May 2009
You are currently browsing the articles from Racing Diabetic written in the month of May 2009.
As the summer starts to get going in New York City (finally – it was a long winter) the heat and humidity start to play an even bigger role while I try to keep my diabetes in best control when training. A couple of things I have noticed:
- Temperature- The heat and humidity in the city causes my metabolism to rise and dehydration to set in quicker. To prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) it’s important to stay hydrated. I am trying different sugar-free sports drinks at the moment.
- Stress Signals- I have noticed that when running even medium distances, the tired feeling I get from running are very similar to when I get low. I get shaky, sweaty, weak and sometimes a somewhat spotty vision. It gets confusing and makes me think my blood sugar is low.
What I try to do is test my blood sugar before I head out, drink two glasses of water and then go for my workout. The bigger challenge I am working on is figuring out what to do when I return. Sure I can drink water, but usually that doesn’t cut it and I end up low – usually about 2 hours after my workout. Lowering my insulin intake, eating a high carb snack and drinking a sports drink are my current remedy, which seem to sometimes work.
See this article from the Joslin Diabetes Camp that is helpful.
Any of you experience challenges or have thoughts on how to handle it?
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 31st, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Training.
Shortly after I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes I was put in touch with Joslin Diabetes Center and during my childhood went on countless Joslin camps. I even became a camp counselor when I was a teenager and will always be grateful to Joslin Camp for providing me with the tools to successfully manage my diabetes.
I came across this handy ‘Diabetes Dictionary‘ today. If you’ve just been diagnosed you might find this helpful. If you, like me, have had it for a while, check it out just to refresh your memory!
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 30th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Diabetes Tips.
The selection of Sonia Sotomayor – a Type 1 diabetic for the past 45 years – to the Supreme Court marks a great victory for all us Type 1’s out there. A lot of media hype has been created around her diabetes and I believe this is a good thing. The more focus there is on diabetes, the more attention will be paid to finding a cure, understanding those who have it, and offering support instead of weird reactions!
Here’s an excerpt from a great CNN article. For the full one, click here.
By Tom Watkins
(CNN) — Diabetes advocates are applauding President Obama’s selection of Sonia Sotomayor, the 54-year-old New York jurist who was diagnosed with the type 1 diabetes when she was 8.
“It’s a great thing,” said Dr. Paul Robertson, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association said after the announcement Tuesday. “It’s wonderful for diabetics. I think it will go a long way toward being a major push against the stigma that some people with diabetes feel.”
Uncontrolled diabetes is marked by high blood sugar, which can lead to complications such as an increased risk of peripheral nerve disease, eye disease, kidney disease, heart attack and stroke. But plenty of professional athletes excel at their sport while controlling the disease, and serving on the nation’s high court should be no more of a challenge, Robertson said.
“This is not rocket science to take care of yourself these days if you have type 1 diabetes,” he said.
Some jobs, like truck driver, surgeon and pilot, used to be off-limits to insulin-requiring diabetics, who could temporarily lose awareness of their surroundings if they were to allow their blood sugar to drop too much. But such limitations are changing in the face of a flurry of litigation from people who are in good control, he said. ”I don’t know any jobs you can’t have today,” Robertson said.
Bill Ahearn, vice president of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, expressed delight at the news of Sotomayor’s selection. “It’s a great educational moment for people in general,” he said. “They can see that people that have type 1 diabetes have just as great a chance of success as anyone else.”
He said that keeping blood sugars within the narrow parameters that define normal can be onerous for type 1 diabetics. ”They have to be a mathematician, a doctor, a dietitian all rolled into one. It takes a lot of work, but it’s achievable.” Ahearn said the life expectancy of a type 1 diabetic in good control “should be the same as for someone who doesn’t have type 1 diabetes.”
According to Ron Gebhardtsbauer, an actuary at Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business and former senior pension fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries, a 54-year-old woman’s average life expectancy in 2009 is 86.2 years.
Key to Sotomayor’s chance of living that long, said ADA’s Robertson, would be her blood-sugar control. The endocrinologist and professor of medicine and pharmacology at the University of Washington in Seattle said that, if he were vetting the candidate, he might check the results of her A1c tests — a measure of long-term blood-sugar control. Typically, people in Sotomayor’s socioeconomic group would score a 7 to 8 percent on the test, with a nondiabetic scoring about 5 percent. Sotomayor has not made public her level of control.
About 1 million to 3 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile-onset diabetes, according to the JDRF.
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 29th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on In the News.
I have been training at what a consider to be a fairly consistently tough regime for the last 3-4 years of my life (totally self-inflicted) however I still struggle with being able to figure out exactly what I need to do in order to control my blood sugar in the best possible way – I always get low right before I go to bed.
The general schedule is (assuming I am running):
- 6:00-8:00 pm – Exercise (Running, cycling, kick-boxing)
- 8:30-9:00 – Dinner (rich in carbs + protein- more on that in another post)
- 11:00 bedtime
What always happens is that around the time I go to bed I always start getting a low blood sugar, despite reducing the amount of Humalog insulin that I take. I suppose the balance is trying to figure out the ideal amount to take, but I am having a difficult time matching the amount of exercise I do and food intake with the ideal amount of insulin to take.
Any comments on a smart system to do this that somebody is using successfully?
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 28th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Treatment.
Today was my first day of official training for the New York Half-Marathon. While I have been preparing in modest over the last few weeks (does stopping my kick-boxing routine count?) today was the official start with my training program. Today was interval training:
Workout: 1 mile jog, then 12 x 400m fast, with 200m jog recoveries, then 1 mile jog
Activity Type: Running
Time: 53m 33s
Distance: 5.48mi
Elevation Gain: 1,560ft
Calories: 605
See a map of my run
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 26th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Training.
It only occurred to me a few months ago that being a diabetic of about 24 years – I have a lot to share. Over the last few years I have noticed when speaking to my peers, doctors, kids at Joslin Camp, the neighbor’s kid who just got diabetes that many people have great difficulty dealing with diabetes.
Diabetes has also been something for me which is just part of my life. I was diagnosed with diabetes sometime between three and four years old – I honestly don’t even remember. What I do know is that managing diabetes has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Testing my blood sugar in front of colleagues, pulling up my shirt at a graduation dinner to take insulin, having to explain shaky hands to a girlfriend has become something which isn’t a big deal – it is sometimes, but I have to just remind myself to deal.
Since I first really got a grasp of how to deal with my diabetes at the Joslin Diabetes Camp it has been my personal mission to not let it stop me from doing anything. I manage it the best possible way I know how – but won’t let it stop me. Not stopping me has meant that I have been able to travel the world, live on four different continents, complete the world’s longest ski-race (together with my dad who was 63 at the time which is a greater achievement in my eyes).
So the intent of this blog is to document my life as diabetic and share as many of my tips and tricks as I can with you. Further, I want this to become a portal for answering and supporting other diabetics so ask away.
/John
Written by Racing Diabetic on May 25th, 2009 with no comments.
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