• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Type 2 Bg Spike After Exercise

Caramama4

Member
Messages
11
Location
Leicester, United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all,
I exercise regularly, either running or kettlebell. Generally I find it beneficial on several levels. However I often find that even an hour or more after exercise my BG is raised. Today it was 15.2 approx 90 minutes after exercise. I felt ropey and wondered if I was low - well I was wrong there!
Can anyone explain why this happens? I usually exercise pre-breakfast
Thank you
 
Also I was/am really hungry but dare not eat
 
Hello @Caramama4 What are your levels like before you exercise ?

Going high afterwards indicates that your liver is releasing glucose in response to your activity, different exercises trigger different responses, I can go low during yoga but go high with doing a fitness class.

My suggestion would be to try eating a small snack prior to exercise and take half the bolus required and see how your body responds to this, exercise is very much about trial and error and if one thing doesn't work then try an alternative way of doing things.
 
Hi Juicyj
Thank you for your response. I should explain that I'm on dulaglutide and not insulin and must admit to being very casual about testing. I will try your advice and also test more frequently so I can work out the best way of managing.
 
Hello @Caramama4 Sorry I read your profile which states you are insulin dependent, are you ok to change that in your profile ?

I would still eat something before exercise then, as your body will have something on board to use rather than triggering a liver response, it's good to know what your starting BG level is before exercise so you can gauge the response. I know that when I exercise above 12 mmol/l that it's so much harder with the excess glucose on board and my muscles ache more.
 
HiJuicyJ
M not sure why my profile says that and I have tried to change it but couldn't see how to unfortunately.
Thank you for your advice, I'm definitely going to follow it
 
You're probably experiencing 2 things:
  1. The dawn phenomenon, where the liver produces glucose first thing in the morning. Those of us on insulin normally have to inject for this.
  2. High intensity exercise releases the hormone cortisol, which raises sugar levels
That you're spiking 1.5 hours after, it's probably the exercise intensity, you could go for more moderate exercise. I find HIIT spikes me (which I cover with insuling - obviously you can't), whereas a long run won't.
 
 
I used to run before eating and before injecting insulin then read about it being better for women to eat before exercising. Now I inject and eat breakfast before going for a run then I tend to get low an hour later. I'm used to this and have more carbs layer to deal with it, after checking BG of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…