11) EXERCISE AND TYPE 2 DIABETES
b) Exercise and low Blood Sugar
Note that vigorous exercise is excellent, but it can result in low blood sugar in a person with type 2 diabetes, especially if that person is on medications which stimulate the production of insulin or injecting insulin. A person with type 2 diabetes can get nauseous, wobbly, "spaced out" and tingly. In an individual taking insulin this can progress to unconsciousness, coma and even death. These symptoms are brought on by low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) brought on in turn by the exercise depleting the blood sugar (glucose) in the blood stream. Too much insulin can produce the same symptoms. The symptoms can also result from a person on insulin forgetting to take their insulin (even high levels of blood sugar can't get into the cells, resulting in the same symptoms as low blood sugar).
Wikipedia lists the symptoms of low blood sugar as:
Shakiness, anxiety, nervousness, tremor
Palpitations, tachycardia
Sweating, feeling of warmth
Pallor, coldness, clamminess
Dilated pupils (mydriasis)
Feeling of numbness "pins and needles" (parasthaesia) in the fingers
Hunger, borborygmus
Nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort
Headache
Abnormal mentation, impaired judgement
Nonspecific dysphoria, anxiety, moodiness, depression, crying
Negativism, irritability, belligerence, combativeness, rage
Personality change, emotional lability
Fatigue, weakness, apathy, lethargy, daydreaming, sleep
Confusion, amnesia, dizziness, delirium
Staring, "glassy" look, blurred vision, double vision
Automatic behavior, also known as automatism
Difficulty speaking, slurred speech
Ataxia, incoordination, sometimes mistaken for "drunkenness"
Focal or general motor deficit, paralysis, hemiparesis
Paresthesia, headache
Stupor, coma, abnormal breathing
Generalized or focal seizures
That's quite a list and explains why people often don't realize they are suffering from low blood sugar.
A person with type 2 diabetes who exercises vigorously should keep a small candy bar or glucose tablets in their gym bag to cover such occurrences. If the person with type 2 diabetes goes hiking or climbing they should also take along some candy bars and glucose tablets, especially if they are on insulin. If a person with type two diabetes exercises vigorously for more than thirty minutes it's a good idea to have eaten some complex carbohydrates (specifically don't eat a meal of only fats and proteins) thirty minutes or so before starting the exercise. It is also recommended that long periods of exercise be interrupted every thirty minutes or so for blood sugar level testing. And of course don't "forget" to take an insulin shot per your health professional's instructions.
Current Chapter: 11) EXERCISE
a) Introduction
b) Exercise and low Blood Sugar
c) Exercise and Weight Lose
d) Aerobic Exercise and Heart Disease
e) Exercise and Peripheral Arterial Disease
f) Proper Resistance Training
g) Exercise Myths
h) Exercise, Stress and Diabetes
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