Exercise, exercise and then do some exercise!

[Dommcb]

Hi ppl, new to the site, 27yr old male diagnosed in march T1. I have much less experience than most people here but none the less I would like 2 share the experience I have gained. Since the diagnosis if anything my life has improved! I am fitter and stronger than I was this time last year.

I have no time for sob stories, nobody gains from felling sorry for yourself! Especially you! I find that as long as I exercise every day (hard) I can control my bs with a relative amount of ease. I am lucky that I get to wakeboard twice a week which I love but on the other days I exercise.. I normally cycle but if I cant cycle I run, if I can't run I swim, if I can't swim I do push ups if I can't do push ups I do pull ups etc, my point is excuses are for failers, if you train every day to the limit, your bs will be much easier managed and you will also gain a fitter stronger better shaped body.

If I had the choice I would obviously prefer not to be a diabetic. But that's irrelevant now, I live every hour by it, but I still lead the lifestyle I had previous, partying hard eating out an d trying to further my career when possible. ( 30 day ave 6.6)

It's a gift more than a sentence! But if you cant be assed looking after yourself don't expect doctors to to compensate for your weak attitude.

1/2 hour HARD training every morning and everything else will fall into place,

Looking fwd to hearing more positive stories!

Dom







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[Morganator]

Sorry if this sounds self pitying but if I get 30 mins free in the morning after sorting out my disabled son and my mother who has dementia I tend to waste it doing shopping/housework in my own home. Not everyone has the time to have a strict exercise routine.

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[zolabud]

When I was 27 I had SO much energy too.

I used to go to the gym,do Yoga... Worked as a gardener,biked everywhere,had an energetic 4 year old to chase around and spent a lot of time as my local outdoor swimming pool.

I am now 55,am suffering from many ailments and to be told now I am diabetic in the middle of June has effected me deeply.

At 27 I would expect you average young person to have energy such as yours. Not all of us are lucky enough to have boundless energy as we are that bit older now.

Nice to hear you are coping well with your diabetes. I wish I was coping with mine as well as you seem to.

 

[Netty70]

Hi

I do think we are all different as you can see from the posts above
I'm 42 and a Zumba fanatic but I did this before diabetes and it suits my lifestyle


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[Thommothebear]

I agree that a positive mental attitude is extremely important, i have plenty of reasons to feel sorry for myself but frankly that just doesn't do me or anybody else any good. However its very true that it can be very hard to find sufficient time to do the amount of exercise needed once you have a certain level of responsibilities either to family or your career.

In the last few years i was doing less and less exercise, more and more desk work, working very long hours , often having to attend videoconferences at 2am local time etc. late last year the opportunity came to get out and I have been semi retired since June. Since then I have exercised like mad (despite dodgy knees and ankles and a borderline frozen shoulder). The effect has been dramatic, but at my age (almost 57) it takes between 2-3 hours a day to get the levels of exercise i need to achieve my goals using low impact activities such as rowing and cycling. i'm lucky, I currently have the time available. The result is my bg and weight are both down, and the exercise causes the release of hormones which help maintain a positive attitude.

I would strongly recommend that people do use exercise in some form every day, it will help, but it has to be recognised that time is a commodity that many people just do not have. I fear that if I have to go back to full time work (i claim no benefits and can't get my pension for at least another 5 years), the nature of what I do as a career will again prevent me from getting the exercise I need to stay healthy.

 

[zolabud]

I live alone now and do not have to answer to anyone anymore which to me is a huge improvement on my old like before my partner died pretty young and my son left to live with his girlfriend.

The downside is I do not go out much. I don't work at the moment and I have had one health crisis after another over the last 5 years.

Up until I was 50 I was fit, f**kable and didn't have an ounce of extra flesh. 5 years later I am 5 stone heavier which has effected my self esteem greatly.

I now have Emphasyma. And am type 2 diabetic and my liver is showing signs of damage. I also have 'fits' linked to the 2 brain haemorrhages I suffered in 1997, I actually came out of that pretty well. I was VERY lucky I didn't die as 50% of folk who have brain haemorrhages die on the spot. Of those who survive 50% need help in learning to walk,talk etc. It comes under the same umbrella as a stroke except a blood vessel bursts in your brain.

I now feel pretty down. I spend a lot of my day on my laptop and this site is amazingly supportive and I don't feel as alone as I could.

All the while I can do an E Bay listing successfully I know at least my brain is working OK.

I often wonder if I would be in this mess if my partner had not sadly died.....

But I now have savings which I have never had before. I gave up smoking in 2011 ( I vape Electronic cigarettes now and have halted the Emphasyma) I have saved £7,000 in the last 3 years. I have bought a new laptop,new washing machine,new fridge freezer and a memory foam mattress. I have money in the bank and £500 in premium bonds.

In a way I am the happiest I have been for years but my health is not good.

I really feel down....

Sorry to offload.

*Sniff*.....

 

[Netty70]

I live alone now and do not have to answer to anyone anymore which to me is a huge improvement on my old like before my partner died pretty young and my son left to live with his girlfriend.

The downside is I do not go out much. I don't work at the moment and I have had one health crisis after another over the last 5 years.

Up until I was 50 I was fit, f**kable and didn't have an ounce of extra flesh. 5 years later I am 5 stone heavier which has effected my self esteem greatly.

I now have Emphasyma. And am type 2 diabetic and my liver is showing signs of damage. I also have 'fits' linked to the 2 brain haemorrhages I suffered in 1997, I actually came out of that pretty well. I was VERY lucky I didn't die as 50% of folk who have brain haemorrhages die on the spot. Of those who survive 50% need help in learning to walk,talk etc. It comes under the same umbrella as a stroke except a blood vessel bursts in your brain.

I now feel pretty down. I spend a lot of my day on my laptop and this site is amazingly supportive and I don't feel as alone as I could.

All the while I can do an E Bay listing successfully I know at least my brain is working OK.

I often wonder if I would be in this mess if my partner had not sadly died.....

But I now have savings which I have never had before. I gave up smoking in 2011 ( I vape Electronic cigarettes now and have halted the Emphasyma) I have saved £7,000 in the last 3 years. I have bought a new laptop,new washing machine,new fridge freezer and a memory foam mattress. I have money in the bank and £500 in premium bonds.

In a way I am the happiest I have been for years but my health is not good.

I really feel down....

Sorry to offload.

*Sniff*.....

Hey don't be sorry
That's one good thing about this forum you can tell everyone your problems and the actually listen
Sorry your struggling with so many health issues and the loss of your partner but life isn't over I have felt just like you a few months ago due to the loss of my father but life's worth living no matter how hard it seems
When you feel up to it maybe you could join some local groups get you out more
Hope things get better for you


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[chr1234]

I wasn't on my insulin for a year due to weight gain etc, but now I am back on track and CANNOT get enough of working out, whether its cardio or strength! I just hope I can keep it up when I go back to university! However I find working out increases my BG if I do strength and reduces if I do cardio - odd?! :eh:

 

[Yorksman]

Lack of time, often caused by long commutes, heavy workloads, bringing up the kids etc etc, together with snatched meals takes its toll over the years. Yes, it would be nice to be able to have the freedoms from responsibility that I had when I was in my 20s.

Actually, now that the last of them is leaving home and I am counting down to retirement, I do find that I have more time.

Trouble is I'm a bit knackered now.

There's a reason why you don't see many 50 and 60 yr olds playing in the premiership or competing in the olympic track and field events.

 

[Kat100]

Hi it really is good to off load when needed ......things can get tough at times.

Yes more time and engery over 50 would be nice

 

[Ian_P]

Hi Dom,

Well done - this is such important advice, and one of the keys to improved diabetic control.

I'm a Type 1 diabetic too and find that just 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise makes a huge difference to my basal insulin requirements.

It's not difficult to fit in at all, and pays dividends to your overall energy levels.

Even just a gentle walk after a meal considerably reduces the post prandial peak in blood glucose.

One of the worst things you can do is to have a carby meal and then sit still - the blood glucose can spike to high levels before coming down. If you don't do a fingerstick in the hour after a meal you may be blissfully unaware of this, and perhaps wonder why your HbA1c is higher than you thought it would be.

Apps like Rapid Calc are good for calculating the necessary reduction in rapid acting insulin bolus if you plan to do moderate exercise after a meal.

Gary Scheiner's excellent book "Think Like a Pancreas" has some very good advice on exercise and Type 1 as well.

If you have any problems with hypos during or after exercise please consider getting a CGM from Dexcom - they've become much more affordable and accurate over recent years.

Very best wishes,

Ian


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[Dee2]

Hi..I'm on my feet 8 hours a day..i never stop..if I as much as take the dog for a walk I have a hypo! We are not all the same..each of us have different lifestyles..I leave the house a 6.30 in the morning and get home 12 hours later..i love excercise..swimming bike riding and especially walking..if I exercised "hard" I would feel ill..unfortunately I've spent the last 2 years diagnosed as a type 2..but no medication or diet helped..or excercise..finally in May I was given Insulin..i am now insulin dependant and still take 4 metformin a day..and insulin 4 times a day..i am treated as a type 1 as it would be dangerous not to be..finally last week I was given a diagnosis of LADA or 1.5 diabetes..also suspected to have celiac disease both of which conditions are auto immune diseases..i am getting to grip with it all..having time to excercise..i would love the odd hour to..but having blood sugars of 28 has left me exhausted..so please don't tar us all with the same brush..i don't feel sorry for myself..with the complications from the high blood sugars the weight was dropping off me and nothing was being converted to fat or muscle so basically I was wasting away..hopefully with the help of my team I will soon feel well again I have so many medals for sport I have lost count..even was county champion at javelin..those were the days! ;-) excercise is not everybody's "cure all" and I respect that X

 

[ConradJ]

When I first read his post I thought, "Get real... and get a life!" :x

But as I read through everyone else's responses, I can now give him a hearty and deserved :clap:

...If nothing else, you've got people's blood boiling or made others aware of the potential for good if exercise is introduced: 'exercise hard'? Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that after seeing my HbA1c earlier this year and my emotional well-being fall through the foundations, that introducing some moderate exercise by way of life and changing my 'diet' to reduce the carbs and increase non-carb foods, has resulted in improved BG results and a lower HbA1c this month

I do understand other's sentiments about 'fitting in' the exercise as well as having the energy... I'm 43 with a 2yr 4month old daughter who has more energy than a space rocket from the moment she wakes (05.00) to the moment she finally falls asleep (19.30), and after almost 37 years of T1 and mostly desk-jobs, I too can confess to the lethargy of inactivity.

If my improvements give you food for thought, then consider introducing some of the following into your daily life: take the stairs instead of the lift; walk an extra bus- / tube- stop; park your car around the corner; etc., etc. ...adding some extra steps into the daily routine is likely to do you wonders in more ways than one and may not be as hard to introduce as you might think!

 

[stephsmum]

My 15 yo daughter was diagnosed type 1 in June. Our GP delayed giving us her blood test results as she is overweight and assumed she was type 2....not quite forgiven him for that. She's overweight because she's a high functioning autistic with dyspraxia and mild learning difficulties - ie low self esteem and very poor co-ordination - comfort eats and finds it very difficult to take part in sport, ride a bike etc. I, as a 46 year old run, cycle, play hockey and am a duathlete - complete opposite, and have always been sporty. I am however prone to depression if I don't exercise.

I've considered her t1 diagnose a blessing as she was heading towards being a 20 stone 20 year old and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. And please don't criticise me as a parent for "allowing" her to get to 14 stone - she was born big and carried on big and there was nothing I could do about her consumption of chips and chocolate after school everyday, other than give up my job to escort her home, which i wasn't going to do.

However, with the threat of dying young due to her lack of fitness and weight issues we're now having some really good mother-daughter time as she agreed to going to a health club. For the past month we have been swimming, going to the gym and playing badminton 4-5 times a week, getting up 2-3 mornings a week (even now she's gone back to school) to get to the club at 6.30 am + over the weekend. I work full-time with 3+ hours commute so can be out for 13 hours per day so it has been exhausting and now my husband and 18 yo son have to really pull their weight in the house but I now have a teen whose self-esteem has increased no end, a teen with boundless energy and a teen with muscle definition I don't think she's ever had! Sure she's not going to be a competitive sportswoman but she's dropped 2 dress sizes already and is feeling very good about herself! We love the time in the steam room and jacuzzi so it's not all about hard exercise :wink:

I wish I'd discovered http://excarbs.com before last night (had looked at runsweet.com, though) because she's had a huge problem with hypos and now with the help of the DSN my daughter has reduced her insulin by almost a half since attending the gym. :thumbup:

The real negative about diabetes? The cost - the small packets of everything (easier for her to carry about), the gym, the petrol to get to the gym...

Dom :clap: :thumbup: for being so positive about your diagnosis.
And Ian - Think Like a Pancreas has been the best book I've read so far!

 

[LittleWolf]

Hi, I also have high functioning autism/Asperger's, dyslexia/dyspraxia etc. I often comfort ate/carb binged but got very skinny because I also starved myself/purged in between.

Is your doctor aware that depression itself can cause issues with weight gain/insulin sensitivity in anyone (though I know that's not the main problem)? Congratulations on getting a correct diagnosis. Many here have suggested I may be LADA but can't get the doctor to take me seriously. I'm also young (20)

But yes! Exercise has helped with my depression and confidence issues too. Your daughter's coordination will continue to improve as well as her self esteem. Glad to hear she's doing well.

I've done the usual yoga/ ballet/gymnastics/ riding/skating etc. My current focus is on a fusion of Ballet and Pole Dancing. It's a taxing full-body workout but fun, improves my concentration and coordination (leaning combinations, going through ballet positions) my strength has improved (climbing the pole), posture and flexibility. I got bullied/shunned in my ballet class a lot but the girls at ballet pole all help eachother out.

I always feel better in myself when I leave a class. It's my 1h 30 minutes a week to blow off steam and it gives a new set of targets to reach and something to be proud of if I learn a new spin, trick or combination.


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[stephsmum]

Since my post I've had to collect my daughter from school - a collision in PE means she now resembles someone who's just done a round with Joe Calzaghe. The new PE teacher she had this morning has phoned up to apologise. I told him to have a nice weekend and not to worry as if anyone was going to be hurt in PE it would be her.. Hypo by lunch though and in retrospect milk ad nuts probably wasn't the best snack for her to have following PE and a bump on the head :roll:

 

[Ian_P]

Dear Dee,

I was in the same situation just over two years ago - late onset adult Type 1 - BGs seemingly unpredictable and swinging from the twenties to mild hypo levels on fixed insulin doses. Very difficult to predict the effects of exercise at that time.

Please don't worry - your diabetes team will be able to straighten the diabetic control out. Do they offer a DAFNE course or it's equivalent? It is easy to fine tune it, and there is evidence that good control in the first year after diagnosis pays dividends later.

Please read a copy of Gary Scheiner's book, "Think like a Pancreas" - it is so clearly written - some of very best educators are Type 1 diabetics themselves.

My wife insisted that I get a continuous glucose meter after seeing me struggling.

These aren't paid for by the NHS yet as they are a relatively new technology, but they are widely used in the States.

http://www.dexcom.com/en-gb

They may seem expensive initially but I've averaged the cost out at £6 per day over the last year. NHS teams have little experience with them yet (as there's no funding for them) but the company in Warwick is very supportive.

You don't *need* one, but it makes achieving good control, learning about diet and exercise etc. so very much easier and straightforward, not to mention the early warning that your BGs are dropping long before you get hypo symptoms. My wife sleeps much easier at night knowing that the hypo alarm will wake us up if necessary. The skin sensors are tiny and the receiver is smaller than a mobile phone.

Well done, and very best wishes,

Ian



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[Martina79]

Yea i was like that ('being sooo busy') before too but i know it was ********. once you r diagnosed , health should be your top priority and invest in your future, not presence. if someone dont devoit time he will pay the price later and at much higher cost.
as somebody is working 100hours week-isnt it better to invest hour a day and have more energy later on and being more productive at work/with family? or is better to just 'be with them now all the time' and then let them take care of you because you will not be able to care of yourself anymore?
i understand it s harder for people who never used to do exercise and now it should be their routine but there are people who have no hands or leg missing and they are on fitness level. if you do exercise daily you also can eat much more food , sometimes a snack or beer
i spend 2-3 hours a day by exercise like stretching, cardio,dance or joga and some lifting. i had to cut energy drink so its harder for me but i still like it and wouldnt exchange it for anything else. its my addction now.

 

[zaphod37]

For some it is very difficult to find the time, those who have to care for a family member 24/7, you don't get time off unless you can find a sitter, even during the night you don't sleep well in case your needed. So to say that you can always find the time is not true in all cases.

Mark

 

[ono]

yuck, I'd like to hear your story a year or two years on, when the "honeymoon" period is over, maybe your readings are all over the place, and maybe you realize exercise is not all, or maybe your life changes and you can't afford to exercise so often (children, dependents?). In any case a very sweeping statement and very presumptuous from someone 6 months in. :lol: were you just trying to cause a reaction?