7 hacks for diabetes: tips, tricks, and helpful advice

Living with diabetes can be challenging, but there are plenty of life hacks that can help make managing your condition easier. Discover diabetes tips and tricks to improve daily routines, prepare for emergencies, and manage your health.

You may have your emergency contact noted on your phone, but that doesn't help if emergency workers can't unlock it. You can add emergency information to the Health App on an iPhone.¹ Some Android^™ phones have an emergency contact and medical information feature in the phone's settings. These features enable first responders to easily locate vital information, providing quick and appropriate care.

Another great option is to type up emergency contacts and basic health information (such as the type of diabetes and your medication) and save it as an image that you can use as the background on your lock screen. This ensures that, in case of an emergency, responders can quickly access your medical information.

Hypoglycemia can strike at any time, including during sleep . To address this concern, consider keeping juice boxes near your bed.² Some fruit juices are fine to drink at room temperature and can make it easier to treat your low blood sugar symptoms when you're sleepy. Keeping glucose tablets or hard candies near your bed can also help you avoid the hassle of searching for them if you experience low blood sugar in the middle of the night. Consult your healthcare provider for more information on making healthy snack choices and other ways to help manage nocturnal hypoglycemia.

Whether it's test strips, oral medication, insulin, or any other diabetes management supply you need to manage your daily therapy routines, there are steps you can take to avoid running out of them. For paper prescriptions, use a rubber band to hold your next prescription (or a reminder to call and refill) around your current supplies. When you open the last (or second-to-last) package, you’ll know it’s time to call your doctor or pharmacy. 

If you can choose a prescription auto-refill, this option can ensure that you’ll always have what you need without worrying.

Timely interventions are crucial to managing your diabetes. If you use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), increasing the notification volume on your phone or placing your receiver near a glass next to your bed can help amplify the alarm sound to wake you up.

A second set of diabetes supplies, such as testing kits and low blood sugar treatments, makes it easy to grab and go anytime you leave for the day or travel for business. Extra batteries and a coin for opening battery compartments are also handy.

When you're away from home and need to dispose of used lancets or needles, a portable sharps container is invaluable. An old prescription or vitamin bottle, boldly labeled "sharps," can be used to hold onto used lancets or needles. Keep one in your go bag for easy, safe disposal while on the move.

An old test strip vial is the perfect size for storing used diabetes test strips that you can eventually dispose of. These vials are the ideal size to collect used test strips. Just label them with brightly colored tape or a sticker so you can easily distinguish between new and old.

These diabetes hacks have been shared throughout the diabetes community to help others manage their diabetes, from emergency preparedness to daily management.

You're not alone on your diabetes journey, and there are countless resources and support networks available to assist you in your pursuit of a healthier and more comfortable life with diabetes. Staying positive and optimistic, along with the right tools, can help you manage diabetes and live a fulfilling life.

Sources:

1. Jill Duffy. How to Add Emergency Info to Your Phone’s Lock Screen. PCMag UK. Published January 29, 2024. Accessed February 9, 2024. https://uk.pcmag.com/health-fitness/70260/how-to-add-emergency-info-to-your-phones-lock-screen
2. Siamashvili M, Davis HA, Davis SN. Nocturnal hypoglycemia in type 1 and type 2 diabetes: an update on prevalence, prevention, pathophysiology and patient awareness. Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab. 2021;16(6):281-293. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17446651.2021.1979391 

_{Before making any changes to your lifestyle or medication, please speak to your healthcare professional to check it is suitable for you.}

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