Diabetes and sport

I've been diabetic for 22 years and it's never held me back from any activities. I ran cross country and track in high school. Learn from the doctors and educators and take your condition seriously and you'll be just fine. I'd be glad to help with any questions.

 

I have been diabetic since I was 7 months old, I'm 28 now. It has never held me back from any sport I was involved in or wanted to try. I work out ALOT and run fairly often. I have to for my job. Worst case scenario is that you'll have to pause your activity to treat a low. But if you plan ahead, you should be able to prevent a low blood sugar from even occurring. Diabetes will only hold you back if you let it. I'm always available to answer any questions that come up! 

Once you figure out how your body reacts to different sports you just learn to make adjustments. But I've learned over the past 18 years that diabetes doesn't hold you back if you want to do something! Good luck!

 My daughter has been diabetic since she was nearly 5, she's 17 now. She swims all day long every summer (she lives by the sea) and played volleyball for years without problems. It's all a matter of control and to learn how you react to exercises and then managing insulin and CHO. But first of all ask any question to your doctors and educator and follow their advices. And don't be afraid: diabetes impacted in your life and you'll learn how there's nothing impossible if you really want it, only with a little bit more attention.

Ive been a type 1 for nearly 30 years - I was a state level gymnast some years ago, and now I do weight lifting and am soon to become an aerobics instructor. 

There are a few things you need to understand and work yourself into, such as how each particular excercise (and how much) impacts the amount of insulin you take. You learn to adjust the dosage accordingly. This can take a bit of tweakiing but you'll get there!

Also, and this is the biggest point for me (and took nearly 25 years for me to find out about): If you go into to do a sport (eg for me a 1 hour weights class) and prior to working out your levels are normal, but after class you come out and they are mysteriously super high - it can be from a number of things, but generally is either because of the stress hormones (ie adrenaline) that your body produces cause a sugar rush in your blood stream. My doctor advised me to manage this by injecting a unit or two just prior to the class and eating a muesli bar - which completely fixed the issue. Again this is something you will need to monitor on how a particular sport impacts you - you dont want to have a couple units before jogging and then have a hypo!

Here is a great article on both the "ups" and "downs" (literally) of excercise and diabetes :https://diatribe.org/sports-and-exercise-ultimate-challenge-blood-sugar-control 

 

PS. ITS NOT AS HARD AS IT SEEMS!!! ;)