High sugar after exercise

Its a strange thing I know, but excercise also increases my blood sugars. Never quite worked this one out and it is an interesting one to bring up on the forum to see how common it is.

Hi, First class,
Here are some things you might want to consider.
It could be the type of exercise: anaerobic exercise can produce a rise.
Have you tried half an hour of aerobic (ie jogging/cross trainer at about 60/70% maximum heart rate)and then seen what happens? This normally causes a fall.
If it is the type of exercise creating the problem an aerobic cooldown could help.

Are your glucose levels at 11 before or after you eat your snack?
If before, then perhaps you don't need the snack at all. It alone could easily put your levels up far too high.
If it is 11mmol/l after the snack perhaps you need to eat a bit less.
Experiment a bit but have some glucose tablets with you. Test before, during and after the exercise.
Here is a chart that recommends pre exercise carbs at various levels. Note in particular the footnote about levels above 11mmol
http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6297

As the footnote suggests high levels could mean that you don't have enough circulating insulin to get the fuel into the cells.(and above 13mmol you should test for ketones before attempting exercise.) Think about your regular control, If normally 11mmol between/pre meals, this is high. Hopefully not (and a whole different question)
This site tells you a lot about exercise and insulin. I've give you 2 specific links but the whole site is worth exploring.
http://www.runsweet.com/CarbsAndExercise.html

http://www.runsweet.com/StartingSports.html
Lots of info there, hope it's not too much!

Being new to this too I'm doing some testing. Does yours drop after a few hours?

I walked for just over 4 hours today and was pretty bummed to find that my BG had only dropped about 1.5mmol .....however I started yawning a lot about 1.5-2 hours after and tested again - it had dropped down another 1.6 after (admittedly I had not eat anything after - was not hungry). So I dropped from 8.1 down to 4.8 after the exercise and 2 hours rest.

I have read that exercise does cause blood sugar to rise in some people so I'd not be too concerened unless it gets very high - however from my limited knowledge your numbers do look high.

Well its the first time I have tested when walking. As I plan to make the best of the bank holiday and do the same tomorrow I will see if it has the same effect.

Hi Firstcalss,

I also weight train and have come across this problem myself. I am also Type 1 - over 20 years now.

Alot of diabetics experience this problem whilst weight training and it is due to hormones that are released when you put your body under stress(fight or flight). This causes your BS to increase and of course in a none diabetic this would not be a problem as it would be automatically taken care of by a release of insulin from the pancreas. Unfortunately in the diabetic if there is not enough ciculating insulin then the BS is naturally going to climb.

You will have to play around and experiment to find out the best way of handling this. Personally I find that training about one hour after dinner works and stops my BS from climbing - I put this down to the fact that I have plenty of insulin in my body as it is still working to its 2 hour peak from the pre-dinner injection. If I were to train say 2-3 hours after dinner I know that my BS will shoot up during and after my workout.

You could also try giving yourself a couple of units of fast acting insulin during or just after your workout - as always though plenty of testing required to see what will work for you.

Good luck.

Paul.