Hi everyone, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while working long hours as a mac video editor. My job involves intense focus and long screen time, and I’m finding it hard to balance that with regular glucose checks, meal timing, and noticing early highs/lows.
For those who were diagnosed while already in a demanding routine, how did you adjust your daily diabetes management in a way that felt sustainable? Any practical tips would really help.
Hi Alisha @alishawinson , and Welcome to the Breakthrough T1D Community Forum!
Adjusting to a life with autoimmune diabetes under all conditions can be, and is, difficult and a challenge. The very basic formula for effective management is learning to balance food and exercise/activity with exactly the correct amount of insulin - not easy, and the learning curve can be long. Add to those three elements is stress that may have a high impact on glucose levels, infection, no matter how slight, will also sky-rocket glucose level. Learning your body and YOUR diabetes will be important with your diabetes, and things will change as your body adjusts to artificial insulin as your natural insulin completely ceases. A line I’ve used a few times during presentations - “The only constant in diabetes is change”.
My suggestions are few:
Try to live as constant a schedule while learning about your diabetes
If possible, get a Constant Glucose Monitor [CGM] to assist you in avoiding hypoglycemia - low blood sugar
Always have a quick-acting glucose at hand that is simple to eat
Be good to yourself
Hi Alisha. I work in IT so like you I spend all day in front of a screen pushing buttons although I had the “advantage” of already having diabetes when I started. Couple of thigs that might help
Personally I found a sit-stand desk helpful. You mentioned meal timing, when I was on a higher basal rate my BG would be crashing into lunch and dinner. Lowering it helped along with reducing breakfast carbs, and the desk, etc. Like with most diabetes things its never just one change.
I think I can try to follow these advise to look after my health but wish me luck that I follow these protocol.
Having a job where you are at a desk may be easier than one that is very active all day. Your concern with lows will be related to timing of meals and snacks rather than lifting and intense physical activity. I suggest setting a timer for every couple of hours so you can check your numbers and see if you should have a snack or it’s time for lunch - before CGMs that’s what I did if was home alone overnight. If you’re just starting to take insulin your doctor will probably make some adjustments based on record keeping. There are lots of diabetes trackers you can choose from. I enter my food as I go but if you take lunch to work you might find it more convenient to log what you make in advance and be sure to update the time to reflect when you actually ate it. You and your doctor will look at your numbers to see if your carb ratio and basal rates are good.