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Fight or Flight Mechanism

R

russ946

Newbie
Messages
3
Location
Harpenden
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi, I'm a Type 1 diabetic as a side effect from Immunotherapy for liver metastases (since 2016). I'm a very competitive Duplicate Bridge player and I have glucose problems every time I play. After an early evening meal I manage to reduce my blood sugars from a high of 14 to near 8 when I depart for a Bridge game: normally at this time I would be heading for sugars of around 6.

However, in the first hour of the game I'll nudge up to around 10 then it'll soar to 20 without any eating or drinking. I also get extremely red and flushed halfway through the three and a half-hour session. After overnight sleep it'll come down to 12 (even with a little insulin) and it takes nearly another 16 hours to get back on an even keel.

I've tried stopping playing and I don't get this problem but I love the mental stimulation. I'm aware that the 'fight or flight' mechanism requires lots of glucose and insulin use/production is shut down. If I inject normal amounts of insulin it builds up to a hypo. Has anyone any suggestions to overcome this?
 
Hi Russ, I had a similar experience, though not to the same degree, when I was playing pickleball. My numbers would creep up over the 2 hour period without having eaten any food. I am very competetive and had high expectations of myself, as well as not wanting to let my partners down. So , though I love playing, I definitely felt stressed.
Here is something I tried the last time I played- I sat a game out, rested and had a talk with myself. I told myself that this was not a stressful situation and that there were no terrible consequences to performing badly, and that it was just a game. I did some slow breathing, and when I got back to playing I deliberately tried to relax and keep myself calm. So in other words, i was being mindful , and trying to “trick” my body into not interpreting my sudden movements and swinging and hitting a ball as some fight, let's say. I think it had a positive effect, and i am going to try that again the next time, right from the start.
Might this “mind over matter” attitude help you? (Though your experience is much more extreme than mine) It would be a pity to give up something you enjoy so much.
One other thing- I heard that drinking water is important especially when one has high glucose numbers.
 
Thanks. I tried something similar on Wed last but probably didn't breathe deeply enough; it was pretty cut throat on Wed and we only lost 1st place at the end!. I'll try the drinking water bit as I'm a bit guilty of not drinking enough.
 
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