Starting University Netball Team

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amy21

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello,

I was diagnosed in February with Type 1 Diabetes, and am still learning how to deal with it best in different situations. I recently trialled and got onto the university netball team where I study which I am very happy with. However, I wanted to ask if anyone had any advice to dealing with training/matches? What is best to eat before, how to try avoid hypos, or any examples of when you've had a hypo and dealt with it as I am nervous in case that happens.

Thank you>
 
Hi Amy and welcome to the forum. 🙂 Well done on getting into the netball team. The effects of exercise on type 1 can be very individual and the only way is to try and do lots of testing. If possible I'd try and aim for a blood glucose level of between 7 and 10 (I realise this is easier said than done). Depending on what your bloods are like before starting then that should guide you in whether to eat or not. If you do need something then slower release carbs e.g. malt loaf, banana, cereal bar etc I find best. Training should give you an idea of what's going on and hopefully the chance to check your blood without the competitiveness of a match. During a match it's possible your blood sugar could be fine or go up due to the stress of the match and then come down or just slowly drop during the match. A number of possibilities. Testing during training is key and a libre would be very useful as you can't really stop in the middle of a match to test your blood.

Always let your team mates know about your T1 and what might happen and keep some glucose at the side of the court. It's always better to err on the side of caution and eat something if you think your going hypo even if your're not. Always remember to check your blood glucose for several hours after exercise as the muscles replace glycogen and you can drop low. After I was diagnosed (a long time ago now :D ) I went on my bike the following week convinced I was going to collapse and had dextrose tabs at the ready. Of course it never happened but over the years I've had hypos whilst exercising and simply dealt with them when they happen. Loads of people with T1 do exercise of one sort or another and the main thing is to enjoy it. 🙂

Runsweet is a great site and worth a look as it has lots of advice on exercise and Type 1.
 
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