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Sweaty Dia-betty!

Sanober

Well-Known Member
So I'm pretty active these days. Trial and error continue but I think I'm getting the right balance now.

However, my major embarrasment is the absolute oooooodles of sweat I emit. I mean dripping off my nose and everything.

I used to 'glow' in the year's leading up to my diagnosis, in fact my fitness instructor sister questioned why I hardly sweated at all after 3 hours of intensive aerobic exercise.

Now, since diagnosis and treatment, even after 10mins of (in particular) running...am gushing! Any ideas, why? Or am I now more normal? Even at a modest pace of running I'm sweating. I'm not too bad during Zumba but during Body Combat and especially a Boot Camp class, I was dripping on the floor :oops: .

I feel great and glucose level is maintained and I drink water throughout but when I am sweating badly I do feel 'over heated inside' if that make sense? I would class myself as quite fit in general.

(I do top up with diet tonic water aftewards and even put a little salt into it because I did suffer hideous cramps a couple of weeks back.)
 
Hi Sanober

I too sweat absolute buckets during and after a hard workout and find I can't shower for at least half an hour after my workout because I just continue sweating and end up soaking my clean clothes. In hot climates I break out into a sweat just bending down to tie my shoe laces. With a resting heart rate of 55, I'm in pretty good shape for my age, so it's definitely not fitness related. As to whether it can be diabetes related I really don't know but I do know that over the years I've seen plenty of non-diabetics sweating heavily during exercise, so it's certainly not exclusive to our condition. Some folk just perspire heavily.
 
I think it could have some relation to the diabetes. Excess sweating can be associated with hormone imbalance. Maybe it's worth mentioning to the dr if it's a problem for you. I've read a few things that say a cause of excess sweating can be diabetes... nothing more specific than that though.
 
My mum has hypothyroidism and my little I sister is getting her pituatry gland checked because of hormonal imbalance symptoms.

My thyroid tests have always been fine. i did have an Endometriosis cyst removed a . ar ago and recent scans show a small one the other side but i did not have the excessive sweating until a couple of months ago I'm due a visit to the Info in Sept so will mention then.

A ten minute quick walk to the bus stop now brings it on and i fan myself with my bus pass! It cant be menopause (i'm 35 and no history of early menopause in my family).

I'm going to take cold water on tomorrow's run and see if that helps. Thanks all, I just hope it's not more problem to deal with :yawn:
 
I think there is a problem, I certainly suffer from it and am sometimes not sure if the sweating is from a hypo, the menopause or simply exercise.
I tried to find out it a year or so ago and this is what I wrote.

People who have diabetic neuropathy are known to experience decreased sweating in their feet but increased sweating in their face and neck. The increased sweating in the upper body is thought to be in compensation for that lost in the lower limbs.
It seems as though that this redistribution of sweat may occur far earlier than any overt neuropathy. Researchers looked at the sweat pattern of people who had been recently diagnosed with T1 (2-20months, age 10-20) and found it to be already evident. They suggest that the that the sympathetic nervous system (that controls sweating) is especially vulnerable to high glucose levels.
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/co ... l.pdf+html

It doesn't explain it completely for me, as I certainly sweat at 'normal' glucose levels and I didn't seem to sweat much with exercise pre diabetes.
 
Hi Phoenix, sorry can you repost that link, it looks broken. Many thanks. I'm interested in the impact on the nerves because I do have a nerve problem from my neck down my left arm which has vastly improved since I have had controlled sugar levels funnily enough. I do get slight tingly in my big toe and my Sciatic nerve tingles a bit but doing routine stretches after exercise really has helped this.

It really does feel as if my internal thermostat's broke or certainly doesn't like it when I'm exerting myself. But a quick 10 min walk and I got drops of sweat on my upper lip and sweaty armpits? So you can imagine within 10mins of running what state I'm in. Performance wise, if my sugar range is within the 5-8 level I can do 3 mile run in 30-35 minutes (28 minutes last week). I've barely hypo'd in the last 3 weeks too. My hair's alway soaked with sweat too....I sound gorgeous don't I.

I do tend to run without any food in me as I'm too scared of going hyper and therefore ruins my performance - so I tend to run on a jelly baby basically if I'm below 5.5 - and it's usually 5 plus hours since my last meal and bolus so pretty much no bolus (or run pre breakfast) I am able to maintain good sugar levels from 30 mins to 1 hour.

The moment I eat a 10g snack before a run and I pushing up to 11 or 13...and it's ruined a few runs at the start for me. This is annoying becase I can be hungry. Could lack of carb and bolus insulin have an affect on sweating?

The thing is, I was much more active a few years and practically "glowed" rather than sweat.

Now if I'm in a gym and no air con I feel like I'm going to explode as I feel so hot!

My fitness instructor sister said as long as my sweat doesn't smell unusual, no residue (e.g salt or oil) and if I'm not getting dizzy or feeling sick, sugars are controlled and no cramps then am normal :problem:
 
Goodness - I assumed I was just weird, or working harder than everyone else at the gym! Your symptoms match mine perfectly. I've heard it's healthy to sweat, but I do seem to be prone to it a lot more than most people.

If it's diabetes-related, that might explain it. Not sure how to fix it though - I'd love to hear any advice or suggestions! :)
 
Tried running with refridgerated water, to see if I can cool inside out!

Also tried to pace myself rather than go into too quick. It helps, but by mile 2...beads of sweat on upper lip appeared, and by mile 3 totally sweating all over but I felt it was not as bad, finished 500ml water bottle though! :shock: I was running in my local gym where the air con is rubbish!

So I will try another run tomorrow outside and see what happens. I'm thinking of getting gel pads to hold in my hands and stick in my bra...I'll consider anything at this stage!
 
xorsyst said:
If it's diabetes-related, that might explain it. Not sure how to fix it though - I'd love to hear any advice or suggestions! :)



I forgot to mention before that I suffer from this too. My internal thermostat just seems to do whatever it feels like. I can break out in a sweat all of a sudden for no apparent reason. Having a cup of tea can cause my entire head to be running with beads of sweat and going for a night out always ends with me ringing out my hair.

There are no quick fixes though. Prescription strength anti-perspirants can help, I think they're applied before bed each night, but they are only of limited help. There is a surgical option for severe cases of localised sweating but this often just means the sweating moves to a different part of the body.

I have PCOS and type1 diabetes and this sweating problem too and I really do believe it's got something to do with hormones being out of whack, for want of a better phrase.
 
Ran yesterday. Started slow, tried to sip cold water than tank. Completed 5 k on treadmill near the air con but had to walk the last half km to cool down as I was drenched in sweat.

However 5min quick walk to cab today and I had to open the window and fan myself with bus pass. Sugar was 6.1.

There is a definite improvement during the first 3k of running now. Going to attempt 8k this Sat outdoors.

It appears that us T1-1.5 ladies seem to suffer from the sweats regardless of time of month and sans menopause. Hmmmmmmmmm
 
Thanks Catherine, sounds scary.

If I had this I wonder if it would happen all the time? I seem to be heat intolerant, as on a cool day am fine. If it's a warm room/day I tend to start feeling too warm, and I tend to overheat as a stress response, so running in a warm gym is the worst combo.

Thanks Nigel. I managed 7.5k yesterday. I tried a new approach, basically at every 1km I would slow down and walk for a little whilst sipping mouthful of refridgerated water in my mouth instead of glugging at the bottle. I would then make up by running faster for the rest of that 1k.

So I cruised it for the first 3k, got a bit too hot by 4k but was able to tolerate it, and just took a longer walk break at the 5k. This rest seemed to then really help me push myself, I got to 6k but I could feel that tell tale sugar rise...stopped and was 10.7.

However, it motivated me to really push to the 7.5k and drive the level back down (it worked I ended up 8.6 and continued to ebb down nicely until I got home for dinner) - so back to the drawing board - note to self: if start sugar is in 6s, 1 jelly baby and coffee ok, but not 2 jellly baby and coffee.

Getting there!
 
Hi all

just thought I'd let you know that I'm going to get my thyroid and female hormones tested next week.

I've also decided that this weekend will determine whether I'm going to run the 10k race on 2nd Sept at all.

I'm still struggling with this extensive sweating, tried holding a bottle of ice water, great until 6k...then it all starts going bad again.

At the current running time I will do this race in 1hr 20mins... yet I've been able to complete a 5k in 29mins a few weeks back and a 10k a few years back at 1hr 6mins with not much training.

Will keep you posted.
 
No 10k race this year, I paid and got my T-shirt and everything.

It's not just the crazy amount of sweating and feeling over heated now - If my glucose level is 5-6 before a run and I take just 1 jelly baby now before a run, my sugar goes up 9-11 thirty mins later, my fingers swell up and I feel sick and dizzy...

My endocrine system does not want me to run :thumbdown:

I am on the 4th week of swimming lessons though and WOW, I find I have to take a few jelly babies before hand but I feel great in the water and my sugars are great afterwards (they come down pretty quickly which I've got to be careful with but I do have my D kit near the pool/life guard/swim instructors).

So endurance vs resistence?

Running is still my first love though, always has been - I have already done two 10ks and four 5ks before I was diagnosed so I'm sure once I know what's going I'll get back inti it.

Will see what the test results say (if anything, I've learned it's never simple tests with me...)
 
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