Diabetes & biking

[andypasher]

Hi, I was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes about 2 years ago and now really struggle with my riding. My biggest worry is having a hypo whilst on a ride and how much insulin to take before or during a ride.

If there are any other riders out there with type 1 Diabetes, I would love to hear how you get the most out of your mountain biking as I'm worried I'll never be able to enjoy the sport again.

By the way - I'm 44, 6ft tall, 14st and don't smoke

Thanks for reading and look forward to hearing your views

A.

 

[Supratada]

I never had an issue with mountain biking. I just made sure I had a PowerBar and some glucose tablets, and adjusted any insulin taken before the ride accordingly, if it was going to be a big ride.

Once, when I did a road -touring ride to Paris, I was still on the 2-a-day injections which neccessitated having a definite lunch at midday, but I skipped it and rode 70 mile days. It had a very bad effect, similar to a stroke as I lost control of one side of my body waking up in the tent outside of Paris. My friend managed to get me home to Blighty on the trains but it certainly put the wind up both of us, and he always kept an eye on me when we rode together from then on.

Brain scans revealed nothing (yes, ha ha) and the best the doctors could suggest was that the extreme low blood sugars affected one half of the brain more than the other.

It can be daunting when you're first diagnosed, as it appears to be a real game changer, and all the doctors and nurses are telling you such bad stuff about the potential complications, but if you just understand and deal with it, diabetes should have no impact on your life at all.

 

[shovelon]

Well I dont' know if this is of any interest but here goes.

My Dad was a type 1 since he was 18. My whole family grew up around diabetes and us kids were well schooled by my mother on it.

Growing up we all knew that the orange juice in the fridge was for Dad. Even though he kept up brilliantly with testing and injections, some days he would be late from work and be entering a reaction. So we poured the OJ and told him to drink. Done!

Mom was an amazing cook. Everything we ate was sugar free and low calorie. She would sneak some snacks though, but the food was always great. My Pop metered his meals but never went hungry. In fact he loved excercise because he could eat like a horse. His urine strips would tell him if he needed a shot, but we road biked a lot when I was in my teens, and he would test when he took a leak every couple of hours. He would do 80 mile rides on weekends with his work buddies. His buddies knew if he needed some cookies or a soda or some sucrose pills. Yet he could tell if his blood sugar was getting low when his peripheral vision would get fuzzy. It was only when sedentary or driving that he would not notice. But somehow in a full blown reaction he would still instinctualy get home. On some rare occasions he would get drowsy and pull over but someone would notice the bracelet and call our phone #, and we would go get him or take some juice. I can't remember more than 10 times this happening.

Dad had graduated in his 20's with a degree in electrical engineering. He became a specialist in fortran computer programming and developed test sequences for electronic devices in the US defense industry. He had gotten several security clearances and traveled to other parts of the world during test programs.
Otherwise you would never know. He looked younger than his friends of the same age. Other than some arthritis in his finger joints, he felt well. Later in life he got an insulin pump. It was a bit of a learning curve, but it worked wonders. He joined a support group for it and started consulting children and thier parents on the pump operation. I remember him saying that the injections were no problem, but the finger pricks for blood drove him crazy.

My Dad passed away at age 72 from a heart attack. Was on one of his morning walks. Turned out a blood clot in the carotid artery. Was talking religion with one of his neighbors at the time and just stumbles and passed out. Bye Dad, you did great.

 

[BertR00t]

Don't get hung up on it. I usually reduce my morning 'crank' by a couple f units, normally 16, and carry a mars bar and glucose tablets in my gear. Only trick you need is the one you need for the rest of your life and that is the ability to recognise the signs if a hypo early.

If it is any comfort I have been at this since the summer of 76 and am healthy and have cycled regularly since diagnosis with only the occasional issue.

 

[greenstiles]

Have been riding with a diabetic , best to tell who your riding with or at least 1 of if in a group. He just used to stop now and then for a nibble which was good cos i couldn't keep up with him

 

[legrandefromage]

My friend has had type 1 for 25 years and cycles regularly at the grand old age of 61. Keep food with you and measure you blood sugar regularly!

 

[the great roberto]

Never really think about it too much
Check you sugar regularly as you should.
Then again I only tend to go for 1-1.5 hr rides anyway.
Always have something sugary in the pocket ( as you would anyway).
Never been a problem to me, but I do pride myself on keeping the type 1 under control

 

[drystonepaul]

My other half has was diagnosed as type one about 15 years ago and manages it very well. Although she doesn't do a huge amount of cycling, it's never stopped her when we do.
Carrying glucose tablets and/or hypo-stop gels is always wise, along with a testing kit.

She is also good at recognising the early signs of a hypo and I've also got pretty good at knowing what to look for. Although sometimes her being irrational and irritable is purely down to me...

From a wider perspective I do think it's important that your riding partners know what to look for and what to do, should you suddenly have a severe hypo.
I certainly don't think that it should stop you riding.

As you probably already know, Sir Steve Redgrave was diagnosed type one at the age of 35 and look at what he went on to achieve.

 

[andypasher]

To everyone that has replied, many thanks for the feedback and your words of encouragement. It helps knowing that, if I continue to manage my Diabetes and recognise the signs of a hypo coming on, I will still be able to enjoy my mountain biking