric mentioned earlier, the high blood sugar can be solved with insulin dosing technique. There’s some art to it, but there are folks here who have figured out how they can keep good BG during and after any kind of exercise. I’m sure they’ll offer ideas if you want that.
@Al.S You’ve already received an appropriate welcome, but add my own! All I can say, “Wow! That’s an incredible journey and experience you’ve had!” I echo some of the comments: some docs just have no idea! You’ll find a lot of different opinions here on everything, and it sounds like you can add a lot from your own experiences.
If I can help with any questions on Looping, let me know…I’ve been on Loop-dev about a year using Omni Dash, moved to Loop 3.1 about a week ago (odd decimals are dev work, even are released for general use). There have been several advances with Loop this past month, including Tidepool Loop FDA clearance (still a ways off for public use). Other Loop users are here, but other pumps and MDI of different insulin persuasions are as well.
But I went down the exercise path, and when I say my Blood sugars “hover” about 10-12 mmol/L for that 6-8hr period … maybe I should explain better… as there was some controlled clinical research involved too (although, no formal paper was written).
Background:
The normal human body, when under any form of stress, responds by elevating certain hormones, (and sugars) - in what most call Fight or Flight response
The normal human body, once the stress is gone, tends to return back to normal baseline after sometime… which can be from 15m to a couple hours.
Now here’s the fun part… (And it seems, how my body handles it…
If the source of stress is significant… but not prolonged (longer than 15m) then, I follow a normal human body pattern. (about 20-30m after my heartrate stops being elevated… etc)
If the source of stress is NOT physical activity related, there is some delay but again, back to normal pattern (about 40-60m after my heartrate stops being elevated… etc)
Yoga / Meditation definitely helps reduce stressors above, and bring me back to normal quicker.
If however, the stress is physical activity related (ie, Cardio) and prolonged (over 15m), then it seems my body gets stuck, and refuses to come back down to normal for about 6-8h (not even Yoga/Meditation helps much).
Now comes the “Clinical Part”, where a medical practitioners wired me up, including a CGM… put me through a series of tests… and measured vitals… over 4 weekends… (basically same set of tests… different methods of intervention:
Each weekend, started Friday at 16:00, consisted of a 1h workout, with 15m Cardio, followed an our after completing by a light balanced meal [Grilled fish, salad, mashed potatoes]. Followed by light evening activities (Rom Com movie) and sleep by 22:00 (wired up).
Each Saturday, Breakfast at 07:00, Boiled eggs, cheese, and bagel, milk. A 1.5h workout at 09:00, with 20m Cardio near the end. Lunch at 11:45 Grilled Chicken on a bun, with side Salad, mineral water. discussions until about 14:30, where a snack (fruits, and low sugar cookies/pastries). 2nd Workout at 16:00, lasting 1.75h, with 30m Cardio near the end, and evening routine same as Friday night.
Each Sunday, the Routine was similar to Saturday with following differences: Workout #1 was 2h, with about 45m of intermittent Cardio. Workout #2, was 2h, but with 2x 15m cardio (one about 5m in, the other at the end).
Monday Morning at 7am, again breakfast, a consultation, and I’m done by 10:00.
So there’s 5 Workouts (A=15, B=20, C=30, D=45, E=2x15).
My body would return to normal stress levels after A, E within an hour each.
My Body would continue with elevated heartrates for 6-8h after B/C/D
So… clinically here’s what was done over the 4 weekends:
Weekend 1, - No intervention, correction bolus only for meals.
Weekend 2, - Limited intervention - at 1h after exercise, correction applied.
Weekend 3, - Increased intervention - at 1h after exercise, and A 2nd correction.
Weekend 4, - Continuous Correction - starting at 1h after exercise.
So with workouts B/C/D – after corrections, my bloodsugars would come down for at most 30m, before going right backup to the 10-12 range.
In Weekend 4, I went through approximate 150u of Insulin after each of B/C/D (For a baseline, my normal intake is about 60-70u / day). So my body was actively counteracting the insulin.
This was prior to my start on a pump, but a lesson not to bother to intervene/correct if i find myself in that “Stuck” situation.
Since, I’ve very slowly brought my “Cardio” range to about 25m.
