I’ve long been a big eater in the bike , and just bought myself a CGM to better understand my sugar levels
Most of the time my readings are remarkably average.
However, one surprise I’ve noticed is how my blood sugar crashes to <70 within an hour after my big rides (blood sugar also spikes crazy high while riding, which I’m sure is related to 100g+ carbs / hour).
Is the post ride blood sugar crash normal? I usually refuel w carbs / protein right after the ride, but maybe I need more fuel
OK, wow. So I’m a nurse. I can’t really help with relation to spikes and stuff, but if you’re telling me you’re crashing below 70, I’m getting worried about that. Of course, all my experience is with known diabetics, generally in a hospital setting, so hardly apples to apples here.
I feel my blood sugar probably crashes as well after intense, long duration exertion. I did a 56/4 mile brick today and my lunch was French toast and I haven’t stopped sucking down Gatorade since I got back. I also haven’t checked my blood sugar.
To my knowledge, I am not a diabetic (yet) but I am getting my A1c checked later this week because I have felt my blood sugar has gotten wonky this summer. But that could also be because I cranked up my training for IMAZ so my workouts have gotten longer and I don’t have my nutrition/hydration strategy dialed in yet. (Only two months to go. YIKES!)
My dad was a diabetic and I think I have his glucometer and supplies around here somewhere. If I run across them, I will probably track my blood glucose for a week or two as well.
Mine would drop to around 30 during or after. I would get dizzy, fast pulse, tunnel vision and extreme weakness where i would have to laydown during workouts because i couldn’t even sit up. Had it my whole life so just seemed normal to me. I would down gels, mountain dew, snickers, fruit and any sugars and wait 10ish minutes before i could get up and start moving again. Tried low carb and all that went away. I use the blood glucose meter to find what makes me spike 0, 30, 60, 90 minutes after eating it. Strangely, honey barely causes any spike in glucose for me. Test different sugars and see what your body handles best. I blame my shitty diet growing up as I was very picky, but knocking on 50 years i feel lucky to find a way around it.
One thing that’s annoying about this sensor (Stelo) is I can only see data from the past 24hrs and can’t go back further.
I’ve only been wearing the sensor for a week, and have noticed it twice so far. Both times I ate well, it was very hot and had >200 for parts of the workout.
Is the goal to try and fuel so that blood sugar doesn’t raise that high?
I have diabetes all over my family too, and I’ve what’s been curious about it for myself. The Stela CGM is available without a prescription and $100 for a month. I was eager to try it out for a month … besides this topic, and how my body responds to whiskey vs vodka, it’s pretty unremarkable data
not directly answering your question but do you sometimes ever get incredibly hungry just before bed or in the middle of the night (waking up in the middle of the night)? a sports nutri told me when that happens its your blood sugar crashing and your body is just madly funnelling sugars into the cells for recovery, it cannot hold enough sugar in the blood. usually only when doing a bit more workout than usual I find that happens for me
yes i always go to sleep on a full stomach. i dont eat meat so what the sports nutri said to me is that i should make sure i have something with protein right before bed, a glass of soy milk usually does the job for me if i still have any hunger after dinner has gone down. paid a shit load of money to go see the sports nutri and they didnt have any concern with eating right before bed. tbh i am not hungry on mornings i dont go out and do workout - takes till around 11am for my appetite to come back
“- takes till around 11am for my appetite to come back” isn’t that the oddest thing? you know you need the cals, yet stomach isn’t ready for it yet. i’ll just go to sleep early, knowing i’ll wake around midnight and slaughter my kitchen. food never tastes better than during those episodes! not diabetic, so maybe not helpful.
Good Luck mvenetta!