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Any Type 1 Hill walkers?

S

simonkit

Active Member
Messages
28
I was diagnosed Type 1 just over 6 months ago, which came as a shock as I'm 45 :shock:

Anyway I'm a keen hill walker and am keen to get back onto those mountains asap but obviously it's now much more of a challenge than it ever was. I've tried some shorter coastal walks and sort of managed ok but had to take in silly amounts of carbs, could really do with some advice on how others manage the same activity..to make things more complicated I'm also into landscape photography so usually carry quite a bit of gear around too

cheers

Simon
 
Me! I did Schiehallion a couple weekends ago and was surprised to find it no bother. (I was diagnosed end of February) I are a cereal bar before I started and was around 6 or 7 and about 2 hours in I was mid 5s so I had a couple ***** bears to keep me going.

I reduced my bolus with dinner that night and for breakfast the next day. No problems at all :) I checked BG every hour during the walk to be sure I knew what was going on
 
Didn't realise u already did that hale. Well done and brilliant news your sugars behaved lol.

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hale710 said:
Me! I did Schiehallion a couple weekends ago and was surprised to find it no bother. (I was diagnosed end of February) I are a cereal bar before I started and was around 6 or 7 and about 2 hours in I was mid 5s so I had a couple ***** bears to keep me going.

I reduced my bolus with dinner that night and for breakfast the next day. No problems at all :) I checked BG every hour during the walk to be sure I knew what was going on
Click to expand...

Hi,

Sounds like you have more luck than me...coastal walking last week by levels dropped from 9.4 before climbing to 4.5 after 20 minutes uphill and similiar patterns the rest of the week. Tried cereal bars but not quick enough so tried lucozade and/or jelly babies which worked better...my main concern though is I'm dropping so quickly as soon as I climb?


.
 
does this happen regularly? If so maybe do somee basal testing. If only when active try a reduction in qa before your activity and also after

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brett said:
does this happen regularly? If so maybe do somee basal testing. If only when active try a reduction in qa before your activity and also after

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Click to expand...

Nice and stable day to day, have a mid-morning dip around 2.5hrs after breakfast but just take a few carbs so no problem...apparently still in the "honeymoon" period as I'm only taking 8units of Lantus (hospital started me on 20), carb counting and using the Accuchek Expert monitor which has helped me get used to things...

Just the exercise that's causing me issues, trying to figure out how best to approach it
 
Can be very difficult during the honey moon phase. Best advice from experience regular testing and lucozade to hand. I used to find during that period having a bit less insulin with my meal prior to excercise would send me too high, and even if I had my usual dose with meal prior and a carby snack b4 excercise without insulin I would hypo. No win. Just had to have qa sugar during excercise. Happy to say things get alot easier after the honeymoon phase but not completely without the odd surprise.

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If you know you are going to exercise I have always abstained from insulin from the meal before and made the adjustment before my evening meal for example at breakfast I would eat 6 CP's and take no insulin at lunch I would read approx 8.6 mmol so I would not take an adjustment until I've stopped exercising in the evening when I would take my final adjustment, the best way to correct for exercise is to use the DAFNE method which you can find on line from kings college hospital, unfortunately the only true way to know how your body works under duress is to take your hypo treatments with you and experiment.
 
Thanks for the info guys...the diabetic nurse mentioned that I'll find it harder to manage diabetes once the honeymoon period is over which has me slightly concerned, perhaps this isn't always the case as I am finding day to day reasonably ok at the moment and just exercise a little crazy?

I'll have a look at the DAFNE advice

Looks like I may need to carry about 3litres of lucozade or a few bags of jelly babies for now and see if things settle down. Haven't exercised properly since been diagnosed a few months ago but wondering if I go back to regular exercise now will that help settle things down when hiking perhaps?
 
Things definitely get easier AFTER the honeymoon period, thats just my opinion though. But found I could get much more consistency relying just on injected insulin rather than injecting and then my pancreas kicking unpredictable amounts out. Also I could out into practice all the things I had learnt that confused me when they wernt working such as adjusting for activity etc

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I'd agree with Brett, to be honest why should you let your diabetes be an excuse to stop doing what you have always done, take your monitor and test regularly, learn the early signs of having a hypo and if your not sure test then test again if you need to make sure before exercise your slightly high if anything exercise will only lower bs, if your honeymooning you can't rely on any per determined calc only on how you feel and what your sugars are at any given time, after your walk if your high then you know to lower your sugars the next time unfortunately you have to learn all about how your body works given different situations, you'll get there my only advice from experience is to be slightly high and then lower when your I the comfort of your home rather than to take the chance when your out I the sticks.
 
brett said:
Didn't realise u already did that hale. Well done and brilliant news your sugars behaved lol.

Sent from my GT-S5360 using DCUK Forum mobile app
Click to expand...

About half way up I discovered a colleague also is T1 and has been since he was 3 he saw me testing and came over to ask about it. When he discovered I'm still "new" to it he stuck by me the rest of the way up and back down. It was nice to have someone else who knew what to do if I looked a bit wobbly!
 
simonkit said:
Hi,

Sounds like you have more luck than me...coastal walking last week by levels dropped from 9.4 before climbing to 4.5 after 20 minutes uphill and similiar patterns the rest of the week. Tried cereal bars but not quick enough so tried lucozade and/or jelly babies which worked better...my main concern though is I'm dropping so quickly as soon as I climb?


.
Click to expand...

That is a substantial drop in a short space of time! Had you eaten recently that you had injected for? I try to avoid exercise in the 2 hours after a meal. A lot of the walks I do take 4-8 hours so I'm usually having my lunch on it so I don't inject for that.

Cereal bars are better as a prevention rather than a cure for the hypo. I had one about 45 minutes before we started to give it time to slowly start releasing, then use ***** bears as a top up if needed!

The honeymoon period is helping me. Unlike a lot of people have mentioned, I find it "easy" to control right now so I'm dreading the day my pancreas packs it in completely!
 
hale710 said:
simonkit said:
Hi,

Sounds like you have more luck than me...coastal walking last week by levels dropped from 9.4 before climbing to 4.5 after 20 minutes uphill and similiar patterns the rest of the week. Tried cereal bars but not quick enough so tried lucozade and/or jelly babies which worked better...my main concern though is I'm dropping so quickly as soon as I climb?


.
Click to expand...

That is a substantial drop in a short space of time! Had you eaten recently that you had injected for? I try to avoid exercise in the 2 hours after a meal. A lot of the walks I do take 4-8 hours so I'm usually having my lunch on it so I don't inject for that.

Cereal bars are better as a prevention rather than a cure for the hypo. I had one about 45 minutes before we started to give it time to slowly start releasing, then use ***** bears as a top up if needed!

The honeymoon period is helping me. Unlike a lot of people have mentioned, I find it "easy" to control right now so I'm dreading the day my pancreas packs it in completely!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the additional info everyone...

I typically go on full day walks so start after breakfast, I'll try to make sure I'm eating 2hrs before starting. If not injecting for lunch do you deliberately keep it relatively low carb, my thinking being that if you eat a meal of 50/60 carbs and don't inject levels are going pretty high?
 
I'm a keen walker myself and have type 1 diabetes. The advice is if the exercise is intense and prolonged up to 4 hours then cut back on your insulin by 30-50%, over and above 4 hours then it's 50%, in all cases snacks may be necessary so keep plenty in your rucksack just in case!

Different walks present different challenges so just keep testing your bg, you may find that you don't get two days the same :)
 
Hi there

You are doing really well so early into your diabetes journey - congrats! The info on this website may be a good starting place for you to adjust your insulin / carb ratios, it was linked to on this site by one of its founders:

http://www.excarbs.com

:thumbup:
 
simonkit said:
hale710 said:
simonkit said:
Hi,

Sounds like you have more luck than me...coastal walking last week by levels dropped from 9.4 before climbing to 4.5 after 20 minutes uphill and similiar patterns the rest of the week. Tried cereal bars but not quick enough so tried lucozade and/or jelly babies which worked better...my main concern though is I'm dropping so quickly as soon as I climb?


.
Click to expand...

That is a substantial drop in a short space of time! Had you eaten recently that you had injected for? I try to avoid exercise in the 2 hours after a meal. A lot of the walks I do take 4-8 hours so I'm usually having my lunch on it so I don't inject for that.

Cereal bars are better as a prevention rather than a cure for the hypo. I had one about 45 minutes before we started to give it time to slowly start releasing, then use ***** bears as a top up if needed!

The honeymoon period is helping me. Unlike a lot of people have mentioned, I find it "easy" to control right now so I'm dreading the day my pancreas packs it in completely!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the additional info everyone...

I typically go on full day walks so start after breakfast, I'll try to make sure I'm eating 2hrs before starting. If not injecting for lunch do you deliberately keep it relatively low carb, my thinking being that if you eat a meal of 50/60 carbs and don't inject levels are going pretty high?
Click to expand...

Last walk I had a small sandwich (1 slice of bread) and a packet of crips. Not particularly nutritious but it was what I wanted! About 40g carb. The exercise kept my levels low, I was 5.2 before I ate and 4.9 2 hours afterwards
 
I think its difficult to advise until you are through the honeymoon period. Until then your diabetes will be unstable so finding the best method for you to carry on hill walking will be near impossible. Only thing for sure is that diabetes shouldnt stop you doing it again and I am sure that one of the many great suggestions you get on here will work for you in the long term.
For me, I dont reduce insulin and I eat a normal meal at normal times. I take regular stops when climbing and snack or test and snack together. The biggest problem I have had is when I am walking or climbing with people who arent diabetic aware. Amongst other things, I have done the 3 peaks twice, both times I had to almost force the team to take a break whilst some of them wanted to race up and down, then afterwards I made sure we had a meal before driving to the next mountain. I do tell some people about my diabetes, not everyone though so I cant critisise them all for not being aware. I just mean its sometimes the hardest part to manage when climbing or walking, rather than the condition itself. Good luck ayway!!
 
Hiya,
I have been a type 1 diabetic for 23 years (my brother and mum are also type 1 and my dad type 2!) and I am very active.

I do not hill walk, but I do cycle a lot as well as other types of exercises (Zumba, yoga, swimming, walking -but not up hills specifically). I find that Lucozade Lite - or the supermarket equivalent really helps me. It has less sugar in so I don't get a massive high but enough to keep my blood sugar constant. You can drink it throughout your walk and hopefully it may have the same effect on you?

I often lower my insulin for the meal before I am exercising, but do find sometimes this results in my sugar going high even after the activity.

Hope that helps!
 
Hi There,

I'd say to anyone get out there and do the activities you love, Diabetes does not need to stop you in anyway. I am a keen fell runner and cyclist. I was diagnosed with Type 1 about 2 1/2 years ago. The few points which I have found good for me and my training is,
1, The night before a hard training session or race I will cut back a bit on my night time insulin (Lantus) by a few and try to keep to my normal day time one.
2, I will have porridge and fruit and nuts on the morning as they have long lasting carbs and high in slow releasing energy.
3, I always take energy gels with me they are light and very good at getting carbs in you quick, If racing or training very hard I will have one about every 30-50 mins of exercise ( you will be able to in time know when you need one before its to late).
The energy gel that I have found good for me is SIS GO isotonic Energy, it is quite high in carbs but has only 0.7g of sugar per gel, some energy gels are very high in sugar, but that just gives you a quite spike.
4, After any hard session I will take a good recovery drink (again SIS do a good one), that will stop you having a Hypo later as you still burn energy from your exercise for a few hours later. You do not have to have a recovery drink I found a glass of milk and a peanut butter sandwich can do the same.

I don't know if that is any use, its just some tips that I have found works for me.

Jamie
 
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