I was wondering if any of the swimmers on this board has chronic hypoglycemia. How does it affect your swimming? I was diagnosed with the condition last year after living with the symptoms my whole life (I can remember feeling weak and dizzy frequently in elementary school.) I have completely eliminated sugar and refined carbohydrates from my diet, but exersize can still be a problem. Swimming seems to be easier on me, though. Any thoughts?
I wrote about hypoglycemia of exercise in the Jan/Feb 2017 Swimmer. The problem started for me about a decade ago, and it was fairly hit or miss at first--sometimes I had problems during practice, other times I didn't. But over time it became more regular, and today, I am virtually guaranteed of getting it at every practice unless I take preventative action. Perhaps ironically, it usually sets in after a moderate 1000 yard warm up--you'd think you would really need to tax your sugar stores with a lot more hard swimming before the glucose starts plummeting.
For about a year, I started eating a package of Lance Peanut Butter Crackers 15 minutes or so before every workout, and this did the trick. The problem was that the snack was so dry that it left my mouth feeling pasty! A friend told me about GU energy gel, and I switched to this stuff. I admit that the stuff over time becomes kind of disgusting to take, but it is very reliable, at least for me, if I take it 15 minutes before practice. And I do--like clockwork--before every practice and meet. If I forget, the hypoglycemia invariably returns.
I know sugars are pretty maligned in many nutritional circles, but without my prophylactic GU, I think a significant exercise load would be hard if not impossible for me to undertake. I recommend giving GU a try. http://guenergy.com/
I wrote about hypoglycemia of exercise in the Jan/Feb 2017 Swimmer. The problem started for me about a decade ago, and it was fairly hit or miss at first--sometimes I had problems during practice, other times I didn't. But over time it became more regular, and today, I am virtually guaranteed of getting it at every practice unless I take preventative action. Perhaps ironically, it usually sets in after a moderate 1000 yard warm up--you'd think you would really need to tax your sugar stores with a lot more hard swimming before the glucose starts plummeting.
For about a year, I started eating a package of Lance Peanut Butter Crackers 15 minutes or so before every workout, and this did the trick. The problem was that the snack was so dry that it left my mouth feeling pasty! A friend told me about GU energy gel, and I switched to this stuff. I admit that the stuff over time becomes kind of disgusting to take, but it is very reliable, at least for me, if I take it 15 minutes before practice. And I do--like clockwork--before every practice and meet. If I forget, the hypoglycemia invariably returns.
I know sugars are pretty maligned in many nutritional circles, but without my prophylactic GU, I think a significant exercise load would be hard if not impossible for me to undertake. I recommend giving GU a try. http://guenergy.com/
