Raw Unity Meet 2010 January - Diabetic PLer

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
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I will be competing at Eric Talmant’s RAW UNITY meet on January 27th, in Tampa, FL. I’ve been fine-tuning the details of all my lifts over the past couple of months and really starting to feel ready.

I have Type 1 diabetes, and the biggest problem I’ve had at all three competitions I’ve entered this year (my first year as a powerlifter, FYI), is that on the day of I cannot get my blood sugar down from 250 or higher! The adrenaline, stress and excitement of the meet makes it SKYROCKET in a way it has never before.

At my last competition it was the worst, 300 all day, and I continued to take extra injections and it just wouldn’t budge. As soon as the meet was over, it dropped to 140.

If there are any other diabetic competitors on T-Nation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. My next approach will be to increase my Lantus insulin dose for that day, giving me more background insulin.

ANY NON-Diabetics going to be at RAW UNITY?

Attached, a photo of some prep for your entertainment :slight_smile:

And an article on The Power of Insulin in Diabetes…
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabeteens/c/27511/99911/ginger-insulin

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[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:
I will be competing at Eric Talmant’s RAW UNITY meet on January 27th, in Tampa, FL. I’ve been fine-tuning the details of all my lifts over the past couple of months and really starting to feel ready.

I have Type 1 diabetes, and the biggest problem I’ve had at all three competitions I’ve entered this year (my first year as a powerlifter, FYI), is that on the day of I cannot get my blood sugar down from 250 or higher! The adrenaline, stress and excitement of the meet makes it SKYROCKET in a way it has never before.

At my last competition it was the worst, 300 all day, and I continued to take extra injections and it just wouldn’t budge. As soon as the meet was over, it dropped to 140.

If there are any other diabetic competitors on T-Nation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. My next approach will be to increase my Lantus insulin dose for that day, giving me more background insulin.

ANY NON-Diabetics going to be at RAW UNITY?

Attached, a photo of some prep for your entertainment :slight_smile:

And an article on The Power of Insulin in Diabetes…
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabeteens/c/27511/99911/ginger-insulin[/quote]

I’m not diabetic, and really know nothing about it.

But just wanted to say that it’s VERY cool that you’re competing at Raw Unity.

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THANKS! It’s gonna be intense! The comps I’ve won around here (New England) have been a certain level of competition…and RawUnity requires that you qualify so these women all have a lot of experience on me! I’m really looking forward to it.

[quote]ThirdUncle wrote:

[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:
I will be competing at Eric Talmant’s RAW UNITY meet on January 27th, in Tampa, FL. I’ve been fine-tuning the details of all my lifts over the past couple of months and really starting to feel ready.

I have Type 1 diabetes, and the biggest problem I’ve had at all three competitions I’ve entered this year (my first year as a powerlifter, FYI), is that on the day of I cannot get my blood sugar down from 250 or higher! The adrenaline, stress and excitement of the meet makes it SKYROCKET in a way it has never before.

At my last competition it was the worst, 300 all day, and I continued to take extra injections and it just wouldn’t budge. As soon as the meet was over, it dropped to 140.

If there are any other diabetic competitors on T-Nation, I’d love to hear your thoughts. My next approach will be to increase my Lantus insulin dose for that day, giving me more background insulin.

ANY NON-Diabetics going to be at RAW UNITY?

Attached, a photo of some prep for your entertainment :slight_smile:

And an article on The Power of Insulin in Diabetes…
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabeteens/c/27511/99911/ginger-insulin[/quote]

I’m not diabetic, and really know nothing about it.

But just wanted to say that it’s VERY cool that you’re competing at Raw Unity.[/quote]

4

I’m not a diabetic, but I know that higher levels of stress releases cortisol from the adrenal glands. The cortisol will definitely increase your blood sugar. Patients that get cortico-steroid injections are pre-screened for diabetes and are informed to more closely monitor their blood sugars b/c they will increase. Have you talked to your endocrinologist about this?

Good luck with the meet. I love seeing New Englander’s representing.

5

My first reaction would be to test when you wake up the day of event and give extra fast acting insulin to help you get a normal reading. Then test again when you arrive at the event.

Since you said the extra insulin did not help then you could try to have almost no carbs or sugar the afternoon before event wile maintaining a normal blood sugar in an attempt to make it impossible for your sugar to suddenly rise the next morning. Then try your best to get the right dose with breakfast.

Your lantis could be dosed to low but if it was you would be running high sugars all the time so I am not to sure.

I personaly just had to stop using lantis after being on it for years due to training a lot harder starting 2 months ago. I kept getting a low sugar after doing cardio and would then have to feed my lows so after going on my own from 45 units a day to 30 units a day and still getting lows I saw my endo and he switched me to levimier and now I stopped getting lows its less likely to cause a low. I know low sugar is not your problem just wanted to share the info.

I have been type 1 for 15 years.

***Call your endo for the best advise. I would think just having your sugar over 190 could affect your performance.
I noticed the event is not until the end of the month so I am sure you will be fine with the amount of time you have.

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[quote]danjo228 wrote:
I’m not a diabetic, but I know that higher levels of stress releases cortisol from the adrenal glands. The cortisol will definitely increase your blood sugar. Patients that get cortico-steroid injections are pre-screened for diabetes and are informed to more closely monitor their blood sugars b/c they will increase. Have you talked to your endocrinologist about this?

Good luck with the meet. I love seeing New Englander’s representing.[/quote]

Thanks, yeah, i know it’s a mix of the cortisol and adrenaline…which makes you VERY insulin resistant, but the problem is that the extra insulin injections just don’t budge the number!

Enocrinologists are not as helpful as you’d think!

I promise to make New England proud :slight_smile:

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[quote]750suzuki wrote:
My first reaction would be to test when you wake up the day of event and give extra fast acting insulin to help you get a normal reading. Then test again when you arrive at the event.

Since you said the extra insulin did not help then you could try to have almost no carbs or sugar the afternoon before event wile maintaining a normal blood sugar in an attempt to make it impossible for your sugar to suddenly rise the next morning. Then try your best to get the right dose with breakfast.

Your lantis could be dosed to low but if it was you would be running high sugars all the time so I am not to sure.

I personaly just had to stop using lantis after being on it for years due to training a lot harder starting 2 months ago. I kept getting a low sugar after doing cardio and would then have to feed my lows so after going on my own from 45 units a day to 30 units a day and still getting lows I saw my endo and he switched me to levimier and now I stopped getting lows its less likely to cause a low. I know low sugar is not your problem just wanted to share the info.

I have been type 1 for 15 years.

***Call your endo for the best advise. I would think just having your sugar over 190 could affect your performance.
I noticed the event is not until the end of the month so I am sure you will be fine with the amount of time you have.[/quote]

A fella 'betic! Awesome!

Believe me, I test about 15 times on the day of a comp! All day and at the last one I took 4 extra injections during the competition but it just couldn’t cut through the cortisol/adrenaline/stress, etc. As soon as the stress was over, it dropped to 140. And I’ve gotta eat well that day, so skipping carbs isn’t an option.

I’ve had great success on lantus overall. This is the only situation where I can’t control my BG. And you’re so right that anything over 190 just doesn’t help! I’ve read studies reporting that high BGs really can limit your muscle function and strength.

I’ve never met a helpful endocrinologist when it comes to powerlifting. The first time I said, “I’m looking into competing in strength sports” my Endo practically rolled his eyes and completely ignored me because he assumes all his patients neglect their health.

I’m the spokesperson of a website for diabetes, and I study the disease/myself all the time. (http://Www.diabeteens.com)

I think I’m going to try more Lantus the night before. THANK YOU for your suggestions!

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I personaly just had to stop using lantis after being on it for years due to training a lot harder starting 2 months ago. I kept getting a low sugar after doing cardio and would then have to feed my lows so after going on my own from 45 units a day to 30 units a day and still getting lows I saw my endo and he switched me to levimier and now I stopped getting lows its less likely to cause a low.

I find I always need about 30 grams of carbs before doing any cardio (unless it’s sled-drags or prowler…that seems to affect me the same way lifting does – don’t need extra carbs).

The easiest way, of course, is to try to plan your cardio right after a meal so you don’t have to eat an extra meal. I eat 6x a day so that’s not always too hard to do!

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Good luck, I will see you there.

Dont show up on the 27th though, the meet is on the 30th and 31st.

10

good luck, as usual you will kick some @$$.

AR

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[quote]coffee wrote:
Good luck, I will see you there.

Dont show up on the 27th though, the meet is on the 30th and 31st.[/quote]

Looking forward to meeting ya there!

(My friend and I are going up earlier and staying afterwards – making a vacation out of it since I got my flight down there sponsored!)

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[quote]Arnoldrocks wrote:
good luck, as usual you will kick some @$$.

AR[/quote]

Thanks AR :slight_smile:

13

I thought you might be interested in this interview with Matthias Steiner, 2008 SHW Olympic Gold medalist in weightlifting, and a diabetic:
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diabetes-world.net%2FPortal-fuer-Patienten-und-Interessierte%2FLebenssituationen%2FProminente.htm%3FID%3D3845&sl=de&tl=en

14

Ask your endo about Symlin, a relatively new med for Type 1 diabetics.

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[quote]steveprez wrote:
Ask your endo about Symlin, a relatively new med for Type 1 diabetics.[/quote]

Hey there,

Thanks for the note – Symlin is actually more intended for Type 2s and people trying to lose weight while reducing overall glucose levels. My day-to-day glucose levels are great, I just struggling with combatting the insulin insensitivity during a competition day due to the hormones mentioned up above!

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[quote]aut-x-rs wrote:
I thought you might be interested in this interview with Matthias Steiner, 2008 SHW Olympic Gold medalist in weightlifting, and a diabetic:
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diabetes-world.net%2FPortal-fuer-Patienten-und-Interessierte%2FLebenssituationen%2FProminente.htm%3FID%3D3845&sl=de&tl=en
[/quote]

WOW – thank you! I’ve never heard of him! The translation in that article was funny :slight_smile: But that’s an awesome article. I will certainly write about him on my diabetes website!

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[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:

[quote]aut-x-rs wrote:
I thought you might be interested in this interview with Matthias Steiner, 2008 SHW Olympic Gold medalist in weightlifting, and a diabetic:
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diabetes-world.net%2FPortal-fuer-Patienten-und-Interessierte%2FLebenssituationen%2FProminente.htm%3FID%3D3845&sl=de&tl=en
[/quote]

WOW – thank you! I’ve never heard of him! The translation in that article was funny :slight_smile: But that’s an awesome article. I will certainly write about him on my diabetes website!

[/quote]

Sure. If you need a better translation, I can PM you one. I don’t know much about diabetes, but I found it interesting that Steve Redgrave (5x Olympic Gold, 9x World Champion, rowing), Gary Hall Jr. (10x Olympic medallist, 5x Gold, swimming 50 & 100m), and apparently many other diabetics have been very successful in high level athletics.

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[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:
ANY NON-Diabetics going to be at RAW UNITY?
[/quote]

I’ll be there, competing in the 275 class. You’re going to be going up against somebody from my gym, IPF world champ Sioux-z Hartwig-Gary. I think you might be taller than her, though. :slight_smile: Good luck!

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[quote]skizac wrote:

[quote]FiveFootTwo wrote:
ANY NON-Diabetics going to be at RAW UNITY?
[/quote]

I’ll be there, competing in the 275 class. You’re going to be going up against somebody from my gym, IPF world champ Sioux-z Hartwig-Gary. I think you might be taller than her, though. :slight_smile: Good luck![/quote]

AWESOME! I’ve looked up Sioux-z’s name before 'cause I saw her on the roster – YOWZA, she’s an animal! I think she’s in the weightclass below me.

Look forward to meeting you. Good luck over the next few weeks!