I am looking for soccer players or parents of soccer players for idea and strategies to use with pump and maintaining blood glucose levels during/after soccer games and practices.
My son is on the freshman soccer team and plays in assorted HS leagues throughout the year. Before his pump (last April), we had a good system of preventing lows. Now that he is on the pump, he is usually high after games and practices. Part of this is due to removing the pump for intense play (games, scrimmages) and I believe, part is due to the hormonal response to the intense exercise (and adolsecent growth, too). We have tried giving half of the bolus he will miss before the game (but are cautious as he does not want to go low). Usually, we just go with it and correct after the game. His A1c has ben very good. Also, wondering what BG level you strive for before the game...if we go for the 150-160, it seems to be too high. We also do not always heed the level where sports participation is not recommended...unless very high (400+) or ketones, we usually bolus and he plays. It is real life, not textbook! Any tips, ideas, feedback are appreciated.
Hi. I play soccer too and my sugars would be high after the game so we would try to get it to be at least between 125-130 before the game. My thing was that during the game I would drink Gatorade and it would run my sugar up. I would take a little insulin before the game and I would check during half time. So far it's worked out pretty good. Hope this helps.
I deal with the same issue during rugby, and honestly I think what you're doing is the only viable option. It's not possible to stay connected during a fast paced or intense physical activity...or at least not logical as the pump can be damaged/site can be ripped out. I test before our matches, during halftime, and afterwards...if I'm high, I correct and keep doing what I'm doing. Sometimes I will give myself an extra unit or two before the game starts since I know my body will be hyper sensitive to the insulin so it will drop my glucose more, but at the same time, I won't be connected to the pump so my BG will go up. As I stated in another thread...probably the one below this one, it's trial and error for me and everyone's different, but it seems to be working thus far. I always bring extra infusion sites too as I've found sweat is a natural solvent to eat away the adhesive that holds the site to my side.
Thanks, Brittany. We used to use Gatorade all the time when my son was on shots because it worked very well to keep him from going low. Now with the pump it is so different. We should try a bit lower BG before the game. That might help. He doesn't like to check during the game, but has his supplies on the sideline just in case. He only had one low in practice all of soccer season....but lots of highs after the games and practies. They played quite intensely.
Pat, Thanks for your reply. I think I dd read your other post, but just joined the same day I posted this, so had only read a few things. We do use trial and error now that my son is on the pump. What do you aim for as your starting BG before the games or practies? I think we may be starting too high. At what BG level would you not play? He usually plays unless he has ketones, no matter what the BG. Being a teen he often has 300+ due to too many carbs, underestimating carbs and teen growing hormones. We treat and then check later. We treat the post soccer highs similar to other highs, but maybe need to bolus less as he does sometmes go low later. Thanks for the tip on carrying the extra site. We usually have one in his bag, but not sure if he had one in his "soccer" bag which has less stuff becasue of carrying it to school. Thanks.
My starting BG is usually whatever I have when i wake up since I have to be at the field to set up/line etc. and then we start our warm ups...I aim to be in the mid to low 100's before a game...I'll check during and after our warm ups and then at halftime. I've only stopped playing once and that was when i was around 400mg/dl.
I won't eat prior to a game, but I'll bring my glucose tablets. I just can't sprint around and kill people with food in my tummy :)
If I'm low prior to a game starting, I'll have some gatorade or a granola bar if someone has one. Sometimes I can disconnect and be completely fine after a game. This usually comes when I give myself a tiny bolus before going in etc. So, despite the fact that I have no food or anything in there, it acts for 4 hrs and will fight, at least to a minimum, the increase in BG due to the adrenaline.