Suggestion for doing exercise

[mkudsy]

I wake up at about 3am this morning and did a little sport (Fitplus treadmill) for about 20mins. After a little rest (around 20mins) I had a light meal at 4.00am (for ramadan). I was surprised when I took the meter at 5 my BG was 220. One hour later (6am), after about 40mins car driving on empty road, I measured again, my BG was only 82.
Where have the glucose disappeared? Is it bad for D person to do sport not long/immediately after meal? Your suggestion is appreciated

[foxl]

This sounds like a variation of typical DP, where your body is churning out glucose induced by corticosteroids, but in this case the corticosteroid release was further enhanced by the exercising ... just a guess ... but a fairly informed one?

Could you eat a bit before exercising? I am not that familiar with Ramadan -- but if you could, it might help. Otherwise I would hold off exercising until afternoon (if you can work out and wait to eat) or night after your post-dusk meal.

[Subby]

I wake up at about 3am this morning and did a little sport (Fitplus treadmill) for about 20mins. After a little rest (around 20mins) I had a light meal at 4.00am (for ramadan). I was surprised when I took the meter at 5 my BG was 220. One hour later (6am), after about 40mins car driving on empty road, I measured again, my BG was only 82.
Where have the glucose disappeared? Is it bad for D person to do sport not long/immediately after meal? Your suggestion is appreciated

All important question - what was your BG before starting the exercise?

I am a type 1 and things are probably working a bit differently in my case, but even apart from meals I find it common for small amounts of certain exercise to raise my BG in the next few hours. My basic understanding, is that the body mobilises glucose in preparation for fuel-burning activity. If you don't continue that activity, you have an excess of glucose in your system and are doing nothing to expend it. Your body has to work out other ways to get rid of it... which diabetic bodies may not be so adept at. So, high BGs.

The reason your post made me think of this is because if I do 15 minutes on the exercise bike, I am very likely to have high BGs in the next 6 or so hours: if I do 20 minutes, I may or may not: and if I do 25 minutes, I will almost certainly have a downward movement in my BG over the next few hours. It seems that at 25 I have definitely burnt off this initial mobilisation of glucose release, and am also reaping the benefits of improving my glucose and insulin uptake.

That exercise, and those times, are I suspect completely variable for the individual and the exercise type and amount (although I'd guess it was in the range of 10 or 20 or so minutes given moderate exercise). For you, if this repeats and if this is related to what is going on, I wonder if it is worth changing your exercise routine to see if something a bit different yields better BG results in the following hours.

Another comment I'd make is I avoid exercise around meals, especially after meals, as it can change insulin action and make things troublesome either up or down: but I would think this more specific to someone injecting insulin: I don't know about a non insulin taking type 2 situation.

[mkudsy]

Would you tell me what DP stands for? Thanks

[foxl]

Would you tell me what DP stands for? Thanks

Dawn Phenomenon -- as your body wakes, it releases corticosteroids which cause your blood sugar to rise in preparation for the day. Sorry I used the abbreviation without thinking!

[mkudsy]

That's alright. I have just now read about Dawn Phenomenon. Hopefully I do not have it. I plan to make measurement series regarding this. Thanks

[Subby]

Dawn Phenomenon -- as your body wakes, it releases corticosteroids which cause your blood sugar to rise in preparation for the day. Sorry I used the abbreviation without thinking!

Linda, you mention corticosteroids but not growth hormones? Has the growth hormones contribution theory been shown to be wrong?

Mkudsy do you normally get this spike at this time of day, when you don't exercise?

[mkudsy]

Usually no. My morning (wake-up) numbers are in between 80-90, and after doing exercise are 100-110. 1hr pp 90-110 2hr pp 80-90. The BG remains almost stable during the day of fasting (80-90). So far, I found 2 times the BG spike above 140 (They are 170 after a dawn meal as I wrote in other topic in this forum, and the one I wrote in this topic)

[foxl]

Linda, you mention corticosteroids but not growth hormones? Has the growth hormones contribution theory been shown to be wrong?

Mkudsy do you normally get this spike at this time of day, when you don't exercise?

Sorry Subby, shouldn't've left out growth hormone! :T

[Subby]

Well, I don't suppose it's hugely important anyway, just had to double check you hadn't seen some new research that discounted it... you never know with you!

[slwood321]

I found your explanation about the 15, 20 & 25 minutes exercise interesting. It explains why when I do 15 minutes in the morning I'll high instead of low.

Normally, as a non-insulin using type 2, if I excercise for 30 minutes my numbers will drop to near 100 regardless of how high (140-250) I was before exercise. Therefore if I want a treat that is high carb, I will eat it about 30 minutes before exercising.

Thanks for the info.

[mkudsy]

Hmmm, looks like type 2 needs sufficient time of exercise to consume glucose in blood circulation.
To Slwood,what was the highest BG level just before you started an exercise? Is it save to start exercise when u'r BG 250?

[slwood321]

My doctor said yes, as long as I was sure to drink lots of water before and during. She said your blood gets a little thicker due to excess sugar and can cause dehydration if you exercise too long. Drinking water is always a good idea anyway as it is easy on the kidneys.

I've done a lot of reading on exercise and diabetes. Most of the advice about exercising when you are high seem to be related to type one diabetics and some conditions that can occur when their BG gets too high and they don't have any insulin in their system. But, there is no general consensus about whether it its safe, so I would definitely ask your doctor the next time you see him or her. Good Luck.