Sport and Diabetes

mak78

I've been trying to find some info relating to sporting performance for type 1 diabetics - I was diagnosed last year at aged 32 and while it took me a few month to figure out the BG management and get used all that goes with it, I feel that I'm in good control (HBA1C 6.3) and am now keen to try and maximize sports performance and compete at decent levels (squash and mountain biking currently). I see my diabetes as an additional motivation factor, not as a limiting factor!

Just wondering if there are many other type 1s out there who can share knowledge or tips on things like managing energy levels before and during sport, what gels drinks bars etc. do you use, post excercise recovery, how to manage adrenalin & BG on game days, good articles/sites etc.

I've spoken with the diabetes clinic and they told me there isn't really much of a focus on this in Ireland, while they do promote exercise its more about regular light exercise to help manage blood glucose rather than any emphasis on high performance or competitive sports...what about people who want to do a bit more !?!? As they said to me - people forget sometimes that diabetics want to compete (and win!) too. Best info I was given was to look at the Runsweet.org site. There are a number of organisations outside of Ireland such as Team Type 1 (US), HypoActive (Aus), and Runsweet (UK) which promote sports and active lifestyles for people with diabetes - but seems like there nothing of the sort in Ireland.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in this area or has anything to share then get in touch ...

robinph

<mini-rant>Have been repeatedly directed at the RunSweet site myself, but never really found much genuinely useful info on there. I have been in contact with the doc behind it though who is one of Steve Redgraves docs I believe, but may have upset him a bit by telling him I couldn't find useful info on the site.

I am certainly of the opinion that there is nothing that you shouldn't do though, but dealing with diabetes and more than just a basic level of exercise is a bit beyond the general medical staff that we get to deal with. So unless you are at the Steve Redgrave and Olympian level getting decent personalised support that actually works for both the diabetes and sport is going to be tough and we're basically on our own.
</mini-rant>

I run quite a bit, having done a sub 3hr marathon in Dublin last year, and actually won a little trophy and sports shop vouchers just this evening for coming 3rd in a series of 10km races over the summer. There is another type 1 locally who is also finishing around the same times as me in various local races, so there is nothing to stop us competing at a decent level (even if we are not actually crossing the line first).

I am now on an insulin pump since February this year and it has made training and racing a lot easier as I have much more accurate control over what insulin I take when. I'm now adjusting my insulin levels to meet my activity and food, rather than adjusting my sugar intake to meet my insulin.

Before I was on the pump though through a fair bit of trial and error I eventually found the quantity of gels that I needed to take to keep the sugar levels stable for longer duration workouts. If I had the bg up around 14'ish before a run I knew I could then last for an hour, if I was to go further than an hour then I would have to have been taking a gel every 20 minutes from the start of that session though, taking one later on was too late as I'd already be heading too low with the BG to keep going and the gels take a bit of time to work. I did require experimentation though to figure out what worked.

I use the High5 brand of gels, basically because they were the ones that I knew were being handed out on the course of the Dublin Marathon one year so I just started buying them in bulk so that I got used to them. It's worth trying different things though to see what works for you...and what you can stomach.

eilo1

Hi Mak!

Im a type one and very active in different sports.
I have to adjust my insulin levels and carb intake according to the type of exercise. So if im doing an 90 minute weights session I lower my insulin levels after the session (>4 hours) But when im playing a match I have to have a blood sugar level level between 6 and 9 any higher and Ill come off the pitch at half time in the high twenties and any lower ill hypo.

For running I never seem to hypo during and I dont get the highes like playing a match. But I will hypo in the recovery phase so again i lower my basal insulin on the pump.

When I was injecting I just had to leave myself high over night and let that stave off the hypo or else wait to wake up in hypo. The pump has changed all that for me!

As robin said its a lot of trial and error, your team can only give you general advice you need to see what works for you Im afraid.

CramCycle

As said it is unfortunately for most of us a case in trial and error. It took me along time to get mine right for long distance cycling and I still suffer from hypos after running (but I don't do as much running so that is probably why). I have found that as I have gotten fitter my needs also have changed diabetes wise so keep an eye on that as your fitness improves as well.

Good Luck, there is nothing your Diabetes should stop you doing, the team type 1 guys are pretty great (met them before). You'll be surprised how many Type 1s are active in sports groups, I think your best bet is joining a club for your desired sport(s) and searching out people at meets/races/training etc.

mak78

Regarding the RunSweet site I agree with robin , what I found was that there was a lot of info on there but most of it was quite technical ... I downloaded some of the slides of the seminars that were given at Loughbouough but they are very difficult to interpret and understand on their own as they really needed a lot of explanation which I'm sure was given in person at the seminars. I wonder if it might be possible for something to be organised maybe though the DFI to get someone from Runsweet or maybe TT1 over to Ireland for a session if there was enough people interested...

On another note , I've been using Clif Shot Blocks jellies on the bike spins for the last couple of weeks with great success. I've done a 5 spins of between 1.5 - 3 hours. Normally starting BG around 6 or 7 and have about 3 CP (banana/apple & bar/biscuit) before starting, then after around 20 mins start sucking on shot blok jellys, 1 every 10-15 mins. BG seemed to stay rock solid stable at between 6 and 8 throughout and energy levels were pretty good. Seems like they give nice constant release of glucose rather then knocking back a gel (High 5 or similar) every 30-45 mins. Unfortunately they're bloody expensive at €2.90 for a pack of 6 :eek:

CramCycle

Well done on the control, it seems very tight for someone so newly diagnosed. Have you had any talk about the honeymoon period or does that happen with Late onset Type 1?

I'll hopefully be talking to the tt1 next week at EASD (I get to do gold sprints at their stand ). I doubt that they would be interested in coming over as they a pro team and it would be very costly but they might have something they can do. One of the Boardsies is on TT2 and hopefully he can weigh in on this as well. Personally I have found that as my endurance has improved my diet/insulin regime has shifted as well so make sure you keep a close eye on it if you step it up.

mak78

Yeah I'm still in the honeymoon - at the moment I only need very small amounts of insulin , 1U Novo for each 3CP and about 5-6U Levemir daily. They said it will change and I will need more insulin. To be honest , even though the amount of insulin is relatively small its a bit awkward at the moment as it has such a big effect on my BG. Its difficult to take correction boluses - a half unit of Novo will drop me around 5 points so need to be very careful ... also need to be sure i reduce the bolus dramatically for a meal after bike ride - had a 9 CP meal the other day after a spin and took 1.5U, had to eat again an hour later as I was already down in the 4's...
They'll send me on DAFNE once the honeymoon phase is over - no point until then as things will be changing too much

Is Phil Southerland gonna be at EASD? If you happen to run into him tell him his book is a good read

CramCycle

mak78 wrote: »

Is Phil Southerland gonna be at EASD? If you happen to run into him tell him his book is a good read

Last year it was just a few lads from the team plus their trainer and some of their equipment. I think mainly there to show off for their sponsors rather than provide information but they were great for a chat.

CramCycle

None of them are here no racing this year.

There is a poster section on Diabetes and excercise, I'll post up a few pictures when i get back, couple of talks as well but your not allowed photo/video them due to the fact they may become published work, sorry.

graflynn

Hi there,

Please forgive my ignorance but what is EASD?

CramCycle

graflynn wrote: »

Hi there,

Please forgive my ignorance but what is EASD?

European Association for the Study of Diabetes, great conference and is considered the best in the world alongside the American Diabetes Association conference.

www.easd.org

There are other conferences on the world stage but they generally tend to focus on doctors getting pissed for a week and getting free stuff from companies eg the world diabetes conference.

mak78

None of them are here no racing this year.

Pity - maybe they'll have a team back over here at Ras next year. Was thinking i might shoot an email to DFI to see if they would consider hosting someone coming to talk from Runsweet.

Anything else of interest at the conference?