With snow comes shoveling, and with shoveling comes hypoglycemia, aka low blood glucose. Yesterday I shoveled three times – morning, mid-day, and late afternoon. I think it finally stopped snowing during the night. Then at 1:30 this morning, when I awoke with a low blood glucose, I remembered the lag effect. And it hadn’t let up as of 9:30 this morning when I was still low!
The lag effect is a situation where extended periods of activity on one day cause low blood glucose many hours later (sometimes up to 24 hours later). The lag effect is not a reason to avoid being active, rather be aware of times when this might happen; prepare for treating lows, use a temporary basal decrease (if you are on an insulin pump), or eat a little more.
If only I had timed this better. A perpetual low tomorrow would have been nice!