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Lots of lows

Kingo kingsley

Active Member
Messages
37
Location
Suffolk
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Nothing really
Hi I'm a type 1 and I'm a heating engineer I'm young and always have a lot of energy, I work really hard all day running around up and down stairs with heavy tool boxes all day, and when I'm not working I'm doing sport (squash and running mostly) I try and run my blood at sport level in the day between 12-15 but I often drop to around 4-5 within a couple of hours when I start work, I eat plenty and don't put much/ any insulin in to try not drop even quicker.

Any advise or athletic peoples opinions would be helpful thanks.

Kingsley
 
Don't try to run your levels that high, it's dangerous. You need to get your basal down probably.

What are your insulin doses and times, and typical blood readings, during the day? Sounds like you have a hectic life which is always a challenge with diabetes.
 
Hi thanks for the reply I thought my lantus was to much to so I did a test at the weekend of no carbs to see how my blood results would come out and the stayed the same. I normally put insulin in if I have a easy day and my ratio is 15-1 a average work day is between 15 and 4 I drop very quickly when j start work. Yeah you're right very rarely rest lol.
 
Even being young and active.. Those swings in your levels are concerning.. You should not be needing to "keep" them over 7.0.
 
Don't know if you have just started this job? One thing I have noticed is that if I am not physically active for a while (weeks not hours) and then do strenuous work I have a very big blood sugar drop. But if I am used to doing that same level of exertion every day, the drop is much much less.
 
I'm completely non-athletic so I probably shouldn't comment, lol. Can I just say, squash and running are about the most strenuous forms of exercise you could have chosen, on top of a strenous job. I have a sort of mix of admiration and concern

It's great that you enjoy this level of activity and it's hard to see how it could be doing you any serious harm. I know for sportswomen, there is a risk of overtraining, which can lead to the "female triad" of loss of menstruation, anorexia nervosa, and osteoporosis. This is because of our hormones, oestrogen and progesterone. Some young female athletes really overdo it, exercising for many hours every day, without professional supervision to check they don't end up with the female triad.

I have no idea whether a similar risk exists for men, and your activity levels are probably not that extreme. I just thought I would mention it. If you are unlucky enough to get an injury, I would imagine having to cut down or stop would be really tough psychologically.

On that note, here is a website with lots of good info about sports injury prevention and management:
https://www.painscience.com/

Good luck and keep enjoying being active! It's really quite impressive.
 
Thank you for your replies, I agree I would like to keep my blood closer to the 7 mark but I know I would have a low very quickly grrr.

I've been doing my job for about 12 years and before I was diagnosed I was going low obviously I didn't know I was diabetic then, the hospital did say to me that I should be around 12 before i do any sport. I think the hardest bit don't ones is that every day is different in how hard I work
Depending on the job.

Thank you catladyNZ i will have a read of the website at lunch but it sounds like there will be some telly handy information there.

Thank you every one
 

Holy smoke...

Okay, take a look at www.teambloodglucose.com and consider joining the Sporty T1 FB group. With an active lifestyle your insulin sensitivity will be extremely high and so your insulin requirement will be minimal - having a super active job could mean that your body is basically just burning through energy stores which could account for the apparently large BG fall (especially over two hours). Take on board @Spiker's advice though.
Watch this video which gives you an overview of the basics. Please don't follow the advice of needing to have bloods over 12 to do any sport. TeamBG cycle across Europe on multi-day tours, and none of the cyclists would follow that advice. 6 and stable is best.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLO7h9NSDhyV0bOsGcFlqyIs1JfLnlVWc7&v=A0tkYy0qX5c
 
Sorry - try this You tube link instead.
 
Brilliant vid I think I'm going to watch a few more time to make sure I got it, I do think adrenaline has got a part in this, thanks
 
Did you do basal test on a non-work day then ? If so, this is not a true reflection of your usual hectic work schedule. I would guess your basal is still too high otherwise you wouldn't get such huge drops. Diabetes is a condition that raises BG levels, not the other way around. Hope you can sort things out.
 
Just one point - if you were going low before you were diagnosed then you had reactive hypoglycaemia, not T1D. T1D does not cause hypos (low blood sugar). Insulin treatment is what causes hypos. Or reactive hypoglycaemia, a condition which is sometimes a precursor to T1D.
 
Oh ok that makes a lot of spence test the lantus on a normal day, you are right I did it and did nothing all day.

Reading about hypoglycaemia that does make sense but now if I do something like that on a chill day I shoot up high, could I be both? Sorry if it's a silly question still trying to understand everything. Thanks again for the response
 
Hi, agree with everyone that 12-15 is way to high. You might need to sit down and read a bit about 'sports' and type 1s. There is a lot of very good info out there but you need to test what works for you. I'd suggest start with 'Think Like a Pancreas' as a general book but with a sports section and written by a type1.
Cheers
David
 
Thanks I've get that book and have a read, thanks, the reason I was among around those numbers was because the hospital told me to be up there for sport.
 
Kingo kingsley said:
Thanks I've get that book and have a read, thanks, the reason I was among around those numbers was because the hospital told me to be up there for sport.
Click to expand...
8 maybe, but not 12. You should never go over 10 because kidney stress starts at that point.

And it's possible to do sports and heavy exercise with normal blood sugar levels but that takes more work and understanding. All of it can be learned however.
 
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It might be practical to take less Lantus before a work day or more Lantus before a rest day / chill day. Or use different ratios on work / workout days than you use on rest days.
 
@Kingo kingsley, as you are extremely active and take small doses of insulin already and still suffer from low bg levels why don't you talk to your Consultant about the possibilities of using a insulin pump, you can programme pumps to deliver small amounts of insulin on days when you are active and more when you are less active, some members on this forum who are very sporty have found a pump to be invaluable in preventing low bg levels.
 
Thanks again for the advice, I like the idea on what you're saying spiker I didn't realise that it causes the kidneys to have more stress, I'm going to try what you say and adjust my lantus from 10 down to 8 on active days and 10 on chill days does that sound reasonable? Thanks

Hi noblehead I've heard about pumps I might be wrong but I feel like that it will be on my way and get caught a lot but I will have a ask at the hospital be cause I like o said I might be wrong and you right lol.

Thanks again
 
A good start Kingo and keep reducing as needed. Do also consider a pump as it could solve a lot of your problems as Noblehead said.
 
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