Exercising down a high reading

TypeIIDieter

Member
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15
After getting rid of about 15 pounds, I let myself be bad for two days... the second day, in part by way of experiment (apparently NOT TO BE RECOMMENDED) I indulged in something like 1200-1400 calories of chocolate and watched the readings. I thought that because it was the evening, and my results were normally worst due to "dawn effect", I might more or less get away with it. Well... 30 minutes later I was up to 144, and after an hour, 210 mg/dl - the second worst reading I've ever had. I was feeling drowsy and dozed off for nearly two hours, tried again - ouch! up to 230 - tie for the very worst reading I've seen, and much longer than the one hour that one had lasted! That one had gone down to 120 by that time frame, but I'd gotten some exercise then. So I got out and walked quickly down and up a moderate slope for an hour, and tested again. (I should note that I felt the same pressure around my head as the other high result, like I was wearing a helmet stuffed with something cottony. The localization of the pressure is broader and seems more external as opposed to the three pairs of cerebral arteries localization that I feel when my systolic blood pressure goes over 150. About 2/3 of the way through the walk this ended and I started feeling a slight headache feeling in the same distribution) Down to *56*. I didn't know the meter went that low. :) If I were on insulin I suppose I'd be eating sugar right now to cure a critical low, but I'm not taking anything but metformin so I'll do without the hair of the dog for now. Now this makes me think more than a few things, namely:

* Yes, sugary foods can get me in a LOT of trouble.
* Yes, the high blood sugar can go on for a lot longer than the standard short period of time seen in normal people.
* Apparently my pancreas *can* secrete enough insulin to bring it down in a hurry, provided the tissues will accept it.
* Exercising CAN break down insulin resistance quickly, at least for a short time; it's not some sort of slow magic that takes weeks to work.
* I think very high sugar can be felt.

This leaves me with some other questions still in mind, namely:
* How long is the exercise good for?
* Why is there such a sudden break from moderately high blood sugar to unreasonably high blood sugar?

What are your experiences with exercise to take down a high?
 

phoenix

Expert
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5,671
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Pump
Apparently my pancreas *can* secrete enough insulin to bring it down in a hurry, provided the tissues will accept it.

Exercise works because it is far easier for glucose to get into the cell during exercise. At rest insulin is needed for glucose to get into the cell During exercise more glucose is needed and there is a secondary system that enables glucose to get into the cells and doesn't require insulin.

Sciency Bit
Glucose gets into cells via glucose transporters (GLUT) .
GLUT 4 is the transporter found in muscle and skeletal cells. This transporter is brought to the surface of the cell by insulin
In people with T2 with insulin resistance this 'translocation' may be impaired.
GLUT 4 can also be activated by muscle contraction and this part of the system works fine in people with diabetes.
This means that during exercise glucose is able cross the cell wall ie out of the blood stream and into the muscle where it is needed without insulin.
(In people without insulin resistance these two systems are additive; this can be the case in T1 which is why injected insulin + exercise can result in a very rapid drop in glucose levels)
The Insulin signalling system which controls the 'glucostat' also seems to work more normally in T2s during exercise ( the enzyme that controls this (AMPK) is also activated by metformin)
very sciency link
http://outreach.mcb.harvard.edu/downloa ... odyear.pdf
 

Lauraann

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chavs !!
TypeIIDieter said:
* I think very high sugar can be felt.
yes I definately feel weird when my blood sugars are too high, I feel dizzy, disorientated and feel my head is twice as heavy and full of cotton wool, I also feel very sleepy
 

TypeIIDieter

Member
Messages
15
I'm afraid I had another such incident, up to 220 by adding just four slices (260 calories) of bread to a meal of homemade cheeseburgers that otherwise is more likely to LOWER my blood sugar than raise it, and I fairly well convinced myself that the numbness was actually in my scalp, nowhere deeper. It's as if the roots of the hairs become less sensitive, except - it also extends to the forehead. And again there was a slight headachy sensation when the sugar went down again. And again exercise worked on it - took it down to 100 in an hour. I suppose if I got my act together I could eat bread and exercise it off before the blood sugar went up, but I haven't tried that yet!