Category: sport

Fuel for football: half-time strategies for maintaining performance with type 1 diabetes

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in diabetes research, Football, sport

Ask the expert – we put your questions to a leading expert in type 1 diabetes, exercise, and nutrition. Thank you to JDRF and Matt for the support in the creation of this content. For more information, support and resources from JDRF, click here

Author: Dr Matthew Campbell | PhD ACSM-CEP MIFST RNutr FHEA BSc hons.

Read time: 5-10 minutes

 Introduction

The two main nutritional considerations for football are eating enough carbohydrate and drinking enough fluid. Whereas this is important in the time leading up to a match, it is also important to take on additional energy and fluids during the match.

 What should I eat during exercise?

Research studies consistently show performance benefits during simulated football matches when carbohydrate is consumed during exercise at a rate of approximately 30-60 grams per hour (41-44), or up to 60 grams before each half (45). The 30-60 grams of carbohydrate can be taken after warm-up and again at half-time to meet these guidelines. Consuming 30-60 grams of carbohydrate in the form of food such as energy bars can sometimes be difficult and result in stomach upset. However, carbohydrate-based drinks and gels can often minimise potential stomach issues – it will also help with hydration as discussed below. A major consideration about carbohydrate intake immediately before and during exercise will be managing the impact of this on blood glucose levels. You will need to make a judgement about how best to manage your insulin dose to minimise blood glucose spikes, and, to ensure that you do not have excessive insulin ‘on-board’ during the game which could cause hypoglycaemia – read this article about insulin dosing strategies for exercise.

What should I do if I struggle to manage blood glucose levels when consuming carbohydrate during a match?

If controlling blood glucose levels is difficult for you during football and you’re worried that eating carbohydrate might make this worse there is another, rather strange, but very special technique to try – carbohydrate mouth rinsing. The body is equipped with specialised receptors within the mouth that can detect carbohydrate. This detection of carbohydrates sends signals to the brain that reduce the perception of effort1. Carbohydrate mouth rinsing, which involves rinsing, but not swallowing, the mouth with a carbohydrate-based solution – like you would with mouthwash – has been shown to increase self-paced jogging speed with likely benefits in sprint performance during intermittent types of exercise2,3. There is limited research investigating this technique within applied football settings, although it is logical to think that this strategy could be effective. Using the carbohydrate mouth rinsing technique during breaks in match play (like half-time periods, extra-time, injury stoppages, and medical breaks) could potentially improve performance in situations where eating carbohydrate is either impractical or likely to cause stomach upset or unwanted blood glucose spikes. If your glucose levels tend to be stable during the match and managing hyperglycaemia isn’t too much of an issue for you, then you can combine mouth-rinsing and swallowing. Swallowing a carbohydrate-based drink following a short (approximately 5 second) mouth rinse allows for both the activation of brain signals to reduce perceived effort and will provide extra fuel to the body. This type of strategy might be particularly effective towards the end of games where fatigue may start to impact decisions making processes.

How much fluid should I drink during a match?

Although you can buy isotonic sports drinks, you can also make your own by simply adding a little salt to some squash. It is well established that dehydration impairs both physical and mental performance4,5, although some people are more sensitive to the effects of dehydration than others. The amount of fluid your body requires during a match is determined largely by the amount that you sweat, which, differs from one person to the next, and is dependent on the intensity of exercise, external factors like humidity and temperature, and how well you are acclimatised to the conditions6. Sweat rates in male footballers have previously been reported to range from 0.5-2.5 litres per hour7-9, whereas lower values are generally reported in female players largely because women tend to be smaller than men and expend less energy during exercise10-12. As well as water, sweat also contains electrolytes – primarily sodium (salt) – the amounts of which, again vary from person to person9. As a general guide, footballers should aim to drink sufficient fluids to avoid a reduction of 2-3% of pre-match body weight during a match13 and avoiding gains in body weight to prevent over hydration. As a starting point, measure your weight before and after a match (or even better during training), if you have lost more than 2-3% of your starting body weight then you need to drink more during matches when you can!

 If you are interested in learning how to improve managing your type 1 diabetes around exercise book a consultation with the author, Dr Matthew Campbell: matt@t1dcoaching.co.uk

 About Matthew

Matthew is an internationally recognised research scientist specialising in exercise, diet, and type 1 diabetes. He also provides consultancy and diabetes coaching to people living with type 1 diabetes and those that support them.

Matthew has a PhD in nutrition and exercise metabolism, is author to over 150 research publications, and holds honorary titles with the University of Cambridge and University of Leeds. He is a certified clinical exercise physiologist accredited by the American College of Sports Medicine, a registered nutritionist, and a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. He also provides consultancy to professional bodies and professional athletes including NHS England, the World Health Organisation, and TeamGB.

If you are interested in learning how to improve your type 1 diabetes management, contact Matthew at: matt@t1dcoaching.co.uk

References

  1. Carter JM, Jeukendrup AE, Jones DA. The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinse on 1-h cycle time trial performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 2004;36(12):2107-2111.
  2. Rollo I, Homewood G, Williams C, Carter J, Goosey-Tolfrey VL. The influence of carbohydrate mouth rinse on self-selected intermittent running performance. Internatonal journal of sports and exercise metabolism. 2015;25(6):550-558.
  3. Rollo I, Williams C, Gant N, Nute M. The influence of carbohydrate mouth rinse on self-selected speeds during a 30-min treadmill run. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism. 2008;18(6):585-600.
  4. Mohr M, Krustrup P. Heat stress impairs repeated jump ability after competitive elite soccer games. The journal of strength & conditioning research. 2013;27(3):683-689.
  5. McGregor S, Nicholas C, Lakomy H, Williams C. The influence of intermittent high-intensity shuttle running and fluid ingestion on the performance of a soccer skill. Journal of sports sciences.1999;17(11):895-903.
  6. Smith JW, Bello ML, Price FG. A case-series observation of sweat rate variability in endurance-trained athletes. Nutrients. 2021;13(6):1807.
  7. Shirreffs SM, Aragon-Vargas LF, Chamorro M, Maughan RJ, Serratosa L, Zachwieja JJ. The sweating response of elite professional soccer players to training in the heat. International journal of sports medicine. 2005;26(02):90-95.
  8. Baker LB, Barnes KA, Anderson ML, Passe DH, Stofan JR. Normative data for regional sweat sodium concentration and whole-body sweating rate in athletes. Journal of sports sciences. 2016;34(4):358-368.
  9. Maughan R, Shirreffs S, Merson S, Horswill C. Fluid and electrolyte balance in elite male football (soccer) players training in a cool environment. Journal of sports sciences. 2005;23(1):73-79.
  10. Da Silva RP, Mündel T, Natali AJ, et al. Pre-game hydration status, sweat loss, and fluid intake in elite Brazilian young male soccer players during competition. Journal of sports sciences. 2012;30(1):37-42.
  11. Horowitz M. Heat acclimation, epigenetics, and cytoprotection memory. Comprehensive Physiology. 2011;4(1):199-230.
  12. Kilding A, Tunstall H, Wraith E, Good M, Gammon C, Smith C. Sweat rate and sweat electrolyte composition in international female soccer players during game specific training. International journal of sports medicine. 2009;30(06):443-447.
  13. McDermott BP, Anderson SA, Armstrong LE, et al. National athletic trainers’ association position statement: fluid replacement for the physically active. Journal of athletic training. 2017;52(9):877-895.

 

The 2022 Review – What’s been going on at TDFC?

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

It’s been a little while since I’ve found the time to sit and reflect on all things TDFC but the end of a calendar year always presents me with that opportunity… But as we do in every year since our existence, we’ve tried our best in 2022 to provide a project that is progressive and a reflection of what the diabetes community want. We’ve had some amazing things going on this year and I just want to say a massive thank you to those who help lead on everything at TDFC and to those who commit to what we do and make all of this possible! It continues to motivate me to keep pushing the boundaries and to strive for more for our community.

There have been some significant changes in my own circumstances which have meant this year we’ve also transitioned to a situation where I’ve been a little less hands on with the day to day running of our project due to my new full time role working at JDRF UK. The prospect of working for the charity has been an amazing chance for me to continue my development more widely and learn more about the UK and global context that exists surrounding type 1 diabetes. I’ve really enjoyed it and the impact my role in the organisation has on supporting the community… Here’s hoping for more of the same in 2023! Despite the change in my world, the support for what TDFC does has never been greater as so many people recognise the importance of our work and are really stepping up to help myself and the directors with continuing to push what we do onto the next level. Together we are stronger and so is TDFC.

With this review of our year, I obviously wanted to run through some of the key things which have been happening in 2022 but this time round I’m going to do it in alignment with our strategic pillars of Educational improvements and increasing participation opportunities for people with Diabetes in Football.

So firstly, a look back on the developments we’ve made in Education in 2022:

The continuation of our podcast has led to some incredible episodes on the channel as we saw Adam Smith and Reece Parkinson share their stories of living with type 1 and working in the media industry. Whilst we also added a chat with Joe Wright (Current Millwall FC Goalkeeper) as he discussed life with type 1 as a professional player… We also got Lucy Wieland on the podcast to talk about something else I’ll come onto in a little while… (Can’t give all the key details away in the first few paragraphs haha!). The Diabetes Dugout still remains a great source of stories, information and support from those in our community, so if you haven’t checked it out yet click here and you can listen to all of the episodes we’ve released so far.

Alongside those all-important lived experience stories we’ve shared, we’ve also been able to help create a structured education programme called Active Minds in partnership with our friends at AJB Sports in Education. The idea was to utilise physical activity to educate on the differences between type 1 and 2 diabetes, as well as to educate on lifestyle to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. In my opinion, educating the next generation on the condition will in future reduce the level of misinformation, stigma and stereotypes which are prevalent in society surrounding Diabetes. It’s been something that I’ve experienced regularly since I was diagnosed in 1999 and it’s an area which I’m extremely passionate about tackling… Education will make this happen, but it takes time to implement and there has to be a “carrot” for the mainstream to engage them in the conversation of raising awareness and learning more about Diabetes. As numbers rise and people see the condition more regularly day to day, many more people are receptive to the idea that society at large needs to know more about this condition… I think there will be many more developments like this in years to come and I’m really glad we’ve been able to co-produce a series of lessons to support with this education… Make sure you head over to our page to check out the Active Minds programme.

This year also saw the development of a piece of work I’ve been trying to create for over 4 years… To see it land was a big moment and something which I hope will help so many people across our community in the years to come. I am of course talking about the Coaches Guideline & Webinar co-produced by ourselves, JDRF UK, Diabetes UK and The Football Association of Wales (FAW). I’ve always felt that the organisers & coaches of our sport, haven’t had the support to help them with creating an environment and support system around a type 1 player as the condition hasn’t been well understood. So, to now have a guideline which coaches can utilise to help with the foundations of what a player with Diabetes goes through can only be a huge step forward. To have this supported by the 2 big patient charities and the FAW is also vital in seeing this rolled out more widely to the sporting community. More awareness and education for physical activity providers can only help with participation and the feeling of comfort in a sporting environment for those with the condition… A massive moment and if you haven’t seen these resources yet click here and take a look!

Then we’ve also seen the foundations laid for the inclusion of Peer Support as part of the recognised treatment pathway for those living with Type 1 Diabetes within the NHS in England… A monumental step in chronic health support and a move that we at TDFC have been championing for a long while. I was invited to be involved in the group of people who have helped shape the principles of Peer Support in conjunction with the NHS England team and the patient charities (Diabetes UK & JDRF UK). The process of shaping “what good looks like” collaboratively has taken just over a year and it’s been brilliant to see the release of those principles on World Diabetes Day… As someone who’s personally seen the impact of peer support changing my own life, and others through our work, this is a HUGE moment. It’s been my belief for the last few years that good peer support deserves its place within the healthcare structure for the contribution it can make to health outcomes for those with type 1 diabetes. I’m now excited to see where these principles will take us as we now focus on the delivery and growth of peer support… Keep your eyes peeled for more from the NHS Diabetes Programme and if you haven’t checked out the principles yet take a look here

To build on this further, the research conducted into the development and creation of The Diabetes Football Community will be included within an academic publication for the first time in the early part of 2023. This was always a huge goal of mine following the conclusion of my masters degree programme in 2020. I wanted to ensure the lessons I’d learned from developing our project could go onto help us and others in continuing to develop projects/communities/groups which are reflective of how society and a sub-cultures like sport (football in this case!) operate. I feel the key to creating positives connections to the condition lies in the link to the areas of interest we have within our lives, to positively re-frame some of the identification with the condition. By doing this, identification with the condition may grow and healthcare outcomes improved as a result… It’s a topic of conversation I’m hoping the research opens up further, as we look to see how we can supplement the development of diabetes technological advancements, with further understanding upon the impact that society & culture has on those living with the condition. I’m sure there will be lots more to come in this area, and if you’d like to see the book where the research will be published, please click here whilst you can also check out the blog post I wrote on the research here . A big shout out to Professor Gyozo Molnar who has played a huge role in guiding all of the work on this research!

So, from an education perspective this year we’ve been pretty busy… But we weren’t done there! Our participation work has also been progressing…

Participation:

Because for the first time since we were created in 2017, we’ve been able to host an all-women’s training day, in the same year that the England National Women’s team won the European championships! 2022 has been a huge year for us and for Women’s football in the UK. In making this team we’ve also been able to link in with the incredible HerGameToo campaign to help us champion women’s participation in our sport. It was brilliant to welcome Caz May, one of the founders to a session to meet the team, as they continue to provide support for what we do. A huge thank you for the donations you’ve provided, which have helped us in developing the sessions and funding our first kit! As you’ll see from the images, alongside our new women’s kit, we’ve got an updated Men’s kit supported by Air Liquide, which we hope, will be worn at DiaEuro 2023 (The European Futsal Championships for people with Diabetes)… It’s looking likely that this will take place in Poland in June and we’re busy planning behind the scenes to try and get a UK team back in the tournament for the first time in 4 years! I also want to shout out our friends in Ukraine, who hosted us and the tournament in 2019, who have been going through an unthinkable year with the Russian invasion of their nation. My thoughts are with you all!

Whilst our teams are a great opportunity to represent country and condition, they’re also an incredible opportunity to raise awareness of type 1 diabetes more widely in society… We take that on as one of the primary objectives of the team, alongside the support it offers the players, so to have BBC MOTDX attend a session to showcase T1D in Football was incredible! If you haven’t seen the feature yet, please do check it out here , in what was a great day for our men’s and women’s team. Awareness in mainstream TV makes a big difference to us all when it’s accurately portrayed, and with having Reece involved it gave Football a real insight into what our lives look like when tackling the sport whilst living with T1D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The magic of what makes our community great has also been recognised in 2022 with our TDFC London team awarded with a QIC (quality in care) award for all of their amazing work across this year. It’s thoroughly deserved, and the team continues to go from strength to strength as they grow their numbers and look to win another league title in 2022, after winning one of the London Futsal League North iterations previously! They’re a brilliant group and I’d urge anyone in the south east/London to get in contact with them to find out more about what they’re up to…

Not only do these teams serve a purpose on the court but away from it as well… Because most of the players within them have originally come through one of our peer support WhatsApp groups to help continue the discussions and support in football surrounding T1D after the full-time whistle sounds too… We now have a WhatsApp group for men, women and we’ve recently introduced one for parents of children living with Diabetes. As with the men’s and women’s groups, we now hope we can take the support online into a physical session and team in the future for kids with type 1. We’ve had discussions about this within the group and keep a look out on our social media for any developments coming in 2023… We’re excited about this!

Sooooo, what a year it’s been! We’ve faced changes, we’ve adapted, and we’ve grown. Our community is special. It’s coming up to 6 years since TDFC started and as the community’s founder it always amazes me what we’re able to achieve collectively… It’s an honour to still be doing this and while the need is still there for us, I’ll be there helping to push what we do forward…

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my musings and for all of the support this year, I hope you’ve enjoyed a great festive period with families and friends, and I wish you an amazing 2023…

We will be there with you, when you need us…

Happy New Year!

Chris Bright

Founder of The Diabetes Football Community

 

Match play demands: how does football impact blood glucose levels?

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in diabetes research, Football, sport

Ask the expert – we put your questions to a leading expert in type 1 diabetes, exercise, and nutrition. Thank you to JDRF and Matt for the support in the creation of this content. For more information, support and resources from JDRF, click here

A REMINDER – this blog post is written by a healthcare professional but no changes should be made to the treatment of your condition without consultation with your own Diabetes team. 

Author: Dr Matthew Campbell | PhD ACSM-CEP MIFST RNutr FHEA BSc hons.

Read time: 10 minutes

 

Introduction

During a football match, you will find yourself walking, jogging, running, sprinting, jumping, dribbling, striking the ball, changing direction, as well as coming into contact with the opposition (and possibly arguing with the referee). This places a significant demand on our body’s physiological energy systems as it tries to cope with repeated changes in exercise intensity1.

 

How does the body use blood glucose during exercise?

The body requires energy to exercise, and this is generated by breaking-down various fuels. The main fuels used for exercise are carbohydrate and fat. Everyone (including professional footballers) has enough fat stored away to the meet the body’s fat-derived energy requirements for a football match. However, for higher intensity exercise the body relies more on carbohydrate but has only a limited storage capacity. Carbohydrate is stored in the form of glycogen – bundles of individual glucose molecules packaged together. During exercise, muscles convert stored glycogen into glucose which is then converted into energy. Muscles are also able to extract glucose directly from the blood to help meet their energy demands, and as exercise intensity and duration is increased more and more glucose from the blood is pulled into muscle – this can cause low blood glucose levels, even in people without type 1 diabetes.

 

Why do people with type 1 diabetes have an increased risk of hypoglycaemia during exercise?

In people without type 1 diabetes, insulin levels are regulated and are reduced in response to exercise. This enables two things; firstly, it limits muscle tissue from extracting excessive amounts of glucose from the blood; secondly, lower insulin levels allow the liver to release more glucose into the blood2. Think of this as trying to fill a bucket with a hole in the bottom… if the liver can release enough glucose into the blood to meet the rate at which glucose is being removed by muscle (and other tissues) then blood glucose levels will remain stable. If the rate at which glucose is removed from the blood exceeds the rate at which blood glucose is being replaced, then fatigue, reduced performance, and potentially hypoglycaemia will ensue. Importantly, in type 1 diabetes, insulin levels are the result of the previously administered dose and/or background insulin. This means that once in the body, insulin is unregulated and does not decrease in response to exercise. This results in two things; firstly, higher insulin levels promote excessive glucose removal from the blood; secondly, higher insulin levels prevent the liver from releasing sufficient glucose into the blood to meet demand. This will result in hypoglycaemia.

 

Does playing football mean I will have a hypo?

Although most people associate exercise in type 1 diabetes with hypoglycaemia3 – i.e., the ability of exercise to lower blood glucose to potentially dangerous levels – not all forms of exercise lower blood glucose acutely4-8. Whereas continuous or prolonged aerobic-based exercise (like running a 10K or half-marathon at a steady pace) carries with it a heightened risk of hypoglycaemia8, high-intensity types of exercise (like lifting weights or sprinting) often cause a short-term rise in blood glucose levels4,6,9. Intermittent types of activity which involve repeated bouts of high-intensity activity interspersed with lower and moderate intensity activities, like football, tend to produce more stabilised glucose levels during the activity5,10-13. For example, Figure 1 below illustrates the average change in blood glucose levels during 45-minutes of a simulated match in people with type 1 diabetes. Compared with running (red trace), a simulated first half of football (blue trace) tends to, on average, induce a lower drop in blood glucose levels even when the total amount of energy used (termed energy expenditure) is similar5. Note however, the long bars that stretch above and beyond each data point – this illustrates the amount of variability around the mean response; in other words, it demonstrates how much people can vary in their response to the average…. It’s quite a bit!

Figure 1. The impact of different types of exercise on blood glucose levels during and immediately after a simulated first half of football running (blue trace) and continuous running (red trace) in people with type 1 diabetes. Hashed area indicates exercise period. Figure reproduced from Campbell at al14.

 

Ok, but how are glucose levels maintained or even increased during football?

Although insulin is a very important hormone for blood glucose regulation, other hormones also play important roles. Intense activity produces a marked increase in the release of stress-hormones9, like adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol which can help preserve (or even increase) glucose levels during, and for a short-time after, exercise. This is illustrated in Figure 2 where cortisol levels were shown to be elevated in response to 45-minutes of a simulated match (blue trace) compared to continuous running (red trace) in people with type 1 diabetes. Cortisol – which is produced and released by the adrenal glands on top of the kidney – as well as adrenaline, is also partly responsible for those glucose rises that you might see with pre-match nerves or a poor night’s sleep15.

Figure 2. The impact of different types of exercise on blood cortisol levels during and immediately after a simulated first half of football running (blue trace) and continuous running (red trace) in people with type 1 diabetes. Hashed area indicates exercise period. Figure reproduced from Campbell at al14.

 

How do stress hormones increase glucose?

These stress-hormones stimulate the body to break down stored glycogen into glucose2. In the muscle, glycogen broken down into glucose is simply converted into energy because this tissue lacks a special enzyme that prevents glucose being released into the blood. The culprit for increased blood glucose levels is the liver. Unlike muscle, the liver has a special enzyme that enables the conversion of glycogen to glucose for release into the blood. With high levels of stress hormones circulating, the liver is stimulated to increase its release of stored glucose2. In contrast to football, continuous moderate-intensity activity achieves only achieves a modest increase in stress-hormones5 meaning that they have only a minor impact on glucose levels.

 

How long will the effects of stress hormones last?

Although these hormones can have dramatic effects on blood glucose levels, they are usually very short lasting – for example, adrenaline is usually cleared from the blood within 5-10 minutes16. Importantly however, the hormonal and metabolic responses during repeated intense bouts are additive when recovery intervals are short17. This means that in a typical football match (especially those that are physically demanding, and for certain positions like wingers or attacking wingbacks) that there is likely insufficient time for full clearance of these hormones from the circulation before the next high-intensity bout. This means that you could see a gradual rise in glucose levels over each playing half.

 

How long will it take my glucose levels to normalise after football?

Hormones act for a relatively short time meaning that once levels drop, their influence on glucose levels will also be short-lasting. Although football might confer a lower risk of hypoglycaemia during and immediately afterwards, there is still an increased risk of developing hypoglycaemia later after exercise, so much so that the risk of developing late-onset hypoglycaemia seems to be comparable to other forms of exercise like running or lifting weights5. Read our other article to learn more about post-exercise hypoglycaemia and how to avoid it.

 

Are there other factors that can affect blood glucose levels during exercise?

Yes. Lots. Of course, with all aspects of type 1 diabetes, blood glucose responses to any form of exercise will to some extent vary from person to person, and from match to match. Your own physical fitness, technical ability, playing position, tactical role, style of playing, as well as ball possession of the team, quality of the opponent, importance of the game, seasonal period, playing surface, and environmental factors like humidity and temperature18 (to name but a few) will all influence both performance and diabetes management. As such, careful planning of training, nutrition, and insulin dosing strategies are required in preparation for training and match days in optimise performance and manage diabetes effectively and safely.

About Matthew

Matthew is an internationally recognised research scientist specialising in exercise, diet, and type 1 diabetes. He also provides consultancy and diabetes coaching to people living with type 1 diabetes and those that support them.

Matthew has a PhD in nutrition and exercise metabolism, is author to over 150 research publications and holds honorary titles with the University of Cambridge and University of Leeds. He is a certified clinical exercise physiologist accredited by the American College of Sports Medicine, a registered nutritionist, and a member of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. He also provides consultancy to professional bodies and professional athletes including NHS England, the World Health Organisation, and TeamGB.

If you are interested in learning how to improve your type 1 diabetes management around exercise, contact Matthew at: matt@t1dcoaching.co.uk

References

  1. Dolci F, Hart NH, Kilding AE, Chivers P, Piggott B, Spiteri T. Physical and energetic demand of soccer: a brief review. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 2020;42(3):70-77.
  2. Marliss EB, Vranic M. Intense exercise has unique effects on both insulin release and its roles in glucoregulation: implications for diabetes. Diabetes. 2002;51(suppl_1):S271-S283.
  3. Cockcroft E, Narendran P, Andrews R. Exercise‐induced hypoglycaemia in type 1 diabetes. Experimental physiology. 2020;105(4):590-599.
  4. Turner D, Luzio S, Gray B, et al. Impact of single and multiple sets of resistance exercise in type 1 diabetes. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports. 2015;25(1):e99-e109.
  5. Campbell MD, West DJ, Bain SC, et al. Simulated games activity vs continuous running exercise: a novel comparison of the glycemic and metabolic responses in T1DM patients. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports. 2015;25(2):216-222.
  6. Yardley JE, Kenny GP, Perkins BA, et al. Effects of performing resistance exercise before versus after aerobic exercise on glycemia in type 1 diabetes. Diabetes care. 2012;35(4):669-675.
  7. Hasan S, Shaw SM, Gelling LH, Kerr CJ, Meads CA. Exercise modes and their association with hypoglycemia episodes in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. 2018;6(1):e000578.
  8. Campbell MD, Walker M, Trenell MI, et al. Large pre-and postexercise rapid-acting insulin reductions preserve glycemia and prevent early-but not late-onset hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes care. 2013;36(8):2217-2224.
  9. Fahey A, Paramalingam N, Davey R, Davis E, Jones T, Fournier P. The effect of a short sprint on postexercise whole-body glucose production and utilization rates in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2012;97(11):4193-4200.
  10. Guelfi K, Ratnam N, Smythe G, Jones T, Fournier P. Effect of intermittent high-intensity compared with continuous moderate exercise on glucose production and utilization in individuals with type 1 diabetes. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology And Metabolism. 2007;292(3):E865-E870.
  11. Guelfi KJ, Jones TW, Fournier PA. The decline in blood glucose levels is less with intermittent high-intensity compared with moderate exercise in individuals with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes care. 2005;28(6):1289-1294.
  12. Bussau V, Ferreira L, Jones T, Fournier P. A 10-s sprint performed prior to moderate-intensity exercise prevents early post-exercise fall in glycaemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia. 2007;50(9):1815-1818.
  13. Bussau VA, Ferreira LD, Jones TW, Fournier PA. The 10-s maximal sprint: a novel approach to counter an exercise-mediated fall in glycemia in individuals with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes care. 2006;29(3):601-606.
  14. Campbell MD, West DJ, Bain SC, et al. Simulated games activity vs continuous running exercise: a novel comparison of the glycemic and metabolic responses in T1DM patients. 2015;25(2):216-222.
  15. Briançon-Marjollet A, Weiszenstein M, Henri M, Thomas A, Godin-Ribuot D, Polak J. The impact of sleep disorders on glucose metabolism: endocrine and molecular mechanisms. Diabetology & metabolic syndrome. 2015;7(1):1-16.
  16. Goldstein DS, Eisenhofer G, Kopin IJ. Sources and significance of plasma levels of catechols and their metabolites in humans. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2003;305(3):800-811.
  17. Bogardus C, LaGrange BM, Horton ES, Sims E. Comparison of carbohydrate-containing and carbohydrate-restricted hypocaloric diets in the treatment of obesity. Endurance and metabolic fuel homeostasis during strenuous exercise. The Journal of clinical investigation. 1981;68(2):399-404.
  18. Al‐Qaissi A, Papageorgiou M, Javed Z, et al. Environmental effects of ambient temperature and relative humidity on insulin pharmacodynamics in adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2019;21(3):569-574.

Award Winning TDFC London: The Power of Peer Support

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

TDFC London – Quality In Care Diabetes Award Winners 2022. I can’t quite believe it. It’s been a huge team effort and after a few weeks to let it settle in, I thought I’d share mine and the team’s journey.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over ten years ago, and needless to say it was quite a shock! There was so much to get my head around, but one of my biggest concerns was being able to get back playing football. I went years before meeting a fellow type 1 and it took a long time to work out how to manage the condition while playing sport.

And then there was a breakthrough moment. I came across a fledgling initiative called The Diabetes Football Community (TDFC). I signed up to one of their first ever meet-ups, and what a journey it’s been since.

Suddenly I was playing competitive matches against other people with type 1 diabetes. In between games, team members exchanged insights about new glucose tracking technologies, different methods of delivering insulin and practical tips on managing diabetes whilst playing football. After just one match I picked up so much useful advice and diabetes life-hacks that I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

At DiaEuro 2018 we realised that there was the enough players to potentially set a team based in London and if we did so we’d be the first ever all-type 1 diabetes team to compete in a mainstream league. Hence TDFC London was formed, with the aim of providing open and inclusive football-based meet-ups for people with type 1 diabetes, and to help show that the diagnosis doesn’t need to be a barrier to participation. This diverse group celebrates each individual as their own entity. We’ve helped each other gain access to diabetes technology and referred individuals to health services they were unaware of prior to joining.

COVID-19 put a long pause on the group meeting up, but the peer support element of the project really kicked in, with teammates all sharing support and guidance in dealing with the dreaded ‘COVID-type 1 combo’ via WhatsApp. Post-pandemic, we came back even stronger, going on a winning streak to eventually fulfil our goal of becoming champions of the North London Futsal League 🏆

https://twitter.com/TDFCLondon/status/1482765960637468674?s=20&t=MfnsfwlVLra3I1_4tKtDwQ

 

I work at the Royal College for Paediatrics and Child Health alongside a great team as part of the National Diabetes Quality Programme. We see first-hand the issues around drop-out rates when transitioning from paediatric to adult services. I’m convinced that projects like TDFC can directly support diabetes services in enabling self-management and help to signpost people back into diabetes services to ensure things like technology access.

My teammate Muhammed Ismail has been an amazing ambassador for the project and secretly submitted our team’s concept and achievement for this year’s Quality in Care Diabetes Awards. To our amazement, we won the Unsung Heroes award! The judges commented:

“TDFC London was an inspirational, heart-warming and feel-good entry that has offered support to a group of young Type 1s. This could be replicated nationwide. It is a great example of peer support, ingenious and particularly focusses on young men – a notoriously difficult group to connect with and an often-overlooked group.”

 

 Much like my glucose levels, there’s been lots of ups and downs over the years since being diagnosed. However, I’m very grateful to have stumbled across TDFC and my experience with this group has been a standout highlight.

Peer support is a powerful tool for empowering those with long-term conditions. Sport is a powerful vehicle for bringing people together. Combining the two has so much potential!

 Bryn White

TDFC London Manager

Diagnosed at 34 and trying to adapt to Football again…

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

It’s been a little while since we shared a blog on the website, so we thought it was a great opportunity to share the story of one of our newest members to the community… Thank you Tom for sharing what you went through upon diagnosis and we hope that your story will provide comfort and support to those who may face this in the future… No more words from us, over to you Tom to talk us through what happened.

“Football was the first sign

The last game of the 2021/2022 season was a mid-week evening fixture on the 20th April, away in a small village outside of Lincoln. A very scratchy 11 players were put together with a couple of late stragglers turning up to fill the subs bench after work and family commitments… Sunday league football in England at it’s finest. Playing at centre half, the dream of being a marauding midfielder has long been forgotten since turning 30! After around 70 minutes something happened which I had never experienced in my whole-time playing football, as I had excruciating pain in both of my calves as they cramped up. At the time, through lack of awareness and a large chunk of denial about my own health, I convinced myself that age had finally caught up with me and I wasn’t as fit as I once was! I struggled on for 10 more minutes before giving up and giving the gaffer the dreaded arm roll signal above the head to indicate I needed to come off. To add to the dismay of being subbed off, we managed to throw away a two-goal lead and concede two late goals to draw the game and consign ourselves to rock bottom of the 1st division after a long tough season! Unfortunately, our collective lack of footballing ability wasn’t the only thing to become apparent after this game.

Diagnosis

My ‘diaversary’, as I have often affectionately seen it referred to on social media, is 18th May 2022. The usual sore muscles and cramping up in the night after a football game occurred, which I attributed to dehydration from the game that evening. I also attributed my constant thirst and then spending most of the night getting up to go to the toilet to this! I felt could explain all these things with a plausible causality to feelings after a tough game so thought nothing more of it. I carried on my usual daily routine after this, a little bit tired and run down, still thirsty and still weeing a lot! I was a teacher, and we were coming to the end of a school year, and I told myself I must be ready for a break and ploughed on through, although the symptoms never went away. I always tell people never to google your symptoms, but you never follow your own advice and one word kept coming up whenever I put them into the NHS website……. DIABETES. I was 34, fit, healthy, a good weight, no family history anywhere of Diabetes, I was sure it wouldn’t be that. I couldn’t deny that I wasn’t well for much longer and finally succumbed to pressure from my partner to book a doctor’s appointment. Casually dropping off a urine sample and having some bloods taken at the doctors before setting off on my way to work. I received a phone call about an hour later containing lots of words such as: ‘DKA’, ‘Diabetes’ and ‘A&E’. Within an hour I was sat in A&E on a drip with more bloods being taken, more meetings with doctors and no more idea what was going on! A very long and scary night at home alone followed this and a phone call from the doctor in the morning confirming Diabetes and directing me straight to Clinic 1 at the hospital. I was greeted by Diabetes Specialist Nurse and walked out an hour later with a blood glucose monitor, 2 pens of insulin and a lot of leaflets. I had never felt more overwhelmed in my life!

Getting back to football

I am never ashamed to admit I cried for most of that evening. The gravity of what a lifetime of diabetes means really is something which is quite incomprehensible at times. I was convinced footballing life was over and I was going to be confined to a life of golf! I had no idea how playing sport whilst managing diabetes worked and it was one of my first questions in my follow-up with my diabetes nurse the next week. As always seems to be the way with diabetes, it could not have been anymore inconvenient, with a house move and job move all scheduled for June! It did however afford me a summer break to get my head around living with diabetes and my body’s responses to exercise. My first experience of getting back into sport was an attempted cricket game in early June. As could be expected this went terribly and after having a very sweaty, dizzy and shaky moment whilst batting, I spent most of our turn to field eating a banana and various sweets from my pocket – there was a lot to learn! I was luckily given a libre 2 sensor around 3 weeks after diagnosis and this made the start of preseason in late June a lot more successful. I’m sure I did over 30 scans in my first session! I turned up armed with chocolate bars for some sugar beforehand, enough Haribo for a kid’s party and more water than any one person would ever need. At any opportunity I would nip off to tap my arm with my phone and check my levels. After a 90-minute session with some highs and lows it was overall a positive result. Maybe this wasn’t the end of the road for me after all! I managed to negotiate most of pre-season training and matches without too many wobbles, although the heat nearly did me a couple of times if it wasn’t the diabetes. However, after every session, there was always advice and support to fall back on from the TDFC community if things had gone wrong with people always happy to answer any questions or offer advice.

TDFC

I stumbled across Chris whilst searching out other people with Diabetes on twitter, looking for insight, inspiration, advice and general empathy from people going through something similar to me. I found the TDFC twitter page and dropped it a message before carrying on my mindless scrolling and forgetting all about it. The next day I got a reply from Chris and before long he had introduced me to the TDFC community and added me to the WhatsApp group. To find a place where people had experienced the same thing or going through similar situations was a comfort and motivator. Being able to ask questions and get answers from people all over the country and beyond was brilliant. Not just on football topics but every life experience with diabetes you can think of! I am yet to make a TDFC training session and join in a kick about but look forward to hopefully making one and sharing synchronised glucose checking and hypo snacks!

From speaking to others about diabetes I realise that it is a marathon not a sprint and no one ever truly masters it. You are thrown in at the deep end on day one and must quickly adapt to the basics but with the pace at which things are moving with diabetes and technology there is so much more to learn. I recently listened to a discussion on Twitter speaking about exercise and my mind was blown listening to people talk about open and closed loop systems, basal rates, adjustments and insulin sensitivity. I’m sure it will all make sense to me one day and I am not the only newly diagnosed diabetic trying to make sense of it all.

Today

Game one of the season has just gone without a hitch (a boring 0-0 draw) and 90 minutes at centre half was successfully negotiated. This is thanks to some of the advice and routines I have put in place with advice from the TDFC group chat and the post which Chris had done on the TDFC website which helped a lot. I’ve managed to keep my sensor on which I thought would never happen and have had great support from my teammates! I’m hoping I have a few years left in me yet……”

 

Thank you for sharing your story so openly Tom and If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog and want to share your own story with us please do get in contact with us…

Louise McCay – The First Type 1 Woman to play Futsal Live on British TV

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

“In some respects what I am about to talk about is not a day I want to remember, however TDFC founder Chris Bright made me think about the experience in a different way.  

I am currently playing my first season of futsal for Bedford Futsal Club who are in the Women’s Super Series South. Our season got off to a great start with a strong win & I even bagged myself a hat-trick, however our second game of the season stepped up a level…  

The day itself brought a lot of new challenges that we all as a team had to try and combat. For instance, playing a very strong opposition, having crowds back and being streamed live on TV with BT Sports.. yes BT Sports!  

On Saturday 9th October I was lucky enough to be the first female type 1 diabetic to play competitive futsal live on BT Sports (as far as I am aware… definitely reach out if you know differently!!!).  

The Lead Up to the Game  

The day before was sensor change day, something I’ve never had problems with.  

I applied my sensor as normal, however, once set up was complete I received an error notification reading ‘replace sensor, sensor not working’ – luckily, I did have another sensor with me as I get two a month. So I thought no stress I will just replace the faulty one and as I’ve never had this issue before it must be a one off. After applying the second sensor and after checking my levels once or twice I got the same error message – what are the chances both sensors didn’t work??  

The panic started to kick in – I am not going to be able to control my bloods as I would want to for the big game tomorrow without my sensor. Fortunately, I was able to go and purchase an additional sensor from a local pharmacy which thankfully worked. I was however very conscious of the accuracy given my experience that day, therefore I was sense checking my sugars with a finger prick for the rest of the evening to gain confidence.  

On The Day..  

I hadn’t had a great night with the blood sugars, I often go to sleep with bloods in range to find them spike in the night, which is what happened the night before the game. I woke up around 2/3am by chance and had a correction dose as my blood glucose levels were rising above 15mmol’s. As you can see from the below graph this started to kick in but as my bloods dropped back into range it spiked again. I then woke up just before 6am and saw my bloods were too high yet again so I decided to do another correction dose, hoping to wake in a couple of hours with much better glucose level.

 

When my alarm went off around 7:30am my bloods were dipping into the low territory, which I treated with my usual carton of orange juice. I then had a decision to make as it was essential I got my levels under control for the day.  

We had a 2:30pm kick off which in itself adds complications and decisions to be made around when I would need to fuel up for the game with potentially 2 meal times to squeeze in whilst also ensuring my bloods were under control from the get-go. As I had just treated my low sugars, I was conscious of them spiking if I had breakfast straight away – so I decided to hold out and just pack breakfast for the journey.  

To help relax before the game and give the legs a good stretch beforehand we decided to travel up early and catch some of the earlier games. We wanted to familiarise ourselves with the settings, try to squash the external pressures and settle the nerves.  

I had read a very interesting blog only days before from a type 1 who ran the London Marathon (who I now know to be Scott Burrell (what a legend and don’t miss his podcast about it by clicking here) who had experienced the negative side of adrenaline and added pressures of big events on blood sugars, leading him to not be able to bring his levels down to perform at his best.  

This was playing a lot on my mind in the lead up to and on game day.  

As I had held out on having breakfast my bloods started to drop during the journey up to Birmingham, so I decided to treat this again with the trusty orange juice carton and one Weetabix.  

My bloods started to rise again ahead of the warm-up, so I did another couple of units as I know my bloods tend to rise once I start playing. This seemed to eventually start to work, however, the adrenaline mixed with the usual during exercise spike still managed to creep in across the second half of the game.  

I didn’t feel the impact of this movement as I was very focused on the game but on reflection I probably could have benefited from another unit or so whilst I was off the court.  

Overall, considering the occasion, I was fairly happy with my blood sugars, however, I wish the lead up to game day and previous night’s levels were a bit more in control as I know the middle of the night highs, and the corresponding lows, have an impact on my body throughout the following day.  

After a tough game and unfortunate result, the day ended with a huge spike in sugars from the evening meal that I consumed post game to drown the sorrows.  

There are definitely some learning points I can take from the day to help me move forward if we are lucky enough to be on live tv again in the new year.  

When I take a step back, I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to play live on BT Sports and will continue to work hard to have that opportunity again.  

Having type 1 diabetes does add a number of extra daily considerations and decision points, but I will never let it hold me back from doing the things I work hard for. “
Louise is part of the TDFC Womens team leading the push to provide more education, support and opportunities for girls and women to get more from their Football and Futsal, whilst living with Diabetes. Get in touch if you’re interested in finding out more!

My First Session by Anthony Parker

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

I attended my first TDFC session in July following an introduction to the project by Mo who found my Facebook profile on a Type-1 diabetes page & saw from my profile photo that I was a football fan.

I have been a Type-1 diabetic for over 30 years and could probably count the number of fellow Type-1’s who I have met during this time on one hand.  However, during the challenges of the past 18 months and after experiencing some side effects caused by diabetes, the want & need to meet with people going through similar life experiences was heightened. The TDFC project provided this; the fact that everyone also had a passion for the sport I have loved for the past 35 years was a bonus!
In a strange coincidence, one of the other guys who was also planning on attending the session in July lives literally around the corner from me, a mere 7-min drive away! Buncy and me agreed to travel the 2.5hrs to Worcester (from Berkshire) together and got to know each other through an exchange that covered blood glucose levels, diabetes management, hypo symptoms and of course, football. Turns out Buncy is a Watford fan, so there was much fun to be had….
Once we arrived into Worcester, I found the meet & greet/get to know each other session really powerful.  I have not before realised the benefits of such a session.  They empower people to work to solve their own problems.  Everyone in attendance are equals and I felt that this made people feel much more comfortable opening up about their diabetes journey and related experiences. After a very tough last 18 months with Covid & the various lockdowns, I believe that sessions like this can reduce any anxieties, whilst improving self-esteem, and providing a sense of well-being overall.
The actual training session was itself a surreal experience. Playing futsal/football with other guys who were flicking their phone across the Libre on their arms to monitor their BG levels every so often whilst having conversations about various diabetes management strategies adopted for a rigorous football/futsal session was something I hadn’t seen before. Somehow, it almost seemed ‘normal’ to take mini-breaks to take BG readings and to read them out to the group with no judgments made.  I personally awoke with a BG of 12mmol so spent the whole car journey up trying to get it to a suitable level, but I did too much of a good job of this and ended up starting the session with a 3.3mmol highlighted in red flashing up on my own phone via my Libre.  Thankfully, there was an assortment of glucose options supplied to support the treatment of a low BG.
I have been playing a decent standard of football for over 30 years, but futsal is a very different game; more tactical, more structured and more intense with less time to recover from a period of attacking or defending.  Having put in a couple of additional pounds during the lockdowns, I’d admit that I need to better prepare myself to suitably compete for the next session!  The standards were pretty high and were refined by the guidance and coaching of Brighty, culminating in a very good team goal during the actual practice match.  Thankfully, the goal was scored by the team that I was on…
After a competitive and enjoyable session, I managed to join a couple of the guys for a quick ad-hoc lunch before we all departed for our return journeys home.  We all shared some more stories on our diabetes journey.  A couple of the guys were newly diagnosed, so it was empowering for me to share my own 30 year story of diabetes & to highlight what I had achieved, both personally & professionally to send a message that diabetes shouldn’t hold you back.
Personally, for me, the whole experience was humbling, empowering & enlightening whilst providing a much-needed boost to my mental mindset. I also got to find out that I ‘wasn’t the only type-1 in the village’….

Looking forward to the next gathering….

Back in the saddle by Tim Ward

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in diabetes, Football, sport

Guess what, it’s been a weird 18 months hasn’t it, but as the restrictions end and some form of normality returns it was great to get the message from TDFC HQ that the futsal sessions are back on and a couple of summer meet ups are in the diary. Get in!!

As many us will know (especially if you’re a parent or carer) you must wear different heads daily, nurse, best friend, coach, Darth Vader. All of which had to been worn in increasingly difficult lockdown circumstances. Having worn all of these (including the new Key stage 2 teacher head) I was driving down to Worcester for the session thinking I haven’t worn the futsal keeper/skipper one for over two years.

A light bulb moment that almost felt like imposter syndrome, as if I was stepping into someone else’s shoes. I’d felt a little like this going to the first ever meet up back in 2018 when I felt like the old guy who had come for the dads v lads’ game. Believe me that feeling disappeared almost instantly in 2018 and the same in 2021.

The reason why, it’s easy, it is the people. The strength and support of community is powerful. Something you don’t (or I didn’t at least) realise until you’re involved, meeting and listening to others, simply having a chat, a laugh or empathising with the issues they are encountering. The WhatsApp group that all who join TDFC are invited to has been fantastic in keeping in touch with everyone but meeting up with some old and new faces, getting the boots on and simply having a game, that is a life saver.

I have family down in Worcester, so we decided to make a day of the first session and catch up, so the Ward clan turned up on mass at Worcester FA HQ.

The meet up followed the usual routine the hello’s, how are you doing, nice to meet you, take the mickey out of each other and have a laugh (mostly at my lockdown barnet), yes Tob’s I know the barbers are open now but I’m going full Zlatan! 😊

There were loads of new faces and although I didn’t get to chat with everyone it was great to meet you all, apart from Bryn who megged me 3 times, you mate, can stay in Aberystwyth next session!

The presentation and discussion with Chris and Jon that opened the session was a real eye opener with the differing level of access to diabetic support across the country, be that physiological support, CGMs, pumps, and dietary & lifestyle advice offered was frighteningly varied, far from consistent and really not great to see. The tireless work Partha Kar and others are doing to remedy this is vital for people with type 1 across the country.

A special shout out to Mo Ismail, who has been an absolute legend throughout the pandemic and well ever since I’ve met him. His advice and guidance (he’s a qualified Pharmacist and T1D brother working in the NHS) on all the questions posted in the group has been a real source of inspiration and support and the recognition he received during the session is well deserved! Well done and thank you pal from us all.

After the presentation and discussion, it was down to the pitch for the futsal, but first media duties for me and Mo discussing the project with Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire, who have provided us with some great support to get back on our feet. It was great to chat about TDFC and the return to playing and training.

The training was great as usual (apart from the megs) and it’s always nice to learn as well as get chatting to Tom about Goalkeeping and his master’s Studies in the USA too!

I coach academy and grassroots football, so I am on a pitch most days of the week but being out there playing and being coached is such a release, you don’t know how much you miss it.

A nice end to the day was having my picture taken by Chris from Reaction Photography of me with Brighty and my boys all of us in TDFC kit, I think they are expecting to be on the flight to Bosnia now for the next DiaEuro.

It was great to be back to see some old and dear friends and make some new ones. I can’t wait to catch up with the rest of the lads and keep meeting new people within TDFC.

In a thousand different ways the day was a real family affair.

We are back… Diabetes Futsal Returns!

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to write this, but…….. WE ARE BACK! This weekend coming, we will be resuming our Men’s Diabetes Futsal sessions at the Worcestershire FA headquarters after a gap of 15 months due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

It’s been a tough break for us all. We know so many of the group took a lot from the sessions in the past and we’re hoping to bring back all of that positivity, engagement and support to our upcoming sessions. We know there’s a lot of excitement amongst the ranks from existing and new players to the project so we can’t wait to get back out there!

We will be starting back on the 27th of June with another session planned in for the 25th of July as well so if you want to get involved please do get in touch!

For us these sessions will be about re-engaging with our community, getting our squad back together to play as well as welcoming new faces to the pitch. We should have a good laugh and a lot of fun which is what it’s all about.

We must also say a big thank you to The Tackling Inequalities fund created by Sport England and put into practice by Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire. They’ve supported us with funding and support to help get us back off the ground after what has been a really challenging period during the pandemic.

It’s going to be a really exciting month for us as the sessions get back underway whilst we also continue to grow the women’s arm of the Diabetes Futsal squads…. However, ahead of this first session we thought we’d invite one of the newest members of the community, who will be attending his first session this weekend, to describe how he’s feeling ahead of Sunday…. Over to you Bryn:

“I’m really excited to be finally meeting up with the lads from TDFC. Ever since I watched Chris’ story I just knew it was something I would love to be Involved in. So to be invited to training with them is really special.

I was so inspired by the work of TDFC I even held an active fundraiser for the charity through my sports coaching business ‘BMO Coaching’ – we managed to raise £377.50 for TDFC and £900 in total, which we shared with other local charities.

Living in the Welsh coastal town of Aberystwyth, I have only met a total of two T1D players that are still playing senior football so It’s going to be a fantastic experience playing / meeting with other T1 diabetics in a football environment.

I’m passionate about raising awareness and passing on knowledge about diabetes, especially throughout my area of Wales. I’ve been playing football with T1D for 20 years and I’m keen to show people that it doesn’t stop me from playing sport and doing the things I love.

The lads have been really welcoming on the group chat so I’m looking forward to a session with them to break the ice. “

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Bryn and isn’t it great to be back!

TDFC

This wasn’t easy… My story with Post – Concussion Syndrome

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football, sport

To be honest, until I heard Stevie Ward talk about his struggles with Post-Concussion Syndrome on the Mantality podcast I hadn’t even considered talking about this….. Nor was I really ready to share what it’s been like, because to be brutally honest it’s been far from ok.

However, having heard him talk so well about the challenges and how it mimicked so much of my own experience, I felt empowered to get it off my chest as this subject hasn’t been spoken about anywhere near enough, especially within sport. As someone who’s used to dealing with an invisible condition on a daily basis, I thought I’d be relatively well equipped to cope but there was a key difference to this diagnosis from the off. This time I opened up from the off and told people what I was living with, a different approach to my type 1 diagnosis, but ultimately very quickly I was reminded why I adopted that approach before….

When people can’t see, feel or experience what you’re going through they find it hard to believe what you’re telling them. Throughout society there’s a distinct lack of empathy (in my opinion!), that ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes for just a minute. I think it’s a root cause of many many issues across the globe but this is slightly away from my point. It’s also had a huge impact on my life again coping with post-concussion syndrome ( a brain injury!).

I’ve had people almost patronise me, almost can’t believe I’m still talking about, think it’s not that serious, think I’m overdoing it and overall think I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. Another invisible condition, something else people can’t see through my eyes for a moment and here we go again, another condition with stigma attached.

For me it again just demonstrates why people with hidden conditions like type 1 diabetes, don’t talk about it much in mainstream society. You’re made to feel as though you’re constantly the problem. I hear the lip service paid to the words diversity and inclusion all over the place in 2021 but until individuals become accountable for those words to themselves, how can those things really be achieved?

I wanted to make that point clear, that empathy can make all the difference and if you catch yourself making a pre-judgement of someone, see if you can just take a minute to look at the world through their eyes….. It might change everything.

But I want to talk about what the condition has been like as well, because it’s been awful at times and it needs more people talking about it.

So, since September 2020 I’ve been dealing with symptoms of post-concussion syndrome which started with not much more than being off balance for a header which then came off the wrong part of my head and followed with a number of other knocks in the same game, contributing to an initial concussion. But the concussion wasn’t immediate….

My symptoms didn’t start until 4/5 hours later….. I was just sat in the pub with my friends that evening and I suddenly felt incredibly tired and my brain was a bit foggy, whilst struggling to engage in the conversation around me. Luckily, we all headed off pretty early that night and I got home and went straight to bed not thinking too much about it, other than the fact I was a lot more tired than usual…. Then I woke up the next morning.

The first thing I noticed was that I’d slept for 9 hours without stirring, which is unusual for me. Following that I could tell I still felt extremely tired despite sleeping that long! I felt I could’ve slept another 3 hours easily. Both of these things really struck me… Then the really obvious issues began.

I didn’t quite feel steady on my feet, I mean I wasn’t falling over or tripping but I just felt a bit off, then I had this foggy way of thinking which affected my recall and ability to properly participate in conversation. Ultimately, I was struggling to process information and provide speech as easily as I had found it 24 hours before. I was also noticing that concentration and especially on screens, such as my phone or laptop would really flare up a headache and intensify the throbbing, pressurised feeling I had in my head. Alongside this was a feeling of nausea when I concentrated too much. This was the day after the first concussion.

I then woke up on Monday morning and felt much the same, with things ever so slightly improving but I needed to speak to my GP to understand what was happening. So I managed to get through and speak to them about what I was experiencing and through a telephone triage appointment I was diagnosed with mild concussion, no tests, no examination, all via the phone. As this was my first experience of concussion in my life, the lack of urgency or need to examine me, filled me with a view that it wasn’t too serious, and I’ll be ok in a few days. The advice was to rest and not do contact sport for 2 weeks. If things got worse, I was told to go to A&E to have a scan but as things improved I didn’t feel that it was necessary to do that. The key word was REST in the GP’s advice, but rest looks different to each person and without any sort of definition of what that looked like I chilled out for a few days, took time off work, didn’t really exercise and then gradually incorporated some of that back in, towards the end of the week. The very blasé view given at the start of my diagnosis filled me with an ill-informed opinion of the gravity of the situation and no real insight as to how to approach the next 2 weeks bearing in mind my personal situation. It could’ve been read out of a textbook. I now know that this was a huge mistake but I can’t turn back the clock…. I wish I could.

Needless to say, that 2 weeks after that first concussion I went back and started an FA Vase game. Looking back, I think I knew I wasn’t quite right but with it being a biggish game for the club and me being a senior player, I wanted to get out there and play. When you’re a competitor you always want to be out there. I played the full 90 minutes, we played really well, won the game 4-1 and after initially feeling a tiny bit rough, by the end I was good as gold, or so I thought. I had played the game with no head collisions or challenges and made 6 or 7 routine headers, so I thought I’d probably be ok as a result. But after the adrenaline subsided, the symptoms came on quicker. On the car in the way home (I wasn’t driving!), I could feel that the nausea was there with the fogginess and they were getting worse. This time I obviously knew what it was, so I accepted I was going to feel awful for a few days again and hoped that maybe after a month of not playing this time it’ll go back to normal….

I was obviously wrong… I went back to square -1!

The symptoms were worse than previously and because I was having to work to bring in money, and I wanted to try and keep my mental health in a good place by exercising too, I was struggling with making any progress as I wasn’t getting enough rest. I got better to a point after 2 weeks and then after that I had lingering reoccurring symptoms which affected me on a daily basis. It was worrying, frustrating, frightening and all the other emotions mixed in between.

After continuing like this for a month to 6 weeks, my anxiety about it reached the point where I needed some advice. I rang my GP again, I reached out on Social Media and I looked for anyone who could help. Coupling that with the November Lockdown and it was a really tough place!

I got some good advice and support which has helped to move me forwards and my symptoms have gradually lessened but I’m still not able to work at a full intensity with my exercise and I struggle with continuous screen work as it brings on a throbbing pain in my head and I can feel a little skippy or unbalanced but compared to October/November it’s a world apart. I need to look after myself for a moment and forget about playing sport, this is bigger than that.

But still to this day I’ve not been scanned, examined or seen in person at all regarding my concussion and my memory/ recall is just not as sharp as it was. I hope that one day it’ll come back to something closer to where I was but my recovery is still in progress and even recently took a bit of a hit after too much time spent at a screen working. I thought I was in a place where I was ready for it but in turns out I wasn’t! I heard Stevie say it and I resonate it with so much, the recovery just isn’t linear at all, one day I’ll feel like it’s disappeared and then another I’m really reminded it hasn’t!

I look back now and I know I should have stopped myself playing. I reflect on that every single day. I wished I’d taken things far more seriously and I wish that there was less stigma surrounding talking about brain injuries or mental health conditions within sport. It might have been the difference in me taking the time out to properly rest.

We can’t change that overnight but even if me just sharing this blog post and my experience can help one other person who may be going through this, has gone through this or may unfortunately have to face this in the future, at least through the dark times I’ve been through someone else might take some comfort.

A huge thank you to Stevie for sharing his experience so publicly, which has given me the courage to put mine out there, as writing some of this hasn’t been easy, especially when I’m still going through this. I hope to one day look back at this post and say I recovered. If you have never checked out Mantality before, you should! The work that Stevie and Natalie are doing is shedding a light on concussion specifically and mental health more broadly. It’s a fantastic project and it’s certainly supported and inspired me.

With the premier league recently introducing concussion substitutions and demonstrating a step forward around these types of injuries, more stories and experiences need to be shown as to how it effects everyday lives. It needs more awareness to end the stigma and allow people to feel comfortable talking about something so dangerous.

I have no idea if my Diabetes continues to play a part in my recovery or whether it had an impact in the concussion in the first place, but like with everything I’ve faced in my life, this challenge is one I’ve accepted and will continue to embrace.

I now advocate for Type 1 Diabetes and for greater awareness around the impact of concussion.

I would love to hear anyone’s thoughts on this subject and thank you for reading.

Chris

A summary of some of my symptoms below:

 

  • Immediate symptom: tired much earlier in the evening than I’d ever been before.
  • On and off symptom: Felt a little bit off balance.
  • Continued symptom: Working with screens would really upset my head. Whilst looking at them in the mornings before I’d got going would cause a headache which lasted for hours.
  • An immediate symptom and when I’ve done too much: Felt skippy, turning too quickly would set me off.
  • An early symptom and when I’ve done too much: Pressure in my head and a headache for quite a number of days.
  • An early symptom: Nausea, feeling a bit like being car sick or motion sick.
  • An early symptom and when I’ve done far too much: Foggy, I struggled to connect my brain to the conversation around me.
  • I even got my eyes tested to check that I wasn’t irritating my head with my eyesight.
  • When I exercised or ran too quickly, I’d irritate my symptoms and go backwards.
  • Immediate and continuous symptom: Forgetful – Forgetting names of people I always remembered previously and getting frustrated and worried/upset about noticing this. Just forgetting what I was doing a few days ago or situations I always remember.