I need some advice and was wondering if the TuDiabetes had any to give. I am having a hard time with managing my sugars when I exercise.
Right now I am on Metformin 850 mg 2x daily and Januvia 100mg daily to manage my diabetes.
So when I just take my Metformin and I exercise, my sugar will go down to the lows 100's (100-105) then bounce up to 180 after exercising (no eating before, during or after exercise) and then slowly descend back down to 100.
I have a terrible endocrinologist who I unfortunately can not change and so I am basically learning and figuring things out on my own. My A1C's are always good (in the 5 range), but is this kind of bouncing normal?
It is SO frustrating finishing 5 mile run and see your sugar bounce from 130 up to 180! So discouraging! :/
During exercise, your body can demand energy. And part of that energy comes from your liver which dumps extra glucose into your body. Depending on the individual and the exercise, your blood sugar may rise during and immediately after exercise. At times, my blood sugar used to surge over 200 mg/dl from exericse. In a non-diabetic, they would have plenty of insulin reserve and this wouldn't cause much rise, but not so in us. Fortunately, soon after exercise, your body calms down, your liver stops dumping glucose and your blood sugar returns to normal, often a better fasting number than when you started. My general rule was to not worry about my blood sugar in the hour after exercise. As long as it returns to normal 1-2 hours later you will be fine.
my guess is that you are by your exercise causing your blood glucose level to go sub 70 and causing liver to do a liver dump booting glucose to above 100 - 180.
problem with the liver fifo buffer fills is in type 2; insulin levels mnay be reduced causing liver to add more than 20 per cent above norm on glucose add.
possible answer is to add glucose/ snacks when you exercise to prevent BG going sub - 70 and cause a liver dump with generous over supply.
without cgms you may find it hard to see and prevent the glucose brownout.
What kind of exercise are you doing? I have found a "hard" exercise puts my sugars up but a "gentle" one doesnt. A walk is better than a run and light weights for a longer time is better than heavy ones faster.
From my perspective walking my bg levels down from 238 to under 140 every day after liver dawn effect; once one exercises hard enough and gets the temp glucose sites in skeletal muscles pulled down sufficiently, then the blood stream will see its glucose come down as muscles start pulling in glucose from blood stream.
Initally one will see little activity as temporary stores of skeletal muscles provide the energy. For me; it took 8 - 1/4 mile loops to walk crap off. The first 6 loops - not much happened but as one did loop 7 and 8 - then I would see BG drop fast.
Any jump in bg will be due to the following:
- any foods left over in intestines dawdling along and then under exercise get boot/glucose release acceleration.
- bg drops low enough to cause liver to kick in from its storage booting BG up. Normally it should not boot higher than 20 % of nominal but for T2 - all bets off and jump can be all over. For me; I would see BG jump to 511/max and slide down to 278/311 as heart dilutes by pumping crap around the body.
without serious quick monitoring - cgms one can miss the key action.
I have found that as my body adjusts to more strenuous exercise this has improved. I have been eating pretty low carb so maybe there's less for my liver to dump (which hasn't really stopped dp) but I no longer spike after exercise.
If the spike persists then maybe less strenuous exercise? This was never a problem with walking but happened when I started running and doing HIIT. As I said, it ultimately settled down. I also figured that the overall reduction in BG was worth the bit of a spike.
Chrissi, this is a common effect of adrenaline on longer-duration exercise -- it raises the blood sugar to provide more fuel for your muscles as you exert yourself. I'm currently in training for a half-marathon and see similar sugar jumps. The benefit is that after the post-run high sugar recedes, your normal BG falls to lower than it would have been; in fact, when I first started running, my morning-after fasting BGs were typically 10-15 points lower than expected. Here's an article that sheds some light on the subject:
And finally.... it's a marathon, not a sprint: running's benefits continue to build over time, in the form of your improved A1C readings and in other ways, such as improved circulation and a correspondingly lower risk of complications from microvascular damage. That's why I hit the road three days a week, and it sounds like you're seeing the same results. Keep it up!
