My son is getting more involved in sports that are very intense. For example, with football he has to practice an hour before the game and then the game runs an hour. Anyone perfected a regimen they can share?
Before I hit the pitch or the ice I make sure I have a couple gatorades for the bench and I usually have a powerbar an hour before the game. I test as well and if I am too high I don't play in the game right away. At the end of a period or half I will test to make sure I'm not high or low.
I don't do anything that strenuous, like your son. (Good for him!) But, when I was on the pump, I'd disconnect it a while before exercising. I'm back on MDI now, so before exercising, I drink a glass of juice. A work out can make you go low for up to 24 hours after according to my endo, so he'll have to get in the habit of testing more until he learns how it affects him. For me, I don't go low for more than about 4-5 hours after.
If he is exercising at the same time on a regular basis, he may just want to change his insulin doses for that time?
Hope he has fun!
By the way, if he ever has ketones, he shouldn't exercise until they come down. Apparently, it could increase the ketones.
before i go to track i test and usually i'm normal and i will ahve a snack or juice so i will rise but the exersize cancels out the high. and if i'm high i don't do anything (ocasionally a little insulin) and if i'm low i will have 30 carbs instead of 15 again the canceling out factor.
It really depends on the duration and type of activity. If I was in your sons situation I would set a reduced temporary basal of 50% than went from an hour and a half before the start of the activity until the end of the activity, have some carbs, see how it works, and make adjustments based on where I finish. This approach has made me able to start and finish within range, although it takes a lot of fine tuning.
BEfore excercising or playing sports I find that being around 200 is a good number ..I think the whole if your normal eat something, if your higher leave it rule of thumb is a good one... and of course test during and after... another thing for me personally is that my body is more sensative to insulin after I work out so he may have to adjust things after he excercises.. fun fun
Everyone is different with this. I find that being lower helps me because if I disconnect from my pump (this is me assuming he's on a pump) and perform something strenuous, my glucose goes up. If he is on injections then possibly being higher may be a good idea to try. Since your body is more sensitive to insulin after/during exercise, the lantus would probably act stronger.
It's all trial and error. So best of luck in the trials and hope you find something that works!
I'd suggest the book "Think Like a Pancreas" by Gary Scheiner. I think he is an exercise physiologist as well as a T1D, so he has lots of good explanation about exercise and how it affects BG, for how long, etc. One thing that stuck out to me is that his body reacted differently if he had a game vs. just a practice of the same time duration - one made him go low several hours later and one made him go high, probably due to the emotions/stress differences between a practice and a competition. You will need to see how your sons body reacts by testing a lot before, during and in the hours after exercise until you get a feel for how his body behaves.
We had many talks with endocrinologist and nurse about these issues in beginning. My son uses a different carb ration on dance nights (actually, different ratios depending on which dance class it is). He goes in high, with a goal of 150 or so. We were told he should figure out how high he needs to go into class in order to have the energy to perform well. The plan (I have no idea if he still follows this) is to check sugar before dance and once an hour during dance, and, of course, if he feels low. Preparation is key---having testing supplies with you for whatever scenario plays out, having quick sugars and sustaining snacks with you.