A Change I don't understand

[deco]

I am a swimmer, I'm 62 and I count carbs. 1 carb = 4units of insulin =50 units BS. Today I got to the gym with a blood sugar of 208 primarily because I backed off 4 units of insulin at lunch in anticipation of my afternoon swim. 30 minutes of vigorous continuous swimming typically reduces blood sugar by by at least 100 units depending on how hard I work. Today I finished my swim and my blood sugar had gone up to 350. This has actually happened a couple of times in the past couple of weeks. When I started I was about 1hr into my lunch bolus of novolin short term. I should have been at 70-100 when I finshed. Any ideas about what's going on?
deco

[DCaplinger]

There is missing input. What specifically did you eat at lunch... and how many grams of carbohydrate, fat, fiber and protein were in the food? Also, what was your stress level like today? Were you feeling at all ill?

There are many factors that can cause our blood sugars to spike like that, some of which have to do with the types of foods we eat (glycemic index and fiber offset) and some of which are physical or psychological in nature.

Regards,

D

[deco]

1 carb + 15 grams of carbohydrates. I had a turkey sandwich and a glass of orange juice. About 4 carbs. Excercise has always brought blood sugar down for me, regardless. No stress though I did have low blood sugar before lunch.

[genie86333]

One possibility - your blood sugar may have dipped a bit too low causing your liver to dump some glucose into your bloodstream.

[Jan B]

I know that if your BG is too high before exercise, it can go up instead of down. A rule I've seen is to never exercise if you are over 250. I know you weren't, but . . .

It sounds like your meal was about 60 total carbs (4x15=60). I'm still thinking you were too high to begin with and that's why you went up instead of down.

[Jan B]

One possibility - your blood sugar may have dipped a bit too low causing your liver to dump some glucose into your bloodstream.

Could have been that too.

[BlueSky]

Further to Jan's comment, we become more insulin resistant when BG is high. Which is exercise doesn't reduce BG as much as you might expect. You could also be running out of insulin. Reducing your insulin injection before exercise could mean that there is not enough insulin to process the carbs you consumed, so BG goes up. This is usually accompanied by fatigue.

I always have my usual amount of insulin before exercising, and I eat as much carbo as I need to get BG as high where I want it to be. If necessary, stop half way through your swim and consume some more carb.

[deco]

Good input. Especially about the liver dump...hadn't thought of that because of the previous low....I think that was the case the other time it happened.
Thanks all of you I really appreciate the help.

[deco]

The Ultra Touch UltraSmart is great. I called One Touch, and told them I was having trouble remembering my shots, not to take it but if I took it. I use a pen and I forget. I needed a way to record my shot, They exchanged my old meter for the Ultra Secret. It took me some work and some time to remember to log my shots, but I kept working on it and now the shot includes logging and I can trust it. The key is to get so you trust it.

[Rips]

I would say liver dump. Also, I notice while MTB riding, if I am doing lots of hills (leg muscles on over drive), I am burning WAY more carbs than I thought. I take an energy bar in this case.

Also, keep an eye on your readings at 4 to 5 hours after exercise as this is when a huge drop occurs with me.