You’re having a great day. You’ve accomplished everything on your “to-do” list. The kids are content, the pets are taken care of, and the chores are done. You’re patting yourself on the back for the wonderful job you’ve done today. But you have a little nagging feeling in the back of your mind. Suddenly, it hits you. You forgot to do your basal insulin!

Give your basal dose once a day. Seems easy, right? And yet, almost everyone who has T1D and has been managing it with MDI (multiple daily injections) for any length of time will make this error… if they haven’t already. It happens. Maybe you get interrupted while doing your basal insulin. Or Mom and Dad accidentally both gave kiddo their basal dose one evening. Maybe long-acting and rapid-acting insulins get mixed up at some point. Whatever the reason, it’s likely that one day you’ll find yourself in this situation. So, what should we do about it when it happens?

Type 1 diabetes is a complicated condition. It’s not just carbs and insulin. There are so many factors that affect bg. So many things to think about. So much that has to be done intuitively. The complexity of T1D makes it easy to forget things sometimes. Even things as important as your basal insulin. But don’t worry! Here are some simple tips to help you remember your basal insulin, every time.

Everyone who has type 1 diabetes has to take insulin multiple times a day. Many people use an insulin pump, but for people who do daily insulin injections, it can be difficult to psyche yourself up to inject yourself each time. And when it’s a parent trying to give insulin to their child, it can become even more challenging.

Often, children will fight their injections. From trying to hide at injection time, to refusing to eat in the hopes of avoiding a shot, to outright kicking, biting, and screaming… some children will do anything to avoid getting poked.

When you have to convince, argue with, or physically hold down your child multiple times a day to give them an injection, it can be emotionally and physically exhausting. Of course, you don’t want to do this, but if they don’t get their insulin they will die.

While we don’t have a choice about giving our children insulin injections, we do have some options regarding how we go about it. Let’s talk about some techniques and gadgets that will make your child’s injection time smoother. You can successfully get through insulin shots without fighting and tears.

One day, out of nowhere, you get a diagnosis of T1D. You’re thrown into a world of sliding scales, carb counting, insulin injections, “free” snacks. You’re terrified of stacking insulin and all of the things that come with type 1 diabetes. You chug along, learning as you go. You start to get the hang of it. Things are falling into place. Yet, when you have questions, ones that have nothing to do with pumping, people tell you that you “need to get a pump”. So… what if you don’t want one?  [Read more…]