How Can You Stay Motivated to Manage Your Diabetes?
The PDF can also be viewed here.
By: Jessica Cook MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES
Managing diabetes takes a lot of effort. It is time consuming. It can be draining and cause mental fatigue. Remembering insulin doses, medication timing, carbohydrate counting and blood sugar monitoring can seem overwhelming some days.
Here are some tips to implement to help you stay focused and on top of your diabetes management:
- Get some help! Ask your family members, friends or co-workers for support. Can they help you prepare meals or plan meals? Can they start walking in the evening with you? Can they carry around juice for you in case you have a low blood sugar? You may think it will be intrusive to ask them for help, but honestly those closest to you may want to provide support, so do not hesitate to ask!
- Get a team approach! Here at Palm Beach Diabetes and Endocrine Specialists we have diabetes educators, registered dietitians, nurses and our doctors all working together to make sure you feel supported and educated through your diabetes journey. If you are struggling reach out to a team member! We can help you with medication dosing, meal planning, prescriptions and we are your ultimate cheerleaders because we want to see you feeling your best!
- Don’t be so hard on yourself. One day of high blood sugars, ice cream on a Friday or missing a workout will not ruin your whole week of progress. Blood sugars will never be perfect! Try to correct the situation, learn from the experience and move on. Tomorrow is a new day.
- Make it fun with new recipes or workouts! If you have been stuck in a rut with diet and exercise try something new. A new recipe or start a new workout routine. This can spice it up while still being healthy.
- Take it one day at a time and remember your why! Think about why you want to be healthy. Why you want to have good blood sugars. Why do you want to feel good. On days when you do not feel that motivation just think about why you started. You are worth the time, investment and work it takes to be healthy. Remember that.
To learn more about our weight loss program, diabetes, diet & health call 561-659-6336 ext 8012 to schedule an appointment with a certified diabetes educator or registered dietitian today. Please enjoy our March 2021 Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter!
Why is My Diabetes Harder to Control than Before?
By: Kort Knudson, M.D.
We get this question frequently. It is usually followed by a confession that the patient has not been good with a diet or is not exercising as much as before. While it may help to bring blood sugars back under control with a stricter lifestyle that is not usually the whole answer.
Diabetes is a progressive disease. We do not know what happens to pancreatic beta cells when people develop diabetes, but we do know that the cells’ ability to make insulin declines by and average of 4% per year in people with type 2 diabetes. High blood sugars develop about 12 years after this condition starts. In general, medications that are used to treat diabetes lower the blood sugar, but do not stop the deterioration of the beta cell.
We do know that people will tend to need more than one type of medication or insulin after they have had diabetes for about 6 years. Some people are lucky and the diabetes progresses very slowly. In other patients the deterioration of beta cell is rapid.
We have a dozen different types of medications to control the blood sugar. They act in different ways to reduce the body’s requirement for insulin or increase the response to insulin or increase the secretion of insulin. And of course, there is always insulin which can be injected to supplement the declining output from the beta cells.
Until we have unraveled the secrets of type 2 diabetes and can prevent the beta cell deterioration, we will need to continue using our best efforts with medication combinations and lifestyle changes to keep the blood sugars under control and prevent diabetes complications.
Meet the Newest Member of the Medtronic Diabetes Family: The Minimed™770g System
By: Monika Lambertson MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES
The new MiniMed™ 770g insulin pump system builds upon the 670g model that works with SmartGuard™ sensor technology to adjust background insulin every five minutes to help reduce lows and highs thereby increasing the user's time in range. Medtronic was first to bring this hybrid closed-loop technology to market with its launch of the 670g pump with SmartGuard™ Auto Mode in 2017. Current 670g pump users may have been notified of the new 770g model but are unsure of the benefits of upgrading or if they are eligible to upgrade.
To determine upgrade eligibility or start your upgrade, call Medtronic at 877-585-0184 (M–F, 9AM–7PM EST), or go to https://www.medtronicdiabetes.com/products/device-upgrading.
770g pump benefits include:
- Updated transmitter
- Uses the same pump and sensor supplies as the 670g
- The MiniMed™ Mobile App - view your pump screen and data easily and discreetly on your smartphone device
- The CareLink™ Connect App - connect with up to five care partners to follow you and receive notifications for lows and/or highs
- Automatic CareLink uploads- Say goodbye to manual and last-minute uploads at your physician's office! With the use of MiniMed™ Mobile App and the automatic Sync to CareLink™ feature, data is automatically sent to your CareLink™ account every five minutes
- Pump is enabled for future software upgrades when available
- FREE software upgrade through December 2021
- Enter Auto Mode faster after sensor change
- Software changes to streamline user experience with less exits from Auto Mode
Upgrade Eligibility Possibilities:
- NEXT TECH PATHWAY
If you purchased a MiniMed™ 670G system after November 11, 2019, you may be eligible to upgrade the MiniMed™ 770G system for $0.
- LIFT TICKET
If you purchased a MiniMed™ insulin pump between November 14, 2018 and April 11, 2019, you may be eligible to upgrade for only $99.
- PATHWAY
If you have a MiniMed™ insulin pump with more than 6 months warranty remaining you may be eligible to upgrade for only $399.
If you have already received your 770g upgrade, or would like to learn more about the 770g, please call us to schedule an appointment at 561-659-6336 ext 8001.
Join our Socially Distanced
Healthy Meal Planning& Weight Loss
For Diabetes Class Sessions!
Join our classes to stay motivated,
& stay healthy!
West Palm Beach Location:
1515 N. Flagler Drive, Suite 430
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
Tuesday April 13th 10am-12pm
Jupiter Location:
550 Heritage Drive, suite 150 Jupiter FL, 22458
Wednesday April 14th 5:30pm-7:30pm
Boynton Beach Location:
6056 Boynton Beach, Suite 245
Boynton Beach FL 33437
Thursday April 15th 10am-12pm
If interested attending this program please contact our scheduling department at (561) 659-6336 Extension 8001 today!
At Healthy Living with Diabetes we want to ensure that you are satisfied with all services received. We also would like your input on educational workshops that you would like us to offer, information you would like to read about in Healthy Living with Diabetes Monthly or feedback on any workshop that you may have attended. You can contact the director of education personally by email jcook@PBDES.COM or leave a message at (561) 659-6336 ext. 8012. We would love to hear from you!
Check us out on the web!
www.palmbeachdiabetes.com
www.facebook.com/pbdeseducation
www.twitter.com/WpbDiabetes