Diabetes Management
Diabetes Management
Keeping Type 1 Kids Active
(Gabby Orcutt/Pixabay) Staying active is one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle, not just for adults, but for kids too. Kids with type 1 diabetes have a need for exercise and activity just like everyone else. While diabetes can present some challenges when exercising, there’s no reason that kids with diabetes can’t get outside and enjoy running, jumping, kicking, and tumbling with the rest. All it takes is a little extra care and planning. Skin Grip is here with what you need to know. Know your care plan For parents of children with diabetes, this is the most important consideration when it comes to maintaining your child’s health. While many children with diabetes get used to taking care of their health at a young age, kids will still frequently require the help and supervision of an adult. This is especially true for activities that are outside of their routine, such as exercise, sports, or unusually active days. While a child may know how to count their own carbs, work their CGM, or even give their own insulin, they may not be able to plan on the changes that can occur during exercise. As a parent, you should work with their care team to understand how exercise can affect their blood sugar and prepare accordingly. This can mean packing extra snacks for your child before their sports practice, carrying supplies to check for ketones, or extra insulin in the event their pump is disconnected or damaged. You may also need to learn the symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia so that you can address them as soon as possible. Form a community Regardless of preparation, even the most active parent can’t be with their child 24/7. School, extracurricular activities, and social outings can separate parents from their diabetic child. Because of this, it’s a good idea to familiarize the other adults in your child’s life with their condition. Teachers, school nurses, and coaches should be aware that your child is diabetic and may require assistance or time to manage their blood sugar. Providing adults with written instructions and information can be a great way to keep them informed on what to do to maintain your child’s care during routine ups and downs or during an emergency. This information can include the basics of care for high/low blood sugar and emergency contact information for you and your child’s physicians. Reviewing this information early and verifying their understanding can keep your child safe and well throughout their activities away from home. Keeping other adults informed can avert crises that involve well-meaning adults, especially as more CGMs are paired with cell phones and mobile devices. Well-meaning, uninformed adults may try to confiscate a phone being used during practice. Keeping coaches and other adults in the loop will keep your child’s CGM in their hands and their blood sugar under control. Use a CGM to monitor blood sugar A continuous glucose monitor (or CGM) is a device that attaches to the upper arm and measures the user’s blood glucose level at regular, frequent intervals. Depending on your child’s age, they may be eligible to use certain models of CGM, such as the Freestyle Libre or Dexcom G6. These devices can connect to smart devices, so kids can monitor their own blood sugar without any finger sticks. Another perk of these devices is that they can often be paired with multiple devices, meaning that parents can keep an eye on their child’s blood sugar from home or work while their kids are at school, sports practice, or just running around in the backyard. The apps used to read CGMs include helpful features like alarms that sound when blood glucose levels rise too high or too low, prompting kids, parents, or school nurses to manage their blood sugar. While these devices require occasional calibration, constant updates make it much easier to manage blood sugar and keep kids healthy. You may wonder how these devices hold up on the most active kids. If it’s hard to get children to stop squirming long enough to get a finger stick, how will they respond to an invasive device that seems like it could fall out at any moment? Thankfully, these devices are relatively unobtrusive. Their cannula sits just beneath the surface of the skin, to measure the interstitial fluid there. Most users forget they’re on and may not even notice them being pulled out. Factory adhesives claim to keep sensors in place, but it’s very common for the devices to fall off during activity, sleeping, showers…even hugs. For added protection, many users keep their sensors safely secured with products like Skin Grip. Skin Grip is a hypoallergenic, waterproof, adhesive patch that can be used as an overlay for CGM sensors like the Freestyle Libre and Dexcom G6. Skin Grip’s patches keep sensors safe from the elements, as well as from getting lost during the hustle and bustle of sports and daily life. As sensors can be quite expensive, Skin Grip saves users money and saves them from the hassle of dealing with insurance companies to get replacements. Even better, keeping CGM sensors in place gives parents of diabetic children peace of mind, as they can keep an eye on the blood sugar. If you’re interested in giving Skin Grip a try with your CGM, order a sample patch for free. Not only do we believe in keeping kids active, but we believe in keeping them (and their parents) worry free.
4 Morning Habits to Lower Your A1C with Type 1 Diabetes
For many people with type 1 diabetes, the mornings often set the tone for how blood sugars may behave the rest of the day. When considering steps to take towards lowering your A1C or increasing your time in range, the early morning hours of your day can make a significant difference in what’s to come in the later hours. By honing in on just the morning time, it may lead to a compound effect that supports your blood sugars throughout the day. This blog post is going to explore different blood sugar management strategies to consider implementing during your morning routine.
Type 1 Diabetes & Pregnancy: 3 Myths You Need to Know About
Thinking of starting a family and living with T1D? Or are you already expecting? You probably have a lot of questions and concerns about how it is possible to have a healthy pregnancy and baby. In this blog post, we are clarifying the top 3 misconceptions about pregnancy and type 1 diabetes.
College with T1D: Navigating Stress of Diabetes During College
Going off to college can be filled with new adventures and challenges. When living with diabetes, these new experiences may be challenging as you are trying to balance “normal” college student life and taking care of your diabetes. Navigating the additional stress of diabetes during college doesn’t have to take away from your college experience. This blog post is going to discuss ways you can prepare for your college experience with T1D and the major stressors you may encounter along the way.
Cycling and T1D
Briana Kuta has been living with type 1 diabetes for 16 years and has never let her diagnosis stop her from trying new things. When she met her now-husband who was an avid cycler back in 2019, she absolutely fell in love with the sport. Briana has participated in many races– even participating in races of 100 miles! Briana shared with us some of her best tips for managing blood sugars while cycling.
Traveling Abroad with T1D: What You Need to Know
You can go to weddings in Guatemala. You can go scuba diving in Thailand– You can do hard things! These are the words that Savannah Johnson, founder of Type 1 Way Ticket lives by. Having traveled to over 42 different countries (and counting!) and living with T1D for 26 years, Savannah is quite the expert when it comes to traveling abroad with T1D. Read on for some tips that she shared with us to help you conquer common obstacles you may encounter while traveling with T1D.
How to Support a Newly Diagnosed Adult with Type 1 Diabetes
For many years, type 1 diabetes was known as juvenile diabetes because it occurred most commonly amongst children between the ages of 4-14 years old. However in recent years, it has become more apparent that T1D can actually occur at any age— even adulthood. There are a lot of resources available for children and families when they receive a new diagnosis, but what about adults who receive this life changing diagnosis later on in life? If you or someone you know was recently diagnosed as an adult with T1D, here are some tips for how you can support them.
Holiday Hacks for Better Blood Sugars: Type 1 Diabetes Edition
The holiday season is an exciting time of year to celebrate with friends, family and festive foods. But, it can also be stressful and overwhelming trying to balance having fun and keep your blood sugars in range. In this blog post, we will dive into all the holiday hacks that you need to know to feel confident walking into this holiday season without sacrificing your blood sugars.
Starbucks with T1D: How to Keep Your Blood Sugars in Range
Coffee is a morning ritual for most people, but making frequent visits to coffee chains like Starbucks can be challenging when you are living with diabetes. Starbucks drinks can easily have over 50g of added sugar, which is nearly double the suggested daily intake. The high amount of added sugars can make keeping your blood sugars in range while sipping on your favorite seasonal beverages quite difficult. This blog post will provide you with helpful tips and strategies so you don’t feel stuck between ordering Starbucks or keeping your blood sugars in range.
Best Pre Workout Meals and Snacks for Type 1 Diabetes
Learning what and when to eat before (and after) exercise can be overwhelming. The variables and considerations are endless- this blog post is going to discuss what and when to eat before exercise so you can have more interruption free workouts.
Diabetes Defined: Dawn Phenomenon, Somogyi Effect, and Feet to Floor Syndrome
If you are living with diabetes, you likely have experienced one (or more) of these scenarios. Instead of scratching your head trying to make sense of what your blood sugar is doing, this blog post is going to break them down so you have more clarity on your blood sugar data and considerations to bring up to your healthcare team.
Conquering the Pizza Bolus with Type 1 Diabetes
Pizza is one of the biggest food culprits inside the diabetes community. It is widely known for being extremely difficult to dose for and causing stubborn high blood sugars for hours at a time. Instead of surrendering to pizza and accepting defeat, this blog post is going to discuss helpful strategies for helping you conquer the infamous pizza bolus.
