Monday, July 9, 2012

Insulin + Exercise = Low Sugars

Today my son went off to summer camp - it was his first day. The camp runs for the next 6 weeks, so it covers most of the summer.

This camp is an academic camp - which has a mix of academics and sports (mostly soccer and basketball) - as well as other special classes like Tae Kwae Do, Akido and science classes.

The kids will also do excursions to places around Toronto such as the Science Centre, the Museum (mostly to see the dinosaurs) and Centre Island.


I had thought they were going to do academics in the morning and sports in the afternoon, but it turned out to be the other way around. So he had sports in the morning and academics in the afternoon.

Now insulin and exercise do not complement each other - they actually compete. They both do the same thing. If you take insulin, it uses up the sugars and carbohydrates in your blood. If you exercise, it also uses up the sugars and carbohydrates in your blood. And if you have both - you end up with a rather LOW level of sugar in your blood.

So my son had a low blood sugar score before lunch today. A juice box took care of that and he was quickly back up into the target levels. I will have to discuss with the nurse about cutting down on the morning insulin.

There is also an overnight camping trip as part of the summer camp program as well. I am not sure if my son can go on the camping trip due to the insulin that must be injected, and most teachers are not trained to do that. I wonder if I can go on the camp too? I'm not sure if he will want me to come. I will have to discuss this with the staff.





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