I’m less than 5 months diagnosed with T2 (spent the first 3 months on insulin and now only on oral meds).
I play ultimate frisbee competitively and our tournaments typically consist of about eight 1.5 hour games over two days. Playing ultimate raises my bg significantly and I’m struggling to understand how to fuel for a whole day while my bg is high. I need energy (I’m finding recovery harder - I’m more tired than I was before the diagnoses) but I’m worried about going too high.
I only know my story, but I was a fairly active, within a normal weight range 35 year old when I was diagnosed. My bg was pretty high so my endo put me on insulin to get it down. It was low doses at meals and at night. I probably could have come off of it a bit earlier but I only see him every three months. Having read the stories of other people on here I was surprised to find it’s not a typical treatment but I appreciated the time to get it under control and adjust.
Anything along those lines and the first thing that crosses my mind is perhaps a second expert medical review/opinion/diagnosis of your entire situation could be beneficial.
Here is what I would do.
Practice test of the game:
Test q 15 minutes to see how you react, wait 15 test again.
Keep 15 carbs, glucose tabs handy if needed.
Keep hydrated
This gives you a base line. Nancy50
Frisbee golf?!?!?! FUN!
Best of luck to you in your tournament. Let us know how you do!
How high are you going while playing? Do you get lows after the game?
Highs make me tired. This might not be a permanent trend in how your body behaves.
Next year, it might be different. Drink a bunch of Powerade zero. If your farmiliar with NPH, I suppose that you could take 5 units before bed the night before you play, but I would call the Doc and ask.
Strength based exercise often makes people run high. For instance, weight lifting. I get high when I ski aggressively in un-level terrain. You must be using a lot of muscle energy. Your liver must be kicking sugar to help you play. Do you take meds for that?
I’m guessing that adding an oral med Rx for one day might be tough.
Depends on the numbers. Exercise highs can be tough because they are sticky, even with insulin. But, if its consistently high and not oscillating a lot, then a few units of over the counter NPH on Frisbee days might just do the trick. Its a fast, simple solution if the user is acquainted with insulin already. An early morning shot of 5 units might do it. I dont know.
I sometimes have to dose 12 units of rapid prior to cross county skiing/downhill skiing in the morning. (I do not recommend that he do that…thats just me).
His liver is pumping glucagon/glycogen/sugar. A med might be better for treating that, in general. But, at the same time, that energy output is what makes you perform well, so I dont know if it helps performance to prevent it. Its possible that its better to treat it with insulin. Its interesting.
I find that my best performance is often accompanied by high BG. Thats my body wanting to work for it and rising to the challenge. That energy output is good. But, if I go too high, then I will feel like crap. I can’t always predict that behavior reliably. So, I tend to treat with short term insulin. Sometimes the interval of oscillation is so short that it becomes a complete crap shoot. However, sometimes I see a very predictable, day after day pattern of it steadily rising (maybe 300 points an hour…which makes basal a better fit UNTIL glycogen is depleted). At some point your body WILL stop outputting sugar. Then, you are at risk of severe and rapid lows. It might take 24 hours to reach that point, or a couple days. Hard to say.
I guess i would recommend actually playing the course a week prior to competition and try a treatment. That might give the best chance of success. A lot depends on ones ability to predict the pattern. If its super predictable, I would treat with a little long term. If things are unpredictable, then you might not have any choice other that treat with a few tiny rapid insulin shots (less preferable).
