After a workout - blood sugar rises...

AJ21 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 09:59 AM

i'm curious to know if this happens to you guys (or if i'm just the lucky one who gets this) (note: it doesn't ALWAYS happen... about 60% of the time)
So I eat my breakfast, cut my basal and bolus in half and get ready to do my exercise in the a.m.
I work out and get off after 45 minutes on the treadmil and my blood sugars are at a great 4-7.
I then go and shower and i test and my blood sugars have shot up to anywhere from 8-16.
I know I asked my nurse about this once and she said it's normal...
I just totally forget her reasoning as to why this happens....
am i alone on this?

Scratch · #2 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 10:09 AM

Exercise and the rise in heart rate can be a signal to the liver to supply more glucose for energy and I've had some times where it seems like the liver doesn't get the message to stop pumping out extra sugar.

You might also consider not eating unless necessary until after your workouts.

For myself for the most part I try to avoid have any extra bolus insulin my system if possible.

Also, eating after your workouts is generally favored based on the principles that after exercise your body is most receptive to restocking glycogen and using protein to begin repairing muscle tissue. Eating prior to working out doesn't take advantage of that.

AJ21 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 10:11 AM

hmmm thanks for that.
Also, i'm on the pump (that probably makes more sense as to why i cut my basal and bolus)

i'm scared to work out w/o eating first, cause when I wake up my blood sugars are usually (knock on wood) between 4-8 so....

Scratch · #4 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ21

hmmm thanks for that.
Also, i'm on the pump (that probably makes more sense as to why i cut my basal and bolus)

i'm scared to work out w/o eating first, cause when I wake up my blood sugars are usually (knock on wood) between 4-8 so....

I think it's fine to eat something before working out if you need to push your glucose level up. Of course, we're all individual, and my experience and testing has me aim to try to be around 140 mg/dl or almost 8 mmol prior to working out. So if I'm below that, I'll eat something that's rapidly absorbed and do my workout.

thomasb · #5 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 11:42 AM

I work out every morning as well, 1.5 hours of weight lifting and some cardio. I really think you should eat before. You are not going to perform good if you do not have any energy for the body to use. Yeah, glucose get's released as you workout, more so if you lift weight or do anaerobic exercise. You might want to try and not cut the bolus so much, in order to have active insulin i the body when you workout.
I eat a huge breakfast, and bolus for that. I will usually have around 0.6 units of active insulin onboard when i start the workout(that is, i use about 8 units a day.) I'll very seldom go low during exercise, but i will drop pretty soon when i get home.
45 min on the treadmill will probably not build a lot of muscle though, but eating is always recommended within about 90 minnutes after a workout, so i've read.

It seems to differ greatly from person to person how working out affects you. Test and learn, test and learn....

BlueSky · #6 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ21

... I eat my breakfast, cut my basal and bolus in half and get ready to do my exercise in the a.m....

Have you considered that you could just be running low on insulin? Insulin requirements increase during the recovery period after exercise. I normally have a recovery protein shake after a workout and bolus for it. And the amount of the bolus is a lot more than the carb content would suggest it needs to be. One option is to keep your breakfast bolus the same but extend it over, say, 2 hours.

lisa821 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-13-2007, 03:24 PM

I had something like that happen to me. I'd get a blood sugar rise usually two hours after my cardio workout, even though I tested normal immediately after I was done with the workout.

I finally figured out that if I eat dinner but don't bolus for the meal, then work out, I can set an extended bolus on my pump. Immediately after the workout, I figure out the carbs I've eaten for the meal, enter the number, and have it deliver the extended bolus over the two hour period after the workout. So far this has worked really well for me.

If I'm eating the meal after I work out instead of before, I eat a carb snack with a little protein before the workout to bring my blood sugars up into the 160 range. After the workout I'm usually in-range. The I just eat dinner and bolus the normal amount for the carbs.

~Lisa

deansreef · #8 (**permalink**) 12-15-2007, 05:25 AM

i ride motorcross and my sugars always rise when I am riding. I am retying to set a higher temp basal to combat the rise in sugars.

Dean

AJ21 · #9 (**permalink**) 12-17-2007, 07:57 AM

thanks guys.
lately i've been eating, cutting basal and bolus, working out, testing and injecting 2 extra units.
it's kinda frustrating though.
thanks to everyone who replied, i'm going to try some of your methods.

natalie021 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-21-2007, 06:42 PM

This happenes to me too, but not all the time. My bg will go from 100-ish up to 300-ish post workout. I think that it happens more and goes higher the harder I work. It seems to happen less often when I am in better shape. Oh- and I typically work out in a fasted state. The only solution I have for this is to correct with a shot into a muscle, so that the correction begins and ends as fast as possible....works for me..