Thursday, November 20, 2008

FreeStyle Navigator on a bike ride-diabetes tool

Howdy again,

Training has been going good as of late. I have my system pretty down now, and am enjoying life. I wanted to give a post not so much about the wacky basal rate changes, but more about an actual bike ride.

Yesterday, on the phone by 8am doing the usual. At 9:30 eat breakfast (2 packs of oatmeal) with 3 units of Apidra. Apparently I misjudged as I went up a bit, and had to do a correction of 2 units, which at 11am had me dropping. I think at one point I was 142 with an arrow straight down, so I snacked on some juice, had an apple, and leveled off at 107 by 11:15. I had a conference call set up for 12, and then planned to hit the bike for a 4 hour training day immediately after. At 11:45 I had 2 more packets of Oatmeal (no bolus,) or 60 gms of carbs, and the arrow began to go up. By the time I left the house at 12:15, I was at 148 with an arrow pointed slightly up.
Quick arrow definitions:
If it is going straight up or down, it means blood sugar is change at least 2 points per minute, sometimes more.
If it is at a 45 degree angle, then it is changing at 1 point per minute. Very helpful to plan ahead.

I knew I was going up. I set out on the ride with 3 almond bars, at 160 calories each, a banana, a cliff bar, Dex4, 1 bottle of water, and 1 Gatorade.

25 minutes into the ride I was 160, with no arrow. This meant that I was leveling off, and I was thinking I would either flat line, or begin to drop. 15 minutes later, I checked the Navigator, and I was at 148, so the drop had begun. I drank some water (fluid before food helps digestion) and then ate the banana. 1 hour into the ride, I was at 118, so I ate a almond bar. 20 minutes later, was at 111, so I ate another almond bar, this time with Gatorade in advance. I am not riding a real fast pace right now, so I am very comfortable riding with a blood sugars between 90-160. If I were racing, I would want them higher, say 130-180. At 1.5 hours I was at 99, with flat arrow, but noticing a slight downward trend. I ate my last almond bar (these things are really good!!!) drank some Gatorade, and I knew I would be good. I did not look at Navigator until about 2 hours 20 minutes into the ride, when it got to 91. I stopped as I needed fluids, got a coke, and Gatorade. I drank about half the coke (40 gms carbs) on the spot, and then put the rest in my bottles. I rode the rest of the way without looking. I knew I was good, felt good, and continued to take a coke/Gatorade mix in for the last 1-1.5hrs. Should have had more though, as when I got home I was 88 with an arrow pointed straight down.

The recovery process: 88 arrow straight down: Went straight for about 45 gms carb/15 gm protein from Chocolate milk, then put 162 gms of pasta on the stove. This is about 120 gms of carbs. I ate the pasta, and then bolused 5 units of Apidra. Blood sugar went up to 148 before dropping, and 1.5 hours after my ride I had some Dex4, and an apple which leveled me out, before grabbing sushi with my brother Jack at 7:30, or 2.5 hrs after my ride. Typical dose for sushi would have been 5 units, but I did 2, and blood sugar was great!
Before ride carb/insulin ratio seemed to be about 15/1, and after ride 30/1.
Exercise does make a difference.
Last night continued on my split dose Lantus, with a 4 unit bolus of Lantus at 10pm.
Then Southpark, and asleep by 10:35...

That is a very typical day, and how "my" body works for training. I hope this helps.
Have a great day.

Phil
Team Type 1

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Platinum Baby!! a little diabetes stuff

Howdy again,

Platinum?? So today I hit the mark, 75,000 fly miles on Delta this year which is the mark to hit their Platinum status. I think I have been on 65 separate flights with them this year, and it gave me some time to reflect. What exactly do you do when on a plane this much. Let's look at some #'s: 65 flights with average of 1.5 hours on the runway per flight not counting fly time. =97.5 hours

Then 75,000 miles at 500mph = appx 150 hours of fly time.

Then time before check in: avg 1hr, and 45 minutes spent at airport after flight or 105 hours
for a grand estimated total of: 14.7 days spent at airports or on planes. Not factoring in delays, driving too, and from airport.
Which begs the question: What in the heck do you do? So I went and took a look at my book shelf, and counted 34 books read this year. Some great ones, some not so good ones, and some that just pass the time.

I really don't mind all of this fly time, as it does give me a chance to escape into the world of words. I have no contact with email/phone while flying, and I get to read, which I love to do. I am on book #35 right now, and kind of half-way reading 2 others, and have another 10 or so that I want to read before the year is out.
So I would say that if you tend to get stressed out when jumping on a plane, grab a book in the bookstore that every airport has. It really takes a lot of the stress out, and also makes it easier (for me) to fall asleep on the plane.

Now for diabetes... I am still splitting my doses of Lantus. Doing 5 in the am, and 4 at night. I didn't work out yesterday, and that was too little. Woke up a little elevated at 4 am, did a small correction and woke up at 78. Plan is to hit the gym, and then ride in the 45 degree weather, and will stick to 4 tonight thanks to the elevated metabolism.

Now, I know it seems like I make a lot of changes, but I think that is the bike racer in me doing it. If I did not change training every day, I would probably do the same amount of insulin give or take a few units of Apidra day after day. But when riding/racing a bike, you have to be on the lookout for new ways to improve, which is why I am always switching things up. It may seem from some of my last posts, that diabetes is the most complicated disease in the world (which it can be at times...) but to me I go by feel. I am CDE's worst nightmare, because I do not carb count, and I wing it every time. It just so happens that I can look at a plate of food and judge what I need, which I bet you can too.

My challenge to you: Before factoring carbs, correction, and bolus needed next time, take a guess at what you think you would do. Then compare to what the "real" calculations say. I would say you can probably do it by feel as well. At Camp Kudzu a few years ago, I worked with our clinician Susie Smith. She was cool with me not carb counting, and playing the guessing game, but she wanted to expirement. So I counted the carbs, told her what I ate, while giving the amount of insulin I thought I needed. It just so happened that 98% of camp I was on a carb/insulin ration of 18.75/1.
Internally I knew, and I bet you can too. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.
If you do this, please double check afterwards to ensure you did it right.

Thanks for reading!
Have a great day.

Philpott (yes, this is in fact my middle name. Thanks mom...)
www.teamtype1.org

Sunday, November 16, 2008

split dose basal- Diabetes game again...

Howdy from Atlanta,

I like saying "from Atlanta!!!" As of tomorrow night, it will be 2 full weeks, yes 14 days that I have not stepped on an airplane. I believe this is the single longest stretch since mid February, and it rocks. It is good to be home, see friends, and have a semblance of a schedule. Life is good, and biking is great!!

So last time, I think I made the cut to 9 units Lantus. That was a bit too much still for the early part of the night, but a touch too little for the night. When my metabolism is going, it goes, and a bigger dose almost feels like rapid acting insulin plus. So about 4 am, I saw 155 with an arrow trending up, did a .5 unit of Apidra, and woke up at 80. I decided it was time (thanks Dr. Howard Zisser) to go to split dose. I did 3 units the next morning, and had a good day. Friday was I able to train for 2 hrs, and felt decent. Then Friday night, laid low, and did 6 units for a total of 9 units of basal. Had to eat extra at night due to the pop. Saturday went for 4 units in the am, had a big bowl of oatmeal, with no bolus, and then hit the road for 4.5 hours. Got lost, which added the extra hour. Blood sugar went up to 220 in the early part of the ride, but 2 hours in I began dropping, and eating. Stabalized at 110, and kept eating and eating. Got home with a bg of 77, did 5 units Apidra, and had 160 gms of carbs (pasta and chocolate milk) and 40 gms protein. After 1 hour, I began to drop again, so ate some fruit. Dinner consisted of a salad, fruit, and steak.
Last night I went to 5 units, still having the 9 units of basal, but thanks to the split dose, I have had no hypo's. This morning, it was 5 units of Lantus, and tonight I will do 3-4. It has been a slow transition, but I think I have finally found the sweet spot. Curious to see if with the split dose, my basal will decrease much more??? The lowest I have ever gotten was 6 units of Lantus split 3 in am, 3u pm.

Today is another 4 hour day on the bike, and tomorrow a day off! Time to get dressed, and see if I guessed right today!
I hope all is well.
Have a great day.

Philpott
www.teamtype1.org

Thursday, November 13, 2008

diabetes daily dose... a tiny rant too

Howdy again,

I think I have now posted more in last 3-4 days, than in the last 3-4 months. It is fun being at home, with a schedule, and having time to think for myself vs always being on the run.

Sometimes thinking is not so good though. Since I had been cutting my Lantus doses way down, I have not been feeling great on the bike. This could mean one of two things:
1. I am tired from the training, and am in an adaptation phase
2. Not doing enough insulin, so muscles are not getting fueled.

So I sent an email to my buddy Howard Zisser, who is one of leading diabetes researchers in new technology in the US. A brilliant guy, even though he is a gator fan...ha Howard said that you should do 1/4 unit per kilo of body weight. I am at 64 kilos, so one would guess that I should be doing 16 units of Lantus as my basal. I explained that I was doing much less, and he said numbers should run high. I responded that #'s are as good as ever, and in fact my 21 day average is 101 (on a continuous basis!) That is better than most non-diabetics.

Needless to say, I figured I try to give a little more. Last night, I was in a heated debate with myself between 9 and 10 units. I had did 10 the night before, and woke up perfect at 78, but had also ridden 3 hours (55 miles) yesterday. I decided to eat a little extra at night, adn go for 10. WRONG answer. Should have done 9. I woke up a bit on the low side, and had a lighter day of training today. I did a 2 mile run, 1 hour in the gym, and 45 minutes on the bike, and my legs felt ok. So tonight I am going to cut to 9 units, and I think I should be good. No debate, the decision is made.

I really do appreciate the comments. Mike I am glad that this has helped. There are always 2 ways to look at everything. I could look at these decisions I have to make, and always looking at my FreeStlye Navigator, wondering how much Lantus, or Apidra (Rapid Acting Insulin-very fast) and say poor me. But as of now, I cannot control the fact that I have diabetes, so I have decided to emrace it with open arms, and use these learning experiences to be better tomorrow than I was today. I do have highs, and I do have lows. Impossible to avoid all the time. But with a conscience effort, I am able to control diabetes, not the other way around. It is fun for me, and I hope it always will be. I hope that Team Type 1 can help people with and without diabetes to embrace your challenge, overcome it, and be better tomorrow thanks to the work you did today.

Thanks for listening to my rant. Any questions, please let me know, and I will try to answer.
Have a great day.

Philpott
Team Type 1
www.teamtype1.org

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Insulin guessing game- diabetes is fun...

Howdy again,
On a roll now... So yesterday was a day off. Having backed Lantus down to 9 on Sunday, was great for Monday am. Woke up with perfect BG, but as the day wore on, and I was inactive, it became apparent that I needed more basal. I had my usual salad, chicken, fruit during the day, and then had a salad with fruit for dinner. If it was Saturday or Sunday, I would have bolused 1 unit of Apidra for the Salad, but knowing I took the day off, I went for 3 units, and my blood sugar...
skyrocketed!!! So I ended up doing an additional 4 units, and new the metabolism had slowed. Instead of just going to 10 units for Lantus, I decided to make the jump to 11 units. This was a bit of an overkill, and I touched on the low end in the am. I think 10 units would have been wiser.

Today, I woke up, ate, went to the gym, ran for 15 minutes, worked out, then came home ate some oatmeal, and out on the bike for 1 hour. Felt really tired for a while, then halfway through, the legs woke up and life was good. Looking forward to a 3+ hour ride tomorrow...

So tonight, what should I do??? I am thinking 10 units initially, but then again, if 10 would have been perfect last night, and I did jump start the metabolism with gym/riding, then maybe I should go back to 9 units of Lantus. I am undecided at this point, and will make the call depending on the trend at 9:30-10:30pm. Let's see how I react to the salad tonight.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any specific questions I could address, please feel free to comment, and I will try to get to them.

Have a great day!
Philpott

Monday, November 10, 2008

Diabetes- travel-training and food...

Howdy from Atlanta,

I am obviously really good about constant updates (joke, joke). My apologies for not being more consistent. Life has been very busy, but very good. We, at Team Type 1, are finalizing our sponsor agreements. Our sponsors have all been so supportive. The year 2009 looks to be even bigger than 08. Should have 50 athletes flying the TeamType1 banner next year, including twenty-seven with Type 1, ten with type 2 (Team Type 2!!!,) and another 15+/- who are embracing sharing the message that people with diabetes rock and can do the "same" as normal people - just with a little more discipline.

Anyone ever spent 24 hours straight traveling? I did, flying back home from visiting Italy, and Abu-Dhabi, where one of my best friends, and teammates, Daniel Holt lives. Had a great time there, and then proceeded to travel for 24 hours to get home. I returned home to watch UGA beat LSU, and then head to bed. Woke up and rode on a 50 mile bike ride (spin for kids)

My blood sugars had been pretty phenomenal while on vacation. I was eating a fair bit, running some, and all was good. I was doing an average of 15 units of Lantus, and 10-14 of Apidra each day. When I got home, day 2-3 upon return, things got all out of wack. If I looked at an apple, my blood sugar would rise. I was up to 20 units of Lantus, and another 20 of Apidra. Exercise and diet helped get me back in the groove. I returned and soon began to travel again. I totaled 10 flights in 10 days!! When I was on the road, I ran, and I was eating very low carb diet, and by day 5, I had lantus back down to 15 units.

Morgan and I went to Vanderbilt. We met some great people at the Ped Endo Day, where I have now spoken for the past three years.

Sunday, base began, and I have ridden 9 days in a row, including 2 days in the gym. No more travel for me for a while, and I am focused 100% on being ready hopefully for the Tour of California in February. That has meant between 2-4 hours a day of working out.
Avg day now:
  • wake up drink coffee
  • talk on phone/email for 2-3 hours.
  • eat oatmeal to get the blood sugar trend going up,
  • ride 2-4hrs (or gym 2x week)
  • return home 3-4 units of Apidra and appx 120 grams of carbs through Pasta which is also about 30 gms of protein.
  • eat an apple-
  • dinner: salad w/fruit and maybe some fish or chicken.
  • Lantus at 10:00pm, and hit the hay.

This week, I have been a little behind the curve on my Lantus adjustments. I went from 14 units on Sunday, down to 9 on Saturday and Sunday. If I wake up with a low BS, then I will typically reduce 1 unit/night until I find the magic #. This time, that was not quick enough. I had gotten down to 11 units by Friday, woke up on the lower side for the 3rd day in a row, so jumped to 9 units Saturday night after a 4 hour training day. I woke up at 208 at 5am, then went and did 3 hrs on the bike. Sunday, stayed at 9 units factoring in the additional training, and woke up at 5am to a low alarm on my FreeStyle Navigator. I prepare for this by keeping Dex 4 (glucose) on my night stand, and so took down 15gms of carbs and was good to go.

Tonight, with no exercise today, I am still contemplating whether to take 9 units, or increase to 10... I will know when I know:)

Last 3 days total insulin intake has been between 15-18 units, which is a record low for me.
I look forward to learning more this next week, and putting week 2 to the test.

They don't write books about your personal life with diabetes. You are your own best doctor. I would encourage you to be pro-active about adjustments but also run them by your endo, or your diabetes educator the first few times to make sure they are on the same "wave length." I have had many years of doing this, and am on the same page with my Dr, Bruce Bode.

I hope this helps. Hoping to be a more consistent blogger in future! Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for your TeamType1 support.

Have a great day!

Philpott
www.teamtype1.org

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Thanks to Morgan Patton

Howdy from my new House in Atl...

Yee-ha, finally a homeowner. Could this be a stressful situation, to which someone would want to pull their hair out??? I think anytime you move the answer is probably a resounding yes. However, not for me... Why? Because I had the professional help of my new assistant, Morgan Patton. She helped to pack everything, unpack and organize everything, pick out furniture, and call the cable company... I am very, very excited to have her on board to help keep me in line.

So this may be the first you have heard of Morgan, but it will not be the last. She was diagnosed at age of 6, lead a great young life, rocked the horse jumping seen for a few years (youngest competitor at most events,) and then in May of 06, by some freak twist of fate, our parents met at a pub in Tallahassee. My mom was talking away about what I was about to do in RAAM, and Morgan's mom, Debbie said that it may help her daughter to crew. My mom made me do it, and I am so grateful that we got her on. Video of Morgan
At that time Morgan's A1C was 16.7, and she didn't care about diabetes. But then she saw the team, and everyone checking their blood sugar, doing shots, exercising, and being pro-active about good control...
And began to do the same things. 8 months later she began to race, and win. a full year later just by checking, correcting, eating better, and RIDING her bike, her A1C had dropped to 9.3.
She crewed again, doing a remarkable job, and at that point switched over to Apidra (what the team was using) as well as FreeStyle Lite, and Omni-Pod. And began riding more and more, wanting to be a bad arse on the bike, and knowing that she was going to need good control to do it.
Another year goes buy, she gets better, gets stronger, suffers being hit by a car, and 2 broken collar bones... Then in May she gets her A1C, approximately 2 years after our mom's met in the pub, and it is 6.3!!! Then what: Then Morgan goes on (with the solid help of teammate Monique) to get 2nd place, and 5th place in 2 of the biggest women's professional crits in the country.
"The Power of Good Control"

Next year, she is going to embark on her first year as a professional for Team Type 1, while also being a full time student (via the internet) at FSU, and working for me. Pretty impressive, and then take into account that she is 19 years old. I would say in her case, as it was for me, diabetes made us better. It is the control that gives that power.

So please be on the look out for this rock star, and ask about her story. It is one of the most impressive that I know.
Thanks for reading.
Have a great day.

Phil
www.teamtype1.org