Sports Induced Adrenaline

It that time of year, basketball and other indoor running sports are in full swing. Diabetes common sense dictates that an hour of running could and likely would cause a drop in your child's blood glucose level. Some of you, heck - most of you, probably have that exact situation going on. Basketball, soccer and other running based sports probably have you checking BGs, whipping out juice boxes and worrying during early morning games in gymnasiums all over the world. 

But if you have a very competitive child... you may be experiencing rising BGs that are impossible to trace. This is the case for Arden. During basketball practice last week her starting BG of 130, never moved throughout the almost ninety minute practice. Arden ran drills, shot the ball and played defense at practice speed (Slower than in a game) without experiencing a change in her BG. As it turns out, when the scoreboard lights up, Arden wants to win, and she wants to win enough for her fight or flight response to kick in. 

I've devised a plan in which we bolus at the beginning of her basketball games in the amount equivalent to what a juice box would require. Most games, I can keep her BG around 180, but last week it jumped up to over 200 and caused me to have to bolus again during the game. The problem we run into with covering adrenaline is this... As soon as the game is over, the adrenaline disappears, and Arden's BG quickly begins do drop.

That's when the adrenaline bolus needs to be feed, luckily Arden is particularly hungry after she plays. This week she fed the bolus a waffle.

You can really see what I'm talking about in the DexCom image above. Arden woke up at 8 AM and I gave her a small correction that didn't do much by the time the game started at 9 am. By the end of the first quarter though, I had to give Arden a huge correction bolus (Big for her, 1 unit) to combat the significant rise (Her DexCom arrow was straight up). By the time the game ended and we sat down in a diner, Arden's CGM was reading 140 with an arrow straight down, I still bolused for half of the waffle, and as you can see Arden's BG was 101 and steady as we left the restaurant. Be aware that these mornings need to be tracked closely in the hours that follow, because after all of the insulin and food finishes, you never know which way BGs are going to go.

Please also keep in mind that the amount and severity of the adrenaline fueled rise will vary from person to person or it may not happen at all. It really does depend on the individual's level of competitiveness, for some children, basketball may react like other exercise. Arden's team lost on Saturday, but she scored all eight of her team's points. You should see her go, she definitely plays with adrenaline! 

Tech Note: Don't forget that the DexCom G4 signal seems to become amplified in some gymnasiums. You may be able to keep the receiver with you as your child runs up and down the floor without losing connectivity. It works for us. I even gave Arden a bolus with her OmniPod PDM this week while she was playing in the game.