Type 1 (Insulin Dependent) Diabetic

mick stupp
mick stupp Posts: 2
edited April 2009 in Training, fitness and health
Hi, Guys.
I am a 'newbie' to road riding and am pushing hard to up my fitness levels / speed / times / distance etc., but being a Type 1 Diabetic is making it really hard work ( I know it has to be hard, otherwise there's no fun in it!).
My problem is that I am struggling to maintain and stabilise my blood-glucose levels during training, and then immediately afterwards (for about an hour, or so).
Can any fellow sufferers give me any advice / encouragement to help me through this.
Thanks in advance for any support.
getting quicker, going further, but still hurts as much!!!!

Comments

  • deal
    deal Posts: 857
    not much advice but for some encouragement - http://www.teamtype1.org/
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    As a fellow T1, eat before during and monitor your BM levels after. You'd be quite surprised how the seemingly leisurely ride can drop your BM levels.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • El Imbatido
    El Imbatido Posts: 144
    mick stupp wrote:
    Hi, Guys.
    I am a 'newbie' to road riding and am pushing hard to up my fitness levels / speed / times / distance etc., but being a Type 1 Diabetic is making it really hard work ( I know it has to be hard, otherwise there's no fun in it!).
    My problem is that I am struggling to maintain and stabilise my blood-glucose levels during training, and then immediately afterwards (for about an hour, or so).
    Can any fellow sufferers give me any advice / encouragement to help me through this.
    Thanks in advance for any support.

    Hey mick, im also type 1 diabetic and struggled with it when i first started cycling. Didnt know what my sugars where doing whilst i was out riding and that in a way also scared me. So i searched around and looked at different monitors etc that wernt as bulky or a hard to carry with me, but in the end came up with an accucheck integra monitor

    http://www.towers.net.au/shop.asp?id=1250&action=viewproduct

    This monitor carries the strips in the white strip barrel (shown in the above link) and it holds 16 strips in it. When you turn the monitor on it pushes one slightly out the bottom of the monitor just enough so that you can put blood on the end. So now i have much finger pricker taped to the monitor and the monitor zip-tied to my stem so that i can check whilst riding. No need to stop and check and it just gives myself peace of mind when riding.

    As for other things i do, i also keep a banana with me, an energy bar for any ride longer than about 45min - 1 hour but always some jelly beans. I also try to go out with my blood glucose level in the zone ie. 4 to 8. When i didnt have a metre on my bike i used to run it higher just so i didnt go too low. But the meter on the bike just makes it a lot easier. Just a few things i do: also have a bit of money in your saddle bag for stopping to get an energy drink or a snack, carry your diabetic id with you incase anything happens. ( I actually have 'diabetic' tattooed on my arm), and have a mobile with you.

    With regards to eating, i try to have agood meal before i go, so i have enough energy, but try not to ride right after a major meal, because i know my sugar is going up and ive just taken insulin. I also experimented witha few differnt insulins to find out which one would be best for me with riding (with doctors approval of course). In the end i found a regime of Long acting in the morning (for me lantus) and short acting at all major meals (breaky, lunch dinner). Plus even sometimes alittle inbetween if im goin ridin and the sugar is a bit high. (i use novorapid). This works fine for me, so you may want to speak with your diabetic doctor about riding and get their thoughts.

    note: i didnt actually buy from this site i just wanted an example to show you. There might even be better ones, but this one works good for me
    As deal posted team type one shows that we can do it just as well as non-diabetics it just takes a bit of focus. Those guys have it easy anyway. They use pumps and it is monitored from the teamm car, but not everyone can do that.

    Well that my thoughts, just try somethings out and just find a routine that is good for you.
    Cheers :)
    Do you have any Therapeutic Use Exemptions?
    No. Never have.
    Never? What about the cortisone?
    Well, obviously there was the cortisone
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Never really thought about getting it Diabetic tattooed on my chest/arm etc. I wear a medicalert necklace but it gets tanglerd up in the shorter chain I also wear.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • El Imbatido
    El Imbatido Posts: 144
    redvee wrote:
    Never really thought about getting it Diabetic tattooed on my chest/arm etc. I wear a medicalert necklace but it gets tanglerd up in the shorter chain I also wear.

    It's not huge but enough for anyone to notice, i got it mainly because i play alot of water-sports. Waterpolo, swimming and surfing being the main ones and had actually lost the braclet a couple of times, so in the end it was an easy decision
    Do you have any Therapeutic Use Exemptions?
    No. Never have.
    Never? What about the cortisone?
    Well, obviously there was the cortisone

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