Tools to Manage Your Diabetes

A person with diabetes has problems with producing insulin that allows the body to properly absorb glucose or sugar. Many diabetic patients need to take insulin injections or pills that will help to reduce the blood sugar. If you do not take steps to manage your diabetes, your blood sugar can climb out of control and leave you with several complications.

Managing Diabetes

There are several tools you need to manage your diabetes. These tools include the following:

• Healthy diet  
• Exercise program
• Blood test monitor
• Medications

When you have diabetes you cannot afford to stuff your face with anything and everything you see. Refined sugars can be detrimental to your blood sugar and they can cause you to suffer from high blood sugar problems. Then you will eventually have a blood sugar crash where your blood sugar drops so low that you may start to feel shaky, tired, disoriented, sweating, and you will pass out or collapse into a coma if you leave your low blood sugar problems untreated.

A healthy diet is the most important aspect of managing diabetes. If you have a hard time sticking to the diet, meet with your doctor or a dietician to discuss some of the alternative options that are available for you. A great way to manage the peaks and valleys with your blood sugar is to drink nutritional supplements in between meals. These supplements are designed with the proper balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fiber for your diet. They can help you avoid crashing and they will regulate your blood sugar longer in case you are late getting to one of your schedule meal times.

You need to pay close attention to the times when you eat. It helps to have a consistent schedule for your blood sugar to remain consistent. If you miss a meal, it will throw your entire body out of whack. Never skip a meal and always look for high fiber and high protein foods that will slowly absorb into the bloodstream.

Exercise is another big part of managing diabetes. You need to develop an exercise program with your doctor that is specific to your age, gender, and weight. When you exercise, it will release endorphins into the bloodstream, allowing you feel better but it also helps to burn off extra sugar, which helps the body with the production of insulin. Avoid exercise routines that cause your feet to rub against shoes. Feet are a common problem amount diabetics so you need to take proper care of them and avoid getting sores that can cause extreme problems for you in the future. Keep your weight under control. If you let your BMI get over 25, you will have a harder time controlling your diabetes.

You need to test your blood sugar levels multiple times a day in order to properly manage diabetes. Here are some excellent blood test monitors that are easy to use and simple to read: http://www.caregiverpartnership.com/landing/diabetes/. Check your test strips to make sure they have not expired or are damaged if you get a reading that you feel is invalid. You will need control solution to reset the blood test monitor along with a lancet to get a sample of your blood for the test strips.

Meet with your doctor about your condition to find out if you can manage it on your own or if you are going to need additional medications that produce insulin and provide your body with a chance to convert the sugar to energy. Insulin injections may need to be used multiple times a day to help your body with your blood sugar problems.

About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wisc. Visit http://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353.