I have been diabetic now for 2 years. I was first on metformin and then due to stomach issues, I went on glypizide. I kept finding that even though I would only eat scrambled eggs with chia seeds in them, I would go out and play doubles tennis for 2 hours. My BG would actually rise after tennis and stay that way for 5 or 6 hours. two months ago I had kidney stones and a resulting infection. My BG went up into the 300s due to the infection. so i went on lantus solostar pen at night. It brought it down very nicely. My morning readings have always been the highest. Even those went down into the 110s. it seemed that 48 units every night was doing the trick. Now that I am back to going to the gym 3 days a week and playing tennis 3 days a week, I am suddenly finding that my BG is higher and i have now had to raise my insulin to 55 units. I walk my dogs 2 miles a day in addition to all this exercise and i rarely eat any carbs at all and definitely no sugar. My Dr. says that this is rare but does happen. has anyone else experienced this? I am not overweight at all so losing weight is not going to help. I am 5’11 and 180. this is getting frustrating. i do not want to give up exercising and i keep reading that exercise will lower my BG, well, it is not working out that way.
Not to worry…We are all our own guinea pigs. But we need to carefully experiment with adjustments, test a lot and adapt. I was a professional dancer for 40 years, and while Fibromyalgia sidelined me, a decade later, The D hit, thanks to my blessed dad and kinda getting the Shallow End of the Gene Pool (my siblings–no diabetes).
Anyway. I’m T2, no meds Yet. Eat Low carb, but keep adjusting ways of exercising as arthritis manifests…However—from the start, in 2007, exercise gave me a spike. Of course, one absolutely must have the exercise–we know this. So now you sit down and experiment.
For me: After walk or workout or an hour in my very large garden, I sit quietly, steady my breathing, maybe pet a kitty or three, and drink a cup of decaf green tea with a bit of chamomile also involved (a gentle calmative). Fifteen to 30 minutes and my BG number is right where we want it to be.
I simply believe that very brief spike is much less important to my health than would be a lack of exercise!
I wish I could say this would work for you. But we are all different. You need to find what is good for you…I suspect that at least the sitting quietly for a bit is pretty universal. But I have no science to support that…Blessings…Persevere and experiment and test a lot!..And keep us posted…
Some find that their BG does go up during exercise, depending on the type of exercise and the length. On the one hand exercise makes us more insulin sensitive (generally). On the other hand, exercise means that our muscles are moving and using up available glucose, and they are also under stress, so there’s both the physical stress and also the adrenaline rush sometimes if it’s something competitive (especially if you are a very competitive person).
Are you checking only before and after exercise? What about part-way through? Is it happening with ALL exercise? Just tennis and the gym? Even walking the dog?
I am wondering, especially as you are playing tennis for 2 hours, if you might actually be experiencing a case where your blood sugar starts to drop and then your liver is dumping to bring you back up, or if it’s just a stress response. I know at least one other person here has mentioned glucose going up while weight lifting.
My BGs USUALLY go down. They go down really hard and fast while swimming or doing water aerobics. They don’t go down as much during physical therapy, and they can even go up if it’s a particularly painful day at therapy.
Exercise can raise blood sugar. Irish step dancing and tap will raise mine. Ballet usually doesn’t, because of the slow, initial Barre, but a teacher who prefers a Barre of quick movements, followed by lots of jumps will make my blood sugar go up not down.
Makes me want to bite those who believe diabetes can be easily controlled by diet and exercise. Just eat less and exercise more. Right.
LOL. you cannot believe how many times I hear from people. “just eat less and exercise more and you will cure your diabetes”. I just look at them and glare. Well, I woke up with BG of 120, walked dogs, ate exactly 2 scrambled eggs and then went to play tennis for 2 and half hours. and we do play pretty competitive tennis. I also do not sit down at all during those 2 and half hours. well, I took my BG every half hour and it kept going up the whole time. it The last reading was 160. So, i am not eating enough apparently. two days ago I ate an egg on a half of an English muffin and it actually was lower than when I just ate an egg. LOL. tomorrow is my gym day. first walk dogs, then lift weights for 45 minutes, then 30 minutes of cardio, then walk the dogs again. I figure my diabetes should be cured by 2:30 in the afternoon. LOL.
CJust one note about your carb indulgences ) I am not a great runer maybe a good and persistent jogger. But I find my BG is more stable is I start out at 120
And consume. 8 carbs a mile. Usually end up at 100 to 110
If I carb up more before a run it just super charges my insulin production and bs go down. If I start out under 100 and don’t consume carbs my liver kicks in
And bs go up.some. It is a hard balance to find.
Do check out Bernstein if you can stand the hipe his best info is about exercising. He preaces interval training because sustained hard exercise can raise bs. Maybe a break between sets is not a bad idea.
I found that to make exercise work for me, I had to do it in the afternoon/evening. Not the most convenient time for me, but exercising in the a.m. always made my BG levels rise, while exercising in the p.m. makes it lower.
For me I need to have some carbs in me before I swim. After swim 70-80. Then I eat 15-20 carbs. Good to go until lunch. Nancy
RC - I am also a morning time tennis player, although I am type 1. During regular “fun” matches, I can keep BS pretty consistent, but add the stress of a competitive match and my BS skyrockets (I’m talking into the 300s, 400s) and while I am playing no amount of insulin will bring it down. I know that it’s adrenaline and it’s causing massive insulin resistance (with possibly my liver kicking out glucose at the same time – fight or flight?!). Once I’m off the court and can take time to sit down and relax the insulin that I’m imagining just sitting in a bubble somewhere in my system will then kick in and bring my BS magically down. It is so frustrating and I have not been able to get a good solution from any practitioner. For now, I am aware that it happens 90% of the time and I know what it will take to resolve the high blood sugar. Not the answer we are looking for, but maybe the best we’ll get for now? I am sorry you’re going through this, too. Jessica
Thanks for all your replies. You people are great and have given me more info than any Doctor. I applied the more carb theory at breakfast and sure enough, adding that silly English muffin to my breakfast egg has done the trick these last two days. I also added a couple spoons of almond butter just before bedtime and my morning BG was down to 100 where I could never get it below 140. After breakfast, I went and played 2 and half hours of tennis one day and went to gym for two hours the next morning. and my BG was much more stable at 115 at 10 30 am and then going down to 95 before lunch. That is opposed to 160 to 200 on just two eggs and some chia seeds. I am feeling less and less like a three headed cyclops now. i also kept thinking that there was something wrong with my strips or my monitor and bought two new monitors and a bunch of new strips. LOL. thank you all again for being here.
Ron
Dr. B does say not to exercise until you have been up for three hours. I don’t remember his reason.
I’ve been a T1D for over thirty years. In the mornings my blood sugar will always go up (with or without food, with or without exercise). It’s something about the hormones in your body that makes exercise in the AM different from PM. Before I exercise in the morning I take insulin. It’s typically better when I eat food, versus taking insulin with no food. Another factor is hormones at your menstruation cycle. I generally need a little more insulin for 2-3 pre-cycle days. You might want to invest in a CGM. I started using one 2 months ago and it’s heavenly. I always know the trend of my BS, which makes a big difference in learning what foods do what. Good luck!
This happens to me with heavy aerobic exercises. From what I understand the liver dumps glucose to feed the muscles but there may not be enough insulin to pull it into cells. When I mowed grass on a hill my glucose jumped 300 digits making me feel short of breath and sick.
1DebY…You hit the nail on the head…That is exactly what happens…To the OP Read Dr. B’s Book he talks about this exact situation.
What is the title of the book? I will search Amazon. Thank you!
The name of the book is, Diabetes Solution by Dr. Richard K. Bernstein…Alot of people, myself included have incorporated Dr. B’s methods into our careplans. I started 2 weeks ago and after 9 years of rollercoaster BG’s, LITERALLY 2 days after starting his methods my sugars normalized…I would would run anywhere from the mid 200s to the mid 300s. NOW, mid 70s to mid 90s, and I have lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks…I feel better now than I have for the last 9 years with high BGs.