Hi everyone,
I was recently diagnosed type 1 in November 2017 at 31 years old. I’ve been soaking up all of the info I can regarding diabetes and have been on this site many times, but only now decided to create an account.
I’m very physically active and my family doesn’t really have a history of diabetes, except that my late father was type 2 diagnosed in his 50s, so the diagnosis was a bit of a surprise. But when I looked up the symptoms I had before diagnosis of urinating and drinking a lot coupled with the fact that when I weighed myself I was about 15lbs lighter than my normal weight I kinda new.
Anyways when I got the news my a1c was 11.9. I’ve since bright that down to 5.3 at my last check-up in March. I ordered a dexcom g5 about 3 months after diagnosis and that was probably the smartest/best purchase I could have made (although I hate wearing it).
I play ice hockey regularly, and with the dexcom it’s super interesting to see how playing that sport shoots my BG up all on its own during playing, then crashes it down all on its own about an hour after stopping.
On the flip side, I ran a 10 mile race a month ago and it took me around 150g of sugar/carbs during the race to keep my BG in a good range so I didn’t get low. Crazy.
Il take tresiba 1x/day and humalog before each meal time.
Well thanks for reading, and I’m looking forward to interacting with all of you.
@Ryan Welcome! And you are pretty smart considering all
you’ve accomplished in such a short time. I’d bet that the majority of our members would give anything to a 5.3 A1c!
Thanks for the warm welcomes everyone! It’s nice knowing there is a place we can all gather to discuss our experiences and pass on knowledge.
@docslotnick I appreciate you saying I must be smart but I’m honestly just fortunate…I moved in with my girlfriend about a year ago and she’s a vet and her aunt happens to be a pediatric diabetic nurse (what are the odds?). So I’ve had a good support system in my first almost year with all of the medical advice they’ve given me.
But I feel pretty good on my own now.
… Well except for that one time that I accidentally gave myself 10 units humalog instead of 10 units tresiba before I went to bed… Good thing I realized it . I instantly ate like 3 waffles with syrup, huge chocolate chip muffin, can of soda, and I’m sure some more sugar foods and stayed up for a few more hours before finally feeling good about going to sleep.
See, you are pretty smart. You’ve already figured out one of my great axioms, developed after living with this beast for 48 years–“never waste a good low!”
Hey Ryan, welcome! Glad to read you are doing so well with the diabetes management.
I dropped hockey for about 3 months after diagnosis (I had to put some weight back on, I lost about 30-35 pounds before I got diagnosed and felt a little fragile). I started insulin and picked it right back up again after putting about 20 of those pounds back on. I’m 61 yrs old and play 2-3 times a week, twice in real games and other times in pickups with old players like me. It took me a while to fine tune my pre-game routine to keep the BG cooperative during games, but I’ve settled into a routine involving showing up at the rink with IOB partially covered with carbs that usually prevents or at least lessens that BG spike in the 2nd/3rd periods. Playing with IOB is not recommended by medical professionals so I proceeded with caution to fine tune the routine using my CGM. It works for me, might cause a disaster for anybody else who tries it!
I agree that hockey would not be possible without a CGM. Depending on IOB, games do not always spike me high, occasionally I will drop low if I am on a downtrend before starting a game and do not completely catch it before game time. I wear the Dex receiver under my pads and check it on the bench. I tried the Libre and it also worked well from a lot of standpoints except it was hard to get a reading through my pads.
For me, the bigger challenge these days is controlling BG after games with the occasional spike caused by hockey plus the BG spike caused by after game beer and food followed by the steady overnight drop caused by the exercise. Its always a guessing game for the after game bolus before heading to the bar and I often have to load up on more carbs before heading to bed.
I use glucose gel 15g pouches if needed before and during games and when BG is good I have 50% diluted powerade during games. Depending on the CGM trend during the game, I might switch to water or full strength Powerade.
Anyway, any BG management pointers needed for hockey, let me know.
Hey @John58 that’s awesome you’re still playing. I hope I won’t ever have to stop. I play on two men’s league teams so usually 2x/week for me plus I also ref.
It’s very interesting how our needs vary for when we play. For me: I try to get my BG up to 130-150 before hitting the ice, and then I’ve had it climb as high as +300 after finishing. I also (of course) enjoy a couple beers in the locker room post game. But I always find so far without fail that it drops very, very suddenly all on its own (without taking insulin) below 100 to about 80-90 an hour or so after I’m finished.
I assume I’m still in the honeymoon phase and will need to adjust as I progress out of it. I actually never stopped playing between getting diagnosed and after. But my legs certainly didn’t have the same jump and I got tied much more quickly. Then the week I started on insulin my body must have been in shock because I hadn’t skated that fast since college. Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m sure we’ll talk more going forward. I’m looking forward to the game tonight!
Ryan, you will get used to the Dexcom and eventually you won’t know you are wearing it.
I would suggest you get a copy of Dr Bernstein’s book, Dr Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution. He is 84 and T1 since age 12. His eating ideas have made it so I can Mountain bike with few or no lows and no spikes. Also my BS’s are now on a straight line in the 80’s. Something I have not been able to do in 25 plus years. Really amazing. He also has tons of info on YouTube.
Best of luck, you can do fine with diabetes if you continue on as you have started
. I instantly ate like 3 waffles with syrup, huge chocolate chip muffin, can of soda, and I’m sure some more sugar foods and stayed up for a few more hours before finally feeling good about going to sleep.