The more I perform, the more I realize that I have a bit of anxiety towards hypos. I never really fear them any other time, even if I am exercising an insane amount or doing back to back dance classes. Mainly because I know I can just stop and check if I have to whereas when it comes to performance, I don’t have that option. Whilst other dancers are going over their steps I am usually doing a mathematical equation about carbs, insulin and the time of day it is and how that might affect my insulin sensitivity. The positive thing about this is that I don’t actually get nervous about the performance.
Overtime I have found a specific set of rules that work for me. The type of work I do can last anywhere from 4 minutes to 1 hour, or more depending on the project but this would be rare. If I am doing 5 minute set I will be happy if my level is around 7mmols, if I am doing any longer than 5 minutes I would prefer to be at 9mmols and no lower.
Here’s how it went on Sunday…
When I first arrived at the venue after walking for 35 minute (I used this as part of my warm up) I checked and it was 3.2mmols. Not a good start, but I drank some Lucozade and got on with it. I then had a small apple and banana of around 25 carbs which brought my level up to 8mmols. This was around 15 minutes before show time and at this point I wasn’t wearing my pump and had no insulin on board. I did some more stretching and warming up, went on stage, came off and it was 7.2mmols. I felt like an insulin master because there was no major high. Usually the adrenaline sends my blood sugar sky rocketing.
I will be performing the same piece in a week or so I will see how that goes in comparison to the one above.
The bizarre thing is, from talking about it beforehand I think I actually worried a little bit more than usual so maybe it’s not best for me to talk about diabetes worst case scenarios before I go on stage. I specifically remember that I was thinking about low blood sugar during performance which has made me feel like I didn’t give my best, like I could’ve done better. It happens.
Are there any situations in which you have a fear of hypos? You can add a comment below or email me at [email protected]
Rowena x
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I have experienced alot of of hypos during exercise. For some reason my sugar tends to go low in the afternoon after work. Tuesday I went for a 15 mile bike ride and had to eat two granola bars plus a natures bakery fig bar just to keep me in th 70 mgdl range. Kind of redundant eating so many calories just to stay in my low range . Probably cancelled out my calories burned during exercise. If I exercise in the morning my blood sugars are pretty stable. The afternoons are terrible for me for whatever reason.