This is what happened on Saturday

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lucy123

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Type 2
Hi - I wasn't going to post this as feel a bit silly and possibly fake but decided to anyway.

On Saturday I played a tennis match. I felt a bit odd before starting the first match and tested at 4.6. This was post breakfast of porridge and actually very low for me (normally in 6.x or 7.x) I ate a banana.

The first match was very long. I came off and felt a bit out of sorts and ate another banana. (I didn't test). I then went straight back on to play my next match.

The match was doubles with my husband and at the beginning felt ok. As time went on, approx 1 1/4 hours or so later, I felt suddenly very weak with no energy. i also felt very very dizzy. I told my husband to hurry up and win as didn't feel good and thankfully he did. I really would not have been able to play another game.

The match over I went to shake hands with him and my legs felt like jelly and felt really dizzy and like i couldn't focus properly as if everything was going back and forward?
My husband realised things weren't right as he said I looked ghastly and he helped me walk to the net to shake hands with the opponents. As I got to the net I could see the gentleman opposite putting his hand out to shake hands. My brain was telling me to do the same but I just couldn't do it and was sort of left staring at him. He obviously knew something was wrong too and said to my husband 'is she diabetic by any chance?'. My husband said yes and he ran off and came back with some caramel shortcake and 2 biscuits? Before I ate these, my husband had got me to sit down and was trying to get me to drink my sugar free drink. Again my brain was telling me that sugar free wouldn't help. but I couldn't move my mouth to tell him. I just kept pushing it away which upset him.
Once I had ate the food the man had fetched, literally 5 minutes later i felt ok - although still a bit shaky and headachy. he then took me to eat a sandwich. About ten minutes after this I tested and was 5.2. 15 minutes later, I was back on court and feeling fine.

On sunday I played another match, but this time only 4 sets instead of 6 and i felt a little dizzy again at the end but nothing like before. I have now decided not to play 2 matches in one weekend!

Can anyone help with - what happened? Was it a hypo as not on meds
- what should I eat to get me through a match
- why was my sugars as low as 4.6 after porridge for breakfast.
- the very helpful man told me to carry lucozade in my bag incase it happened again - is this right?

I have to say I was so glad the man was there to help as he must have done the right thing. My husband really didn't know what to do but thats because neither of us have looked at what to do if hypo as always been told not possible.

I have had quite a few moments after going in the gym too when I have been absolutely shaking and trembling but nothing as bad as saturday.

It was quite scary -hence why i have decided to post.
 
hiya , well weather type 1 or 2.... if it looks like a hypo , feels like a hypo its a hypo , definatley sounds like it to me , could be that because you had porridge (which is slow release carbs) i think... there was not enough carbs in your system to cover the excersize , mabey eating some faster acting carbs would work for excersize days , forgot to ask are you on meds
 
My first thought was insulin sensitivity due to the exercise but if you're not on meds, not sure how this could happen.

But I agree with bex. It must have been a hypo or you were just plain exhausted and the sit down and extra carbs helped you to recover.

I'll watch with interest to see if anyone has any explanation. 🙂

Rob
 
Hi Bex and Robster and thanks for quick responses, not on meds and that's why I feel a fake!
It really wasn't nice though and strange that the man who helped thought straight away was a diabetes hypo. Didn't get chance to talk to him later as it may have been helpful to hear his view as he obviously recognised signs straight away.

Feel really cross with myself now as really should have told nurse this morning, but as all was going smoothly didn't want to rock the boat too much.
 
Robster - can I ask what you mean by insulin sensitivity?
 
Even non-diabetics can get low blood sugars, and that is most certainly what this sounds like. It's possible that you weren't 'dangerously' low i.e. below 3.5, but your body may have responded to you being much lower than you are used to. Agree about the porridge - maybe it hadn't kicked in, and the exertion may have used up your available energy quickly. Remember what you have been doing since June - you have made significant changes to diet and lifestyle and also lost a significant amount of weight. Your insulin sensitivity has probably increased greatly, so it may be that, on occasion and especially when you are being particularly active, you pancreas is putting out too much insulin for your requirements.

I'd say that, given your achievements and the short time since your diagnosis, this is a transitional thing whilst all your body's mechanisms readjust. I had experiences in my first 6 months that seemed to 'settle' and have not been repeated. Did you tell the nurse about the incident at your review?

As you responded well to the sugary food, it's almost certain this was a low blood sugar experience - all your symptoms suggest this too - so a good idea to carry some jelly babies in case it should happen again. Well worth a test if it does happen, so it gives you a nidea of what levels you experience it. 🙂
 
lucy123 said:
Robster - can I ask what you mean by insulin sensitivity?
Click to expand...

Your cells have 'insulin receptors' on them - these are the 'doors' for which insulin is the 'key' to allow glucose energy to enter the cell. Activity can increase the number of these receptors, so glucose is taken up more easily.

Often, the problem with TYpe 2 is that the insulin receptors are too few, or slightly 'damaged' which is described as 'insulin resistance' - you need more insulin to get energy into cells in this case and thus it can lead to levels rising.

Hope that makes sense! 🙂

p.s. your experience was very real - not 'fake' at all!
 
Northerner said:
Your cells have 'insulin receptors' on them - these are the 'doors' for which insulin is the 'key' to allow glucose energy to enter the cell. Activity can increase the number of these receptors, so glucose is taken up more easily.

Often, the problem with TYpe 2 is that the insulin receptors are too few, or slightly 'damaged' which is described as 'insulin resistance' - you need more insulin to get energy into cells in this case and thus it can lead to levels rising.

Hope that makes sense! 🙂

p.s. your experience was very real - not 'fake' at all!
Click to expand...

Described perfectly, are you a machine sent from the future to provide almost instantaneous diabetic information at lightning speeds..........😱
 
That is a great explanation Alan and I no longer feel fake. Thank you. So basically if I am not exercising, the receptors are reduced which is why my sugars are normally high and then when exercised, it could be that they increased so much I used up all my glucose and therefore energy too? that makes sense. just need to work out why for me sugars were so low after breakfast. if this becomes the norm does it mean I should drink lucozade before or a quick choccie bar. can't beleive how naughty these 2 things seem now.
 
I can't answer your questions (which have been answered so well already) but please don't ever feel a fake.

Over the last few years and from using this forum, I have learned diabetes is not an exact science. Wwe all have differing levels of control and experience and we all have to ask questions when something different happens.

You did all the right things and were able to share the experience with us, which in its turn will help others too.
 
lucy123 said:
That is a great explanation Alan and I no longer feel fake. Thank you. So basically if I am not exercising, the receptors are reduced which is why my sugars are normally high and then when exercised, it could be that they increased so much I used up all my glucose and therefore energy too? that makes sense. just need to work out why for me sugars were so low after breakfast. if this becomes the norm does it mean I should drink lucozade before or a quick choccie bar. can't beleive how naughty these 2 things seem now.
Click to expand...

The thing about exercise is that it has a lasting effect on your body's insulin sensitivity, if it is regular exercise, that is. For me personally, running will lower my insulin requirements for up to 40 hours afterwards - obviously, there's nothing you can do about your insulin production, but it illustrates how much more sensitive I become (ah!) after a run. It is something I can quantify by needing less insulin - just how much less is the hard bit as you may have noticed from my recent thread about hypos!

The thing to do is to test before exercise, and if on the low side, say, below 6, then have something sweet - not too much, mind, don't get carried away! I find that two or three jelly babies or 125ml fresh orange juice gives me a good boost before a run. If it's an extended period of exercise you might want to eat a cereal bar or something similar as this will give you a longer boost. 🙂
 
and again ..thank you so much for making that clear. Maybe I should have told the nurse then she may have said test then.
 
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