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Type 2 Diabetic needs suggestions on nutrition and training...

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Type 2 Diabetic needs suggestions on nutrition and training...

Old 06-21-10, 11:07 PM
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Type 2 Diabetic needs suggestions on nutrition and training...

I have benn living with Type 2 Diabetes, high sugar, for almost 18 months now. I quit smoking the beginning of the year, and am striving to continue making better changes in my life so that I can enjoy a better quality of life and spending more time with my family.

I am concerned with having my sugar drop too low while riding. does anyone else have this situation or knwo of a place to get more information?
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Old 06-21-10, 11:14 PM
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I'm not a doctor, and you should talk to a doctor or your diabetic nurse about this, but I do have type 2 myself. If you aren't taking medication, but trying to control your blood glucose with diet and exercise, my experience suggests that there isn't much chance that you'll have a significant problem with low blood sugar while riding. If you are taking medications, you should definitely talk to a medical professional about the possibility of getting hypo while exercising. My understanding as a layperson is that this still isn't very likely with most oral diabetes meds.

Cycling has been really helpful in controlling my diabetes, so I hope you have a similar experience. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
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Old 06-22-10, 11:38 AM
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I was recently diagnosed with type 2 and I take metformin and glipizide. My doctor directed me to skip the glipizide on days of long rides (more than a couple hours). Before doing so, my blood sugar would crash towards the end of the ride and I could not raise it throughout the day. No problems since dropping the glipizide on ride days.

This is just my experience. You should certainly talk to your doctor about what is best for you.

For what it is worth, my doctor did not want me to alter my intake during rides. I still use plenty of gels, bars and sports drink. I now substitute some Hammer gel and HEED for Gu and Cytomax. A little less sugar to easy my mind, but plenty of energy to get me home.
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Old 06-22-10, 06:41 PM
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Thank you for your tips. I actually am having my 3 month check up Wed. and fully plan to discuss this with my doctor in detail at that time. I am also planning on seeing if she can refer me to a nutritionist to set up a better quality diet also.
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Old 06-23-10, 01:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Clydezilla
I have benn living with Type 2 Diabetes, high sugar, for almost 18 months now. I quit smoking the beginning of the year, and am striving to continue making better changes in my life so that I can enjoy a better quality of life and spending more time with my family.

I am concerned with having my sugar drop too low while riding. does anyone else have this situation or knwo of a place to get more information?
I also have type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, Been off meds for both for two years now that I'm cranking out 200/250 miles per week now. I eat as any normal person would eat on the rides I do. I actually had more trouble with extremely low blood pressure from all the exercise in the beginning when I was still on all the medications. Go see a nutritionist that specializes in Diabetes that was the best thing I did.

Good Luck

John
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Old 06-23-10, 10:35 AM
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A friend of mine came down with type II. He asked his physician if he could take long bike rides. His physician essentially said "I dunno" but when he found out that there were three of us, proposed the following little exercise.

Three of us were cycling buddies. So he brought his glucose meter. The idea was that he would take our blood sugars at the start of the ride (it was 70 miles or so) and once an hour after that. At the start, the diabetic type II's blood sugar level was higher than the controls. After an hour, the type II blood sugar was lower than the controls. Everyone's blood sugar was lower after riding an hour but the controls had not gone down much. To make the story a bit shorter, the type II blood sugar kept declining as the ride progressed. The controls did not or if they did, the decline was not meaningful.

Now, I rode with this guy once a week and on a 70 mile ride (well usually). He had a cheerful disposition. One day we got back, we had started at my house, and he was really crabby. He was finding fault with all sorts of things that I had done or not done as the case may be. I gave him a hard look and said "stand right there and do not do anything". I went into the house and got about 4 ounces of orange juice and brought it out to him and said "drink this now". He drank it and within a very short time was "himself" again. This episode was repeated a few times over several years. Now, I understand that diabetes is a pretty individual thing. Typically, this guys blood sugar would keep declining even if he ate snacks but the decline would slow significantly. He told me that he could eat a "snickers bar" on a century without ill effect. Also he told me that he did 4 days of long rides and on those days, he could eat anything without ill effect.

If you have some buddies who do not mind a finger prick, you might try to round up some "controls" for your own study.
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Old 06-23-10, 11:45 AM
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Originally Posted by Pat
........If you have some buddies who do not mind a finger prick, you might try to round up some "controls" for your own study.
This may NOT apply to this thread, but....

I have been Type 1 for 46 years. When I was bicycling across northern Australia for 6 weeks in 2006, my BS meter (the glucose one, silly..) kept me knowing what to do. I also lost 15 kg. In a year I hope/expect to do the Perth - Sydney run and will follow the same proceedure. The BS level is really important to watch. A dietitian and endocrinologist won't help you in these situations, but for short 1 or 4 day "bursts" they can really help. Maybe you can extrapolate the data from 1 or 4 days to a 42 day marathon, but I could NOT. I had to wing it and adjust my insulin - and test, and test even when I thought things were under control, they were not really under control.. BUT, I kept going OK, did not go hypo (only a couple of times) and had a great trip ... plus I lost 15 kg and felt really GREAT after it was done ;-)
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Old 06-24-10, 04:54 PM
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I have been struggling with type II for several years now. For the last year the medication (Metformin, Glipizide, Gliburide, Insulin) stopped working. Glucose levels off the chart, 250 to 500. I have started seeing an endocrinologist and he has diagnosed me with insulin resistance. Im off of all the meds (they don't work) and riding about 100 miles a week. Fasting glucose levels have droped about 30 points in the last 1.5 months. Everyone is different. My Doc has told me that I am way above where he planned on me being at this time. Hopefully with the shedding of another 30 pounds my levels will start to look normal.

Good luck to you
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Old 07-01-10, 08:58 PM
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While watching the Tour of California, I was amazed by the guy who won the climbing jersey, beating Hincappie by atleast 50 pts. This rider was part of Team Type 1, an all diabetic team. I'm not diabetic, but I'm truly amazed by this crew. Perhaps the team website will have some pointers regarding sugar regulation.

https://www.teamtype1.org/
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