This episode is all about T1D bad habits. Every type 1 diabetic has some (if not all) of these bad habits, but there’s a reason they’re bad! Jessie is still on hiatus this week, so it’s just me talking about what all these bad habits look like, and what to do instead.
Among the list of T1D bad habits in this episode are:
- stacking insulin,
- not changing your lancet,
- never rotating sites,
- over-bolusing,
- not counting all your carbs,
- leaving supplies behind,
- over-correcting low blood sugars, and
- rationing insulin.
Wins & Fails
Colleen’s Win: My blood sugars were pretty stable this week—I only dropped below 60 mg/dL once and just had one obnoxious high.
Hack of the Week
Are you a sucker? That is, do you suck the blood off your finger after pricking it to test your blood sugar? Please consider using a tissue instead. Especially for those gushers. You’re not a vampire.
Diabetes in the News
Time in range: a new way for people with diabetes to monitor blood sugar
Time in range is complementary to the A1c, not a replacement. This metric comes from wearing a CGM, and is the percentage of time blood sugars are inside the target range. Staying in range reduces risk of complications. Two people can have the same A1c but one has a lot of lows and a lot of highs, perhaps 50% in range, while the other doesn’t have very many lows and is 80% in range.
Keeping a low A1c paired with a high percentage of time in range means you’re well-controlled.
Question for the Audience!
What are your T1D bad habits? What about some good habits? Let us know in the comments!
Mentioned in This Episode
- The Diabetes Solution, by Dr. Richard Bernstein
- Insulin assistance—diaTribe resource
Community & Social
- Join us in the Half-Dead Pancreas Club, our private Discord community for people with T1D.
- Follow us on Instagram @thisistype1pod, @jj_crystalkat, & @type1ravenclaw
- Follow us on Facebook
Credits
Our music is by Joseph McDade. Check out his website here! Our audio wizard is my husband, Tim. He runs his own food blog, Split Appetites, which has a lot of yummy low carb recipes!