3 Ways to Manage Your Diabetes

Having diabetes can be hard to manage, especially when you have to keep your sugar levels within the recommended range your doctor told you. What makes this very difficult is the many outside factors that can contribute your sugar levels to change unexpectedly at times. 

To better help you manage living with diabetes, here are four steps you can follow. 

Find More Information

The first step into managing your diabetes is to learn about your diagnosis, so you can stay educated and informed.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes comes in different types of forms. 

-      Type 1

In type one diabetes, your body cannot make insulin which is a problem because your body needs insulin to take the sugar from foods and turn them into energy for your body. To live, your body needs to do this constantly, so with type 1, you will need to take insulin every day.

-      Type 2

Type two is when your body makes insulin, but not well. You probably need to take some sort of pill or insulin shot to help you control your diagnosis. Out of the three types of diabetes, type 2 is the most common. 

-      Gestational Diabetes

This only occurs to some women when they are pregnant. If a female experience this, it will sometimes go away after the baby is born.

Why Do I Need to Take Care of Myself?

If you want to feel good in the future, you will need to take better care of yourself. Some of the benefits that come from  taking care of your diabetes and if your sugar levels are usual includes: 

  • You have more energy.
  • You’re not as tired.
  • You don’t need to pee as much.
  • Fewer chances of skin or bladder infections.
  • Your body can heal better. 
  • Less likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

Now, if you don’t take care of yourself like you should be doing, then some of the things that can happen are:

  • Heart attack.
  • Eye problems. 
  • Pain.
  • Kidney problems. 
  • Teeth and gum irritation. 

Know Your As and Bs

Knowing your As and Bs refers to your A1C and Blood pressure. If you manage this you will be able to lower your chances of getting a heart attack, stroke, or develop any other diabetic problem. 

A

A stands for knowing your A1C levels. This is a blood test that can measure your average blood sugar level from the past three months. 

This is important to know because you don’t want these levels to be too high. After all, if they are, then they can start to damage your heart, kidneys, feet, eyes, and blood vessels. 

The goal for this blood lab test is for your levels to be below a 7. While it may be different from person to person, make sure you ask your medical doctor what number range you should be in. 

B

B stands for blood pressure. This is the force of the blood in your body going against the wall of the blood vessels. 

You don’t want to let your blood pressure go too high because that means your heart is working too hard. Over time if left unchecked, it can cause a heart attack or a stroke. 

Coping With Your Diabetes

It’s common to feel overwhelmed or sad when living with diabetes, but you have to learn how to deal with your diagnosis and learn some ways in how you can stay healthy. 

Some things that can help you cope with your diabetes includes:

Not being so stressed

Stress can raise your blood sugar by a lot. While trying not to be stressed is easier said than done, but what you can do is practice some breathing techniques, picking up a hobby, taking a walk, or anything that can take your mind off of your stress. 

Eating Healthier

Having diabetes, you will need to start making some changes in your life. Some of them include eating healthier. 

Try buying foods that are low in calories, fats, trans fat, salt, and sugar. You will also need to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and drink more water instead of juice or soda. 

While this is a good start, contact your medical doctor or nutritionist to determine any other dietary instructions you need to follow. 

Being More Active

Starting to exercise every day or every other day is a very important step into managing your diabetes. If you are scared of how to start, you can start small, meaning go outside and taking a 10-minute walk, three times a day. 

You can also schedule certain days out the week to work out on muscle training, stretching, or yoga. The more active you are and the healthier options you put in your body to fuel it, the better you will feel. 

Create A Schedule

With diabetes, it will feel as if you have to worry and take care of a million different things every day. So, creating a schedule that you can follow will help you relieve some of the stress you might feel. 

You can schedule a reminder time on your phone when to take your medication and take time out of every day to continuously check your feet for any cuts, blisters, swelling, or discoloration. If you see any of these signs, then try going or contacting your care team right away. 

Setting up alarms to take your medication is a great thing to do if you’re always busy but have your phone on you at all times. You can also schedule a time to check your blood sugar levels so you can gauge if it’s too high or too low

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