when/if to exercise to help FBG control

[eddiemcm]

15 minutes after extreme aerobic exercise:
1.Sometimes FBG is lowered by as much as 60 points
2.Sometimes FBG is upped by as much as 40 points
3.Sometimes no effect
Wow!
Does anyone understand this??
Eddie

[RobLL]

I'll be glad to hear some info on this one.

[Charran]

Interesting results Eddie. I find that mine is always lowered quite significantly after exercise.

[eddiemcm]

"Interesting results Eddie. I find that mine is always lowered quite significantly after exercise"
Interesting to you.Frustrating to me.
How long do you wait to take a glucose reading
after the end of your exercise?What type of
exercise?
Eddie

[Lisa N]

Eddie...did you exercise on an empty stomach? If not, how much did you eat and when did you eat it in relation to the exercise? Also, what was your blood glucose reading before you started exercising?

[eddiemcm]

"Eddie...did you exercise on an empty stomach? If not, how much did you eat and when did you eat it in relation to the exercise? Also, what was your blood glucose reading before you started exercising?"
Been trying to defeat the dawn phenomena by
exercising before breakfast.My blood glucose typically measures about 130 when I wake up.
Results after about 15 minutes of heart pumping aerobics vary between good,bad and
nothing.I read on one post that it's not good to
exercise on an empty stomach but I have a little
trouble believing that.My glucose typically measures okay by noon if I exercise or not.
I have been considering stopping the early
morning aerobics and stick to weight lifting in
the evening.
Bye for now
Eddie

[camaromom]

Eddie, if I check a fasting blood sugar before I head off to the gym I'll get in the 80's. I can go work out, say spinning, for 45-60 minutes. If I check my blood sugar upon my return home I'll get 126 or so. This is fasting cardio, nothing but water during exercise. I do believe that the liver will dump some stored glycogen into the blood stream to keep you from dipping too low during exercise. If I take my Metformin before going to the gym, my bloodsugar after the workout will still be in the 80's, but that is because one of the things Metformin does is prevent the liver from dumping into the blood stream. Also, I'm ravenously hungry when I do this.

[Lisa N]

Here's some of what Dr. Bernstein has to say on the subject in his book:

"Moderate to strenuous exercise such as swimming, running, weight lifting or tennis-as opposed to more casual exercise such as walking-causes an immediate release of "stress", or counterregulatory, hormones (epinephrine, cortisol, etc...). these signal the liver and muscles to return glucose to the bloodstream by converting stored glycogen into glucose. The nondiabetic response to the additional glucose is to release small amounts of stored insulin to keep blood sugars from rising. Blood sugar therefore will not increase. If a type 2 diabetic without phase 1 insulin response were to exercise for a few minutes, his blood sugar might increase for a while, but eventually it would return to normal thanks to the phase 2 insulin response. Thus, brief strenous exercise can raise blood sugar, while prolonged exercise can lower it. For this reason, Dr. Elliot P. Joslin told a group of us (in 1947): "Don't run a block for a bus, run a mile."

My suggestion would be to save the strenous exercise until later in the day and go for something lighter in the morning (after breakfast so DP is lessened) such as walking.

Dawn Phenomenon also impacts how your body responds to morning exercise because your body is less responsive to the insulin your body produces during that time

[Charran]

Eddie- My main form of exercise is walking on my treadmill. I usually keep it between 30-45 minutes of a moderate intensity. I take my BG reading right after I complete my walking and have always found that it is significantly lower than when I started. Also, I always eat before exercise. I can't do it on an empty stomach or I find that BG levels go way too low for me to handle.

[dina1957]

"Interesting results Eddie. I find that mine is always lowered quite significantly after exercise"
Interesting to you.Frustrating to me.
How long do you wait to take a glucose reading
after the end of your exercise?What type of
exercise?
Eddie
Eddie,
I understand your frustration, I am in the same situation. I draw some conclusion after few years of trials and error with various type of exericise done at different time of the day:
1) exercise should not be seen as short term Bgs lowering tool, it is not a medication, like insulin or metroformin, and may indeed raise BG briefly
2) exercise is a must for overall health and long term Bgs control, and while it may spike Bgs shortly, it will lower it afterwards
having said this, here is what I do to avoid stressing myself and abusing my fingers more than needed. I never workout on empty tank, even cardio on empty. Try to have a small snack if you workout 1st thing in the morning. Your glucogen tank theoretically empty after an overnight fast, so regardless of the type of exercise, liver will continue to dump glucose (DP) and when you workout, it will work even harder. Now, if you run, lift, spin, and do any streneous exercise, your body releases cotrisol that conteract insulin action too. Since you have no Phase I response, you MUST EAT something to get insulin going, and this is what stops DP and BGs rise on its track. So, have some protein and little carbs snack: cheese with bran cracker, yougurt, whatever works for you, to stop neogluconeogenesis and avoid losing your food;) ( if streneous exercise).
Contrary to Dr.B's advise, I must have carbs in the morning to get my Bgs <100 in 2 hours, 6 g do nothing for me.
Now, when yo check? Depending what are you trying to accomplish by testing your BGs. You already figured out that impact can be quite different and sometimes you Bgs will spike indeed (shortly) but then will come down fast. So, I don't test right away, unless I swim for 1.5 hours, this always lowers Bgs to low 80s.Brisk walk does same trick, but it takes at least 3 -4 miles. So, go for a longer and less streneous workouts in the morning and shorter sessions of hard core weight lifting, spinning, etc. later in the afternoon, and ONLY after a meal or a snack.
I don't bother to test after worout now, I know the results can be opposite to desirable, so why stress yourself? There is also another option: to inject insulin before workout but I would rather have a snack. I don't think metformin is better idea especially when one is low carbing and working out, I could not combine it with heavy lifting, since i been getting lots of lactic acid build up and bad muscle pain.
I know I need exercise for a overall good physical and mental health and just to stay in shape and lose weight, so just do it, have a snack and check your Bgs 2 hours after, and you will be always pleased with your meter.
best luck
D.

[dancinbr]

Eddie,
I understand your frustration, I am in the same situation. I draw some conclusion after few years of trials and error with various type of exericise done at different time of the day:
1) exercise should not be seen as short term Bgs lowering tool, it is not a medication, like insulin or metroformin, and may indeed raise BG briefly
2) exercise is a must for overall health and long term Bgs control, and while it may spike Bgs shortly, it will lower it afterwards
having said this, here is what I do to avoid stressing myself and abusing my fingers more than needed. I never workout on empty tank, even cardio on empty. Try to have a small snack if you workout 1st thing in the morning. Your glucogen tank theoretically empty after an overnight fast, so regardless of the type of exercise, liver will continue to dump glucose (DP) and when you workout, it will work even harder. Now, if you run, lift, spin, and do any streneous exercise, your body releases cotrisol that conteract insulin action too. Since you have no Phase I response, you MUST EAT something to get insulin going, and this is what stops DP and BGs rise on its track. So, have some protein and little carbs snack: cheese with bran cracker, yougurt, whatever works for you, to stop neogluconeogenesis and avoid losing your food;) ( if streneous exercise).
Contrary to Dr.B's advise, I must have carbs in the morning to get my Bgs <100 in 2 hours, 6 g do nothing for me.
Now, when yo check? Depending what are you trying to accomplish by testing your BGs. You already figured out that impact can be quite different and sometimes you Bgs will spike indeed (shortly) but then will come down fast. So, I don't test right away, unless I swim for 1.5 hours, this always lowers Bgs to low 80s.Brisk walk does same trick, but it takes at least 3 -4 miles. So, go for a longer and less streneous workouts in the morning and shorter sessions of hard core weight lifting, spinning, etc. later in the afternoon, and ONLY after a meal or a snack.
I don't bother to test after worout now, I know the results can be opposite to desirable, so why stress yourself? There is also another option: to inject insulin before workout but I would rather have a snack. I don't think metformin is better idea especially when one is low carbing and working out, I could not combine it with heavy lifting, since i been getting lots of lactic acid build up and bad muscle pain.
I know I need exercise for a overall good physical and mental health and just to stay in shape and lose weight, so just do it, have a snack and check your Bgs 2 hours after, and you will be always pleased with your meter.
best luck
D.

Lots of great empirical information.

When I was using a Personal Trainer, they always told me to have something to eat before exercising. Now that I am newly faced with diabetes and measuring, etc., etc. I see the reasons behind my PT's advice.

I can see how you can go overboard with measuring versus all kinds of different scenarios.

So, I wll continue to have something before I eat. I will strive to lower carbs and my BFG and BG will normalize over the long term.

What is key to all these conversations is when are you harmed? When does the pernicious effects on your eyes, nerve endings, etc., occur. Is it as result of short term BG movements or is it simply high BG over an extended period of time?

I do appreciate trying to normalize your BG readings and reaching some sense of daily good habits that are favorable to a diabetic.

I have a feeling the good habits of not eating too much, not too many carbs, exercise will help overall and I shouldn't worry about ups and downs during a day. Perhaps that is why my Doctor has me measuring only twice a day for starts. I am measuring BFG as soon as I get up in the morning and then BFG or is it simply BG just before dinner. He states that after two hours of eating your BG should be down to proper "normal" ranges and lowering that number down to something in the area slightly under 100 is what this is all about.

I have a lot to learn and thanks for all the information that is available to read on this forum.