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playing in the snow

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bev

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Parent of person with diabetes
Hi all

Alex wants to play in the snow again today - do you think it would be better to give him 2 cereal bars - given that only giving him 1 yesterday resulted in a 2.5 hypo? Or would i be better to give him a hot chocolate? Thanks. Bev
The snow is realy deep here to day!
 
well i would go for the hot chocolate, but thats just me loving the stuff bev lol. if he went hypo yesterday id give him the cereal bar and then after say 30mins call him in to have a warm up with some hot chocolate but keep an eye on him too 🙂 hope alex has a smashing day out there (hate the fact im in work and can see my two kids playin outside lol) :D
 
I'd go with Mike. My sugar levels always drop way down low if I allow myself to get too cold. As long as Alex is enjoying himself and an eye is being kept on things there should be no problems. He'd probably enjoy the extra treats too and wish for more snow!
 
If your carb counting you could reduce his insulin instead of havin to give more snacks. Ive done this when ive been to golf in cold weather. Learnt the hard way after havin hypo at golf range, felt bit embarressed!

Hope he enjoys snow. I'll be staying nice and warm inside!
 
Type1_Sue said:
Why not just reduce his insulin?
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I worry then that the insulin isn't covering the meal beforehand -- is that misguided? We had this earlier in the week with our snow. Lunch with correction, then played in snow, then low (though caught -- not actually hypo). If we'd reduced insulin, then lunch spike wouldn't have been covered?

Help!
 
ask Alex?

Why not let Alex choose between an extra cereal bar or hot chocolate?!? He'll probably want / need a hot drink when he comes indoors, and depending on blood glucose level, his tastes, whether or not he wants an extra insulin shot, that could be hot chocolate / milk / tea / coffee etc.
 
Patricia said:
I worry then that the insulin isn't covering the meal beforehand -- is that misguided? We had this earlier in the week with our snow. Lunch with correction, then played in snow, then low (though caught -- not actually hypo). If we'd reduced insulin, then lunch spike wouldn't have been covered?

Help!
Click to expand...
The way I understand it is that if you had given him less insulin with his dinner before he played in the snow then the low reading would not have occured. You gave him enough insulin to cover his meal but did not account for the exercise and cold, which would lower his levels.

When im at home havin a lazy day i take more insulin with my breakfast than when im having a busy day with same breakfast. that way i reduce chances of having a hypo. I have not done a DAFNE course but did a course at my diabetes centre which was alot like the teachings of the BERTE course.

If ive got this wrong then someone please correct me. Cos im very new to all this.
 
Patricia said:
I worry then that the insulin isn't covering the meal beforehand -- is that misguided? We had this earlier in the week with our snow. Lunch with correction, then played in snow, then low (though caught -- not actually hypo). If we'd reduced insulin, then lunch spike wouldn't have been covered?

Help!
Click to expand...

What you need to consider is that, although you are reducing the insulin, the insulin that he is having is used more efficiently by the body when exercising - so we actually need less insulin to 'process' the carbs. This increased sensitivity can also continue (depending on the level and intensity of the exercise undertaken) for many hours afterwards.

For this reason, if I am planning a run I will reduce my insulin at the meal beforehand by about 25%. I will also reduce my insulin for the next meal by about 25%. If I'm below 7 when going to bed on an exercise-intensive day, I'll make sure I have a snack so I don't go low in the night - the effects can last up to 24 hours in me. Of course, the tricky thing is that it's virtually impossible to get this right first time (unless you are very lucky!), and you have to build up a pattern and 'feel' for how things will go. Even then, you'll get it wrong sometimes because some other factor has introduced itself that day!

I know it's very frustrating and worrying, but over time you will get to grips with it - good luck!🙂
 
janine19 said:
The way I understand it is that if you had given him less insulin with his dinner before he played in the snow then the low reading would not have occured. You gave him enough insulin to cover his meal but did not account for the exercise and cold, which would lower his levels.

When im at home havin a lazy day i take more insulin with my breakfast than when im having a busy day with same breakfast. that way i reduce chances of having a hypo. I have not done a DAFNE course but did a course at my diabetes centre which was alot like the teachings of the BERTE course.

If ive got this wrong then someone please correct me. Cos im very new to all this.
Click to expand...

When on a basal bolus regeime you've got two options when it comes to exercise. you can either take on more carbs for the exercise or, if the exercise occurs no more than 2 hours after exercise, reduce the bolus with that meal (but making sure you do still have some insulin 'circulating'). The latter tends to need a bit of practice to get used to how many 'free carbs' you need for that exercise so I'd be tempted for someting like playing in the snow which is difficult to calculate exactly what energy is going to be used to just take on the extra carbs beforehand and correct if necessary later.
 
Thank you Northerner, aymes and janine19 -- such good advice. It does make a kind of sense, and I can see how it will make more as he begins to get used to his own patterns and we help him to track them....

And Northerner, I have to say that your no-nonsense but sensitive approach has just been such a help to me, esp on other thread about eating between meals etc. I'm relieved that there are slim, active, full meal-eating AND good HbA1c level folks about!
 
Hi to all!

Just after i posted this,my battery on my lap top decided to fail! So i didnt get a chance to read all your advice. But what i did in the end was - gave him lunch with normal insulin, then he had a cereal bar (higher sugar in this one today) and went out for 45 minutes. Checked again and it was 6 - gave him some milk and a 14g biscuit snack and waited 20 minutes and let him go out again for 1 hour. When he came in he was 9. He has just had another half hour in the snow and was 8 when he came in so it looks ok today (?).
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful advice again - i dont know what i would do without this site. And Sue i read the link - very informative thanks. Bev x
p.s. anyone know a good cheap place for a new lap top battery?
 
bev said:
Hi to all!

Just after i posted this,my battery on my lap top decided to fail! So i didnt get a chance to read all your advice. But what i did in the end was - gave him lunch with normal insulin, then he had a cereal bar (higher sugar in this one today) and went out for 45 minutes. Checked again and it was 6 - gave him some milk and a 14g biscuit snack and waited 20 minutes and let him go out again for 1 hour. When he came in he was 9. He has just had another half hour in the snow and was 8 when he came in so it looks ok today (?).
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful advice again - i dont know what i would do without this site. And Sue i read the link - very informative thanks. Bev x
p.s. anyone know a good cheap place for a new lap top battery?
Click to expand...

I just bought a new laptop from ebuyer and got a good deal, my uncle who runs an it company always recommends them to me...
 
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