Going where you like

Top Tips

• Having diabetes does not mean you should not do sport and exercise; in fact regular exercise is the best way for everyone to keep healthy whether you have diabetes or not, but choose physical activities that you enjoy
• There are hundreds of different types of physical activity, from steady walking to heavy competitive training. All activities and sports are possible if you want to try them
• The most important thing is to learn how much carbohydrate (carbs) and insulin are needed for you to participate in certain activities and sports. To some extent this will be trial and error but you’ll soon learn the best ways for you to fit diabetes into your sport
• Even if you find it a bit boring you need to make a plan
• Always have carbohydrate drinks (for example sweet drinks or sports drinks) and foods (for example sweets, glucose tablets and cereal bars) available when doing physical exercise
• Ensure your friends or sports coach or trainer knows you have diabetes, understands it and knows how to help (you could download the family and friends pack and give it to them so they understand)
• You really need to do blood glucose tests before (sometimes during) and after activities so that you can work out how each sport affects your levels
• Really tough heavy training uses up more carbs than gentle activities. But even walking for long distances needs regular top-ups of carbs to prevent a hypo
• Give yourself time to check your blood glucose levels and make adjustments 10 - 20 minutes before you’re supposed to begin exercise
• If your blood glucose is below 7mmol/l before your exercise you need to work out how much fast acting carbs you need to get your blood glucose to a safer level before you begin the exercise
• Think about when you’re going to need further top-ups and/or slow acting carbohydrate to see you through a longer type of activity. Most athletes (with or without diabetes) take some energy on board every 30 minutes for activities that last over 30 minutes
• If your blood glucose level is above 15mmol/l you probably don’t have enough insulin on board. Think about how much insulin you need to give yourself to bring your blood glucose down to a safe level and check again before you start. Heavy exercise is not safe if your blood glucose is high. Exercise itself does NOT make blood glucose fall – you need to use insulin to bring your blood glucose down before you start
• You’ll need to practice finding a good balance between having more carbs before certain sports or exercise as well as changing the amount of insulin both before and afterwards. This takes a bit of experimentation to get it just right for you. Everyone is different
• During sports events, if you feel low, arrange to have a signal between you and someone watching so they can quickly pass you a sugar drink on the side-line. You can then play again as soon as you feel better
• Tell your team mates that if you start acting strange, looking more tired than usual (or playing unusually badly!), get them to remind you to check your blood glucose levels as glucose levels can drop very quickly when playing or training hard
• After exercise which lasts more than 60-90 minutes, you may have used up a lot of your energy reserves
• The blood glucose levels may also drop many hours after long and intense activities
• You need extra slow acting carbs, especially before going to bed, and perhaps less insulin
• If you get injured during sport make sure your glucose levels are under control so you can heal well