A Thread for Diabetic Bodybuilders

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
21

I don’t think Lantus is supposed to pull your blood sugars down, but keep them at a constant level. Have you tried splitting your Lantus dose? One injection at night and one in the morning, or something like that.

On workout days you could take less in the morning, and take the remaining amount later that day to keep blood sugars under control for the rest of the day and overnight.

From what I understand, an insulin pump can enable you to take better control of your diabetes. If it becomes a hassle to wear while having sex or wearing a dress, you can just take it off for a while.

22

Wow.

23

[quote]jonkipling wrote:

Hodgie wrote:
This essentially means that there is no long-acting insulin circulating throught the day.

Wow.
[/quote]

What’s so shocking?

24

[quote]Hodgie wrote:
rondastarr wrote:
Hodgie wrote:
Hey Ronda,

What’s the clearing time for Novalog?
I’d personally take injections all day over some contraption strapped to my body. What problems do you hope to solve with a pump?

Novolog peaks in about 2 hours.

I have problems with the Lantus, it is a baseline that basicly keeps pulling your blood sugar down. My problem is that with my activity level some days the Novolog isn’t even needed and I have to keep eating carbs all day long just to keep my blood sugar stable.

Where other days when I have a lower activity level my blood sugar can’t get down to a normal range. This makes it very hard for me to lose weight. Once I do lose weight I have to change the does of Lantus but if I don’t catch it I will keep having low blood sugars, having to eat, and gain it back.

Do you find having a pump that bothersom? I have wonders wear I would put it if I wore a dress or if I was at the beach. I know lot of girls will hook it on their bra but what if I am wearing somethign low cut… lol, these are my worries.

Plus have you ever had the tubing catch on somethign and tear out? Where to you put it when to sleep? And what I really want to know, sorry if this is to personal, but what about sex? Imean if you move what can you say, “oh becareful of the tubing there”…
This questions have been plauging me!

I don’t, nor have I ever used a pump. Seems like it would be way more of a hassle than injections.

The Lantus is what is causing your lows. Here’s what I do, it works great. Ditch the Lantus, and get some Humulin N. It peaks around 12 hours and is cleared by 14. Inject it ONCE per day, usually before bed, so it peaks as you get up in the morning. This will cover the glucose that is released from your liver in the morning.

There rest of the day is covered by Humalog with every meal, or Novalog in your case. This essentially means that there is no long-acting insulin circulating throughout the day.

This will get rid of your unexpected hypos. However, you must be able to look at any plate of food and know how much Novalog is required to cover the glucose load. It takes some practice at first, but it’s oh so worth it.
[/quote]

I have been on long acting insulin before and it really didn’t work for me, my A1C was horrible.

25

[quote]jonkipling wrote:
I don’t think Lantus is supposed to pull your blood sugars down, but keep them at a constant level. Have you tried splitting your Lantus dose?

One injection at night and one in the morning, or something like that. On workout days you could take less in the morning, and take the remaining amount later that day to keep blood sugars under control for the rest of the day and overnight.

From what I understand, an insulin pump can enable you to take better control of your diabetes. If it becomes a hassle to wear while having sex or wearing a dress, you can just take it off for a while.[/quote]

I do split it. I have been slowly lower my doses of Lantus but I have gotten to the point where 1/2 a unit lower causes me to be high all day and 1/2 a unit more causes sever lows.

I know you can take it off for awhile but more then an hour, from what I understand, and you risk ketoacidosis…

26

Have you all heard about Dexcom?

I just got this letter from my doctor today. The idea of not having to prick my finger literally 10x a day would be amazing.
Though having that attached plus having an insulin pump may make me look like a Borg drone…

27

[quote]rondastarr wrote:
Hodgie wrote:
rondastarr wrote:
Hodgie wrote:
Hey Ronda,

What’s the clearing time for Novalog?
I’d personally take injections all day over some contraption strapped to my body. What problems do you hope to solve with a pump?

Novolog peaks in about 2 hours.

I have problems with the Lantus, it is a baseline that basicly keeps pulling your blood sugar down. My problem is that with my activity level some days the Novolog isn’t even needed and I have to keep eating carbs all day long just to keep my blood sugar stable.

Where other days when I have a lower activity level my blood sugar can’t get down to a normal range. This makes it very hard for me to lose weight. Once I do lose weight I have to change the does of Lantus but if I don’t catch it I will keep having low blood sugars, having to eat, and gain it back.

Do you find having a pump that bothersom? I have wonders wear I would put it if I wore a dress or if I was at the beach. I know lot of girls will hook it on their bra but what if I am wearing somethign low cut… lol, these are my worries.

Plus have you ever had the tubing catch on somethign and tear out? Where to you put it when to sleep? And what I really want to know, sorry if this is to personal, but what about sex? Imean if you move what can you say, “oh becareful of the tubing there”…
This questions have been plauging me!

I don’t, nor have I ever used a pump. Seems like it would be way more of a hassle than injections.

The Lantus is what is causing your lows. Here’s what I do, it works great. Ditch the Lantus, and get some Humulin N. It peaks around 12 hours and is cleared by 14. Inject it ONCE per day, usually before bed, so it peaks as you get up in the morning. This will cover the glucose that is released from your liver in the morning.

There rest of the day is covered by Humalog with every meal, or Novalog in your case. This essentially means that there is no long-acting insulin circulating throughout the day. This will get rid of your unexpected hypos.

However, you must be able to look at any plate of food and know how much Novalog is required to cover the glucose load. It takes some practice at first, but it’s oh so worth it.

I have been on long acting insulin before and it really didn’t work for me, my A1C was horrible.

[/quote]

Lantus clears in 18-24hours. That’s pretty much as long as it gets. Again, I"m advising that the long-acting insulin be used only while you sleep and begin to wake-up in the morning. When you’re awake, you would just use Novalog.

28

[quote]
Hodgie wrote:
What’s so shocking?[/quote]

I never thought to try and not have a basal insulin for the daytime. Seems interesting, I’ve never heard of anything like it before. I would definitely have to stay on a strict schedule for meal times. I don’t know if I have the discipline to do it though, since I am a swing schedule for meal times.

29

[quote]jonkipling wrote:

I never thought to try and not have a basal insulin for the daytime. Seems interesting, I’ve never heard of anything like it before. I would definitely have to stay on a strict schedule for meal times. I don’t know if I have the discipline to do it though, since I am a swing schedule for meal times.
[/quote]

Jon, you’re missing the true beauty of not having basal insulin throughout the day. There is absolutely NO need for scheduled meal times. Why? Because there is no basal insulin present. However, you must be very PRECISE with your Novalog/Humalog dose for each meal.

If you under-shoot, you’ll have high blood sugar with no long acting insulin to take up the slack. If you over shoot, you’ll of course go hypo.

Maybe an example is in order. I can look at a plate of potatoes, steak, broccoli, and a glass of orange juice and know that I require 20ui of Humalog to have my blood-glucose levels return to normal after 2 hours. After those 2 hours are up I would be in normal range, and if I wanted to, I could run a marathon and not have to worry about going hypo. It takes practice to know exactly how much insulin is required for every meal you eat, but once you do, you’ll never look back.

This process mimics how a healthy pancreas functions. A healthy pancreas secretes insulin only when blood-glucose rises. It does not secrete basal levels of insulin throughout the day.

30

The truth be known diabetics SCARE THE HELL OUT OF THE SITE OWNERS. Two forums are needed one for type I and a second for type II. One of the problems is that site owners have no idea what is happening with diabetics. As examples is a recent change of V.A. diabetic advisors. The first one was a type I, who had both the experience and book learning. Also after the noon meal you would see her and another lady out walking off/buring off the meal sugars. She spoke with the authority and experience. Her replacement just got her Masters, and listening to her advice/talk is like having a cold breeze in your ear.

The one peice of advise you can count on is the protective words, “see what your doctors says”.

The site owners could have two threads for Type I and another for Type II, and could gather a wealth of practical useage/information from the field of men who are weightlifters who are interested in their products, and have a vault of useful information that would be available no where else in the diabetic/weightlifting world. Do you want to see how concerned site owners are(no put down) apply for the V-Diet with the information that you are Diabetic.

31

[quote]philipj wrote:
The truth be known diabetics SCARE THE HELL OUT OF THE SITE OWNERS. Two forums are needed one for type I and a second for type II. One of the problems is that site owners have no idea what is happening with diabetics. As examples is a recent change of V.A. diabetic advisors. The first one was a type I, who had both the experience and book learning. Also after the noon meal you would see her and another lady out walking off/buring off the meal sugars. She spoke with the authority and experience. Her replacement just got her Masters, and listening to her advice/talk is like having a cold breeze in your ear.

The one peice of advise you can count on is the protective words, “see what your doctors says”.

The site owners could have two threads for Type I and another for Type II, and could gather a wealth of practical useage/information from the field of men who are weightlifters who are interested in their products, and have a vault of useful information that would be available no where else in the diabetic/weightlifting world. Do you want to see how concerned site owners are(no put down) apply for the V diet with the information that you are Diabetic.[/quote]

If you want another thread speficly for type II, I am guessing most of those in this thread so far are type I, then go ahead and start one. I’m sure you will get people to contribute.

As far as the V-Diet is concerned, you don’t have to apply for it, you can just buy the stuff and do it your self. If you are diabetic and choose to try the V-Diet… well that is up to the person… though I can’t see them making it more then 1 day without visiting the hospital, but like I said, that is up to them…

32

[quote]rondastarr wrote:
Plus have you ever had the tubing catch on somethign and tear out? Where to you put it when to sleep? And what I really want to know, sorry if this is to personal, but what about sex? Imean if you move what can you say, “oh becareful of the tubing there”…
This questions have been plauging me![/quote]

Go for the pump. I had all of these concerns too (though I’m a guy, so I don’t have some of your concerns about low-cut dresses…) The pump has been so good for me that all of these concerns pale in comparison.

No, I have never had the tubing catch on something and tear out. It is very well secured to your skin - plus, since its a plastic cannula, it would probably not hurt even if it were to rip out.

When I sleep, I clip it onto my boxers. As a guy, on the front of the abdomen, there is a place where the abs stop and the hips begin. There is a deep groove there - I clip the pump to my boxers there (instead of on my hip).

For sex - and yes, this was odd my first time with the pump… You just disconnect the pump. So, the plastic cannula stays in your abs, but the tubing and the pump can be removed. So, during sex, I disconnect the pump (ie disconnect the tube from the cannula) and then just re-attach afterwards.

At the gym, I clip the pump to my hip for most things (squats, leg presses, etc…) or clip it to the back of my shorts for exercises where your arms are at your side (standing curls, etc…) Also, I have alot of slightly small underarmor muscle shirts. Because they are on the small side, they compress the infusion set (cannula), tubing and my continuous glucose monitor pretty tightly against my skin. Like that, nothing moves and nothing comes out.

Hope that this helps

33

[quote]rondastarr wrote:
Have you all heard about Dexcom?

I just got this letter from my doctor today. The idea of not having to prick my finger literally 10x a day would be amazing.
Though having that attached plus having an insulin pump may make me look like a Borg drone…[/quote]

I’m on the minimed paradigm 522 with the continuous glucose monitor - and yes, going to the gym feels like I’m a robot with the insulin pump, continuous glucose monitor, cell phone, blood sugar meeter and ipod… but it sill works just fine.

34

[quote]pumpbber wrote:
rondastarr wrote:
Plus have you ever had the tubing catch on somethign and tear out? Where to you put it when to sleep? And what I really want to know, sorry if this is to personal, but what about sex? Imean if you move what can you say, “oh becareful of the tubing there”…
This questions have been plauging me!

Go for the pump. I had all of these concerns too (though I’m a guy, so I don’t have some of your concerns about low-cut dresses…) The pump has been so good for me that all of these concerns pale in comparison.

No, I have never had the tubing catch on something and tear out. It is very well secured to your skin - plus, since its a plastic cannula, it would probably not hurt even if it were to rip out.

When I sleep, I clip it onto my boxers. As a guy, on the front of the abdomen, there is a place where the abs stop and the hips begin. There is a deep groove there - I clip the pump to my boxers there (instead of on my hip).

For sex - and yes, this was odd my first time with the pump… You just disconnect the pump. So, the plastic cannula stays in your abs, but the tubing and the pump can be removed. So, during sex, I disconnect the pump (ie disconnect the tube from the cannula) and then just re-attach afterwards.

At the gym, I clip the pump to my hip for most things (squats, leg presses, etc…) or clip it to the back of my shorts for exercises where your arms are at your side (standing curls, etc…) Also, I have alot of slightly small underarmor muscle shirts. Because they are on the small side, they compress the infusion set (cannula), tubing and my continuous glucose monitor pretty tightly against my skin. Like that, nothing moves and nothing comes out.

Hope that this helps

[/quote]

My doctor said I would be a good canidate for a pump so now I just need to get it past my insurence company and go from there. He wasn’t sure the insurence would cover the glucose moniter but said b/c of the nature of my job and lifestyle I would be able to argue it with them. He also gave me so brochures, one of which was a tubeless pump… kinda cool.

Thank you for all the information you gave me, it certainly made me feel more comfortable about getting a pump :slight_smile:

35

[quote]rondastarr wrote:
My doctor said I would be a good canidate for a pump so now I just need to get it past my insurence company and go from there. He wasn’t sure the insurence would cover the glucose moniter but said b/c of the nature of my job and lifestyle I would be able to argue it with them. He also gave me so brochures, one of which was a tubeless pump… kinda cool.

Thank you for all the information you gave me, it certainly made me feel more comfortable about getting a pump :slight_smile:
[/quote]

No problem
Look into all the different kinds of pumps and pay careful attention to their different features. The tubeless pump is interesting, but it wasn’t for me…

Any more questions, just ask.

36

Hey everyone just thought ide contribute. I’m 18 years old and have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 2 years now…(That is not me in the RMP page lol) and im on the pump. Right now im trying to cut weight so ive been cutting carbs and insulin. Right now i work mon-thurs 10 hour days and on those days i can average 20units of Novo-Rapid inculding my PWO shake, Oatmeal breakfast, and 15unit basal throughout the day o.O and i still get some lows!

But does anybody know if i eat carbs to bring up a low, but don’t take insulin (i do this a lot a work, i.e a banana or some crackers to fix a 3.9 or 4.1) will it disrupt my anabolic state? And since i have natrually low glycogen levels do i need to carb up in the mourning? as i am much more relilient to insulin in the mourning ide like to stick with just eggs…

37

[quote]WhiteTiger711 wrote:
Hey everyone just thought ide contribute. I’m 18 years old and have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 2 years now…(That is not me in the RMP page lol) and im on the pump. Right now im trying to cut weight so ive been cutting carbs and insulin. Right now i work mon-thurs 10 hour days and on those days i can average 20units of Novo-Rapid inculding my PWO shake, Oatmeal breakfast, and 15unit basal throughout the day o.O and i still get some lows!

But does anybody know if i eat carbs to bring up a low, but don’t take insulin (i do this a lot a work, i.e a banana or some crackers to fix a 3.9 or 4.1) will it disrupt my anabolic state? And since i have natrually low glycogen levels do i need to carb up in the mourning? as i am much more relilient to insulin in the mourning ide like to stick with just eggs…[/quote]

There is no way you can “carb up” in the morning and expect it to last you through the day. It’s not the way diabetes works. You need to have carbs through out the day so you can avoid the lows and then you need to take what ever insulin you take for those carbs to avoid the highs. There is really no way around it.

You can eat to fix a low but ideally you should be soon having a meal of some osrt where you can take insulin. IF not I find my blood sugar will get very high.

i’m on my way out the door for the weekend but i hope this helps

38

[quote]rondastarr wrote:
WhiteTiger711 wrote:
Hey everyone just thought ide contribute. I’m 18 years old and have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 2 years now…(That is not me in the RMP page lol) and im on the pump. Right now im trying to cut weight so ive been cutting carbs and insulin. Right now i work mon-thurs 10 hour days and on those days i can average 20units of Novo-Rapid inculding my PWO shake, Oatmeal breakfast, and 15unit basal throughout the day o.O and i still get some lows!

But does anybody know if i eat carbs to bring up a low, but don’t take insulin (i do this a lot a work, i.e a banana or some crackers to fix a 3.9 or 4.1) will it disrupt my anabolic state? And since i have natrually low glycogen levels do i need to carb up in the mourning? as i am much more relilient to insulin in the mourning ide like to stick with just eggs…

There is no way you can “carb up” in the morning and expect it to last you through the day. It’s not the way diabetes works. You need to have carbs through out the day so you can avoid the lows and then you need to take what ever insulin you take for those carbs to avoid the highs. There is really no way around it.

You can eat to fix a low but ideally you should be soon having a meal of some osrt where you can take insulin. IF not I find my blood sugar will get very high.

i’m on my way out the door for the weekend but i hope this helps[/quote]

Nah with the pump i can pretty much go the whole day without eating carbs… Unless to fix some of the rare lows i have, and with eating minimal carbs i have minimal highs also. Im just trying to cut fat and the best way in my opinion is cut insulin…

39

[quote]WhiteTiger711 wrote:
rondastarr wrote:
WhiteTiger711 wrote:
Hey everyone just thought ide contribute. I’m 18 years old and have been a type 1 diabetic for almost 2 years now…(That is not me in the RMP page lol) and im on the pump.

Right now im trying to cut weight so ive been cutting carbs and insulin. Right now i work mon-thurs 10 hour days and on those days i can average 20units of Novo-Rapid inculding my PWO shake, Oatmeal breakfast, and 15unit basal throughout the day o.O and i still get some lows!

But does anybody know if i eat carbs to bring up a low, but don’t take insulin (i do this a lot a work, i.e a banana or some crackers to fix a 3.9 or 4.1) will it disrupt my anabolic state? And since i have natrually low glycogen levels do i need to carb up in the mourning? as i am much more relilient to insulin in the mourning ide like to stick with just eggs…

There is no way you can “carb up” in the morning and expect it to last you through the day. It’s not the way diabetes works. You need to have carbs through out the day so you can avoid the lows and then you need to take what ever insulin you take for those carbs to avoid the highs. There is really no way around it.

You can eat to fix a low but ideally you should be soon having a meal of some osrt where you can take insulin. IF not I find my blood sugar will get very high.

i’m on my way out the door for the weekend but i hope this helps

Nah with the pump i can pretty much go the whole day without eating carbs… Unless to fix some of the rare lows i have, and with eating minimal carbs i have minimal highs also. Im just trying to cut fat and the best way in my opinion is cut insulin…[/quote]

Well I suppose as long as your blood sugar stays in the normal range you can cut all the insulin you would like.

Then again if you are planning to cut insulin in hopes your blood sugar will get high and remain high in an attempt to lose fat then you will eventually suffer severe complications which I am sure you already know about…

40

[quote]WhiteTiger711 wrote:

Nah with the pump i can pretty much go the whole day without eating carbs… Unless to fix some of the rare lows i have, and with eating minimal carbs i have minimal highs also. Im just trying to cut fat and the best way in my opinion is cut insulin…[/quote]

How much cardio do you do? Intense cardio can significantly increase your insulin sensitivity for 24 hours (or even longer) even if your naturally insulin sensitive.

I personally like this approach better than the low carb route.

On a side note, does anyone notice that they’re more horny than usual after recovering from a low?