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Does exercise affect a blood sugar reading?

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BrianM

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Type 2
Recently I have been having toilet problems and my doctor told me to stop taking metformin. At the same time he told me to stop giving myself an injection of Lyxumia each day and to start using a program of Ozempic injections once a week so last Sunday I started using Ozempic. I did a blood sugar test Monday morning and it showed 7.4.

This morning, Tuesday I went for an early morning one mile run and took my blood sugar reading after I was rested. The blood sugar reading was 10.7. I would welcome any comments from Ozempic users.
 
Not an Ozempic user but I find that gentle/moderate exercise tends to lower my BG while a vigorous workout raises my BG. I know a number of other members see similar things
 
Many thanks for your reply, I'll not run tomorrow and take another reading. Brilliant weight loss on your part, many congratulations.
 
The good news is that even after strenuous exercise and a BG rise, your BG will then drop and continue to drop for several hours. I think when you are working hard your liver gives you a helping hand by dumping glucose into your blood stream as you obviously need some energy.
 
Hi. Well done for getting out for some exercise. It is so good for us diabetics.
I am also not an Ozempic user but can I ask... Are you just testing once a day? If so your reading after exercise tells you very little. BG readings can vary quite significantly throughout the day in response to any number of factors, food medication and exercise being the 3 main ones but there are others. Dawn Phenomenon/Foot on the Floor syndrome being another major contributor. This is where the liver pumps out glucose in the absence of food to give you energy to start your day. If you test before you get out of bed as soon as you wake up and then half an hour later you will likely see quite a significant increase even without going for the run.
Exercise itself can lower or increase your levels at the time depending on the type of exercise, how long you exercise for and how fit you are, but it can then lower your levels over the following 48 hours and if you can do exercise on consecutive days this affect usually becomes more pronounced. Perhaps try a brisk walk the next day, so that you are not pushing your body too hard, rather than running consecutive days.
 
I find the whole situation fascinating so today I will just do a little green house work, watch my diet and hopefully find my blood sugar level a trifle lower tomorrow morning before I eat my breakfast many thanks for all the advice.
 
Hi @BrianM - tbh, your morning fasting levels are likely to be the last to come down, so don't expect that to happen overnight. (sorry not sorry!) :D
 
BrianM said:
I find the whole situation fascinating so today I will just do a little green house work, watch my diet and hopefully find my blood sugar level a trifle lower tomorrow morning before I eat my breakfast many thanks for all the advice.
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I agree with @EllsBells about the morning reading being last to move downwards. I exercise with brisk walks and find it counters any rises after eating and generally my Bg count is lower with exercising. However the morning count is pretty stable and doesnt budge much. Its usually higher than the rest of the day except for 2-3 hours post meal. Dawn phenomenon def plays a part for me. But as long as my counts during the day are acceptable then i won't worry too much about this. Keep up the exercise it def helps 🙂
 
And wow @adrian1der you were diagnosed around the same time as myself and have done so well!! Congrats on the weight loss. You like myself must be feeling so much better.
 
Any change to your routine can take a fortnight to settle down.
I found the benefits of exercise greatly outweighed other things.
I'd suggest keeping the exercise going, let the new treatment regime kick in, and see how you are in a couple of weeks.
 
Hi Brian, I only have to walk into town 15 minutes and I`m hypo, needed an ambulance several times.

That`s me mate, no reason you can`t carry on with your regime and good for you, we`re all different so
find out what works for you and keep a diary. Always carry hypo treatment with you and test half way
through your exercise, best of luck.
 
adrian1der said:
Not an Ozempic user but I find that gentle/moderate exercise tends to lower my BG while a vigorous workout raises my BG. I know a number of other members see similar things
Click to expand...
Same with me
 
BrianM said:
Recently I have been having toilet problems and my doctor told me to stop taking metformin. At the same time he told me to stop giving myself an injection of Lyxumia each day and to start using a program of Ozempic injections once a week so last Sunday I started using Ozempic. I did a blood sugar test Monday morning and it showed 7.4.

This morning, Tuesday I went for an early morning one mile run and took my blood sugar reading after I was rested. The blood sugar reading was 10.7. I would welcome any comments from Ozempic users.
Click to expand...
Are you exercising before you have breakfast and take a bolus?
 
Ozempic has a very long half life so it takes close to a month to build up to full strength of the dose you are taking, I’d guess that you are on 0.25 which isn’t the full dose it’s just to get used to the side effects. So I wouldn’t expect to see any effect of the ozempic immediately but that it will gradually build up over the next 2 months.
 
BrianM said:
Is taking a blood test first thing in the morning the correct time?
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Well... it depends on what you want to find out! :D

Many people check first thing and last thing, as well as before and/or after meals.

A single check first thing can give a reasonable estimate of general levels, but lacks a lot of detail about what happens around food on its own 🙂
 
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