I've been noticing that after I ride my bike to work (5 miles up & down hills) my hands and fingers are shaky. Is this a "normal" post-workout blood-sugar dip, or something I should worry about more? I have breakfast before I go out (a 240 cal protein shake w/ only 5gm of sugar carbs), so I'm not skipping any meals... is it because biking uses a lot of fast-twitch muscles getting up hills too, and I don't have enough sugar in my system? It's not something that's happened to me while in the gym though. In the gym, I may have a hard work-out on the cardio machines, or reach muscle-failure on the weights, but I'm not left trembling.

It especially worries me because my dad was just recently diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He doesn't have to do blood-sugar testing or insulin - just needs to lose a few lbs, exercise and eat right, but it's verified something I've suspected were in my genes for a while now, and so I'm worried this may be more than it is. If anybody can shed some insight as to whether this is perfectly "normal" or not, it would be appreciated.

I don't feel particularly weak - just shaky and uncoordinated for a while. It'll eventually go away on its own, or faster if I eat something, but it's certainly not something that happens after I sit on my butt in the car for 10 minutes to get to work!

--Janis

Janis - could your hands and fingers be shaky because of the way you grip your bike handlebars? If it's not something that's happening in the gym, could it be something peculiar to the bike and/or bike riding? Perhaps your hands and wrists absorb a lot of shock of the ride?

I honestly don't know if it's normal or not (you might want to check with your doctor on that ), but I can tell you that it was NOT a symptom that my son had before he was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago.

I've actually been doing some reading. It looks like the (opposite) problem to diabetes - hypoglycemia (but minor & not "officially diagnosed" or a daily occurance for me). A lot of things pretty much make it sound like I'm not eating enough sugar-intensive stuff before/during the exercise, so there's not enough sugar in my blood stream for my muscles to use. (They recommend loading up on carbs, fruit-juice, gatorade, etc.) Hypoglycemia would also explain why I wind up taking an insulin-overload nap for 3 hours (whether I like it or not) after eating ice-cream. (Too much insulin is released to handle the sugar). Diabetics, however, have too much sugar in the blood, and not enough insulin to regulate it. In any case, it seems I'm a bit off-balance, which doesn't make me happy.

As for the handle-bars, etc., I have a hybrid bike, and I'm sitting pretty up-right. It doesn't happen every time I ride, just when it's first thing in the day for me. Maybe it's not enough time for my body to absorb breakfast before I set off. That could be why it doesn't do that in the gym, too - I usually go at the end of the day. *shrug* It could be any number of things, which is why I was wondering if anybody else had a similar phenomenon happen to them, and under what circumstances.

I've been having one heck of a time trying to balance everything this time around losing the weight, because it seems everything I do is wrong. I try to lower sugar-carbs and I end up needing them. I try to lower fat, and I wind up with painfully dry skin. I try to cut calories, and I've cut too many and stop losing. Argh! I don't remember it being this hard the last time! (Then again, I was in such lousy shape ANYTHING I did made me lose weight then.)

--Janis

My hands and fingers get shaky after driving for a few hours, especially on busy highways. I always put it down to tension from gripping the steering wheel.

At the gym, my hands and arms will get shaky after an intense workout, but I think that's from gripping the bars or the dumbbells and lifting at 90% max.

i get bouts of hypoglycemia, but it is mainly controlled for me. i think you should incorporate a bit of carbs into your breakfast, and make sure you eat it within 30 minutes after waking up (BS automatically dips in the morning, and you need to eat soon to counteract that effect).

if i eat a high protein breakfast with little carbs, i feel shaky and can't focus very well (my eyes and my mind). try something like kashi go lean or eat a piece of toast or fruit with your shake.

also, in general make sure you are eating every 3-5 hours- -and never just carbs. over tiume your BS/insulin will be less out of whack and you will have less symptoms.