No, not that d-bag. In the world of T1D, a “d-bag” is your diabetes supply bag. It’s kind of like a go-bag for diabetes. Because, well, your pancreas isn’t pulling its weight. You need to bring supplies with you everywhere to make up for it. But, which things should you pack? Are you packing too much? Too little? Are you missing something important? Do you really need all that stuff whenever you go anywhere? And what the heck are you supposed to use to carry it all?
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When Jordan was diagnosed, we carried a diaper bag full of supplies everywhere we went. It was loaded and I was paranoid about everything we did and everything he ate. Even venturing to the playground down the street was stressful.
Over the years, we had times when we swung the other way too. Occasionally, I’d simply grab a juice box or a couple of packs of Skittles and throw them in my pocket as we were heading out the door.
It’s great to feel comfortable with T1D, but it was verging on complacency and we have had a couple of times where we were out and didn’t have the supplies we needed.
Finally, after several years, we’ve come to find a decent balance between the two extremes. So, I figured I’d share a list of necessities and show you what we keep in Jordan’s diabetes bag.
With T1D we always need to be able to do 3 main things:
- Check blood glucose levels.
- Treat low blood sugar (eat)
- Treat high blood sugar (administer insulin)
So, whether you are MDI, use an iPort, on an insulin pump…
Whether you are doing finger pokes or using a CGM or FGM…
You don’t want to get caught away from your supplies and unable to perform one of those 3 tasks.
Don’t have a d-bag? Maybe this bag from Bags Made to Order will suit your needs.
Every T1D needs these in their d-bag
“It’s ok, we’ll be near a store if you have a low blood sugar”
It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, or how long you’ve had T1D. There are a couple of things that everyone with T1D should always have in their d-bag. The last thing you want is to be out and about dealing with low blood sugar with no way of treating it. If you carry nothing else with you, make sure you always have these things:
- Low treatments. Yes, plural. Whether you use juice boxes, candy, honey sticks… whatever your preferred low treatment is, it’s important to always have several low treatments on hand.
- Glucagon. It can happen to anyone. A sudden low that causes you to pass out or have a seizure. You might be with someone who knows how to use glucagon. If you are, it is helpful if you have some in your trusty d-bag.
I know that often it seems like something will be a quick trip and you might not need to bring anything. I’ve heard enough stories about people with T1D who get stuck in unexpected situations without their supplies to make us bring Jordan’s stuff EVERY TIME.
Like getting stuck in an elevator when you’re quickly going to another floor. Accidentally getting locked outside without your keys when you just went down to the front door to check the mail. Things happen, it’s always best to be prepared.
The basics for your d-bag
Regardless of what sort of technology you use (or don’t use), there are some other supplies that you don’t want to get stuck without.
- Snacks. I’m not talking about something to treat an urgent low blood glucose level. Something like granola or protein bars. Food that will help if you’re starting to trend a little lower than you’d like or if you’re going to be doing some extra exercise.
- Glucometer. Whether or not you use a CGM or FGM, having a manual way to test your blood sugar is always a good idea. No one wants to be starting dinner at a nice restaurant when their Dexcom gets ripped off and there is no other way to test blood sugar.
- Test strips. Yeah, refer to my fun story above about the time Jordan and I forgot to pack test strips…
- Lancets. Hahaha!! Does anyone really change those?? Seriously though, some people change them every time. And We’ve personally had lancets bend for one reason or another, so it’s good to have backups even if you aren’t a “good” lancet-changing person.
This list is getting pretty long. Maybe the bag I suggested above won’t hold all of the supplies you need. This fun alpaca bag from Dia-Be-Tees might be better. There are other designs if unicorns aren’t your thing.
Other things to consider
- Pump supplies. If your pump site ripped off, what would you need to replace it? Whether it’s an extra pod or tubing and an inset, having these things can save your fun day out.
- CGM supplies. If your sensor expires or comes off while you’re away from home, do you want a spare? Maybe you’re ok with having no CGM for a few hours, maybe you want to start a new one right away. Keep that in mind when packing your d-bag. It’s also a good place to keep your receiver or reader.
- Extra insulin. Pen fills or vials, having a spare on you is always a good idea. You never know when you might drop a vial or use more than expected in your pump.
- MDI supplies. Syringes, pen tips, both long and short-acting insulins. Even if you aren’t MDI, you might consider keeping these things on hand, just in case.
- Batteries and charger. For your pump, your glucometer, or whatever other diabetes tech you carry with you.
- Ketone meter. You may or may not want this in your d-bag all the time, but if you don’t have one, I strongly suggest getting one at least to keep at home. The urine strips are far less accurate when testing for ketones.
- Tape or other CGM and pump covers. Spontaneously going swimming? Slap some tape on that pump site before you get in the water. CGM starting to peel while playing at the park? Grab a cover and fix it up before it gets caught on something and rips off.
- Alcohol swabs, tissues, adhesive remover, and bandaids. Whatever you need for blood, finger pokes, site changes, gushers, and the like.
What’s in Jordan’s d-bag?
First, he has his “checker”. That’s what we call his PDM case.
In it is:
- His PDM
- The bottle of test strips we’re currently using
- The pen fill of insulin we’re currently using and a spare
- Lancets
There are also always tons of used test strips in there, but that’s not really helpful. Gotta love opening up the case to have a dozen strips jump out all over the place though. Diabetic confetti?
His checker goes in his d-bag whenever he leaves the house. This is the bag we use for Jordan. Grab yours here.
In his d-bag:
- Skittles. So many skittles. Sometimes broken down into small bags. Sometimes in a bigger bag straight from the bulk section.
- Special K bars. 2 or 3 at all times. This is mainly what he uses before things like gym or if he’s heading to a friend’s place for a nerf gun war or to play on the trampoline.
- Extra test strips. The current bottle is already in his case, but since 10 year old boys have a habit of going, “I just used my last test strip” at the most inconvenient time, we keep extras in his d-bag.
- 2 or 3 spare pods.
- Glucagon.
- PDM case and phone.
This list got pretty long
Here’s a quick and easy checklist for you. Simply click and print. You can keep it on your fridge, in a diabetes binder, or even in your d-bag for safe keeping!
When you forget to re-stock your d-bag…
Jordan uses a Dexcom CGM and an Omnipod insulin pump. What happened in 5th grade when he forgot to stock up his d-bag before school one day? It was the perfect storm.
He was actually stocking it up that morning. I saw him checking his low treatments and thought nothing of it. I kept getting the other kids ready for school and never double-checked.
We put on a new Dexcom G5 sensor, and off they went to school. So, he needed to do finger pokes for 2 hours as needed while his new sensor warmed up, and then 2 finger pokes to calibrate.
Recess: We realize that we forgot to start his sensor warm-up. So, 2 more hours of finger pokes. Not a huge deal. He was also high at that point. Around 15 mmol/L. Not great, we would have caught that way earlier if his Dex had been up and running. But… treat and move on.
Lunchtime: He says he’s now at 21 mmol/L. Really not good. But still treatable. Then comes the text, “I’m out of test strips”.
So, he’s now at 21, used his last test strip, has no spares in his d-bag (apparently he forgot to check that while he was restocking in the morning), and his CGM won’t start up until it gets calibrations (which we need 2 test strips to do).
Is it completely terrible that he had to run home to grab more strips in the middle of the school day? No.
But, it could have been avoided if we had checked and properly packed his diabetes bag.
Being prepared is a big part of the battle when dealing with T1D. Make sure you’re ready for the curveballs diabetes throws at you.
Happy Carb Counting!
~Leah
Do you carry anything that wasn’t on the list? What do you use for your T1 supplies? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to head over to the Carb Counting Mama Facebook page and “like” for more posts, memes, and info about T1D.
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