Diabetes - Skiing With It

[Carolinacub]

Slick! I need to get some. Thanks.

I hope you do. One thing many people don't think about. While it's great to have med alert pendants and bracelets, when we're skiing that stuff is under layers of clothing so it may not be seen until very late in the assessment process. Unfortunately sometimes that's too late.

 

[David Chaus]

Well, I had pancreatitis about 12 years ago and ended up being diabetic as a result. Considering the other possibilities, not a too bad result, I’m vertical. I use insulin to keep things under control. Just got a continuous glucose monitor which will help keep me honest. I’m learning to use it to get in better control. It hasn’t effected my skiing. I just keep a granola bar on my pocket, just in case. Plus I can sneak an oatmeal cranberry cookie now and then. Damn, I’ll have to get out on the slopes and burn those nasty carbs off.

Like all disabilities, the biggest thing is your attitude. Diabetes won’t affect my skiing because I won’t let it. If you properly plan and prepare you can have a great day on the slopes.

I’ve recently discovered Sugar Surfing. It’s not for everyone, but it maybe something a diabetic may want to take a look at. I attended a presentation by Dr. Ponder, the author, a couple of months ago. It was in Boston and we had participants from Michigan and Canada. Very interesting approach to dynamic diabetes management. He’s a type 1 diabetic for 50 years and using this approach he keeps his A1C around 5.5 or a bit less. Sorry for the tech talk, but diabetics will understand that is amazing control. That’s in the normal range for A1Cs.

Keep smiling, have fun, keep sliding downhill.

I’ll take a look, 5.5 is amazing. I may already be doing some of what is described. I just had my 6 month check in with my Endocrinologist and my A1C was 6.2, the lowest I have ever had it, and best of all my CGM reports show I’m not having very many high peaks and low crashes, over 70% of the time I am in my range (which I set between 80 and 160). 160 is rather low for the “high” alert on a CGM, but if things are trending too high I want to know about it early so I can make adjustments.

 

[T-Square]

@David Chaus, From photos in his book, Dr. Ponder sets his high at 140. Some Sugar Surfers a 12 year old in the book, set a high at 120. I consider that a bit ridiculous, but if it works for them great. I’m a proponent of if it works for you, have at it. I’m learning and, once I understand how my body works and responds, then I’ll work the limit down. It’s an interesting journey.

 

[Tricia]

You and Ziggy are in the same boat. He's suffering from pancreatitis and diabetes. Trying to get his glucose under control and his eating more regulated is not easy with a crazy busy life.

 

[T-Square]

Pancreatitis I don’t wish on any man or beast. I hope Ziggy gets better. Managing diabetes must be a trick with a pet.

 

[Ziggy]

Pancreatitis I don’t wish on any man or beast. I hope Ziggy gets better. Managing diabetes must be a trick with a pet.

There are more dogs than me with diabetes on Pugski. @UGASkiDawg has Copper. @bbinder gave us a ton of help and advice so I'm feeling a lot better.
I get my meals regularly and get shots twice a day.

The pancreatitis is a lot better since I've been eating prescription dog food. Its not so bad.

 

[Tricia]

Just a few days away for the JDRF One Walk.

Please donate if you can.

Olivia's One Walk Denver 2018

 

[VickiK]

I learned that an ex-boyfriend developed Type 1 diabetes in his latter 60s. Never knew that was possible.

 

[cantunamunch]

I learned that an ex-boyfriend developed Type 1 diabetes in his latter 60s. Never knew that was possible.

Heh, wot? Some sort of degenerative condition of the pancreas?

 

[VickiK]

Heh, wot? Some sort of degenerative condition of the pancreas?

Maybe.

My blood sugar tested as normal but prediabetic last April. However, I developed ketoacidosis in May and was hospitalized for a week. When I got out, they put me on insulin. I had a lot of trouble getting my blood sugar stable. In December, I saw an endocrinologist who did a test for pancreas function and determined that my pancreas was not producing insulin. As a result, they changed the types of insulin I was taking from Humalin R and Humalin N to Humalog and Lantus and then put me on a pump. Now I just take Humalog through the pump.

"So far, the diabetes is a pain in the ass, but is not unduly impairing my life."

 

[Tricia]

I am a little late to the topic this year.
Team Spaghetti Os is still accepting donations for their annual JDRF walk, which was a bit intersting this year.
She's 2/3 of the way to her goal.

Home

JDRF leads the global Type 1 Diabetes support and research effort to keep people healthy and safe until we find a cure for the disease. Help create a world without T1D.

www2.jdrf.org

 

[David Chaus]

I've had a software update on my Tandem pump that not only slows down the basal rate (ongoing microdoses, every 5 minutes) when my glucose is predicted to drop low, but can increase the basal rate and even do a bolus (one time dose) when my glucose is rising.

This is all possible due to FDA approval of using the Dexcom CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) to make insulin dosing decisions. The sensor technology and algorithms have improved enough over the years that I generally don't need to do any blood glucose checks with my finger-stick meter.

The upshot is that my latest A1C was 6.3, the best I've ever had. Anything under 7.5 is considered good control, and I've been around 7.0 for a couple years.

There's also a sleep mode and an activity mode, which behave more preventatively to keep glucose levels from dropping at night, or due a change in activity level. I used the sleep mode on a preprogrammed time setting. I haven't used activity mode yet, but it will be interesting to see how it works with this ski season.