Exercise Produces High BGs: Type 1

[v-effect]

I've learned so much from this forum: thanks! I'm a 29 yr old female Type 1, with good control. I've been following Bernstein since I came across him: when I was diagnosed 7 years ago. It's really worked for me. Even at my most stressed out, my A1C has never been over 7. Thanks Dr. B!

My question: I've recently been getting back in shape (been out of shape since coming to grad school) I do cardio most every day for about an hour and weights every other day. I'm an advanced stepper who stays at her target heart rate for over half an hour. I go up about 100 points during this . It drives me nuts! I understand (from reading the forum) that this could be due to stress hormones, or a liver glycogen dump. I am low carbing, so I very rarely have insulin on board other than my lantus. I'm about 115 pounds, 5'6 and taking 12 units of Lantus a day. Has anyone else who has had this problem decided to bolus before exercise? This makes me quite nervous, but its better than fixing a high later, which gets quite dicey.
Please help: my doctors simply repeat their mantra- snack before exercise, and go high carb. Obviously if I tried the former, I'd be very high, and I'm not interested in the latter.

Thanks so much for any response.

[Sherrielee]

I am not a Type I, but I have had a little experience with high BG after exercise.

When my BG was over 150, there was an elevation after exercise....not quite as high as yours...more like 30-40 points. Dr. B says something about BG going up after exercise in his book...I am re-reading it on my vacation next week.

Now that my BG is sort of normal ...90's-100's, my BG can drop as much as 25 points after 1/2 hour of cardio. (I am only eating about 1200 calories per day now...as weight loss is my goal...don't know how much that contributes to all this.)

I was on Metformin, but stopped it when BG went into the 60's during exercise. So, if you choose to not snack before and take insulin, you need to have some glucose pills handy.

I always exercise 3-4 hours after my main meal now...in the afternoon or evening....when BG is at it's lowest. Also, I have found a high protein snack (I use a Tbls of SF peanut butter) will help from taking the BG down to low (if you have that problem in the future).

I am sure that the many experts around here can give you really good advice...this is just my experience. I got very frustrated when this happened to me because exercise is suppose to help keep BG stable....so, I know how you feel.

BTW...what the heck is it with doctors and carbs?? Can't they see that LC works? This is such a mystery to me!

[wsgts]

Same here, except a Type II. Some time ago, I got out of control for the first time in three years, with a daily BG of 300. Once I got back under control with some oral medications, I went running my usual workout.

I went from 150 to 240 after five miles. So basically, I wasn't using any of the sugar my liver was dumping out there, but using the fat which is what I wanted anyways.

I called my cousin who is Type I on this, and he said he has never had that happen to him, so no clues for a Type I. I would think it would be a bit unsafe to add extra insulin as lows would be bad way away from others.

Might have to try a real doctor that can figure this stuff out for you, I am sure it is not that uncommon.

Good luck,
wsgts

[crush180]

I'm a type 1, and I've noticed the exact same thing after a HARD workout. If I work out in the mornings my bs goes up even higher. How long before you workout is your last meal? If it's a few hours before trying adding a little extra protein. I'm not sure if you eat nuts, but if you do have 1 ounce a hour or two before you work out. DO NOT take a shot of novolog or humalog before you work out! I did that once because I was so sick of it and had a really bad low (I only took 1 unit). Has this been happeneing for a long time? After about a month, my body got used to the exercise and I stopped having highs (weird huh?)

If it's not too personal, how did you get your weight down to 115? I've been trying to lose weight for the last month, and so far nothing, not one pound. Could you possibly share your meal plan with serving sizes included. I've read the Atkins book and the Bernstein book and I love low-carbing but I'd really like to lose weight and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm on lantus and novolog. 22 units of lantus, and 2-10 units of novolog at meals. Please help.

You can e-mail me at crush180~yahoo.com

Thank you,
Mary

[v-effect]

hi all,

thanks for your replies: so informative!

mary:

thanks for your reply. question on your response: so the highs just kind of stopped? i have recently begun exercising much harder (simply because i can: its the first time ive been in shape since i started the slothy life of graduate school), and i guess the highs have been happening since i did so. i generally exercise in the afternoon, since the highs in the morning, like you say, were even higher. i dont usually take more than 2 units for lunch, and its usually been a few hours since ive eaten lunch anyway. i end up correcting after anyway, which is why i suggested taking the fast-acting before. but your warning is well taken. i will try your protein suggestion and report back. (im ill with the flu at the moment, so it might take a few days). oh and, ive also noticed this only happens with cardio: a weight-lifting session willl lower my blood sugar a bit, if at all.

about weight: ive always been a thin person, without dieting. after i got diabetes i did gain about 20 pounds. when i went low carb ( and stopped drinking undergraduate amounts of beer and grain alcohols) i did lose that weight. heres what i eat-- its not a diet persay, but im a creature of habit, so it always turns out the same:

Oh and, one thing i have noticed: i cant go crazy on the cheese, low carb specialty products, etc. when i initially went crazy making low carb cheese cakes and stuff (because i could, without seeing anything bad happen to my sugar) , i gained some weight.


breakfast

low carb toast with lots of cream cheese
coffee, half and half

(sunday): eggs and bacon, champagne, coffee, half and half)

lunch

vegi-tofu burger (2 carbs)
slice of fake cheese
pickles
keeto-keeters or,
cottage cheese

dinner

piece o meat (fish, steak, no-bread crabcakes, whatever)
salad, with ranch, and a bit of cheese
vegetables
2 glasses red wine

later in the evening

sometimes 1 or 2 more glasses of wine
snack of cheese and nice sausage

other things added at will:
more pickles
flavored water
olives
beef jerky

added sparingly:
sugar free fudgcicles (sp?)
atkins ice cream
atkins crunchers
nuts
baked cheese

if anyone thinks of any other suggestions re: highs and exercise, please feel free to post.

thanks!

:wave:

[karena3]

Hey,

I can totally relate to high blood sugars after exercise. I am type I, and ran a marathon about a year ago. After the marathon, my blood sugars rose so high I was hospitalized with ketoacidosis!