Newbie Exercise Question

[azmum]

My blood sugar levels seem to go up if I exercise too vigorously. Since I just recently got diagnosed, I am wondering if this is a normal phenomenon? :confused: I always thought you had to be careful when exercising that BSL's didn't go too low. Thank you!

[MarkMunday]

Yes. azmum, it is normal for vigorous exercise to cause your blood sugar to go up. If you push yourself hard, adrenalin levels increase. The effect is to prepare you physically for "fight or flight". And, when you get ready for action, your blood sugar goes up.

I used to work out in a gym. But I found that my control deteriorated, for this reason. I also found that exercising only 3 days a week was disruptive. Gentler exercise, like walking, works much better for me. 25 minutes every day is enough to keep insulin sensitivity and the metabolic rate at an elevated level. And my control has become a lot more stable .

Cheers,

Mark

[azmum]

Thanks, Mark. That makes complete sense to me. Glad to hear that your daily walking helps keep your levels more stable. I have done less vigorous activity the rest of the week, and it does seem to help. :thumbsup:

[gemini]

i read strenuous excersize can be bad for diabetics..so i have cut down on how hard i do it..

[mark-TN]

azmum-

Here is my experience with exercise. I strive for meticulous control so I test often. What your BG’s do during exercise is dependant on a lot of things; i.e.: What time of day, how much, the intensity, how much circulating insulin you have in your body, the kind of shape you are in, to name a few. According to the book “Pumping Insulin” by John Walsh he states that during exercise when your body is put under stress from exertion it will release stress hormones (i.e. adrenaline, etc.) only when the body senses low circulating insulin. This is in anticipation of a release of insulin from the pancrease to bring it back up to base line (the fight or flight response MarkMunday mentioned). The liver does not realize that our pancreases have lost the ability to release insulin, so unless you can anticipate this “liver dump” before hand with injected insulin your BG’s will rise due to the release of these hormones. Now if you have excess insulin floating around, this insulin is using up the circulating glucose in your body to fuel the muscles to perform your exercise and you can easily go low. This is where the balancing act comes into play.

I have found that I can not exercise in the morning. This is due to the dawn phenomenon. Shortly before or shortly after waking our bodies naturally release growth hormones. This uses up a lot of our circulating insulin, so for up to about 4 hours after rising our injected insulin is fighting to keep up with the effects of this hormone release plus the effects of our breakfast. For me any exertion in the morning makes it very difficult to stay in control. Also for me any exercise more than 3 hours after a meal bolus also causes problems and requires additional injected insulin to avoid a BG rise. What works best for me is going to the gym right after I eat dinner. My dinner bolus is usually at about 5:30pm. I start my workout (cardio and resistance training) usually at about 6:30-7:00pm and work out for about an hour. My body does not sense low circulating insulin so I do not experience this “liver dump”. I do however require (1) 4g glucose tablet right before starting and (1) more about midway thru. This is enough to avoid going low while also providing glucose for my circulating insulin to use to give my muscles the energy they need. I’ve had to build up to this and it took a few weeks to where I could stay euglycemic throughout my whole workout.

Any exercise is progressive. The more consistent and often you do the exercise the more efficient your body will get at doing the exercise. As you consistently train any muscle in your body you are building more and more glucose stores and more and more pathways for these muscles to get the glucose they need to function. As you build these pathways it takes less insulin to get the glucose into these cells. They become more efficient which means you become more sensitive to insulin. For example the first time you do bicep curls these muscles are very inefficient. It will take more insulin to get the require amount of glucose into these cells to perform the exercise. When you use up this circulating insulin from being so inefficient your liver will sense a low insulin level and release hormones in anticipation of the pancreas releasing more insulin (the fight or flight response) and your BG will rise. Over weeks of doing this you will eventually get to where it will take only a very small amount of insulin to get the glucose into these cells to do the same or more amounts of work and you will avoid this “liver dump”. If you exercise consistently everyday your body will maintain this extra sensitivity to insulin and you will require a smaller TDD which makes control that much easier. I read a story about a Type 1 mountain climber that has his muscles so meticulously trained that he can do extensive day long climbs and stay totally euglycemic without addition insulin or glucose intake.

Exercise is just one more complicated part of this disease. This is a very complex topic which I am always learning about. Of course our bodies will all act differently than anyone else’s, but there are a lot of general rules that hold true for just about everyone, such as the fight or flight response and building up insulin sensitivity. It takes a lot of testing and consistency to find out what works for you. I hope this helps out some.

Mark

[azmum]

mark-TN

Thank you for your very informative response. I have read about the Dawn Phenomenon and kind of figured that might be going on with me. This happens in both Type 1 and Type 2?

Exercising later in the day makes a lot of sense. It's encouraging to hear how others have gotten their diabetes under control. The part I am getting a little frustrated with is wanting to get things under control as soon as possible and thinking I must not be working hard enough at it! :eek: Again, thank you for your response, it definitely had a calming effect!

[decimaldancer]

My diabetic educator said to make sure I drank pleanty of water before, during and after exercise to control bg levels.

[gemini]

since it's now winter i actually don't drink much plain water..maybe a glass here or there...i prefer to drink water with something in it like coffee or cocoa hmm...

[decimaldancer]

You might speak to your doctor or diabetic educator for confirmation.

Mine said that caffine, being a diuretic actually removes water from your system. Coffee and cocoa booth have caffine.

She gave me a water bottle that holds a pint and a half of water and told me to drink 4 of them a day. Then she relented and said if I drank a cup or two of coffe or tea and ate a lot of fruit, I could probably get away with just two.

Well I have managed two a day and my morning bg levels the last few days were 125-140. They were about 150-160 before that and hanging around 180-200 when I started.

[mark-TN]

mark-TN

Thank you for your very informative response. I have read about the Dawn Phenomenon and kind of figured that might be going on with me. This happens in both Type 1 and Type 2?



azmum-

Yes the Dawn Phenomenon is very common for both Type 1 and Type 2. It is differnet for everyone, from non at all to very severe. I think mine falls somewhere in the middle.

Diabetes is very complex and it takes time to figure out what works and what doesn't work. The important thing is that you are making an effort. The control will come with time as it rarely, if ever, comes overnight. Keep searching for answers and you will eventually find them.

Take Care.

Mark

[may]

Mark is right...
We have to test and test and test to see what is right for us.
"We are all different."
I would carefully test after the fruit she suggested, as fruit really shoots me up. I can "NOT" tolerate fruit or fruit juice.
Sometimes I will have just a section of an orange or tangerine, but never a half or whole.