Living By Yourself with Diabetes

Monday, August 03, 2015
Living By Yourself with Diabetes

Home Alone – how to live by yourself with diabetes – and protect against lows.  Dizziness, shaking, sweating, hunger, nervousness –  symptoms of low blood sugar can awaken you in the middle of the night or creep up on you.  Confusion can set in quickly and be really frightening when you live alone.  Follow these steps to help you stay safe.

  • Secure a Plan:  Know what your symptoms are and have treatment available.  You want to be able to stay put to treat your low blood sugar.

  • Always have emergency contact and health information on hand.  Keep a list of your emergency contacts by your phone.  In addition, have your medical records handy in case of an emergency.  Whether you wear a USB on a necklace, have an app on your phone, or a list on your fridge.

  • Check your blood sugar regularly.  Checking regularly can help you avoid a low blood sugar.

  • Exercise Smart.  Always check your blood sugar before and after exercising – you may even need to check during.  Have a quick acting source of carbohydrate with you (like juice, glucose tabs, etc).  Consider checking yourself in the middle of the night - many people will have a delay in low blood sugar 6 – 8 hours after they exercise.

  • Talk with people.  Channel your 2nd grade self and adopt a buddy system.  Ask neighbors and family to check on you during certain times of the day.  Make sure all who are checking in on you are knowledgeable in how to use glucagon.

  • Your Goal Range.  Discuss this range with your doctor.  You may need a little bit higher target or goal if you are living by yourself to keep safe.  Having a bedtime snack with protein may help avoid overnight lows as well.

Live without fear!  While it can be scary to live alone with diabetes, it’s important that you don’t live in fear.  Involve your health care team and do whatever you need to do to feel safe – that you CAN live with this disease every day and make it work!

Read more: Home Connections | Direct Access Lab | Nutrition

Written by Beth Ries RN CDE
Last modified on Monday, August 03, 2015