Video Games and BG

Diabetes Technology Insulin Pumps
1

I recently read an article in the ADA magazine that stated that the more video games you play, the higher blood sugar you will have. The researchers thought that mindless snacking was probably a major cause, but I disagree. Whenever I play games that are intense, such as first-person shooters, I wind up with high BG's. I am absolutely positive that I'm not mindlessly snacking. I always just thought that it was the adrenaline that caused the high BG. Same thing with tense movies, too. Any thoughts?

P.S. I don't know what everyone else does for movies/video games, but I just set a plus temp. I'd be interested to hear what you do to counteract these effects.

2

As an avid gamer, it's a combination of adrenaline and long hours of sitting. I don't play too many fast twitch games these days, but I do play MMOs that feature PvP.

So, I might spend hours farming exp, or resources, or whatever, that could be mindnumbingly repetitive. Then, I'll see a red name or get jumped by a red name and, bam, adrenaline surge followed by a BG spike. Or, I might spend an entire session just PvPing, or raiding, and not really see any changes in BG.

It's just too unpredictable to really plan for. I just have to respond accordingly.

3

Oh, and the worst?

Going hypo in the middle of PvP. Grrrrrr.

4

Yep, I agree with FHS that it's a combo of sitting and the adrenaline rush. Scary movies do the same thing to me, even if I don't eat a thing. In fact, anything that makes my heart race (including, but not limited to, competitive sports, road races, a near-accident, a natural disaster, or a building evacuation) causes my BG to temporarily spike. Usually, a small basal increase takes care of it.

5

Wow, great suggestions, guys. I really need to track my sugars the next time I play to see whether or not I respond similarly.

I've honestly never tracked this sort of thing very much, but in retrospect, it kind of makes sense.

For me, my big worry is playing for an extended period of time to the point where I might NOT eat, causing a low blood sugar reading or reaction.

In the past, I would play adventure or RTS games and not bother about the time.

Let's face it, if you are as hardcore of a Blizzard Gamer as I am, getting stuck into multi-hour and multi-day sessions of Starcraft and Diablo is not that hard to imagine, LOL.

(BTW, I don't play any WoW. Too involving, LOL)

I've responded to these tendencies of mine by limiting my play time to no more than 2-3 hours at a time and then taking a break to either have a snack or a full meal, chilling out watching TV and switching my brain off for a little bit, and then jumping back into it.

I'm sure the initial play period probably does cause my BS to spike, so the next time I really go hardcore on that, I really need to track it.

MyBustedPancreas: I will keep your basal increase tip in mind.

I haven't been using my new basal and rapid insulins for that long, and I have no experience adjusting that part yet, even as my endo says in a few months I will be in a position to reduce it to one shot a day (currently I am on a prescribed amount of 11 units of Levemir both at morning AND at night).

-marcus

6

while Im not a gamer, I too would think the adrenaline of some of these intense games and just the prolonged time spent playing them is what produces higher BG levels. LOL now I do like scary movies, might have to pop in the Exorcist and see what that does to my BG, just for fun, might be a better way of treating some of my lows.