opinions?

[vegasvic]

It was a good run. I was dx in 2000 as a type2 and I think I’ve finally reached the point where I’m going to have to start injecting! Oh joy.

At 46 y/o, 5’10”, 195 lbs I am an aging not-quite-athlete. My morning sugars were always high so I started exercising in the evening, you know, get the bs low and the early am climb won’t be so bad. This doesn’t really work anymore. I’ve tried the extend chips/bars and they are a hit and miss proposition.

This evening I started exercising at 163mg/dl with a brisk 30 minute walk. When finished I was at 113 mg/dl. I ate a couple sticks of celery and took my metformin ER 1000mg, glyburide 10mg, simvastatin 20mg. Hard to say what it’ll be at in the morning, 140-190, who knows.

I’m not over the hill yet so I’d like to exercise harder but when I do the numbers get worse. Before I began yesterday I was at 134mg/dl, I did a walk/jog for 30 minutes or so (really, not very strenuous) and an hour later before bed I’m at 228mg/dl. I take my meds. The next morning, about 7 hours later I’m at 203mg/dl.

I believe in the long run I’m better off getting my ht rate up around 150-160bpm for 30 minutes several times a week than only 120-130 that I get from a brisk walk. You know it has to be better for your cardiovascular system. Wouldn’t I be better off exercising harder and dealing with the highs (and ultimately insulin of some sort) then just walking and MAYBE avoiding insulin use?

Opinions?

Thanks
vic

[Caravaggio]

My personal view is to opt for the lower heart rate. It seems your body thinks so as well. I don't think that the higher HR is necessarily better for your cardiovascular system. Even if it is, what about the rest of your body? If your body can't cope with a high HR, maybe your cardiovascular system is not benefitting.

Try running at the lower HR. If that's not possible (and I know how difficult it can be for runners to slow down or run at a very easy pace), then walk or brisk walk first then slowly integrate running while keeping a lower HR.

I've been running a long time and I've just recently learned to stick to a lower HR. I very slowly picking up speed while maintaining that HR, and back off if my HR goes higher. The exception is when I do speed work, which I no longer do very often and for no longer than 20 min (with 15 min warm up and 15 min cooldown).

[vegasvic]

It was at 180mg/dl this am.

Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it. I guess I feel that as long as I am able to/want to exercise harder I probably should. I have a You're-really-not-exercising-if-you're-not-sweating, mentality. It's served me well up until I became a diabetic.

Maybe its a psycholgical thing but i feel if i slow down too much I'll turn into my dad. I haven't seen him exercise recreationally in 35 years and for the last 10 years he's been in pretty rough shape. I guess I want to be enjoying a better quality of life when I'm in my 70's.

I'm a health professional so i see a lot of the older population. I want to breathe better, I want to motivate better, I want to be in better physical condition then what i see.

Well, maybe this is a conversation I should have with my endocrinologist, not that he'll spare the time to actually "talk" with one of his patients. Doctors...

thanks
vic

[jenb]

Hi Vic - If I don't do a little cardio in the a.m., my BG runs high for the rest of the day. Perhaps you can try splitting yours into a p.m. and a.m. segment.

Jen