I am a diabetic. Has anyone ever heard of blood sugar levels increasing with exercise instead of decreasing?

Question

I have noticed when i am very active my blood sugar gets high. I always thought with activity blood sugar levels should go down. Has anyone else experience this?

Answer 1

yeah, i've had the same thing happen to me. i was putting a sidewalk around my house this past summer---working my butt off in the heat toting 80 pound bags of concrete, mixing it, pouring it, etc. i figured my blood sugar would be low so i tested it and it was sky high. i told my doc about it and she said that intense physical activity can cause the blood sugar to go up.

i just say that measuring blood sugar sometimes is more voodoo than science.

Answer 2

I have this same problem, the thing with mine (even tho I am on a pump) is it will rise right after exercise, I give a bolus of insulin, and within ONE hour, my blood sugar is down to normal, if not low! So, even tho I am on a pump, I still have the ups and downs like when on the shots when I exercise. I have learned that I personally have to wait for about 15-30 minutes after exercising for my body to settle down before testing so I can see what it really is, and that seems to have helped. And any stress in your life will make a difference when exercising, with your blood sugar, etc. Mine will go up in some situations and go low in others. Each person is different on this.

Your doctor should have told you that you need to test before, during, and after exercising so you know what it does and so you know if it is safe for you to exercise at all. If it is low, then have something to take care of that low. If it is normal, be sure to take your machine and a snack with you so you can test and eat if needed. If it is above 250 (which has always been the magic number for NOT exercising), DO NOT exercise. Instead, bring it down to normal for about an hour or so before exercising. If you exercise with it at or above 250, it will definitely raise even higher, and that can be dangerous right away and in the long run.

Be safe when exercising and follow these simple tips and you should be able to work it out in time. Each person is different when exercising (blood sugar, how the body reacts, etc), so we each have to do things a bit differently, but the tips above should be for every person with diabetes.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Type 1 diabetics do not produce ANY insulin. The beta cells in the islets of Langerhans are not producing any insulin at all, type 2 diabetics do produce some insulin just not enough thats why they can control their blood sugar with diet and excercise. Insulin is a chemical released by those beta cells that allow the glucose (sugar) secreted by the liver and glucose in food, be used. It acts kind of as a lock-and-key situation. Glucose can not get into the cells to be used for energy without the insulin, therefor causing the serum blood sugar to rise sharply.

Answer 5

I'm with Bruce D on this one. It's all about available insulin. I normally reduce fast acting insulin before heavy duty exercising.

However, when I'm going to be exercising for an extended time, such as mountain climbing all day, I also don't want to carry a lot of food with me. By timing my long acting insulin, I selectively plan for my insulin to 'wear out' by say, early afternoon. I can keep climbing without worrying about going too low during this time. I can continue to do this for a few hours without much worry, and I can trim some fat without ketoacidosis. My bg stays either stable or climbs a bit. At the end of the day, I'll be on the high side, and then I'll shoot up with Humalog and eat something as well. I'll also cut back on my second long acting injection because my muscles are depleted of glucose and during the night, they will be sucking extra carbs out of my dinner from the days intense exercise.

Answer 6

This is very common when there's not enough usuable insulin in the blood stream. When you're exercising the body uses glucose in your blood first. When that is depleted, which is in a very short time, your glucose stores are released from the muscles and liver. If there is not enough insulin in the bloodstream glucose is not able to move into cells so it remains in the bloodstream. This happens more often in situations of heavy activities or exercise. You might need an adjustment to your insulin or medication.

Answer 7

Stress hormones make your bs go up during exercise. Something like a snack before might help, but may not. Your best bet is correcting with insulin afterwards.

Answer 8

My understanding is that when we first exercise, we burn off the sugar present in our blood stream (this normally causes hypoglycemia); but when the body depletes that, it needs another energy source. So then we begin to tap into our fat storage...fat is just stored energy, but it is unusable in it's current form. The body must first break it down into...you guessed it...sugar! Therefore, until the body becomes efficient in breaking down fat for appropriate energy use, one who is diabetic may see an increase in blood sugars. It often regulates itself with time, but those who are diabetic should discuss with their doctor before beginning an exercise regimene.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I had the same problem when I was using insulin by injection! I'm now on an Insulin pump! The problem went away by itself after a while but it used to drive me crazy!

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