Exercise & Low BG

[harbottle]

Just had lunch - a shake + a few bits of dark chocolate. Probably > 20g of carbs. After around 80-90 minutes I was at 6.1 (I'd never actually measured the effect of these shakes, and I only had one as there was nothing else in the fridge! With new food I like to check earlier to see how high it peaks). Went for a 28 minute walk around the block, and got back to a 3.8 (Which I took twice just to make sure, and got the same result!).

It seems that if I have more carbs than normal and then exercise, I see quite low readings. Not sure why! (I have never seen a reading this low before and I do the same routine daily.)

 

[Vonny]

Hi @harbottle, same here. If I have a higher than usual carb meal and do my usual brisk walk (around 3 miles) I find I drop just under 4 and feel a bit wobbly. Someone on this forum explained it as false hypo, ie crashing after a bit of a spike. If I stick to low carb my BG stays the same, between 4 and 5. Very strange!

 

[harbottle]

It's not a 'fake' hypo if it's going down to those levels, it's real. 🙂

I'm wondering if it's more down to a number of factors:
- higher levels of insulin due to the food.
- higher insulin sensitivity due to exercise (A known side effect)
- exercise means the muscles use glucose anyway via a different mechanism, so they may be taking it in anyway without requiring insulin.

All this adds up to a burst of efficient glucose clearance that the release from the liver struggles to keep up with...?

 

[rebrascora]

It's not a 'fake' hypo if it's going down to those levels, it's real. 🙂

It depends how you define a hypo. On my DAFNE course 3.5 or below was discussed as an actual hypo but we try to remain above 3.9 to maintain hypo awareness as insulin users. It is not unusual for non diabetics to drop below 4 occasionally and you also have to be aware that your BG meter is not accurate to that decimal place so your readings may actually have not been below 4 at all.

 

[harbottle]

It depends how you define a hypo. On my DAFNE course 3.5 or below was discussed as an actual hypo but we try to remain above 3.9 to maintain hypo awareness as insulin users. It is not unusual for non diabetics to drop below 4 occasionally and you also have to be aware that your BG meter is not accurate to that decimal place so your readings may actually have not been below 4 at all.

Oh yes, I am aware of their limitations (Hence why I did two readings as I thought it was a mistake.)

I am just a little surprised to see low readings like this, especially when eating something with more carbs in than I normally eat.

 

[rebrascora]

I wonder if it is a combination of the rapidly digestible carbs in the shake over triggering your insulin response and then the exercise further lowering your levels.

 

[harbottle]

I wonder if it is a combination of the rapidly digestible carbs in the shake over triggering your insulin response and then the exercise further lowering your levels.

That's what I thought.
I get the same effect with a pint of beer! 🙂