Diabetic Finger after swimming.....yucky

[seanmarr]

Hi All,

I made a new years resolution to try and get fit again and so I've started to do some swimming. There are two diabetes-related things that have been really annoying my though, and I'ld appreciate any advice or opinions that people can offer:
1: Though I eat a lot of sugar before going in the pool, I always seem to go hypo - how much sugar do swimmers eat before swimming (I eat about 12 wine gums, but I was hypo about an hour before as well)
2: I always seem to get 'diabeteic fingers', and I meant to try and get a picture for the forum, unfortunatly the lighting in the changing rooms wasnt good enough and I didnt want to draw even more attention to them than I had to by taking pictures of them in the swimming pool. What I have called 'dabetic fingers' is where you spend a lot of time in the water, and the skin starts to swell up, and where you have been doing blood tests, the skin is white, pock marked and starts looking like youve got a fngal infection - it really looks disgusting. Anyone got any solutions to this?

Though I know it may sound perverse, I am actually more concerned about problem two than problem one!

Thanks Everyone
Sean

[jjames]

Ello there!! It's your American nutter friend talking. :hello:

I was diagnosed when I was 15 and swam while I was in high school. I do remember the "diabetic fingers", but that didn't quite bother me, plus I couldn't find any solution. But regarding the first problem (going hypo), I would suggest keeping a sports drink with you, such as Gatorade. I would take a drink between our intervals or after we finished a set and a slight bit of rest time. I would usually go through the entire bottle by the time practice was over (3-4 hours were typical.)

Out of curiosity - how much and for how long are you swimming?

[buzzborne]

Ello there!! It's your American nutter friend talking. :hello:

LOL J!!

anyway to the subject ... when I was at school I always used to get 'diabetic fingers' - I never tried to find a solution to be honest.. I loved swimming - I had diabetes - I kinda got used to it - if it didnt bother me, why should it bother anyone else?

I agree with James on the 1st part - I always used to keep lucazade or something with me - or a packet of dextrasol but before hand i would always have a banana as the carbs are long lasting.

Hope this may help some.

[MJM]

Sean, I know the 'old vanity at the swimming trick' applies to everyone. Even though I don't swim I have many scars from sports and they show up white all the time. What would worry me more is the hypos. I hope you let everyone know that you are diabetic and give them advise on what to do should you become comatose. You say you were hypo an hour before one of your swims. In a situation like that always make sure you check you bs before you start your swim. The swimming will lower you bs so make sure you get enough glucose into beforehand. You don't say for how long these exercises last or how often you check your bs. When exercising, until such time as you have determined what proceedure is best for you, check your BS frequently and then you will be in a position to do something prior to anything serious happening and avoid the hypos. Hypos would be very serious particularly if you are in the water. Check, check, check and check some more. Good luck with the swimming.

[seanmarr]

Hi All
Right, I checked my blood glucose immediately before swimming and immediately after, and it turns out I was in the pool for exactly two hours, though if I break it down I probably spent about 60 mins actually swimming, 30 mins just diving around and floating about, and then 30mins in the jacuzzi. I probably did about thirty lengths of the pool in total, but not all at once - I am trying to get fit, I'm not fit yet!

JJ - useful to know that someone else gets through a lot of sugar, I know when I was at school when I was first diagnosed I was supposed to eat a mini-Mars before doing football/rugby/cross country, so I thought getting through entire packs of fruit pastilles was bad! I know that sugar drinks are better, as I said I have only just started swimming again, and I was going to get one at the sports centre, but no way was I going to pay £1.50 for the privilege - I am going to get one next time I'm in town (wow, I'm starting to sound like Im going to take this up regularly). I might try the banana idea - but I am prejudiced against it as I hypothesise that if a pack of wine gums isnt going to give me a blood sugar then a banana is even less likely to?

One problem I did notice while checking my blood sugar in the pool (not literally) was water - the whole place was wet, once I dried my finger it managed to get wet in between then and doing the test, and the fact that my skins all swollen from the overexposure to water. Anyone got any solutions to that?

The reason I started swimming is because my mum does it (though she does it every day at 6:30am in addition to some afternoons, and she knows I'm diabetic and will check on me every half hour or so, if I did need pulling out the pool I'm sure she'd notice and let the lifeguards know. I'm not a liability to myself (at least I don't think so)

I did have a 'proper' hypo in a swimming pool in Wales once, and it was the scariest hypo I've had, and the only one I can actually remember anything about despite drifting in and out of consciousness (normally I cant remember anything that happens up until the moment I wake up and theres a paramedic standing over me).

Just for the record:
12 Jan 23:09 9.2
13 Jan 8:24 4.6
13 Jan 10:40 2.8
13 Jan 12:33 5.8
13 Jan 15:07 3.7
13 Jan 16:08 5.3 (Pre Swim, but before the winegums would have entered my bloodstream)
13 Jan 18:08 3.3 (Post Swim)
13 Jan 20:36 8.7
13 Jan 21:42 6.7
13 Jan 22:35 6.4
13 Jan 23:36 5.4
14 Jan 7:55 5.8

[SueM]

The easist solution is to cut your insulin back by at least 4 units if you know you are going to swim.
Quick acting carbs like glucose,sweets ect are just that in the system and out again.
2 hrs is classed as prolonged exercise so I would be inclined to make sure I had some long acting carbs in me ie a banana or chocolate before I started the exercise(depending on bs). I would also check bs after an hr and see what needs to be done.
Soggy fingers would a barrier cream work?

[Gangrel]

It's recommended (at least in Canada) that for every 15 minutes of hard exercise, you have 15 grams of carbs. (or is that 15gs for 30 minutes? ****, aim for that, i can't remember which)

You should also reduce your dose of rapid if you are eating and bolusing right before, and even reduce your long acting a tad depending on what time of day you are exercising.......

[mark-TN]

To help prevent the macerated skin on your hands try putting Vaseline (or any other petroleum jelly based product) on your hands prying to swimming. This should help form a moisture barrier between your skin and the water.

Mark

[seanmarr]

OK everyone, I'm going to take up the barrier cream (Vaseline) option and see if it helps - I'll add another reply to this thread when I've tried it.

Thanks for all your responses :-)

Sean :cool:

[KCP]

I dont know if this applies or not, but do they not say that a diabetic sometimes around the sites of the injections store a little? I know ive got the 'fatty deposits' in my tummy from years of injecting and i find that if i spend time in a spa/jacuzzi then i tend to go hypo... Just a thought

[GregGolden]

Im a swimmer in high school, and our swim program is pretty intense. I usually eat just a bananna before a workout, and workout last about 2 hours in the pool.

I also bring a gatorade and sip that through out practice, and I seem to be fine.

As for the diabetic fingers, I test on my arm!

[seanmarr]

Mmm, interesting - I hadn't considered that at all - I have got lumps on the tops of my legs. I'll bear that one in mind.

Thankyou :-)