blood sugars

Stress causes hyperglycemia as shown on Freestyle Libre reader

Stress on blood sugars: side effects and strategies

Stress on blood sugars, it’s a disaster zone for T1D management. Believe me, I know this first hand! My stress levels started to skyrocket about two months ago. I had a lot of professional responsibilities weighing on me, as well as personal impacts that had my heart racing a little quicker, my mind fluttering like a butterfly, and my skin itching to get away from me. Most recently, we’ve added a most annoying eye twitch to the mix. And my blood sugars have skyrocketed too – elevating anywhere from 3-5 or more mmol/L higher than usual, resulting in Increased mealtime insulin dosing Increased basal rates Increased correction doses That’s because stress on blood sugars wreaks havoc. I remember when I was still in school, one particular exam where my blood sugars jumped about 6 mmol/L from usual right before the exam. They hovered in that above target range for the […]

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This diabetes dietitian says eating bread is A-OK when you have type-1 diabetes

Bread challenge with type-1 diabetes

Bread can be a HUGE challenge in managing blood sugars with type-1 diabetes, but that doesn’t mean we have to avoid it. Read more for tips on how to navigate and manage bread with T1D.

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Hiking the Bruce Trail with type-1 diabetes

Podcast: Trials of thru hiking with T1D

Chris Scully-Brown shares her story, with diabetes dietitian Katie Bartel, of hiking 600 km straight with type-1 diabetes constantly at her side in today’s episode of Diabetic to Dietetics. Additional article featured below. The Bruce Trail Chris Scully-Brown would walk 5,000 miles – and more – if she could. Scully-Brown refuses to let type-1 diabetes stand in the way of her physical pursuits. Proof in point: she recently took on the Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail is one of Canada’s oldest and most rugged paths that spans approximately 900 km from Niagara to Tobermory in southern Ontario. Scully-Brown hiked with constant stabs of pain, which never let her forget that she suffers from bilateral frozen shoulder. She walked through weeks of nausea. She trekked with erratic blood sugars. And she did it all solo after her dog Penny quit 2 days into the trail because of saddle sores. ‘I didn’t

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Cycling and Diabetes: Third Time Lucky

Third Time Lucky. It took three rides on the bike before I managed near blood sugar perfection. All the rides began around the same time, a few hours after breakfast, but varied in distance and length. The first ride back, I was chasing lows the entire time, even before we began, my blood sugars were dropping. Ugh. About 30 minutes before the ride, I inhaled half a peanut butter and jam sandwich on whole grain bread, around 25g carbs, no insulin. My blood sugars were 7.6 before the sandwich, and 20 minutes later were down to 6.1. I dropped my continuous basal insulin down 70 per cent. An hour into the ride, my blood sugars were at 4.5. I ate a savoury salted sweet potato Clif gel, which was all sorts of disgusting, had 2 dried apricots, and turned my basal off completely. At lunch, an hour later, they were

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She-Diabetic: Hear me roar

Oh man, I walked into that doctor’s office, pounded my chest with great amounts of bravado and announced I am She-Diabetic, hear me roar! Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly how it went down, but in my head that’s how it played out. As you know, after last week’s appointment with my maternity doctors, I walked out feeling crushed, defeated, like I was the worst mom-to-be ever. But thanks to the advice of my moms and sister-in-law, I decided to take charge. I made a follow-up appointment on Monday with the senior doctor in the clinic who has a pretty good history with my family. I had a page full of notes with me to ensure I wouldn’t forget a thing, and with my voice somewhat on the shaky side (Hey! Even She-Ra didn’t like confrontation without her super-chick costume!) I listed off all the reasons why I had concerns

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