# Ice hockey and diabetes



## AaronH83 (Sep 13, 2016)

Hi! Before I was diagnosed I had just started back to playing ice hockey after some months off due to some other pretty serious illness. My nurse has advised me not to play until I have my glucose under control (I was only diagnosed 3 weeks ago). Basically I'm trying to get back to some kind of normality and I need hockey as it's my outlet. I know of players like Max Domi and Calvin Elfring who are Type 1 and play at a high level. I'm looking for some hints and tips about getting back to sport after diagnosis and how people cope with their diabetes and sport. 

love, Aaron.


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## KookyCat (Sep 14, 2016)

Hi Aaron

The advice about avoiding sport until your blood sugars are under control is largely because high blood sugar puts a lot of strain on your body, and sport does too so the combination can cause some issues.  Blood vessels are more fragile when exposed to high levels of glucose and exercise gets the blood pumping so there's a risk with exertion until you're more stable.  What's your control like at the moment, if your blood sugar is under 10mmol/l then some exercise should be fine I was told but if your nurse is advising against it at the moment then you should follow the advice.  I lost a lot of muscle through DKA so I concentrated on more sedate activities at first that built up muscles, gentle cycling, lots of walking and some Pilates and yoga, lots and lots of dog walks (although she wasn't impressed that I didn't run with her I can tell you ) and swimming.  I've never played ice hockey, but I used to play hockey and I loved the release of it too.  Is their a juniors team at your club?  Just wondering if whilst your recouperating you could help out with training the kids, not the same thing I know but at least you'd still be involved.  Or if your club do warm up drills that aren't too strenuous maybe you could do the warm ups to start with and then watch the main play?  You'd need to check out if that's OK with the medicals first of course but again at least you'd be involved.  I know it's frustrating, I found my lack of "ability" the hardest thing to deal with, I'm quite sporty really and I'm always buzzing around doing something so not being able to was excruciating, made me very grumpy indeed. 

It's temporary though all this, you'll be able to play normally when everything is a bit more stable, although you'll probably find you have to adjust insulin either before you play and or afterwards, but it's best to see how your body reacts to exercise first.  Some folk go high during exercise and then low afterwards, me I'm just low during and low afterwards so I need less insulin and a snack, but we all react differently so it's trial and error


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## Copepod (Sep 14, 2016)

Have a look here: http://www.runsweet.com/diabetes-and-sport/ Sadly for you, ie hockey isn't one of the sports with a case study, but still well worth looking at the physiology sections to gain understanding.
Also, look at http://www.teambloodglucose.com/TeamBG/Type_1_Basics.html
I'm not familiar with ice hockey, but I guess that the people you mention play in USA or Canada, so diabetes organisations in those countries may have more ice hockey specific advice than UK websites.
Hope you're playing again soon!


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## SB2015 (Sep 14, 2016)

Hi Aaron, once things have settled there is absolutely no reason why you will not be able to get back to full competitive sport.  It will take a bit of juggling with insulin doses and snacking but it can be done.

However at present if yr levels are above 10 you need to get things sorted.  You are in the very early stages of things and they will settle and it sounds as if you are someone that will work to achieve a good balance.

I found the sections on exercise (as well as the rest of the book) excellent in The book Type 1 Diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults by Ragnar Hanas.  Ignore the age reference, (I am in my 60s!!) it is an excellent book to use at any age.  I just wish I had read it at the start of my T1.  It is a bit expensive but a good reference book.

Be patient with yourself.  It is a temporary inconvenience but I do understand how frustrating this can be.


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## Northerner (Sep 14, 2016)

AaronH83 said:


> Hi! Before I was diagnosed I had just started back to playing ice hockey after some months off due to some other pretty serious illness. My nurse has advised me not to play until I have my glucose under control (I was only diagnosed 3 weeks ago). Basically I'm trying to get back to some kind of normality and I need hockey as it's my outlet. I know of players like Max Domi and Calvin Elfring who are Type 1 and play at a high level. I'm looking for some hints and tips about getting back to sport after diagnosis and how people cope with their diabetes and sport.
> 
> love, Aaron.


Hi Aaron, no ice hockey specific advice, but when I was diagnosed I was due to run a marathon that week (I have been a runner for over 30 years!) and wanted to get back into it as soon as I could. At first I took things very steadily - no choice really, as I had been so ill! I made sure I tested frequently so I could build up some experience of how my blood sugars would behave with the exercise, and also how to deal with other factors such as the timing of insulin doses and eating beforehand. It can feel very tedious at first, going from being able to do what you want to having to take things slowly, but it didn't take that long really - I managed to run the Great South Run 4 months after diagnosis.

I found the book The Diabetic Athlete's Handbook very useful in helping me to understand the physical processes underlying the whole business, and it covers all aspects of exercise so I'm sure you would find it of use in your own particular sport.  Good luck, let us know how you get on!


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## AaronH83 (Sep 14, 2016)

Thanks for your advice folks, I really appreciate it. I had a really good day glucose wise yesterday, I'm on basal bolus doses at the minute but my boluses  (boli?) are fixed so I'm eating to them rather than vice versa, I haven't been through DAFNE yet. I also lost a lot of muscle to DKA so I'm trying to build that back up again.


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## HOBIE (Sep 14, 2016)

Keep going !  Test Test & Test at every opportunity. Knowledge is king.


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## Matt Cycle (Sep 14, 2016)

Hi Aaron, agree you need to take it fairly steady until things have settled down a bit, include plenty of testing and I wish you all the best and I'm sure you'll be back playing ice hockey very soon.


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## onefooteight (Sep 15, 2016)

Hi,  I figure skate so can understand your love of the ice.  My nurse has not mentioned anything about stopping and in fact seemed pleased that I do some form of sport.  She said with most people she has to try and persuade them to get more activity into their life.

I don't know if this is useful, but I've found that my sugar levels can go up quite a lot depending on the time of day when I skate.  So if I do an early morning session from 6am to 9am my sugar levels really jump up.  It doesn't matter what I eat before I skate.

But, if I skate from 10am - 12noon, my sugar levels don't go up and often come down.  This makes me think there might be less strain on the body at certain times of the day.  Just something to consider.


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## AaronH83 (Sep 18, 2016)

onefooteight said:


> Hi,  I figure skate so can understand your love of the ice.  My nurse has not mentioned anything about stopping and in fact seemed pleased that I do some form of sport.  She said with most people she has to try and persuade them to get more activity into their life.
> 
> I don't know if this is useful, but I've found that my sugar levels can go up quite a lot depending on the time of day when I skate.  So if I do an early morning session from 6am to 9am my sugar levels really jump up.  It doesn't matter what I eat before I skate.
> 
> But, if I skate from 10am - 12noon, my sugar levels don't go up and often come down.  This makes me think there might be less strain on the body at certain times of the day.  Just something to consider.



Do you find any trouble with your feet and skates? That's a worry I have, I've just bought new ones and am wondering if it's worth seeing the podiatrist regarding it? They're a very mouldable skate (CCM RBZ) so I'm hoping after I get them baked I should be ok.


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## AaronH83 (Oct 2, 2016)

So, tomorrow night marks my first skate since I was diagnosed. I've glucotabs and Gatorade at the ready, Belvitas for before and after, my Verio IQ is charged and I have a fresh pot of test strips. My sticks are freshly taped and waxed and my kit is washed. I'll report back after, wish me luck!


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## Marsbartoastie (Oct 2, 2016)

Let us know how it goes Aaron.  One of my brothers played for the Billingham Bombers (later the Cleveland Bombers and now the Billingham Stars) back in the 80s...so I'm an ice hockey fan.  Perhaps you could post a link to the match stats?

Bon chance!


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## AaronH83 (Oct 3, 2016)

Marsbartoastie said:


> Let us know how it goes Aaron.  One of my brothers played for the Billingham Bombers (later the Cleveland Bombers and now the Billingham Stars) back in the 80s...so I'm an ice hockey fan.  Perhaps you could post a link to the match stats?
> 
> Bon chance!



It's only a training session but I'll let you know how my first insulin dependent game goes


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## Northerner (Oct 3, 2016)

AaronH83 said:


> So, tomorrow night marks my first skate since I was diagnosed. I've glucotabs and Gatorade at the ready, Belvitas for before and after, my Verio IQ is charged and I have a fresh pot of test strips. My sticks are freshly taped and waxed and my kit is washed. I'll report back after, wish me luck!


Good luck Aaron! I hope all goes well and you enjoy it, without incident!


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## Aleah25 (Mar 19, 2022)

Hi Aaron, I know this post is from a while ago but my cousin 13 was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday he plays ice hockey and wondered if u have carried on with the sport any advice u could give him so that he can continue my mum is type 1 diabetic also so we are giving him the positives but I know this is going to be a big subcousis thought of his ice hockey is life for him


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## AaronH83 (Mar 19, 2022)

Aleah25 said:


> Hi Aaron, I know this post is from a while ago but my cousin 13 was diagnosed with diabetes yesterday he plays ice hockey and wondered if u have carried on with the sport any advice u could give him so that he can continue my mum is type 1 diabetic also so we are giving him the positives but I know this is going to be a big subcousis thought of his ice hockey is life for him


There's a lot of pro players who have T1, Calvin Elfring who used to play for the Belfast Giants being one. I've stuck at it, it's just a matter of fuelling yourself properly before a game, keeping a lucozade sport on the bench, testing at every opportunity you can get and keeping an eye on sugars after a game. That's the time I've found where hypos occur most.


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