If exercise can result in high readings what should I do?

[HurricaneHippo]

I’ve been doing the peloton, I enjoy it and I’m terribly unhealthy so my average HR is always above 150. It’s spiking my sugars to 8. I usually ride before a meal so my fasting levels are going to look bad for the GP

Shall I stop spin? Should I just walk? Will it get better as I lose weight and get fitter?

seems a shame to give it up!

 

[HurricaneHippo]

Thank you for reading!

 

[cynetique]

A way forward could very well be to decrease the intensity of your exercise, in order to be in an aerobic heart rate range. 150 seems well above that.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

A way forward could very well be to decrease the intensity of your exercise, in order to be in an aerobic heart rate range. 150 seems well above that.

yes thank you that’s an idea to consider.

 

[cynetique]

It should be a moderate effort to start with. The type of intensity where you could comfortably hold a conversation with someone when doing it.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

It should be a moderate effort to start with. The type of intensity where you could comfortably hold a conversation with someone when doing it.

Oh I see, I’m clearly going about it the wrong way

 

[HurricaneHippo]

I have coffee with cream with a fast-acting correction (for me 1 to 2 unit correction.) I ran for two hours with sprints this morning before breakfast and needed this extra insulin to stay level (to clear my liver dump from strenuous exercise.) Otherwise, like you, I will hit 8 mmol/l.

Thank you for replying - I don’t take insulin, so the equivalent for me is to have something to eat before exercise?

 

[ert]

Thank you for replying - I don’t take insulin, so the equivalent for me is to have something to eat before exercise?

Sorry, I should have asked. Try walking afterwards.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

Sorry, I should have asked. Try walking afterwards.

thank you

 

[HSSS]

Whilst it can result in a short term increase pay attention to what it’s doing longer term? Both the next few hours and day and overall long term

If you are building muscle mass (which long term reduces IR) and overall health and the rise is temporary then maybe the short lived and maybe temporary rises are worth it.

Thinking about why it’s rising it means your body detects a need for more energy due to the exercise. that means the rise is coming from somewhere. Is it the excess glucagon in the liver being dumped? Is it better in the blood stream than “clogging” up the liver? I’m not certain of the answers but I don’t think it’s as simple as a short term rise being bad.

 

[LaoDan]

Don’t worry about it, it will work itself out. It’s likely your BG is awesome for the rest of the day.

I exercise in the morning, so the dawn phenomenon and the increase from working out coincide. Killing two birds with one stone.

measure about 45 minutes afterwards, your body goes into glucose devouring mode

imho, continue with the higher intensity! You’ll be glad after a few months

 

[KidDougi]

Whilst it can result in a short term increase pay attention to what it’s doing longer term? Both the next few hours and day and overall long term

If you are building muscle mass (which long term reduces IR) and overall health and the rise is temporary then maybe the short lived and maybe temporary rises are worth it.

Thinking about why it’s rising it means your body detects a need for more energy due to the exercise. that means the rise is coming from somewhere. Is it the excess glucagon in the liver being dumped? Is it better in the blood stream than “clogging” up the liver? I’m not certain of the answers but I don’t think it’s as simple as a short term rise being bad.

I would agree. I have only recently been diagnosed with diabetes. Although I have been weight training for some time, it tended to be late in the evening and usually shortly after a meal. Since been diagnosed 2 months ago, and learning about diabetes and in particular insulin resistance (IR) I have adapted my exercise regime. I have added a 20 min HIIT exercise in the morning, prior to eating. It took a few weeks for me to reach the full 20 minutes without pauses, because my heart rate would go off the scale. So I would pause for 30 seconds, or so and let my heart rate calm down and then start again. But with time my heart rate has settled, although my Doctor may argue that it is still too high during the exercise but I feel comfortable and I know my heart is healthy as I have had ECGs to confirm it.
As for my glucose levels, they always go up. At first by 2-3 mmol but over time they have also settled. And now will barely go up by 1 mmol. My “objective” is to drain my liver of all it’s stored glucose, ( I don’t actually know what my biology is doing in real terms). But over time I have noticed that my average daily glucose levels have dropped.
Along side the exercise I am focusing on reducing my carbs, not my calories. The idea being that I’m not allowing my body to fully replenish my glucose reserves in my liver, and therefore, long term reducing my IR.
So, personally, I would carry on with the exercises at the rate and pace you are comfortable with, so that you can stay interested and will continue. Be patient with your glucose levels and see how they settled over time. And to be on the safe side, ask you Doctor to run some tests on your heart, so that you are both comfortable that there is no underlying issues with your heart which my causes you other problems.

 

[Jo123]

Mine went up after exercise when I was first diagnosed prediabetic, I ignored it and carried on exercising it did seem to stay lower for the rest of the day after the initial rise.
It doesn't go up so high now when I test.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

Thank you for the responses, that’s really assuring. I might carry on as I am and I’m sure exercise in the long run will prove it’s benefits!

 

[Trevor vP]

Modern exercise bikes are a fun way to get rid of some extra weight, get fit and help insulin resistances.

I am extremely fit now, but when I started again I found doing longer sessions at lower heart rate say circa 130-136 actual burnt more fat and actually made me fitter long term and helped with my blood sugars.

I try spend 80% of my circa 8 hours per week training in that lower heart rate.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

Modern exercise bikes are a fun way to get rid of some extra weight, get fit and help insulin resistances.

I am extremely fit now, but when I started again I found doing longer sessions at lower heart rate say circa 130-136 actual burnt more fat and actually made me fitter long term and helped with my blood sugars.

I try spend 80% of my circa 8 hours per week training in that lower heart rate.

Thank you so much for the tip

 

[Oldvatr]

Modern exercise bikes are a fun way to get rid of some extra weight, get fit and help insulin resistances.

I am extremely fit now, but when I started again I found doing longer sessions at lower heart rate say circa 130-136 actual burnt more fat and actually made me fitter long term and helped with my blood sugars.

I try spend 80% of my circa 8 hours per week training in that lower heart rate.

Anything that triggers adrenaline ( also known as epinephrine) will stop the blood sugars from being stored since adrenaline is the antithesis of insulin except that the pathway for energy to be used in the muscles remains active. So the liver will increase glucose output to meet the exercise, and muscles use up the local glucose already stored and then switch to lipid burning. Intensive exercise such as HIIT or aerobic exercise may increase the glucose levels for a while, but then it should drop lower as your body recovers and the adrenaline rush subsides.

As has been pointed out, gentle exercise is one way of reducing this effect or re-timing the exercise to be clear of glucose test times. It is a natural response to stress. The peloton sounds fun. Not for me though.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

Anything that triggers adrenaline ( also known as epinephrine) will stop the blood sugars from being stored since adrenaline is the antithesis of insulin except that the pathway for energy to be used in the muscles remains active. So the liver will increase glucose output to meet the exercise, and muscles use up the local glucose already stored and then switch to lipid burning. Intensive exercise such as HIIT or aerobic exercise may increase the glucose levels for a while, but then it should drop lower as your body recovers and the adrenaline rush subsides.

As has been pointed out, gentle exercise is one way of reducing this effect or re-timing the exercise to be clear of glucose test times. It is a natural response to stress. The peloton sounds fun. Not for me though.

Thank you for this. Yes, I’ll either have to take it easier on the bike or a bit of re-timing of when I exercise, so I don’t shock the Gp in two weeks.

 

[HurricaneHippo]

Ahhh I love you all so much! So I had a cooked meal (I had cauliflower rice with spinach, pumpkin curry, fish curry, carrot, coconut and Greek salad- weird I know) and my were 9 after an hour. Had a panic and got on my peloton. Did a longer class and kept Hr below 150. So 2 hours after my meal and straight after exercise I tested and it was 6.9. Oh I was so happy!!

so although clearly a terrible meal (not sure what was wrong with it cos it was delicious) lol, I took the advice and tried a longer workout with less HR spikes. Hallelujah!!

You’re all so wonderful

big thank you from me

 

[HSSS]

Ahhh I love you all so much! So I had a cooked meal (I had cauliflower rice with spinach, pumpkin curry, fish curry, carrot, coconut and Greek salad- weird I know) and my were 9 after an hour. Had a panic and got on my peloton. Did a longer class and kept Hr below 150. So 2 hours after my meal and straight after exercise I tested and it was 6.9. Oh I was so happy!!

so although clearly a terrible meal (not sure what was wrong with it cos it was delicious) lol, I took the advice and tried a longer workout with less HR spikes. Hallelujah!!

You’re all so wonderful

big thank you from me

Don’t forget the hour was likely the peak and it’s relevant what you were beforehand. The goal most of us have is no more than 2mmol higher at 2hrs; allowing for a peak (which even non diabetics get remember) and a decent return to near normal in a decent amount of time all indicating you coped with that particular meal well. Not sure what you started at or if you would have got there without the bike ride (quite possibly as it looks a pretty low carb meal) but it’s a good feeling when it works eh?