Blood sugar drops after minimal exertion

[idlewire]

Hello, I have not been diagnosed with diabetes. I have been testing my blood sugar at home the last couple of months. I noticed that commonly I would suddenly feel very hungry after 15 minutes of light-to-moderate exercise. This happens no matter how much I eat or when before-hand.

An example of a particularly dramatic drop: blood sugar 137 before exercising. After 15 minutes light-to-moderate exercise, it was 85.

One time I felt particularly shaky, and it was 65. I didn't test before, but I felt "normal".

What's worse is that I am getting these drops from even minimal physical activity. As an example: blood sugar 110, after walking at a slow pace (strolling) for a mere 10 minutes, I start to feel a little shaky and my sugar is 78.

It is becoming that I am afraid to exercise, and I am taking dried fruit strips with me whenever I go outside, as the feeling is very unsettling.

Does anyone have an idea of what could cause this? I brought it up to my GI doctor, but because I presented so many numbers, he put me in the "anxious over nothing" category. I'm waiting for an appointment with my general practitioner but was hoping to get some info in the meantime.

Also, not sure this is related, but the feeling was similar: my sugar was 108. I drank 8 ounces of fruit juice (mostly papaya), and felt almost immediately disoriented. My blood sugar had dropped to 89. What would cause blood sugar to drop almost immediately after drinking fruit juice? And I realized that this must happen often, because sometimes I sip fruit juice and have a similar feeling. (So no more fruit juice to me!)

I hope someone can point me in the right direction as to why this may be happening! I appreciate any and all replies! Thank you.

[Barb135]

You only had one abnormal reading, which was the 65.

It's normal for blood sugar to drop when exercising, and for it to rise after you eat.  

What types of food are you eating prior to exercise?  If you're eating high glycemic foods, they wear off in a very short time, so you'll get that shaky feeling.  

[idlewire]

Hi there, thanks for your response. I started checking it because of what I was feeling. Hungry after only 10-15 minutes of exercise, shakiness no matter how much I had eaten to prepare for exercising. And sudden feelings of hunger and shakiness after just a few minutes of walking.

I wanted to know if it was correlating to anything, and my testing of the blood sugar seems to mean that it isn't all in my head. It is at the point where I don't want to exercise because that feeling of shakiness really ***** (and tends to ruin my day for the next few hours). And I take dried fruit strips with me when I go for a walk. I have found that when I don't "stave off" the feeling it just gets worse.

And it wasn't always like this for me. This is a recent development in the last 8 months or so.

[Barb135]

Blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day; that's normal..

How often are you checking your blood sugar?  Why would you check it every 15 minutes?

Blood sugar varies throughout the day depending on what you eat and how much exercise you get.  If you exercise, you should expect your blood sugar to go down; likewise, when you eat, you should expect it to rise.  

None of your blood sugar levels seem to be extreme, except maybe the one at 65, but even that's not "for sure".

Do you have a family history of diabetes?  Why are you so worried about it?

I think I'd have to put you in the same category your doctor did. If you are checking your blood sugar every 15 minutes, that's a bit obsessive.  Must cost you a fortune in testing strips.

[idlewire]

A little bit more info: my fasting sugar in the morning has been in the 90-95 range.

And: after a drop from exercise, after I stop exercising, if I wait 15 minutes, my sugar will be 10 points higher (without having eaten anything at all). Another 15 minutes it will be 5-10 points higher still (again, no food/juice).