Top 8 Common Mistakes That Can Worsen Your Diabetes Condition

Diabetes is a chronic condition that brings several uninvited health complications with it. Therefore, managing it with utmost precision and care is necessary. When speaking about diabetes management, we don’t just mean taking medicines on time and complying with the doctor’s instructions, but also maintaining a healthy lifestyle and knowing about all the dos and don’ts. Here’s a compilation of the top 8 common mistakes that you must avoid to manage your diabetes and maintain overall health.

Skipping Breakfast

Skipping breakfast has become very common in all age groups for a variety of reasons, and it is something that everybody, especially diabetics, should reconsider. Breakfast is an important meal of the day and not having a healthy, balanced breakfast can spike blood sugar levels and take a toll on your health. Therefore, it is crucial to begin your day with a healthy meal that is loaded with multiple nutrients.

Not Exercising Regularly

We all skip gym day a few times every month, many of us don’t work out at all, but for someone with diabetes, exercising marks the line between good management and severe complications. Regular exercising can help people with diabetes type 1 use their insulin better and may help the ones with type 2 decrease insulin resistance.

Just giving 15-20 minutes every day can make a vast difference for your health. You don’t even need to go to the gym, simple exercises such as walking, cycling, yoga, etc can help you manage your diabetes better.

Not Recording Blood Sugar Reading Timely

Blood sugar levels vary throughout the day based on your food intake, activities and many other factors. It is extremely important to maintain a log of your blood sugar levels throughout the day, as it will help your doctor understand your condition better and manage your medications. Not recording your sugar levels frequently or enough times may become an obstacle in your treatment.

Skipping Medicines

With such busy lifestyles, we tend to forget a lot of important things, sometimes we even skip a dose of medicine. However, skipping a common cold or flu medicine may not cause as severe complications as skipping your diabetes medicine may. It can wreck your entire management program and have a serious impact on your health. Therefore it is extremely crucial to make sure that you take your medications regularly and timely.

Set a reminder on your phone to remind you to take your medicines. You can also buy a weekly medication dispenser that will help you keep track of your medications.

Not Getting Adequate Sleep

Getting enough sleep and resting well is the mantra to good health, but we often overlook sleep in our haste of being more productive, without giving a second thought on how it can impact our health. It has been found that disrupted sleep cycles or not getting enough sleep can increase blood sugar levels and the risks of certain complications in diabetics and prediabetics.

Snacking Excessively

Snaking regularly is important, but if you are not conscious about what and how much you’re snacking, you can end up sabotaging your entire treatment program. Therefore, make sure you are mindful about what you’re eating and in what proportion. Steer clear from munching too much on salty or sweet snacks. Don’t snack from the bag itself, you will definitely end up eating more than required. Serve some in a bowl or dish instead, to restrict yourself from overeating.

Underestimating The Time Required Pre-meal Insulin To Work

In some cases, not taking insulin before a meal can result in increased blood sugar levels post-meal. To prevent such sudden spikes in the blood sugar levels, check your blood sugar levels and blous 15-20 minutes before eating, depending on your sugar levels and the type of insulin you take. It is advised to consult your doctor to help you guide through the process.

Mixing Up Insulin Pens

If you are diabetic, you know how complicated things can get when you mix up your insulin pens. Therefore, make sure that you use different types of pens or different coloured insulin pens to avoid confusion, or you can simply write ‘rapid’ or ‘basan’ on the pens. Some other methods of avoiding the confusion of you have same pens is tying a small piece of different coloured ribbons or keeping the pens in separate areas in the house.

Reference Links:

1. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/lack-of-sleep-and-diabetes
2. https://asweetlife.org/8-diabetes-management-mistakes-and-how-to-correct-them/
3. https://hcah.in/health-advantage/5-common-mistakes-in-diabetes/
4. https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2019/04/02/breakfast-skipping-linked-to-type-2-diabetes/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20researchers%20found%20that,never%20skipped%20their%20morning%20meal.