Dray_F96

Member
Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi everyone,

Just a quick question for anyone who has experienced or knowledge on this topic.

I was thinking about getting back to playing football again as a hobby and tried training earlier today. However I noticed myself getting glimpses of blurred vision and slight dizziness to the point I had to stop playing and my B/G at 5.8 mmol was fine. I am quite well controlled with my diabetes usually stay around 5-8 mmol throughout the day and haven't experienced this with other exercises such as at the gym or swimming.

Does anyone have any advice on this matter or any other Type 1s that also play football have any advice they could share.

Thanks to everyone who reads this.

Dray_F96
 

Dray_F96

Member
Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Whilst your blood sugar is not low, is it possible it was falling fast?
We can get hypo symptoms when this happens.

Would you be able to use a CGM or Libre next time?
This would allow you to see the change in your blood sugars rather than just at a single point in time.

Hi In Response

I currently only have a TEE 2 Glucose Meter and use test strips. I do not currently have access to a CGM so it is a little bit more difficult to constantly track my B/G apart from testing before during and after exercise. Is it worth asking my GP about changing to a CGM to my GP?

Thank you for replying to my post so quickly also

Dray_F96
 

EllieM

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Staff Member
Messages
9,209
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
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Does anyone have any advice on this matter or any other Type 1s that also play football have any advice they could share.

I think you should consult with your GP about this. Does it have to be low blood sugar? Could it be blood pressure?
If you're in the UK, I believe you need a consultant to prescribe a cgm (freestyle libre normally) but if you've got the funds it may be worth self funding for a short period.
 
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Dray_F96

Member
Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I think you should consult with your GP about this. Does it have to be low blood sugar? Could it be blood pressure?
If you're in the UK, I believe you need a consultant to prescribe a cgm (freestyle libre normally) but if you've got the funds it may be worth self funding for a short period.

Hi EllieM

Thanks for the advice on cgm's in the UK, as far as I'm aware when I get my blood pressure checked it is usually really good when checked by the GP. Could it be me not being quite fit yet as I haven't been working out as often as I should since the gyms closed when we were put in lock down a few months ago due to Covid.

Thanks for sharing your advice
 

t1dluke

Member
Messages
17
I used to play 5 a side football with workmates every Thursday pre-covid. To be honest I found most games were fine, I made sure I reduced my basal insulin on the day and following few days if necessary to avoid hypos.

But there were a few times were I did feel a bit off when playing, I would get what felt like irregular heartbeats and after the games when this happened I would always struggle with hypos, so my guess is that during those games I had too much insulin circulating around my body and it caused some funny symptoms.

I can't recall having blurred vision when playing football personally but it might be caused by a spike in blood glucose. When I play my blood glucose spikes upto around 9-10 mmol/l before coming back down after the game. High sugars cause the blood vessels in our eyes to expand which can cause temporary blurred vision.

Hope this is useful in some way
 

Dray_F96

Member
Messages
17
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I used to play 5 a side football with workmates every Thursday pre-covid. To be honest I found most games were fine, I made sure I reduced my basal insulin on the day and following few days if necessary to avoid hypos.

But there were a few times were I did feel a bit off when playing, I would get what felt like irregular heartbeats and after the games when this happened I would always struggle with hypos, so my guess is that during those games I had too much insulin circulating around my body and it caused some funny symptoms.

I can't recall having blurred vision when playing football personally but it might be caused by a spike in blood glucose. When I play my blood glucose spikes upto around 9-10 mmol/l before coming back down after the game. High sugars cause the blood vessels in our eyes to expand which can cause temporary blurred vision.

Hope this is useful in some way

Thank you t1dluke and In Response,

After playing football yday I have definitely noticed a gradual spike in my blood glucose and have had to take a unit or two of bolus Insulin to keep it within range.

Very informative information that I feel will definitely help me in the future. Best solution I feel for myself is just experimenting and preparing myself better for next time.

Thank you all for responding to my post as all of your replies have been very helpful and will definitely take on all the advice and information given so far
 
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