T1 and competing in intense sports

[diabetic1996]

Hi, I am a 23yr old male who has been T1 for about 18months. I compete in Gaelic Football at a relatively high standard but find it very difficult managing my glucose levels. The sport is 30-35 minutes a half, and so is more intense than say football. Because of this, my BS levels can go from 6 to 15mmol even with injecting 3 units of bolus insulin.

I am just looking to see if anyone has any advice or things that work well for them. I try to get into a routine of what I eat and records timings of what Ive eaten etc on my phone but would appreciate any help.

Thanks

 

[therower]

@diabetic1996 . Welcome to the forum.
There are a lot of very knowledgeable T1’s on the forum and a fair few take part in exercise to varying degrees of intensity and type.
No experience of Gaelic football personally, more of a gym user.
Have you Googled......runsweet..... it’s a site specially set up and focused on diabetes and exercise. Maybe worth a visit.
As for your BS levels. If I do intense exercise that gets the adrenaline pumping then I will see a rise in bs levels very quickly.
It then becomes a case of recalling what has happened previously and trying to take steps to stop it in the future. This can mean injecting insulin prior to the event, this can be a case of trial and error to see how much and at what sort of time interval. This is something you’re already doing it appears. I find that making sure I have carbs on board prior to an intense workout helps,
Good luck in finding what works for you.
Do let and explain what hypos are to your teammates. Diabetes is never black and white. Keep fast acting hypo treatment to hand.

 

[diabetic1996]

Thank you for your replies. Yes I’ve seen runsweet but will go on it again.

A few things I find help are;
- Recording carb and insulin intake ahead of game
- use new-ish pens and needles to ensure full effectiveness of insulin
-Eat dinner early the night before, which means my glucose levels are stable before bed, won’t wake up dehydrated.
-pay extra care to what I’m eating- measure
-split insulin intake before game, 1 unit 1hr before, 2 units 20mims before.
-Test via finger prick and strips as more accurate and no time delay compared to libre.
-Get ready early so I have time to make any adjustments/feel in control

If anyone else has any tips they use that would be greatly appreciated

 

[Diakat]

It sounds like you are approaching it sensibly, how quickly do you come down again after?

 

[diabetic1996]

It sounds like you are approaching it sensibly, how quickly do you come down again after?

Fairly quickly, I tend to eat soon after finishing and take little to no insulin with this meal.

 

[Diakat]

So probably you are out of range for an hour in total per match? However often per week and then return to range pretty quick.
We don’t really know the effect of repeated spikes, but I might personally argue that the benefit of the intense exercise outweighs the odd spike. Especially if control is good most of the time.
A lot of people seem to sit in the teens for hours and that will cause long term harm.