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

Exercise and low blood sugar

turvell

Well-Known Member
Messages
522
Location
Birmingham UK
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
been type 2 and the fact i get no sodding help from the NHS at all
Hi Guys

ive ramped up my running routines this week. im doing about 25 miles now a week, i quite often get blood sugar readings of 3.6 or 3.2 after. is that ok. does it matter if it goes low
 
Well done on the running Turvell. Those post exercise readings are a little low now. I would have a carby snack either prior to exercise or during. You may need to experiment a little to get amount/timing right. Ely Dave will hopefullybe along with better advice as he is a bit of an expert in these things ! Well done though. Great progress.
Mo


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
tell that to my feet lol. i am happy i can now do this but still hurts at the moment. so does it matter if your blood goes that low? can i just hang on to lunch time, or is there no benefit to that
 
I would have a snack to be honest but it's up to you and how you feel ? How long til lunch etc ! Maybe even a small glass of juice ?


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
i usually feel fine to be honest today i was little light headed etc. so is it bad to go low do you think. i assume there is no benefit in it
 
personally it wouldn't bother me at all, I'm often that low but then i dont get light headed

well done with the extra running
 
thanks andy. you see in my head low is better than high. well in my head lol
 
in mine too, if your not on hypo inducing meds, it just gives you more scope to go up without being too high in my opinion
 
thats what i think. better to be low and hungry than high and hungry
 
As I understand it anything under 3,9 is hypoglacymic. You say that you only feel light headed. Extreme hypoglycemia may lead to mood changes and even loss of consciouncess. You do not want to to go hypo when driving or on the stairs. Personally I prefer to keep a good/ healthy hba1c by keeping glucose neither to high nor to low but as constant and in the healthy range as I can. This morning for instance I was 4.6 before exercise so decided to have a banana before setting out on five km walk. After an hour my level was 5,7 which I am happy with.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I would look at something like a banana before l run (l have just started doing that) and l felt better today but it could be because l am still at the stagger stage of running and starting to improve.
If you go to low then your liver will dump and sort of seems a waste of effort to get them low and your body say l want this much. So a bit of a snack should help stabilise you in the "long run"
I honestly didnt plan that pun but it does fit

Oh and dont worry about the carbs in the nanana as you are going to run them off
 
thanks Pavlosn
 
lol Mud. very good point tho. im not a fan of nanas but i can eat one. it wont kill me
 
Could have a small apple instead, l like the nanas as l don't need to worry about the core when in a rush. Apples are fussy fruit that take time
 
but you could slip on the banana skin :0
 
With my history l am not a could l am a will without a shadow of doubt slip on the blasted skin!
 
why the banana? or carby food? for the energy or to raise bg? if we are worried about liver dump why wouldn't we eat something but not add the carbs? if its because you believe it gives you an energy boost i can understand your thinking (if its correct i don't know) but to avoid low blood sugar when it isn't a hypo why eat to raise it? this sounds like a criticism but its not I'm just curious about the thinking behind the banana
 
Andy I had a banana to both raise energy and blood sugars. I was lowish at 4,6 and was about to exercise so I did not want to risk either a hypo ( although I understand that was unlikely on the medication I am currently on) or my liver reacting to my exercise and low glucose levels by "dumping". There is nothing intrinsically bad in a banana, other than the relatively high carb content ( estimate 23g). In fact they are generally good for you as a source of potassium and vitamins. Although I am on a restricted rather than really low carb diet ( about 150 gm of carbs rather than under 50) I usually avoid bananas. So today because of the low fasting count and imminent physical exercise I chose to have is as a treat.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
3.6 and 3.2 are too low at the end o a training session. Especially as the more Turvell gets into running, he may end up going further or faster. Finishing a run at 3.2 could mean that he could drop further still as benefit of exercise carries on after finishing. I think a banana or similar is a good idea as it is a good source of energy and will prevent him going too low. Andy, you are used to and thrive on low BG readings but some can feel quite different, dizzy, confused or similar. Anyway, it can't hurt to experiment and see how he gets on. Maybe the banana will not have the desired affect ! Who knows.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
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.…