Exercise Safety and Diabetes

A. Exercise is very important for people with diabetes to stay healthy, but there are a few things to watch out for.

If you have certain diabetes complications, there are some kinds of physical activity you should avoid. If you have blood pressure, blood vessel, or eye problems, you may want to avoid exercise involving heavy weights. Diabetes-related nerve damage can make it difficult to tell if you've injured your feet during exercise, which can lead to more serious problems. After you exercise, check your feet for sores, blisters, irritation, cuts, or other injuries.

If you do have diabetes complications, talk to your doctor about which kinds of physical activity would be best for you.

There's also a chance that exercise can lower your blood sugar too much and cause hypoglycemia, especially if you take insulin or certain oral medications. Hypoglycemia can happen while you're exercising, just afterward, or even up to a day later. You can get shaky, weak, confused, irritable, anxious, hungry, tired, or sweaty. You can get a headache or even lose consciousness.

On the other hand, you should not exercise when your blood sugar level is very high because it could go even higher. Do not exercise if your blood sugar is over 300, or your fasting blood sugar is over 250 and you have ketones in your urine.

When you exercise, be sure to drink plenty of fluids; being dehydrated can affect your blood sugar level.