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Can hypos be avoided by exercise?

lindisfel

Expert
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5,853
Hi all,
From our experience when we eat carbs we go on a blood glucose roller coaster and eventually hypo and exercise worsened the situation.

However the programme on BBC1 this pm "The Truth about Fat", very indirectly gave those who find very low carb very difficult a glimmer of hope their hypos can be treated by another method.

Apparently, when normal people vigorously exercise (for me it is fast walking) we use c.60% fat and the rest is blood glucose from carbs.

If someone has vigorous exercise for twenty minutes and rests ever 2 minutes, and starts, say before our blood sugar drops after eating, it puts the body into a fat burning mode for up to four hours long after the exercise stops.

It would be interesting to try this if one is not on a true low carb diet and still has hypos?
Of course one should have something ready to eat if an hypo occurs.
regards
Derek
 
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Hi Derek,
Yes it would be very interesting to see what exactly what happens before, during and after vigorous exercise.
I cannot be a guinea pig tho, because the only exercise I need is my work and walking not very vigorously around during work or taking the dog out, shopping etc.
From everything I've gleaned, the liver would keep feeding us glucagon, glucose and we would still keep producing as much insulin as to rid our blood of the extra glucose etc.
I don't think the exercise is the enemy to keeping our spikes and hypos in what would be our a normal persons range but the imbalance of producing too much Insulin in response to glucose conversion.
I know my secret to control regardless of what I'm doing is not to hyper!
So even though I eat a few carbs it's not enough to trigger the insulin overshoot.

I really do wish that we could work it off. I tried to walk myself into a hyper on my four day fast but I couldn't, my bloods went nowhere.

However, it would be an interesting experiment for one of younger RH ers.
 
Hi Nosher,
No takers yet? It is probably more like hard work than LCHF?
atb
Derek


 
lindisfel said:
Hi Nosher,
No takers yet? It is probably more like hard work than LCHF?
atb
Derek
Click to expand...

To be honest, I imagine the issue is RH is a relatively unusual condition and you're looking at a potentially left field method of managing it, unless I read you wrongl. As T2, many T2s utilise xercise to drive down their bloods, not buoy them up, although that isn't necessarily taking into account any other factors that may have been in play on the tv programme you watched.

To be honest, I think, like most things endocrine, bearing in mind how personal so many of these things are, if the programme sparked an interest with you, then give it a go. I would say that on the proviso you always had some means of testing for hypo, treating any annoyingly arising, and carry in your phone, so that you could summon help if it all went somewhat pear shaped.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 
Hi Derek,
I didn't think that anybody would to be honest, I'm definitely, wouldn't want to do anything so demanding! I used to love real good hard exercise as a young man, but I've found that just work and walking are good enough for the amount of food I eat and my daily chores and such. I've grown accustomed to my 'lifestyle'!

Because of our rare condition, not many have the same circumstances as us, to quantify to do an experiment of this type.
I know that I don't need carbs for my lifestyle and I'm doing really well, not having them. If I don't eat I flatline, if I eat very low carb I flatline. What's the problem?
No matter what I've done, even when doing a little refereeing, keeping up with play, and I've ate, I flatline!
It's only when I use the trigger to hyper, then no matter what I do, in my experience, I hypo!
But if you want to have a go, I would like to know what happens!
 
Hi Nosher,
Had this bug since thursday pm so not at my best yet.
I don't really want to up carbs at all since I have had no hypos since September.
I shall try some interval training when I am A1 again, it should help NAFLD.
atb
Derek



 
Hi, Derek,
Yep, it's that time of the year and our bloody weather, damp and cold, wet and windy.
No matter what, you'll always pick up some bloody virus.
Sorry you feel rough! Hope you'll be back to yourself soonest.
Make sure you keep your water levels up and some salt to help with your dehydration.
Don't be caught out with some of those so called remedies, they don't work!
Paracetamol for lowering temperature that's it!
Great news on the no hypos, it does
 
I've noticed that if I exercise when I know I am going to hyper I can reduce the hyper. So in other words I eat and then immediately walk up a steep hill or like as fast as possible.
Today I chased my little boy for half an hour pretending to be a wolf chasing the three little pigs and it really helps me. I also find that after exercise my sugar stays lower and more stable for a long time.
 
I treated myself to 6 real chips with my fish last night and walked up and down the stairs several times 15 mins after eating. I didn't check my hour bs (I didn't want to know
) but at 2 hours I was 6.3 and 5.6 at 3 hours. No sign of a hypo! I,m going to try it again later. I'm having homemade fish pie with the tiniest amount of mashed potato (lots of butter) and veg for dinner. We will see what happens.

Well, I'm happy with the results. Before eating 5.4. Ran up and down the stairs 5 times after dinner and bathed the kids. 1 hour after eating 7.2, 2 hours 6.8 and 3 hours 5.6. I even had a sliver of a yummy bakers hot cross bun with butter after dinner.
 
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It seems to work doesn't it! I literally jog around my living room. Anyone that could see me would think me mad but I don't care
 
So far so good Emma! My Daughter was watching me running up and down the stairs, she also thought I was a little crazy! As you say, I really don't care if it works and I SO enjoyed the taste of creamy mashed potatoes and hot cross bun. I almost felt normal again!
 
Well you two seem to be getting into that feeling of being fit and healthy. You also seem to have a lot more energy!
Linagirl said:
It seems to work doesn't it! I literally jog around my living room. Anyone that could see me would think me mad but I don't care
Click to expand...



Enjoy ladies! Made up for you!
 
It may have been a little short lived! My Fbg was 5.2 this morning, which is normal for me these days. I had breakfast a little later than normal, but ate my usual Greek yogurt and berries etc. We then got ready to go out for a walk. 2 hours afters breakfast and before walking I tested at 4.1 (re-checked and got 5.6 so was probably in between the two). I haven't had a reading in the low 4's for ages! I ate a very small banana which I'd taken for my little one and carried on with the walk. Half an hour later 5.3 and an hour later 7.2 but feeling hungry. Just had smoked mackerel salad for lunch, so fingers crossed for a better afternoon xx
 
That's not bad is it? I suppose going so low not good but I think the exercise does lower your bg for a while afterwards. You might just need to add more food in if you are upping your exercise. I have been able to up my carbs this last week because we have been walking so much on holiday and my bloods haven't suffered. I'll post my two week libre results later. I am pleasantly surprised and the best bit the scales haven't moved upwards even though I have spent ten days in Devon! I didn't manage to have a cream tea but you can't win them all!
 
That's great Emma. I'm so pleased for you! Unfortunately my 4.1 was before my walk, not after. It may have been a rogue reading as I re-tested on my other hand and got 5.6. I've been a little on the lower side the last two mornings too. 5.1 this morning and that was 50 mins after having a few peanuts. I had a quarter of a normal pizza, half a protein roll pizza and salad for dinner last night. Did my run up and down the stairs and my readings were: 6.2 after 1 hour, 7.2 after two hours and 5.6 after 3 hours. Didn't feel a hypo coming on. I'm reasonably happy with those numbers. Look forward to seeing your Libra results and hope you had a fab holiday! xx
 
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