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Sport With Type 1

Glen_Cooksley

Glen_Cooksley

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi,
Background: end of November 2014 I was diagnosed with Type 1
Sport history, very active sports person with over 15 years in Pro sports.

I am looking for some help to get my Hypo's under control while doing sport and after-sport, My doctor infromed me when doing sport I should reduce my Lantus inslin from 9 units to around 6 units, which i did, and for breakfast I would eat allot of Carbs, and therefore i would start the day of sport (in this case Freeride skiing) with a blood sugar from around 16-18 but by 9 am i would be standing on the door step of the resteruant asking for a masive plate of pasta, bread and some oj as my blood sugar would be down to 4.0,then during the day of skiing i would be eating another 3-5 plates of carbs just to keep my Blood sugar normal and not alway in a hypo, and then in the evening i would take no inslin with a carb meal and always 1 hour latter i would be digging into the sugar as i would be having a hypo with a blodd sugar below 2.6. after this incident I reduced my lantus to 3 units from 9 and still had the same affected., then last weekend I decided to go out for a easy 30 mt bike ride and started the ride eating some bread and had a blood sugar 6.0+ i returned home and still had a ralativly normal Blood sugar, and then for dinner that night i had some carbs and only 50% of the normaly short acting inslin that i requre to take, but once again 1 hour and 30min later i was having a hypo of 2.2 Blood sugar.

so i was wondering if any one else out there has this affect when they are doing moderate sport during the day, and how have you adjusted your inslin to fit, as i feel allot of the time it is trail and error I am doing.

Many thanks to any reply and help you may have for me.

Glen
 
I don't have a lot of experience with heavy amounts of sports but with general exercise I would always try and reduce the background dose to accommodate for the drop during and after activity......

I think a basal insulin like Levemir would be more suited as you can split it and the effects of any reduction you make can be seen much quicker with Levemir....

you need to find a good basal reduction for each different type of activity you do , this might be a 20% drop or more, and also the duration of this activity and intensity will also have an effect on the length of time your blood sugar could continue to drop......

it is possible to do a basal and bolus reduction at the same time for some activity, its really down to you experiment with your doses........

it sounds like you have the right idea in terms of reducing your insulin anyway......unfortunately as you say ,its boils down to trial and error as everyone is different.....

good luck........:)
 
Hi Glen and welcome to the forum.

I've not got a lot of experience of high-intensity exercise, but reducing the basal dose and bolus doses on the day by 50% is what they recommend, but to see how other type 1's cope when actively involved in sports have a look at Runsweet:

http://www.runsweet.com/
 
Glen_Cooksley said:
Hi,
Background: end of November 2014 I was diagnosed with Type 1
Sport history, very active sports person with over 15 years in Pro sports.

I am looking for some help to get my Hypo's under control while doing sport and after-sport, My doctor infromed me when doing sport I should reduce my Lantus inslin from 9 units to around 6 units, which i did, and for breakfast I would eat allot of Carbs, and therefore i would start the day of sport (in this case Freeride skiing) with a blood sugar from around 16-18 but by 9 am i would be standing on the door step of the resteruant asking for a masive plate of pasta, bread and some oj as my blood sugar would be down to 4.0,then during the day of skiing i would be eating another 3-5 plates of carbs just to keep my Blood sugar normal and not alway in a hypo, and then in the evening i would take no inslin with a carb meal and always 1 hour latter i would be digging into the sugar as i would be having a hypo with a blodd sugar below 2.6. after this incident I reduced my lantus to 3 units from 9 and still had the same affected., then last weekend I decided to go out for a easy 30 mt bike ride and started the ride eating some bread and had a blood sugar 6.0+ i returned home and still had a ralativly normal Blood sugar, and then for dinner that night i had some carbs and only 50% of the normaly short acting inslin that i requre to take, but once again 1 hour and 30min later i was having a hypo of 2.2 Blood sugar.

so i was wondering if any one else out there has this affect when they are doing moderate sport during the day, and how have you adjusted your inslin to fit, as i feel allot of the time it is trail and error I am doing.

Many thanks to any reply and help you may have for me.

Glen
Click to expand...

Hi there,

Have a read of this link: http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Basics.html

And watch this movie:
It should give you a good overview.

www.runsweet.com is also an excellent resource (as @noblehead pointed you to)

I suggest you join the Sporty Diabetic Type 1's Facebook group and ask about your erratic BGs/hypos. It seems to me that your hypo after a relatively short cycle could be to do with the fact that you have actually become far more sensitive to insulin. Assuming you have got your basal right, unless you had done something physically demanding either earlier that day, or even the day before which meant your glycogen stores were already depleted, it seems logical to point to heightened insulin sensitivity.
Have you thought of getting a pump? Also, why not join TeamBG on a cycle ride across Europe and give yourself a chance to see how to manage BGs with those who have got more experience around BG management?
 
Hi Glen

In addition to the great advice above check out the books by Phinney and Volek.
 
I exercise 6 out of 7 days a week and have never been told by the disbetic nurse or gp to alter my lantus, I was just advices to reduce the amount of insulin by one unit he meal before exercising. I slightly alter the amount reduced depending on intensity but once I get the units sorted I haven't had a hypo whilst out yet.


If I am feeling low beforehand though I just make sure to have a little fruit.
 
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