Reddit Reddit reviews Diabetic Athlete's Handbook

We found 11 Reddit comments about Diabetic Athlete's Handbook. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Health, Fitness & Dieting
Books
Diseases & Physical Ailments Health
Diabetes
General Diabetes Health
Diabetic Athlete's Handbook
Author(s): Sheri R. Colberg-OchsPublished: 10-31-2008SHK00667
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11 Reddit comments about Diabetic Athlete's Handbook:

u/above-ground-man · 7 pointsr/diabetes
u/BellTower76 · 3 pointsr/running

Sorry, this got really long...

I always carry food with me for lows no matter how long or short the run is. I've recently switched from energy bars to protein bars as the protein bars don't spike my blood sugars quite as much and seem to provide more of a slow burn. I typically only need one around mile 3 or 4 and maybe 9 or 10. It really depends on the day and the run.

I try to remember to do my blood sugar 30 minutes to an hour before a run and give insulin if it is too high. I will typically give some if it is 170+ but you don't want to give too much or you won't have enough energy to keep you going during longer runs.

On some half marathons I will wear a belt pack to carry my blood sugar meter with me and check it around mile 6. I carry a syringe with about 10 units of Humalog in it in a Frio cooling wallet to deal with high blood sugars. The Frio wallets rely on evaporative cooling so the fanny pack has to have mesh in order for them to breathe properly. I found this out the hard way the second time I did it because I grabbed my non-mesh pack and basically put my insulin in an oven. Fortunately, I didn't need it on that run but I was disappointed to have wasted insulin. If your partner has a CGM then he'll be way ahead of me as I don't have any idea what my blood sugar is doing on most runs other than what my body is telling me or what my meter tells me when I stop to do it (which affects your race time).

He needs to stay hydrated. It is my understanding, and my experience, that diabetics need more water because our kidneys are often working harder to pull excess sugar out of us. That's why it is important to not run with a blood sugar that is too high as he'll be forcing his kidneys to work even harder to filter blood that is pumping faster and your liver is saying "Here have some more glucose" because it has no clue that you already have plenty. Always bring a water bottle whether its 3 miles or 13. Just don't over do it or he'll have to pee every 5 minutes. Been there done that. My wife wanted to murder me for killing our time on that race. I think my blood sugar might have been too high at the start of the race but it was a weird one. Story time: we did the Darkside Challenge run at Disneyworld and they start filling the corrals at 2 or 3 in the morning so they can start the race at 530 or 6. Not only was I away from my normal breakfast food but I ate at an insanely odd hour and then had to stand around doing nothing for a couple more hours before running 13 miles. Its crazy being a diabetic and trying to plan and adjust for that madness and what it does to your blood sugars. Next time, I'm bringing my normal breakfast food with me to the corrals in a plastic bag I can throw away.

Every diabetic's body is different so he'll have to learn some stuff by trial and error just like with so many other "features" of the disease. Just try to do what any other runner would do with the added condition that he needs to pay attention to where his blood sugars are.

I would also advise him to never run alone or at least to never run in a place where he could have problems and no one is there to help. Running alone in a public park with people or around the local neighborhood might be OK but I would never run a remote trail by myself. The chance that my blood sugar could randomly go sideways and result in my laying unconscious somewhere by myself is not worth taking.

Good luck!

EDIT: Also, your partner might find The Diabetic Athletes Handbook by Sheri Colberg useful. I only made it part way through the book myself but one day I will finish it! https://www.amazon.com/Diabetic-Athletes-Handbook-Sheri-Colberg/dp/0736074937/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487618073&sr=8-1&keywords=diabetic+athletes+handbook

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/diabetes

[THIS!!!!!!](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736074937/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=onceaweekgeek-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0736074937">Diabetic Athlete's Handbook</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=onceaweekgeek-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0736074937&camp=217145&creative=399369" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;)

Absolutely great reference for the diabetic athelete, it goes over how your body works, how others are exercising, and how they medicate. I love it, it has mostly T1 references, but there are a few for T2's like myself.

u/SurlyFRS · 2 pointsr/diabetes

That can happen, especially if you are doing sprints or weight lifting. This book goes into the physiology of exercise for diabetics pretty well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0736074937/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

u/mosfette · 2 pointsr/diabetes

Diabetes definitely blows. Keep an eye on your foot. You're probably an early enough diabetic that it won't be a serious problem, but those sorts of things can take forever to heal on us if you don't take care of them from the start.

As for knowing so much, I feel like maybe I should actually do a post on this at some point. When I was first dx'd, I actually was discharged from the hospital without anyone teaching me to use insulin. I think there was a miscommunication between the day nurses and the night ones, and someone thought that I had already been diabetic for a while. They kept me a total of 5 or 6 hours while they got my bg back in range and then sent me home to call my endo.

I actually already had an appointment set up for one the next day (I was worried that all my weight loss might be some sort of thyroid issue). I went in cried like a complete wuss while he showed me how to give myself my first shot (I was scared as shit about needles). He sent me on my way with a meter, some samples of insulin, and little instruction on how to use either. 10 u of levemir at night, 2 u humalog before lunch and 4 u humalog before dinner.

My first 3 months, I followed those instructions and my bgs were all over the place. I'd call his office and be instructed to take 2 u of levemir in the morning as well. Pretty useless shit. My A1c barely dropped at all those first 3 months.

That's when I decided to stop following the instructions of anyone who didn't have to live with this on a daily basis. I got my first diabetes related book, Think Like a Pancreas, which I used to figure out my I:C ratio and correction factors. I started testing around 10 times a day to figure out what my previously dictated 4-times-a-day routine was missing. I also started tweaking my own basal amounts, splitting my levemir in two and shifting units around to develop the rates I wanted for different times of day (which was only possible because Levemir, unlike Lantus, is not 24 hours of steady absorption.)

I brought my A1c down from around 13 to under 8 in the next 3 months, and I got hooked on figuring out why I still had variations that my earlier math couldn't explain. I stopped buying books for patients, and started consuming books and journals meant for nurses and physicians. My bookshelf now includes:

u/Sideburnt · 2 pointsr/diabetes

Don't lose heart, there are good techniques to utilise to exercise safely and slowly build up the endurance you're used to.

Don't forget two things, you've lost muscle mass pre-diagnosis. Muscle build up slowly. T1 is also in essence an energy metabolism disorder so you also need to be a bit more focused on eating the right types of food for exercise (and generally for wellbeing).

I don't know if you're a generally active person. Hiking, running all of that. But there is an excellent resource on Facebook. A Group called Mountains for Active Diabetics. They are all predominantly a mixture of leisure hikers, runners and ultra endurance athletes all with T1 with a wealth of willing advice. Try them out for some pointers.

Also, this book might be on your level too. It helped me a lot, I just didn't align with the Carb to activity ratios I needed to almost double the requirements. http://www.amazon.com/Diabetic-Athletes-Handbook-Sheri-Colberg/dp/0736074937

I should also mention that you don't necessarily need to stick to the Insulins you're given in the long term. I for example struggle during the day and during exercise with ANY insulin in my system whatsoever. So I switched to a 12h Basal (background) insulin. That means I can take a basal at night but not have any insulin in my system during the day apart from what I take to bolus my food, it's really helped and I don't drop quite so quickly when I exercise.

Good luck :). Feel free to drop more questions. You will have them.

u/darkstar1974 · 1 pointr/surfing

Others have some put some great real world info here. I'd only add that these 2 books were quite helpful.

Think Like a Pancreas

https://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Pancreas-Practical-Insulin-Completely/dp/0738215147/

Diabetic Athletes Handbook

https://www.amazon.com/Diabetic-Athletes-Handbook-Sheri-Colberg/dp/0736074937

u/FitnessRunner · 1 pointr/diabetes_t1

Thanks for being there for her. It is a tough job (SO of a T1/T2). I've had T1 for almost 30 years now, and my SO asks me the same thing ("how can I better support you?"). I find the fact she knows the basics is important - recognizing patterns in terms of how I look and act when low/high, how to administer Glucagon, and how to operate my pump and meter if I can't. At least know those things. Beyond that, I'd suggest you read through these books:

https://www.amazon.com/Pumping-Insulin-Everything-Need-Success/dp/1884804845

https://www.amazon.com/Diabetic-Athletes-Handbook-Sheri-Colberg/dp/0736074937/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

Then take some suggestions from there and pass them on. But leave them at that - suggestions. The pumping insulin one will be helpful because it tells you how to calculate TDD (total daily dose) so perhaps you can take a look at that for her and suggest you go through some basal testing, together.

I also have hypothyroidism, but it doesn't bother me that much any more - primarily under control. Depression / anxiety, got those too. That said, my symptoms of D/A are much more stable when my blood sugar is stable.

Weight loss - probably the toughest to tackle, but I can ensure you once you nail down TDD and I:C ratios, you can start tackling that. Because before that, it's kind of a waste of time. I.e., consider this scenario:

"Today I'm going to eat 1800 calories at a 600calorie deficit!" Then you have a low at lunch and have to correct with 100-200c. Then another low at dinner and before bed. You've just had ~600 extra calories.

Additionally, it has been proven that bad sleep can cause weight gain; low / high blood glucose can cause bad sleep.

So first things first, be there for her, get the glucose under control, get the sleep under control, THEN focus on weight loss.

One more thing - exercise is great for T1s, just check sugar every 20-30 min or so (and carry some glucose gel with you); see the Diabetic Athlete's Handbook above. Good luck!

u/bethbo10 · 1 pointr/diabetes

I lower my basal rate by 30-50% up to an hour before starting a bike ride, and drink gatorade instead of straight water. I often start a little high or eat a small snack before I go. This book might give you dieas. As someone else said- trial and error to figure out what will work for you as everyone is different. Also, I find when I exercise regularly, I have to reduce my basal rates overall by 20% as I am much more insulin sensitive than when I am more sedentary.
https://www.amazon.com/Diabetic-Athletes-Handbook-Sheri-Colberg/dp/0736074937

u/Smile4Amazon · 1 pointr/diabetes

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u/WRCousCous · 1 pointr/diabetes

I can tell you the answers for me, but you'll have to test and figure out the limits for yourself. Generally, my pattern is as follows:

  • low-intensity cardio: no noticeable short-term effect

  • intense cardio (biking at 15mph): my BG will drop by 30-40 mg/dL after 45 minutes and continue to drop if I continue to exercise without treating. Persistent low where I need a lot (for me) of carbs to get back to and maintain at "normal" (70-100).

  • low-intensity resistance: no noticeable short-term effects

  • high-intensity resistance: my BG will rise by 30-50 mg/dL in first hour; stay stable (high) through activity; drop into a persistent low (-40-80 mg/dL) two hours after cessation.

  • and no, I can't offset one with the other, though I've tried.

    Don't know about peer-reviewed studies, but Sheri Colberg's book is the go-to resource for diabetic athletes. Many people feel it is dated and insufficient, but many people like it as well.