A group of us are heading for a trail centre day on Saturday, one of the group is a diabetic and hasnt ridden with us for a while. For a few months he had some difficulty controlling his blood sugars/insulin but is now back. We make regular stops to allow him to check his levels, apart from this is there anything we can do to help him? What signs are there that he mightn't be well? What do we do if things do go wrong?
We want to encourage him to continue riding with us and feel supported etc.
He should know himself when his levels start to go too high or too low (more likely). If he becomes non responsive/vague then it's an indication something may be wrong.
As long as he checks his levels when he starts and is prepared with carb snacks etc he will be fine.
I ride with a long term diabetic and he generally only needs to stop once per long ride to check his levels. I was diagnosed in January last year but luckily for me so far I seem to be enjoying an elongated honeymoon period that has just gone past a year. I'll get two if i'm lucky....
Speak to him about it... Usually we're able to deal with it ourselves but the real danger is that if a hypo creeps up on a diabetic we won't neccesarily act rationally, it's much like being drunk in that way- I've been in situations where i was totally aware I was hypo but wouldn't treat it for some daft reason, reduced brain function'll do that to a person.
TBH the best thing to do is not be weird about it, but do be aware of it.
Hey mrTall...glad you are still ok...diagnosed just after me I think?
SV he'll be ok look out for him getting a bit grumpy or dropping off the back....I find a weak carb solution in my camelback keeps me stable sugars wise and cereal bars every 1.5 hrs if v hard (gels if racing) help
if you all stop for a chat ask him if he wants to test his levels only takes a min
oh and carry a 250ml carton of oj/apple juice and a bag of jelly babies just in case...very unlikely he'll have a hypo if his sugars are ok starting out and follows advice above!
Thanks, we are quite up front about it with him and dont make an issue out of it. Just keep doing what we are doing then.
Edit: might be difficult to keep the jelly babies 
As a diabetic myself, I'll say that he should know when he's starting to get a bit low, but sometimes it can drop scarily quickly. key is to make sure he's brought something to top up the sugar levels with him. As Northwind says, sometimes you can get a bit weird and know you are going, but not do anything about it. Luckily for me, the wife will normally notice and set me straight.
Whatever you do, don't be in his face about it and keep asking if he's Ok every 5 minutes, that's really bloody annoying.
I've never had a problem at a trail centre (a good hearty breakfast helps!), but if his performance suddenly drops off, stop for a few mins and he can sort himself out.
Oh, and make sure you have a phone or two between you, which is sensible anyway
One huge sign for me is a sudden lack of power, I literally fall off the back of the group as soon as my BG drops. Problem then is even with a fist full of carbs it still takes a while to get back up to speed.
Has he been riding recently on his own/with others or not at all? If he is struggling to keep up it could be lack of fitness and/or going low.
Just give him a chance to test when you stop and all should be fine.
Hey Datsunman do you notice your power drops if your sugars get too high as well? when I get to 6 I feel a lot less sharp but if get to high its wierd but that feels similar...easy to do if group ride turns out easier than expected or lots of punctures etc oh yeah its hard to keep the jellybabies to yourself though!
when my other half is on his way to a hypo, (im getting pretty good at being able to tell) , hes usually very insistant thats he ok. to the point where he wont take anythng off me to eat, happily on those occasions hes let the sugar fairy shove dextrose sweets into his gob, so long as he cant see me. After that i usually follow it up with some longer acting carbs (harder on the trails i guess).
The general advice is if you suspect a hypo, treat for one. Might be worth you getting a packet of energy sweets, so you know where they are. rather than having to check all his kit for whatever he uses.
Going too high can also be a problem, from memory, if over 15 you shouldnt exercise.
Has he been riding recently on his own/with others or not at all
Yes he has been out on 2-3 hours runs but this is the first 'alldayer' we have been on this year. He has been out more than I have recently!
I am sure it will be fine just wanted to ask if there was anything additional we should keep an eye on.
From my missus - one of my stepsons is Type 1 diabetic:
If he follows the sports guidelines he should be fine - generally speaking he should ensure that he eats 1g of carbohydrate per kilo of body weight per hour of intense exercise. That might be a bottle of lucozade which (depending on which type it is) has anything from 65g to 85g of carb, so if he weighed 85kg one bottle would cover him for an hour of intense sport. He'll also need to keep an eye on his levels for a while afterwards - sometimes the really bad hypos can hit during the night following a lot of exercise so he'll need to be prepared to maybe eat more before bed or even set an alarm to wake up and test his blood at about 3am, just in case.
Hey Whytetrash, yep i actually went to the GP to be diagnosed after i read your thread detailing all your symptoms, i'm always grateful that you posted it up as it meant i dealt with it far sooner than i would of otherwise. I injected Insulin for around 2 months but was having 2 or 3 hypos a day so they reduced my doses bit by bit until they took me off altogether at the start of March. Since then i've been taking nothing, just watching my diet and testing my levels once a day. Long may it continue but i live in constant fear that tomorrow is the day it comes back.... I guess every day i've had since March has been a bonus though. You seem to have adapted to it pretty well?
T1 diabetic on insulin.
No trouble cycling, just check blood sugar before, mid and post ride. Make sure that after a ride he eats something as quite often blood sugar drops around an hour or so post ride. Glucogel jelly beans are good for hypos but need something like an apple as the effect of quick acting carbs wear off quite quickly.
I have found that on occasions when I've had a big blast and checked my blood sugars mid ride, they are REALLY low but I've not felt bad. One occasion I was 1.9 but felt absolutely fine!
He should know when he's feeling low though. Wouldnt hurt to keep a pack of dextrose / lucozade tablets in your kit.
Does he inject or is he a pump user?
I am the long term diabetic that rides with MrTall and being on an insulin pump has been an absolute godsend for mtb'ing. Basically everything is covered above, don't pressure him to test, don't pressure to get moving if he stops, if he has a hypo ensure he doesn't do anything for 15 mins after he has treated the hypo (low blood sugar) and make sure his blood sugar is back to normal before resuming. Everyone with diabetes has slightly different requirements with exercise but one thing ALL diabetics should do is ensure those that they are riding with know how to deal with a low blood sugar. He should carry dextrose/jelly babies for treating a hypo, maybe glucogel/hypostop for if his hypo causes him to collapse and be unable to eat/drink anything and for severe circumstances he should carry a glucagon kit (intramuscular glucose injection), only to be given if he collapses and appears unconscious, make sure at least 2 people know how to use the glucagon kit, quite simple to do. Also needs to carry testing kit and insulin injection kit (assuming he is on a regime using fast acting insulin), show interest in his well being and ask questions about what to do. As above, high blood sugar can give similar symptoms to low blood sugar and it is just as important to treat them, generally it only takes 50% or less of the usual amount of insulin required to lower a high reading as the sensitivity and response times are reduced during exercise.
The biggest advice/support I can give is diabetes doesn't stop you doing anything, you just have to think a bit more about it.
Good luck 
whytetrash - yes, suffer with lack of performance when high too, but not as pronounced as when low. I don't tend to have too many issues going high when riding but it's interesting you say you start suffering around 6, for me that's about spot on.
pjm1974 - after hard exercise your body starts replenishing itself, it is usually around 5-6 hours post exercise. I'm on a pump so set a temporary rate for an hour beforehand to dial out the hypo, but if I forget I can drop by 4 or 5 really quickly - like a minute or so!
votchy - have you had to use glucagon recently? I haven't used it for about twenty years, it kind of lost favour over the gel's etc as it always gave me an absolute stinker of a headache! 
Thanks to everyone for their input/advice.
Yep SV might be worth mentioning he wants to watch out for a night Hypo if its his first all dayer for a while....I had a bad one last night after a tough chaingang session...tell him to go to bed high!
Votchy...those pumps look scary to me...plus a bit of a passion killer with the Mrs no doubt!
MrTall...my honeymoon lasted 2 months so you're lucky mate...yep going well...probably fitter than I've been since college so don't worry if it does come back!
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