Thursday, July 8, 2010

Hot Hot Hot: Managing Diabetes in the Heat


It is sizzling hot up in here! The east coast has had a major heatwave this week. Temperatures have topped over  100 degrees the past few days here in the Washington, DC Metro area. Today we are supposed to get a break; that is if you call mid 90s a break. Ugh.

I grew up in San Diego where, in my opinion, the weather is darn near perfect almost year-round. There is no heat+humidity in Sunny San Diego. Too be honest, I do not do well in heat. I get incredibly cranky and lethargic. I wish I could say that all these years living in humidity has changed that but nope.

This week I have felt very blessed to not have to leave the house. Since I'm unemployed I could manage my job search from the comforts of my air conditioned house without having to go out in this heat. This has also meant my insulin has been protected from the heat.

Here are my tips for the summer:
  • When out by the pool cover pump with a light colored tower with a bottle of water next to the pump/tubing (keeps the insulin from boiling!)
  • While out running errands I try to carry a bottle of water with me at all times. I keep it in my purse next to my insulin. I always have an opened bottle of insulin with a syringe on me in case of emergency.
  • Dehydrating is a big problem for me. I get dehydrated so easily so I try to drink as much water as often as possible. One way to make the water taste a little more interesting is to put a few slices of cut up strawberries or other fruit into the water. YUM!
  • The insulin in my pump is not something I worry about most of the time since I need to refill the resivour every 24-36 hours. 
  • My infusion sets don't tend to stick too well if I've been sweating a lot so I use skin tac (works so well with the dexcom sensors too!) and make sure to have my site in a place that won't be rubbing too much with clothing.
What tips do you have for the summer?

1 comment:

  1. Diabetes can be controlled only when you avoid sugar.You can use natvia instead of sugar. Natvia is sweeter than sugar and it helps in reducing level of blood sugar. I suggest you to try natvia and see the improvement.

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    ReplyDelete