Hippies, Sweat & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Don't Forget this!

Okay, thought I'd drop a quick line on the ole Blog.....

Or my latest adventure in the fitness realm.

So, as I'm getting home from my hour long boxing class, my wife has this brilliant idea to invite me to her late evening Yoga class. To quote her directly, "Its not that hard, relaxing really."  So I say, alright, and off we go.

On the way she pulls out a giant water bottle and tells me I'd better drink up. I say, alright, as I knew we were on our way to a "Hot Yoga" class.  I down a few gulps to rehydrate my already dehydrated body, remember, I'd already done an hour of sweating.

We arrive, and the place is all ZEN and hippyish.....conversations like, ya, made this really awesome vegan dish last night, totally delicious.....Buddha in the corner and the overwhelming smell of SWEAT, not to mention the scantly dressed young people strolling around, looking like they'd been swimming, and in dire need of a serious baconator super sized meal....you get the picture. Anyhow.....

I walk into the studio area, dimmed lights, mats and half naked (kidding) people all around, and roll out my yoga matt my wife provided, and my, get this, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle towel atop my mat, and follow suite. Lying flat, the fans shut off, and this small Yoga lady who would likely kick my ass, enters and soothingly, in this meditative , I am going to put you into a deep trance, type voice says, "Welcome, find your breath, own your breath, let go of today's worries.....etc....." Then, the HEAT hit me, and the torture commenced, upward and downward dogs, kids poses, dancing and warriors poses.  By the 30 minute mark my thighs were knotting up and I was cursing my wife for bringing me here post intense, dehydrating workout.....I WAS DYING FAST.....and the skinny little man in the front was oh so effortlessly, twisting himself into these wacky postures. 

The class finally ended, my sodium was likely borderline critical, and I'm surprised I didn't seize, froth at the mouth or just drop dead, but yes people, I endured. And I didn't go into kidney failure.

On the way home, and a litre of fluid later, I started to feel really good, relaxed, calm, limber, almost an energized focus, with out the intense buzz I'd get after an intense anaerobic workout. I felt damn good! A little stinky but good!

My diabetes, kinda behaved itself.  Before class, 7.2 mmol/L(multiply by 18 for USA)post 13 mmol/L likely due to the 2 classes in a row and the dehydrated state I was in. 

I Enjoyed Sweating my Ass Off - and have now put my notice in at the Thai Boxing place to join the Hot Yoga instead.  Now any Macho people out their, remember don't knock it until you try it.
Anyone else try this out? How does it effect your Diabetes?


Cheers!
Trev

Temper Tantrum - Diabetes vs Emotional Dysregulation

"Rowan and Cadee - In a calm state"

Let me start by clarifying the title.  Is this temper tantrum diabetes related or is it simply my kid throwing a fit?

I have been meaning to write about this for a while now and what prompted this post was a discussion this morning with my non-diabetic kids day-care provider.  The day-care worker told me that Cadee was throwing some extreme tantrums in an attempt to get out of quiet time. We discussed reasons etc....And I left thinking, well she is three and has been testing boundaries at home lately.  This lead me to think about Rowan our youngest type 1.  She was 18 months when Diagnosed. Right before the onset of the "Challenging twos"

It made parenting her tricky, as we knew that fluctuating sugars can result in moodiness.  I am speaking from my own personal Jekyll and Hyde episodes that I exhibited with Highs and lows.

When Rowan had a temper tantrum we would normally chalk it up as your typical toddler exhibiting  dysregulated emotional behavior. We would always, pause, test, and ensure it wasn't diabetes related. Then in the back of my mind I would be thinking; you just wait, if this is just you being a toddler, you're going straight into a time out,  or we'd redirect in an attempt to dissuade her undesirable actions. 

This really sucked for us.  It was one more step in an already emotionally draining parenting situation (that any parent can attest to). One of the hardest parts of parenting is having to discipline your child(ren) who just aren't quite there yet, emotionally, verbally, developmentally. Parenting's hard enough, but throw Diabetes into the mix and it is one more element to consider before handing out the sentence --- 2 minutes no parole...on the naughty bench.

Thought I'd share this conundrum.  Now Rowan is old enough to explain that she is probably highly emotional or upset for more then just the situation at hand, but also because her sugar is high or low. 

My heart goes out to the parents caring for type 1 diabetic kids, it is not for the faint of heart.

Take care.

Trev  

PS:  How do you handle the above scenarios with you little diabetic?

High Intensity Workout Highs - Not the Endorphine High

"Me High on Endorphins"

Okay,

You'd think I would have this diabetes thing down to an exact science by now. But it would seem apparent -that I do not.

It is easy to tell others what to do with their diabetes, analyse their log book, tweaking a thing or two, but when it comes to me, damn it's hard. 

Why is that?

Or better yet; where is this post coming from?  Well, as always, I'll tell you.  I went to another Martial Arts session last night. This time, I took a wrestling/ground fighting class, and immediately after that class I took the Muay Thai kick boxing class. I know what you must be thinking; why when I almost vomited the last time? Well I just had to try it. And I didn't barf, but it seriously made managing my glucose really difficult.

Before the first hour (wrestling) class I tested my sugar and it was 8 mmol/L so I drank a diluted 10 grams carb energy drink and did the class.  One hour later I was 9 mmol/L, not to bad.  I drank another 10 gms carbs and did the second class. Post 2 hour workout another test and it was 9.5 mmol/L.  Downed a Litre of H2O and drove home. Got home tested again, and I was 13 mmol/L but seriously starving at that point so I made my self an Omelet (3 eggs) had 1/2 cup cottage cheese and a handful of blue berries. I took 1 unit to correct the glucose (1 unit for 3mmol/L  but since I had a two hour workout and it was nearing bed time I reduced my correction by 50%) I took 3 units to cover the meal, which is typical. I then read some books to the kids, had a long shower, tested again about an hour later and damn, 14 mmol/L.  Frustrating but I said to myself, it has been over a year since I've pushed myself with such a high intensity workout of that duration. So I went to bed. Couldn't sleep, as I was obsessing about the sugar level, and still a little wired from the class. Tested 2.5 hours after last bolus and still 13 mmol/L.  I am always hesitant to correct this late as I am prone to some serious lows between the hours of 2-3 am. So, I once again took half of what I would normally take or 1 unit of rapid and went to bed. This morning I woke up at 8.8 mmol/L.  Now I would prefer to wake up between 5-6 mmol/L.  Oh well, not bad really.  Now what do I do with this experience?

I am obviously thinking about it and in unison sharing it, but I'm considering a few things.....

The type of workout was very much anaerobic whereby I exerted myself intensely for a certain amount of time, say 3-5 minutes, followed by brief 30-60 second rest period. In other words not a consistent activity like cycling or running.

What effect does this have?  Well it generally causes an increase in blood glucose for me, followed by lower levels over the next 24-48 hours. Now, I usually don't go intense for over an hour.  From what I've read anything over 48 minutes and your body goes into a catobolic state or breakdown mode, tapping into fat and protein stores, and thus leading to muscle wasting, over training and injury.  To me this equals a whole lot of stress and inflammation, which I assume, leads to my increased blood glucose. If anyone out there wants to provide a juicy more accurate reason please do, I would appreciate it.

Is it increased cortisol production and gluconeogenesis causing insulin resistance, and an increase in liver out put of glucose?  Or is it simply poor balance on my part, not enough insulin?  or perhaps both?  Now I am considering hiring a biochemist or sports medicine expert to edit and add content to my blog.......and selfishly answer my burning questions.

Today, I am still "Out-of-Whack" or having hyperglycemia. Which is frustrating and confusing, however, it was the first two hour session, and based on the ramification perhaps this guy is only meant to do a one hour session, but I am stubborn and if a non-d person can do it, then so can I.

Now I am just whining. But seriously,  I think I have to try it again, take the full correction amount, and reduce my carb supplement or try a different form of carb like a piece of fruit before each session. Trial and error again and again until I figure it out. 

 I wish for a time when things can be simple, a time when I can just go do the class, and not think about diabetes, glucose levels, and the ramifications an activity may have on my health.  Oh, then again that would be called a cure.

Cheers and thanks for listening. 

Trev 

I'm Gonna Hurl!!!

"My tough guy pose"

I have recently joined a Martial Arts Training Centre to get back into Muay Thai Boxing. And, let's be honest to get my Ass back into shape, not that I am a coach potato, but let's just say these last few years of sedentary jobs has not been good for the belly roll over the belt scenario, but rest assured I can still see my feet and other important body parts.....TMI

Anyway, so on a whim, I arrived home from work and the house was rather quiet, yes it does happen on occasion. Kids were out, little one watching barbie on the tele, and my wife taken a much deserved cat nap.

I tossed my shorts, and tank top into a bag and decided to drive out to a Martial Arts MMA training centre. This was two weeks ago now. I gear up, grab a rope and jumped right in. The classes are one hour long, and boy they are intense. 15 min warm up, skipping, shadow boxing, push ups, burpies, just think boot camp training. Okay, so I limped a bit the next day after the first couple of classes. Then last night......

WHOLLY CRAP, what the hell was that.....It was a different instructor, and I seriously thought he was trying to kill me, no seriously, between hacking, spewing and nearly coughing up my upper lung lobe, being light headed from non stop heart rate in the 200's for far too long (in my opinion) I really thought I was going to hurl.....blow chucks, vomitus uptacous, what ever you want to call it.  So did I?  Not on your life as this is a sign of weakness, in my book. 

I huffed and puffed and the warm up ended and we moved on at a much more reasonable pace, thank god, as I truly think if the warm up had of been even 1 minute longer, I would have done the run of shame to the can to relieve myself. 

Now, I suppose I should link this back to diabetes in some way.........Well I can say that training has always felt good, contrary to the above session (it does get easier) but seriously though, it has an amazing blood glucose lowering effect as our muscles and liver are refilled with glucose that is consumed and lingering around the blood stream that would otherwise be doing insidious silent damage....I know I am dramatic.

But more importantly, it is great to connect mind and body, by focusing on movement, proper technique, as I am totally in the present moment.  It is a fabulous stress relieving thing for our overly taxed body and mind. 

So I have officially joined, no backing out now. I look forward to doing the class minus the extreme urge to barf.


Cheers!

Trev 

Passion = Never Giving Up

"Muay Thai Fighter's Stance, careful she
has a wicked right hook"

Hello All you Fabulous People!

Well Summer is drawing to a close, and school will soon be back into full swing with; homework, teachers, taxi service, lunches, diabetes questions and meetings. My house will indeed be cleaner with the offspring away all day but somehow the school routine still makes life equally busy, with the chaotic before school launch sequence, and the after school, squeeze all things into 4 hours before bed sequence; only to get up and do it all over again 5 days a week. I am tired mentally just contemplating the above........

So after the above run on sentence, I suppose I should get to the point post.

I read somewhere that passion and research don't mix as the passion I suspect can cloud or bias the researchers view, and therefore effect the results of the study. 

So as I was walking(Briskly uphill of course) on my treadmill, as this was easier then dragging 5 kids, and 2 dogs through the hood, I got to thinking about the above statement.

Then I pulled out my iPhone, yes I have one too, and watched a 6 part series on Dr R. Bernstein.(Youtube Link) He explains his story and how he has had diabetes for 63 plus years, how he was doing the "run-and-shoot" or "Basal-Bolus" method years ago, and how he paid 650 bucks for one of the first glucometers on the market, apparently the size of a shoe box.  This guy talks about his journey from being an engineer who attempted to sway the medical profession to look at intensive diabetes management as this was working exceedingly well for him, and to his dismay, was turned down every time, being told things like "People will never manage diabetes with a machine" hmmmmmm were they wrong.  He eventually became an MD when he was in his forties to increase his swaying power with in the medical community.

What's my point? Well, he was passionate to share with the medical community what he discovered through passion, and his own desire to improve glucose control, and prevent an early death from diabetes.  A lot of what he was doing to himself 40 years ago has only recently become mainstream.

I personally think passion is crucial to moving forward in all research since passion to me, equals motivation to act, to challenge conventional thinking and ask what can we do different or better. It is like fuel, if you believe strongly about something, this provides the energy to move forward and do something about it.

Even us individuals with Diabetes or caring for a child with D. We are I believe, Scientists, or capable of being scientists. By testing, trialing, and reviewing the results. What worked, what didn't. Being passionate about living well with diabetes.  Reading everything as objectively as possible, and using the best evidence to guide us in how we all manage diabetes. I also believe in asking questions, not just to your doctors, but to your self. There are hundreds. Will I need more insulin at forty, or less, will this Kickboxing class need added pre-carb snack compared to my bike workout, the questions are numerous, and personally provide me with the passion, and motivation to read about the topic, test, trend, experiment and improve my diabetes management. I am still learning. For instance in my twenties I was heavily into Muay Thai Kickboxing, and always assumed I'd need a lot of Carb to cover the workout. But now, 18 years later, I am realizing that it is more anaerobic and therefore, it would seem I almost need no additional carbs. Live and learn.

I guess my message is even though Diabetes sucks, beat it through passion, a passion to learn as much as possible, and keeping an open mind, become your own lab rat, if it isn't working try and try again, what ever you have to do, never give up.  I know it sounds cheesy, and I apologise, but there is truth to this. Only we, those living with it, can change and improve our health.

Cheers!

Trev

Low, Lower and Lowest

"Last Evening"

One word to describe life at the moment.  Actually three words. But once again, diabetes, in all its power, has this sneaky way of ripping the proverbial rug from under you.

On my way to bed last night, a little later then usual, as I was into a really good book, I did the "Security check" to ensure Rowan's sugar was at a safe level for the night.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1......beep, and 2.0 mmol/L  or 36 in US terms. 

WTF !

The juice on the table beside her bed was empty, and not replenished, Shit!!!

I leaped down the stairs, retrieved a juice box, and leaped back up to her bedside. She was alert, and drank the juice, gulping it down, with her eyes closed and the sweat soaked through her PJ's.  I guided her gently back down, and just sat there. In the dark, cursing this (*&^*%^ disease. In my head of course.

I strolled down stairs super slow, feeling defeated once again. Going through the evening's events, in an attempt to account for this curve ball that was sprung on us violently out of the blue. And, nothing popped out as an obvious cause. Great I said to myself. Not even able to develop any preventative plan to avoid this attack in the future.

I think this is the most draining and difficult thing about diabetes, the unpredictable events that can't be prevented or planned for.  Those unexplained anomalies. Our only weapon is glucose monitoring, trending, proper food to insulin to activity amounts........Ya good luck with that with kids and diabetes who are bar none the most unpredictable creatures on the planet.

Mr Diabetes, this was really low of you, one the lowest for Rowan, and you remind me to never trust you and lower our guard. EVER.

Trev

Emotional Paradox

The other morning as I was drawing up my smallest Type 1's injection she looked up to me and asked,  "Can I take my needle dad"

I paused; my thoughts were immediately mixed. I felt proud and sad almost simultaneously. Here was this small bright blue eyed sweet innocent child asking if she could stick herself with a syringe full of insulin.

I embraced the fact that she wanted to try, thinking, wow, once again her bravery astonishes me. I finished drawing up the insulin and handed her the needle.

With out a moments hesitation she pulled up her shirt and did it.  Just like that, no pause, no second guessing herself, like I see my adult patients consistently do, where they pause, then proceed, not this kid, she just DID IT!

She looked up and smiled, and said, that didn't even hurt. She was beaming with pride.

I took the needle, and said; "great job you brave princess", and gave her a high-five. Than, she ran off to get to the stuff kids do, what ever was on her mind.

This sparked a memory of when I was 9 years old, sitting on my bed, staring at the syringe my dad had handed me, only I hesitated, for quite a while, and gradually stuck the needle into my thigh. I was afraid, and I remember thinking, I hate diabetes, I hate taking this stupid needle. Why oh why? But time passed and here I was witnessing my little girl, so gracefully showing initiative and injecting herself, like it was just a normal thing to do.

I am so proud for her and also sad.

Diabetes, once again, forces its presence into my soul, causing a paradox of emotional turmoil.

Trev.