Slightly troubling news.

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Chris Hobson

Chris Hobson

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I've started the New Year by gently starting to build up my fitness work in order to prepare for my 'A' race, the Lakesman 140.6 Triathlon on June 17th. Unfortunately I have been suffering a feeling of partially blacking out, sort of like the feeling you get if you stand up too quickly and all your blood runs into your feet, mostly while running or cycling. I have been to the doctor and had an ECG scan which has shown up some kind of problem. I had originally been told that I would be contacted if there was a problem and, since I hadn't been, I had assumed that it had been clear. Since the problem persisted, I went back again and am now waiting to be referred to a cardiologist. I have been told that I can still do gentle exercise, which isn't a problem at the moment, but it won't be long before I would normally be stepping up to much more vigorous fitness work and this isn't now going to be possible. Training is on hold anyway just now as I seem to be getting another chesty cold, but those are generally temporary. It looks as though I might have to kiss the Lakesman goodbye because, even if the current problem can be treated, it is likely to take a long time and will reduce the available training time too much. I'm now having to face the possibility that I will have to give up doing triathlons altogether, although I tend not to worry about such things until I actually know that they need worrying about. I know from reading the sporty forum here that many other people are unable to exercise properly due to all sorts of additional health problems. I realised how lucky I was to be able to throw myself into my training without having to worry about anything else but keeping the diabetes at bay. For now I'm trying to stay optimistic and, once I know a bit more, I will be planning just what I am still able to do.
 
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Sorry to hear this Chris, hope it turns out to be something that won’t stop you in your tracks!
 
Sorry to hear that, and also sorry you'll not be able to participate in the Lakesman.
I hope you get some good news from the cardiologist.
S.
 
Sorry to hear this Chris and I hope it can be resolved. I do as you do and will keep going until something stops me rather than worrying about what might happen but it's the right call to rely on the experts and do what they say and hopefully it will have a good outcome.
 
Hey Sadhbh, I haven't completely given up hope yet although it doesn't look too good at the moment.

It is interesting that my multisport watch gives me a reading for what it calls my 'Fitness Age' by comparing my heart rate with my level of exercise. At the age of 58 I was scoring a fitness age of 54 which I thought was OK. Recently, despite the fact that I am currently at a lower fitness level, it has been giving me a reading of 45 which has led me to think that it really isn't very scientific and is really just for fun. It has now occurred to me that the reason for this impressive score is that my heart rate isn't going up as it should when I'm exercising, so from the point of view of the watch I have an absolutely amazing fitness level despite the fact that I'm actually almost keeling over.
 
Sad news but your health comes first. A non diabetic endurance cyclist has died age 40. Life is fragile time to retire I think .
 
"... time to retire I think ."
Not unless I absolutely bloody well have to. I'm fairly philosophical about my mortality, something is going to get all of us eventually. I tend to put more value on the quality of life rather than just the length of it. I'd definitely prefer not to end my life like T. S. Bundy*.

*Totally screwed but unfortunately not dead yet.
 
At least you’re doing as your doctor tells you and not being defiant , good luck with your test results
 
My doctor tells me to keep exercising but not to overdo it. I had been resting up due to having had a chesty cold but I've shaken it off now so I'm good to go again. Yesterday I did my regular weights routine in the gym and then went off and did the parkrun. I did the parkrun in about 28 minutes which is a nice sedate pace for me, my PB being about 21:40. This morning I have done an hour on the turbo trainer, again at a nice relaxed pace and then went for a swim. I did a 2k swim in just over an hour which again is a very steady pace for me. After swimming 2k at such a leisurely rate I did feel as though I could have carried on a lot longer, I did consider continuing up to 3.8k but decided that this would probably be a bad idea. As I have been able to do these sessions without any problems, my plan is to work toward slightly longer sessions but maintaining the slow and steady pace.

I also bought a blood pressure testing kit so I can check for any problems in that area. I haven't yet familiarised myself with what the numbers mean yet so I have to keep looking them up in the little chart in the instruction book. So far they always seem to be in the area marked 'Ideal'.
 
Update. I've now seen a cardiologist, had another ECG test, been weighed and had a BP test. I'm told that my problem is probably being caused by a virus. If this turns out to be the case, there is no treatment and I just have to give it time to sort itself out. I have also been penciled in to have some further tests to make sure that I don't have a more serious issue. Mid March is about the latest that I could start to step up my training for the Lakesman, twelve weeks being the absolute minimum time needed to train for an Ironman. If the problems haven't been resolved by then I will be attending the event as a spectator only.
 
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Hope you beat the virus soon, Chris. Good luck with your training/prep.
 
Good news it's a virus, hope you can beat it soon and get back normal soon as possible.
 
Update.
I have just about got over my latest cold. I've now had appointments booked for early march. These involve ultrasound scans and tests that involve running on a treadmill while wired up to lots of tech. I'm really looking forward to this which apparently means that I'm a bit weird.
 
Today's update. I have only been having my problem when I exercise and I have been told by the medical people that I can continue to exercise as long as I am careful. As a result I have been learning by experience just how much I can do without getting an adverse reaction, and how to spot it happening so that I can ease off before it gets too uncomfortable. I can do a parkrun without a problem if I do it at 30 minute pace, if I do it at 28 minute pace I tend to feel bad while walking back to the car. Last weekend I did the East Midlands 10k without a problem by running along with wife Liz who is a slower runner. Swimming wise I can swim up to 2k at a nice steady pace or do sets of drills without trouble. I have been out cycling with Liz, again at a slower pace than normal and this works well, I also spend time in the gym on the turbo trainer as then I can slow down or stop if ever I need to.

My hospital appointment was at 13:20 today so I took a full day off work. In the morning Liz and I went swimming and I did four sets of drills and then about 15 lengths to bring my score up to 1k, my sports watch doesn't register kick drills so there were 20 lengths missing from the score. We had something to eat at the cafe at the gym and then went to the Hospital which is just up the road. The first part was having an ultra sound scan of my heart. It is checked out from various angles and there is also something called a Doppler Test which includes various rhythmic whooshing sounds all in 2/4 time. I'm assuming that if this test showed that something was drastically wrong they wouldn't send you to the next part which involves the use of a treadmill to raise your heart rate while having an ECG test. The treadmill appears similar to the ones in the gym but has a program that increases the speed and incline in stages. To start with I am walking slightly uphill quite slowly, I have lots of wires attached to my chest and a BP cuff on my upper arm. There is a computer screen with lots of wavy lines on it and a machine printing out screenshots of the wavy lines. Every few minutes the speed and incline is increased and I am instructed not to run but to keep walking with nice long strides. I carried on until the last but one setting by which time I was getting symptoms and the medical operatives were happy that they had what they needed on their chart. basically the wiggly line has gone from 2/4 time to some kind of Latin American beat. They then sat me on a chair until my heart rate gradually returned to normal. The three ladies involved in the treadmill test were quite surprised when I said that I had enjoyed myself while doing it. Normal people don't apparently.

It is now pretty certain that this problem isn't going to be resolved in time for me to train for the Lakesman. Interestingly, there was a nice framed picture in front of the treadmill as a distraction for those being tested. It was a picture of Derwentwater in the Lake District, the lake that I had been planning to do a 2.4 mile swim in.
 
Well Chris - you sound pretty darn fit to me if you had nowt wrong with you but since you have - you're very fit! LOL

I call the photo on the wall 'bloody ironic' rather than 'interesting', myself. I'd need it to take my mind off the treadmill, cos I'd always be one of the ones they were telling you about!

There are some flattish walks in the Lake District and if you home in at Bowness for instance, you can swap the Derwentwater swim for a trip on a small steam yacht on Windermere or on a larger one (Gondola) another day on Coniston.
 
Well done Chris, I am new on here but I must say it has tired me out just reading all this. Always remember that its you yourself who knows when your body is starting to play up and when that happens its time to deal with it by slowing down or stopping what your doing. Good luck anyway.
 
I've visited the Lake District before and have been on a steam boat, it was a while ago as my, now 21yo, daughter was quite small. We have booked a cottage so we will be going to the Lakesman anyway, Liz's sister Jill will be competing as well as some ladies from the WHL running club.

My main motivation for staying fit Peter, is the positive effect that it has had on my diabetes. It has made a huge difference, I initially went from injecting insulin to being completely free of medication. For this reason it has been a worry that I would be unable to do any fitness work and my diabetes would get worse. I am deeply disappointed not to be able to do the Lakesman but I can still do enough to keep the big D in check and that is really the most important thing. My account of how I got fit again is here:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/tiny-steps.63909/
 
Chris Hobson said:
I've visited the Lake District before and have been on a steam boat, it was a while ago as my, now 21yo, daughter was quite small. We have booked a cottage so we will be going to the Lakesman anyway, Liz's sister Jill will be competing as well as some ladies from the WHL running club.

My main motivation for staying fit Peter, is the positive effect that it has had on my diabetes. It has made a huge difference, I initially went from injecting insulin to being completely free of medication. For this reason it has been a worry that I would be unable to do any fitness work and my diabetes would get worse. I am deeply disappointed not to be able to do the Lakesman but I can still do enough to keep the big D in check and that is really the most important thing. My account of how I got fit again is here:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/tiny-steps.63909/
Click to expand...
Hi Chris, my weight went up from 17 stone to 20 stone very suddenly at the rate of around 3 or 4 pounds a week over 3 months. I had no idea what the reason was for the sudden weight gain, I was diagnosed with diabetes about 12 months ago and I thought i had it under control after having my 3 month check up with the nurse. I forgot that i ever had diabetes and lived life to the full. I was playing golf 3 or 4 times a week and i was fairly active so i just could not find the cause of my rapid weight gain. I stopped smoking probably about a month before this rapid weight gain but i was not eating any more than usual and i know you can add a little bit of weight when you stop smoking . My doctor thought that i may be impacted in the bowel and treated me for this although i knew this was not the problem. It was only after a CT scan that i was diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease and this quite shocked me although it could have been worse, I am now having tests done for this and I am now starting to watch my diet and to do plenty of excercise. The only problem at moment though is the blooming weather . I found that i had high blood pressure , my diabetes level was high but by cutting out all salt and sugar and fat , my blood pressure has dropped to normal levels, my diabetes id now coming down averaging around 6. to 7. in a morning , it has gone as low as about 4.5 once so i am just trying to control things. At the end of the day though i still don't know what caused the N.A.F.L.D. although it may well have been because of me not checking my diabetes. I now check it regularly sometimes up to 4 times a day just to see how its adjusted after eating. So keep on doing the exercise chris as i am behind you.
 
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