Diabetes and Exercise Tips

• To reduce the risk of hypoglycemia if you have diabetes, follow a regular routine of exercising, eating your meals, and taking your medicines at the same time each day.
• Prolonged or strenuous exercise can cause your body to produce adrenaline and other hormones that can counteract the effects of insulin and cause your blood sugar to rise. If you are participating in strenuous exercise (exercising at your maximum capacity) or prolonged exercise (lasting for several hours or more), your insulin and/or oral diabetic medicine may need to be changed. Talk to your health care provider about how to adjust your medicine.
• Be careful exercising when your medicine is reaching its peak effect.
• Depending on the time of exercise, reducing your dose of either long-acting insulin or short-acting insulin will be necessary. Your doctor can recommend how to make this adjustment.
• Exercise with someone who knows you have diabetes and knows what to do if you have a low blood-sugar reaction.
• Wear a medical identification tag (for example, MedicAlert) or carry an identification card that states you have diabetes.