Type 2 & Exercise Advice

[Jike]

Hi Folks,

I'm new to the forum, I was diagnosed in september after a long period of feeling unwell. I'm on metformin 500mg x 2 and clicazide x 1 a day. Things have stabilised after several months on medication, G.P. is happy and i have eventually felt like exercising again (in fact I'm a new man..I thought I was just getting old!!!).

I have been doing a lot of walking but now that I'm feeling good have decided to raise the activity level, I have entered a sprint triathlon later on in the year.

I went for my first training run yesterday and as a matter of interest checked my bg afterwards it was 2.9, I would normally be around 6 or 7 at the time I tested. I'm aware that exercise can lower bg however I don't know a lot about diabetes and my understanding is that 2.9 isn't far away from going hypo...am I right in thinking this?

I would be grateful for advice from any type 2's who regularly exercise. I would just really like to know what to expect and anything that I should or should'nt be doing i.e. isotonic drinks, good or bad? should I be taking sugar on board in the form of these drinks before or after training or at all?

Cheers

Jike

 

[Patch]

Well - you've got 2 choices:

1) Continue with your medication during exercise, and keep a sugary drink handy in case you do go that low again, or
2) Learn how exercise effects your BG, and adjust your medication to suit.

If it was me, I'd favour 2) - but I know some people love to take medication, and eat lots of sugar to compenstae. Why, I don't know.

2.9 IS very low. Standard advice is anything <4 is a hypo. However, I've been down to around 3.5 with no hypo feelings.

 

[daisy1]

I went for my first training run yesterday and as a matter of interest checked my bg afterwards it was 2.9, I would normally be around 6 or 7 at the time I tested. I'm aware that exercise can lower bg however I don't know a lot about diabetes and my understanding is that 2.9 isn't far away from going hypo...am I right in thinking this?
Jike

Hi Jike and welcome to the forum Be careful - 2.9 is already hypo. Here is a link to some advice on hypos and hypo treatment for your information:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18529

You say you don't know a lot about diabetes so here is the advice given to newly diagnosed diabetics which you will probably find helpful:

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS.
Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l........(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals....... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Sue/Ken.

 

[Jike]

Thanks for your help folks. I was managing things well but the exercise seems to have thrown a small spanner into the works....hopefully remedied now after your advice.

Cheers

 

[bedshaped2000]

when i exercise i normally eat about 20g uncooked weight of duram wheat pasta which slow releases over 2 to 3 hrs normally but with vigourous exercise tends to where off on me after 1and a half hrs then i have a small apple. if i did the same without the exercise i would be on a 10 by the third hour

 

[Csfrowantree]

Hi Jike,

Glad you are managing well most of the time, I also have had trouble getting things stabalsied after exercise.
I personally have found that I need to take on some carbs before and during exercise, a lot depends on the intensity and the duration though.
As you have said that you are taking Metformin and Glicazide which is the same as me except I am on max dose of Glicazide 320mg and 500mg SR Metforfin. I thought I could perhaps offer some advice as I tried reducing my glicizide on exercise days which are typically 4 x 45 min swims, at quite an intensive pace as directed by my specialist, however found that because of the reduced dose my BGs went quite high on an evening and on waking.
What I do now is to take onboard some slow release carbs ( Banana) and have a small carton of fresh orange to drink during the exercise.
I like to start exercising at about 7-8mmol and not go any lower than 4, this has worked for me since I started doing this and I feel a lot better for it, as previously I would go Hypo after my swims and then have to correct which often shot my BGs to high.
Before you start I would recomend that you test your BG and first take on a small amount of carbs mixture of fast and slow release then test again after finishing. If your BG is still below 4 increase the carb intake till you get it about right, remember though that even after the exercise is finished your BG may still drop.
If you get it wrong dont worry just keep on testing and adjusting accordingly, you will feel a lot better in the long term and if you want to continue doing things like triathlons they do require a lot of energy, its all a matter of balancing intake against expenditure.
Hope that helps.

Regards