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Newly Diagnosed Type 1 and Exercising

alexhill05

alexhill05

Well-Known Member
Messages
47
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Last Monday I spent a lovely day in hospital, came out diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, taking insulin injections and things. One thing I didn't expect having a BMI of 18 and doing lots of exercise!

What kinda sucked was having to cancel 2 trips because of it, one of which was cycling from Greece to Poland which was about 100/150 miles a day for 10 days, bivvying at night and doing 6-10hrs/day on the bike. I still intend to do this trip among similarly long rides this summer. I'm also doing a solo 24hr race in June.
I've been reading on websites about runsweet.com but there isn't loads of info about big endurance things especially over multiple days, especially with bivvying and things. Can anyone suggest any more places to read about this kinda stuff?

Nice to meet you all :)
 
Hi Alex
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis, it must be a lot to take in and it's really rough that you have got to cancel your trips, but hopefully you will be doing them again soon, I see that there is a forum on here specifically for fitness, exercise and sport and there looks as if there are lots of fit people who will be able to advise you! Hopefully they will be along soon to help you, I am new to this forum too, good luck and take care
 
Hi Alex and welcome to the forum.

I admire your determination not to let the diabetes get in the way of your cycling trip but please be prepared for some period of adjustment in getting used to food and insulin requirements etc. It's a 'big ask' to be doing endurance sports on insulin and matching carbs etc, especially so soon after diagnosis.

What kind of insulin regime have they got you on, what are you bg numbers like now and what dietary advice have you been given?

From recollection @tim2000s and @Brightside are both into cycling and maybe they can advise a bit better than I can. (Alright, a lot better!).
 
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They've got my on Lantus and Novarapid insulin pens, still working out the insulin levels really! But I've managed to keep my blood glucose average around 8 for the past week with +-2.5. I was told that while working it all out high is better than low!

I'm not doing any big trips until June now which hopefully will be enough time!
Diet I've been told I don't really need to change it, just to be very aware of what I'm eating. I also don't think I appreciate what really counts as exercise, as I went climbing last night which I thought was chilled and ended up with a BG of 3.2 after an hour :-/ would a fitness trackers end up being really helpful?
 
BGs can drop quickly with activity, even mental activity and just sitting at a desk sometimes!

Much of NHS dietary advice is inadequate and many change their diets but the avid sports people in here can advise you better than me about how to achieve your goals. You will just need to get used to how your body reacts, and you will most likely experience hypos with all that exercise.

Did you have any warning signs when your BGs went low?
 
I see! I'll see what the dietician says in a week or so when I see her again.

I could easily tell it was bad, was getting some serious shakes :p I imagine endurance will be harder to notice though as generally I start feeling shattered after about the 100 mile mark anyway.

Video looks interesting, though it says it doesn't exist? Also my body fat is around 9/10%, I don't know if that'll make a difference..
 
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