# Exercise and out of control blood glucose



## liquidi (Aug 16, 2019)

Hi

I’ve just been for my annual check and my blood sugar is elevated after 3 or 4 years of being controlled.

I exercise a fair amount and cycling is my chosen activity. I cover between 50-100 miles a week when time and weather allow. I live in Abu Dhabi so training is hot, humid and hard at the moment, but I still manage to get out very early to ride. Come October I will probably manage 3 maybe 4 rides a week.

Chatting to the diabetic nurse she suggested my control issue maybe eating too many carbs after exercise whilst my body is recovering and I’m craving food of any type. Previously my blood has been around 7 mmol/L or 126 mg/dl high end of normal for T2 I know, but stable at that level for at least 3 years. Now it’s 9.8 mmol/L or 178 mg/dl which is frustrating because I consider myself pretty fit and in control, I’m not.

Any advice how to continue training, deal with the need to eat and recover whilst keeping blood levels in control?

My plan moving ahead is to monitor my blood 3 times a day, keep an eye on blood pressure and keep a food log and fingers crossed I’ll see some positive results.

Thanks for reading.


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## rebrascora (Aug 16, 2019)

Hi and welcome

Can you give us an idea of what you eat as an average day's food intake. Do you know how much carbs you consume each day?  

Quite a few people here on the forum seem to be reporting that they were controlling their BG pretty well for several years and then suddenly it has ramped up. It may be that the body suddenly decides that it can no longer tolerate carbs at all or that carb intake gradually increases a little as the years go by because there is no longer a conscious focus on keeping it low.
The heat may also be a factor. Have you lived in a hot climate the whole time you have been diabetic? Is your annual check up always in the peak of summer as that may affect your readings. Stress can also be a factor in raised levels. Getting back to regular testing is certainly a good plan and keeping a food diary and in particular carb counting and maybe making small changes here and there will get you back on track. D you have a plan regarding when you intent to test? ie fasting reading first thing in the morning and then before meals and 2hrs afterwards? 3 tests a day may not tell you much.


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## Matt Cycle (Aug 16, 2019)

Hi liquidi.  I'm assuming your annual check was an HbA1c?  Are you on any meds?  Monitoring your bloods on a regular basis is a good idea as you'll be able to see exactly what's going on and how any carbs you eat affect your levels.  Even with the exercise you're doing it may mean reducing and replacing carbs (especially outside of exercise times) or introducing/changing meds.


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## liquidi (Aug 17, 2019)

Thanks for the replies so for, yes I take a couple of tablets metformin, saxogliptin and a satin. My test was HbA1c.

I think it’s wise to monitor my blood and see just what the food I eat is doing to me. It’s going to take some hard work for sure, I was offered alternative tablets which Ive refused for now. I don’t like the idea of having low blood sugar on a bike at 20mph.

Any additional comments most welcome


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## Eddy Edson (Aug 17, 2019)

Out of interest, are they giving you the HbA1c results as "estimated average glucose" (EAG)? I know there's been a push for that in some parts of the world.

It probably doesn't have anything to do with it, but there's been some research to the effect that Metformin can interfere with peripheral insulin sensitivity benefits of exercise, sometimes & for some people actually resulting in higher post-exercise levels than without it. It seems like it might be the case for me, sometimes. Some details in my dropping-Metformin experiment thread: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/experiment-dropping-metformin.82138/


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