High BG before gym and almost same afterwards…WHY?

[SusieWillow]

Hi ALL, I’ve been Type 2 for like seventeen years. Only on Metformin. Now at 70 I’m not finding it working as well. The doc added another med although he’s not very unhappy with my HBA1C. Last one was done two weeks ago. It was 5.2. I want my numbers to be better. My daily morning numbers are 10ish which I feel is way not great! I’m on vacation now and walking a lot and started going back to gym..lifting a few very light weights but doing 20mins on the rowing machine as well. BUT my blood sugar which I tested before gym at 14 (I hadn’t long eaten) were down only very very little to 13.5! Iv’e always found exercise moved my bloods downwards. But thats not happening now! WHY?

HELP!


Willow

 

[LaoDan]

Mine spikes at the gym then resolves about an hour later, then I cruise at a lower level for the rest of the day. How long did you wait after working out to test ? 5.2 is pretty awesome btw

 

[SusieWillow]

Hi LaoDan, I tested about 20 mins after. It didn’t go lower than 10 It rarely does. But still the HBA1C is 5.2 or the time before last was 5.6. If it was high, exercise would bring it down, but now it doesn’t seem to at all. I’ve walked all day as I’m on vacation. My weight is 66 kilo’s. I Same happened the other day. I did quite a fast row for my age. I used to go to the gym a lot. Now have a spine problem that needs an op. I desperately miss the gym so I thought I’d try to go and so far it seems to be good on the back and I thought I would see a drop in BG…but nah! Type 2 is very complicated and unpredictable! My fasting bloods have crept up and up over the years, yet meds haven’t until about a year ago. Now I take 2 meds only although trying a third occasionally as an experiment (with Dr’s approval) Glucobay. But I hate taking three meds. Hence if I can workout and ‘work it down’ then all to the better. I don’t have any issues with cholesterol (and only occasional stress related BP). I weigh 66kilos I used to be 87kilos several years ago when diagnosed. Now do fasting and 1-2 meals a day. One very light and one larger but most days just one proper meal later in the afternoon is enough.

 

[SusieWillow]

Hi LaoDan, I tested about 20 mins after. It didn’t go lower than 10 It rarely does. But still the HBA1C is 5.2 or the time before last was 5.6. If it was high, exercise would bring it down, but now it doesn’t seem to at all. I’ve walked all day as I’m on vacation. My weight is 66 kilo’s. I Same happened the other day. I did quite a fast row for my age. I used to go to the gym a lot. Now have a spine problem that needs an op. I desperately miss the gym so I thought I’d try to go and so far it seems to be good on the back and I thought I would see a drop in BG…but nah! Type 2 is very complicated and unpredictable! My fasting bloods have crept up and up over the years, yet meds haven’t until about a year ago. Now I take 2 meds only although trying a third occasionally as an experiment (with Dr’s approval) Glucobay. But I hate taking three meds. Hence if I can workout and ‘work it down’ then all to the better. I don’t have any issues with cholesterol (and only occasional stress related BP). I weigh 66kilos I used to be 87kilos several years ago when diagnosed. Now do fasting and 1-2 meals a day. One very light and one larger but most days just one proper meal later in the afternoon is usual. Thanks for answering.. I hope to continued back at gym..and by some miracle be able to improve my BG status. I’ve worked hard all these years to take better care of me. How about you? Are things improving for you?

 

[EllieM]

But still the HBA1C is 5.2 or the time before last was 5.6.

I am puzzled by your figures. Do you mean 5.2% (an awesomely non diabetic reading) or 52mmol/mol (diabetic but not drastically so).

I find that weights at the gym push can push my bgs up in the short term (I am T1 so can inject for it) but improve them and my general health significantly in the long term. Exercise such as a walk tends to push my levels down. I find that if I have a session at the gym I often need less insulin the day after, so it does genuinely help reduce insulin resistance, in my case anyway.

My understanding is that the hormones released when you do interval training/weight lifting etc encourage your body to pump out sugar, hence the rise.

 

[Ushthetaff]

From what I remember being told is bs and exercise relationship depends on type of exercise being done aerobic or anaerobic can’t remember which one does what but I do know that when I push weights my bs goes up ,something to do with the liver me thinks , I go to the gym at 6am so have the dawn phenomenon to cope with too ……oh the complicated lives we live,

 

[EBe66]

Not exactly an expert here, but I concur with what has been mentiond. Exercising to the max actually raises bs because your body is going like "You're using your bs? Ok, I'll give you some more!" Taking it a notch down seems to work better. Or exercise longer. When I bike (I always try to ride as fast as I can for the distance to go) usually my bs first goes up but after ~45 minutes - 1 hour it starts dropping rapidly (most of the time). When I stop it goes up somewhat again