Diabetes + Gym = High Blood Sugar?

2rs

Well folks, I am looking for some advice.

Just this morning, I got up at 6am, checked my blood, 8.1. Had a glass of OJ and a banana, without taking any insulin.

Was in the gym 45 minutes later where I did a pretty intense aerobic workout, with plenty of sweat and water.

Was in work by 8.30 and checked my blood sugar level again, just before having a proper bf. The level rocketed up to 19.8mmol/L

I can never get this right, any advice.........Thanks

tbh

how much / what kind of insulin did you take?

edit: sorry, just noticed you didn't take any... so, your body mightn't have been able to process the sugars from the stuff you ate..

I seem to remember reading that if there isn't enough glucose in your bloodstream, your body will get it from processing fat or something like that - maybe Dr. Indy can confirm /deny that tho.. So maybe you went low - then your body reacted too much and you went high. Did you check your bloods during the workout?

2rs

tbh wrote:

So maybe you went low - then your body reacted too much and you went high. Did you check your bloods during the workout?

I am pretty sure I did not go low, would have felt that coming on pretty early.

Drinking plenty of H2O at the moment, it is down to 13.9. Alternatively, I could go back to the gym to get it down again:D

What is the best way to approach going to the gym in the mornings? I have the condition 16 years now, you think I would have a clue!

tbh

ha - I think you'll find most of us are in the same boat.

I'd say just bring it up with your specialist, it depends what type of insulin you are on etc.... I'm not sure if my theory above is correct btw, it's just something I seem to remember reading, I've asked Dr. Indy to comment..

robinph

With basic understanding that insulin reduces your sugar levels and that exercise will also reduce your levels you would think that if your about to embark on some major exersise session that you wouldn't need the insulin at all, but this is where I start to get a bit confused as you do actually still need the insulin when you are doing exersise inorder to convert the sugar into the energy that you will need. If you had not already taken any insulin in the morning then it's possible that there was not enough left in your system from the night before for your exersise session at that time of day and I think you then start converting suger from other sources instead as tbh said.

It all gets a bit beyond me at that point though.

2rs

robinph wrote:

If you had not already taken any insulin in the morning then it's possible that there was not enough left in your system from the night before for your exersise session at that time of day and I think you then start converting suger from other sources instead as tbh said.

Sounds like I may need to split the morning insulin whenever I use the gym.

I would be interested to hear what Dr Indy has to say.

It kind of defeats the purpose of having a good balance of insulin, diet and exercise if the blood sugars go all over the place. Cant ditch the exercise either, it is hard enough for diabetics to keep the weight down when they have to eat.

robinph

I've found an article that seems to be suggesting the lack of insulin could have been your problem this morning:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/diabetes/faq/part1/section-15.html

But basically that then just goes on to say that nobody is really sure about what is happing during exersice and you'll just have to experiment a bit until you find what works for you.

DrIndy

2rs wrote:

Well folks, I am looking for some advice.

Just this morning, I got up at 6am, checked my blood, 8.1. Had a glass of OJ and a banana, without taking any insulin.

Was in the gym 45 minutes later where I did a pretty intense aerobic workout, with plenty of sweat and water.

Was in work by 8.30 and checked my blood sugar level again, just before having a proper bf. The level rocketed up to 19.8mmol/L

I can never get this right, any advice.........Thanks

Hmmm.

did you take the normal evening insulin? How much do you normally need pre-breakfast?

Exercise does drive down glucose by opening receptors that are insulin independent, but its not the same as taking insulin which causes uptake in all receptors. So despite the workout, it was not enough take up all the sugar that was quickly released from immediate glucose sources such as orange juice and bananas.

You therefore should be taking some insulin, but at a reduced dose which you can only figure out from some trial and error and a good chat with your diabetic CNS. You ideally don't want this independent effect to cause a hypo, but repeated highs do eventually get you into trouble. Avoiding quick release glucose foods will also help to stabilise this effect as what you took is not normally what is recommended for a diabetic breakfast!

TBH - ketosis is a natural phenomenon when glucose stores are depleted in the liver and muscles, what happens in diabetes is if you have no insulin, then all you are capable of is ketosis in a completely uncontrolled manner and causing DKA. This is why basal insulin is so important as it allows that trickle of glucose uptake which stabilises this mechanism back to natural order.

tbh

cheers doc.

2rs

DrIndy wrote:

Hmmm.

did you take the normal evening insulin? How much do you normally need pre-breakfast?

Exercise does drive down glucose by opening receptors that are insulin independent, but its not the same as taking insulin which causes uptake in all receptors. So despite the workout, it was not enough take up all the sugar that was quickly released from immediate glucose sources such as orange juice and bananas.

The diabetic breakfast, the juice and banana were just to supplement the early morning gym workout, I would have my breakfast afterwards. What would you recommend for that schedule?

Many thanks

tbh

2rs, we can't give specific medical advice on this forum, as obviously we don't know your history etc etc. I'll leave the thread open for anyone else who wants to offer experiences regarding going to the gym, but please don't start suggesting doses etc or we'll have to close it. cheers!

2rs

apologies, never meant it to sound like I was looking for specific advice

tbh

I know - we just need to cover our collective asses no offence meant.