excercise and BG level question
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| Sat, 03-27-2004 - 2:38am |
Usually if my BG level is less than 100 before I exercise then i will have a small snack(was using a small bag of ritz bits with peanut butter or a dannon light n lively smoothy(they are about 80 calories and i think around 16 carbs.
First to clarify...so far I have not been put on any diabetes meds....so am controlling only with diet and exercise. To hear my doctor and the diabetes education staff....there is never risk of low BG levels. Thats sort of a whole other issue I wonder about.
Anyway, in this i have more or less gone my own way. Don't have snacks all the time, although on a pretty regular basis i will have some baby carrots at work to really crunch on(that crunching can help lower my stress).
If it makes any difference my exercising is usually using an elliptical machine, arm cycle, and or treadmill. Its almost always at least 45 minutes although if I go after work, so dont have to hurry back to work, this past Monday I did get a wee carried away and was going for 101 minutes. I would say mostly its more than 45 minutes....usually closer to an hour to an hour and a half. I'm 55 years old, quite heavy and with severe arthritis in the one leg....so although I think i am getting a pretty good workout...compared toyounger healthier people...I tend to do it sorta slow and therefore often longer.
I will confess that shortly after exercising the BG is often in the 90's, and before getting sick it was very often down in the mid 80's or low 80's. I will also say that the amount it goes down isnt always real consistent. Sometimes if my BG level was high to start with it has really gone down fast and a lot. Its probably more common that it goes down 10-20 points.
So the question is..... was my doctor right that its a good thing to go exercise when my BG is lower than 100 knowing that it almost always will increase. Is it hard on my body to raise the BG level on its own? Or as I have been doing, is it better to have a small snack so that the numbers do NOT increase from exercising. Guess this just reminds me of our bodys reaction to stress...the old fight or flight response....seems healthier not to encourage that. But since I was never that fantastic at science, i could be really off base here.
Auntydoxzz

Auntydoxzz,
I looked this up in my new copy of Davidson's Diabetes Mellitus. Here is what they said:
"Four factors can influence glucose levels. Blood flow increase and delivers more glucose to the exercising muscle. Muscle insulin sensitivity also increases. Secretion of the counterregulatory hormones inhibits endogenous insulin secretion and enhances hepatic glucose production. The first two lower glucose levels and are balanced by the second two, which raise them, so that in a normal individula or a patient with diabetes not taking insulin, glucose concentrations remain stable.
Because the conditions surrounding exercise cannot be predicted accurately, only general guidleines are offered. In terms of food, it may be beneficial to exercise shortky after eating or, if that is not fesible, to eat a small snack before starting. If the exercise is prolonged and intense, carbohydrate snaking during exercise may be necessary. Patients occasionally become hypoglycemic many hours after exercise, and extra food needs to be eaten at these times. "
I hope this answers your question. Like everything else about diabetes it is hard to judge the response at any given time. This is when it becomes frustrating as a diabetic to figure out what is going on and why.
Have a great weekend!
Mary Frances
cl-maryfrances40
Co-Cl Diabetes Board
The lowest it has ever gotten has been a few hours after exercising and before i had a chance to eat BUT it has NOT gotten below 80(my drs office and i think the diabetes ed unit both said i was fine unless it got below either 60 or 70(cant remember..but i have it written down).
If it does go up right after exercising it doesnt go real high, and i think never above 120 if i remember(actually i think not that high) and usually i have forgotten to see what happens after checking it initially so maybe it then does start dropping.