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What I Wish I Had Always Known about Exercise and Diabetes (Continued)

Something else I wish I'd known is that exercise doesn't always make your blood sugar come down, at least not right away. When you do really intense exercise, the glucose-raising hormones that your body releases can actually raise your blood sugar somewhat instead, albeit usually only temporarily. This phenomenon in true even for people with type 1, type 1.5, type 2, and gestational diabetes, and even for anyone without diabetes. However, even if a workout raises it in the short run, over a longer period of time (2-3 hours), the residual effects of the exercise will bring your blood sugar back down while replacing the carbs in your muscles that you used. If you have to take insulin like I do, be careful to take less than normal to correct a post-workout high or your blood sugar will likely be crashing low a few hours later. If you don't take insulin, just give it some time to come back down or do a cool-down of less intense exercise (like walking) to help bring it back to normal.