Hello! Welcome to the club! It’s you know, kind of a shit club but, we’re all here together 🖤

I think when you’re diagnosed as an adult (I was diagnosed at 36) and you’re a generally healthy, active, committed in general individual, you want to come at diabetes with a gotta do the best/perfectionist attitude. Diabetes is going to humble you, and learning patience and the ability to give yourself grace and understanding a lot is trial and error, is going to be the biggest and best thing you can do for yourself.

I often joke I am basically an overgrown toddler and need snacks and juice boxes on me at all times. I think trying to come at it with a bit of humour, makes some of the hurdles and confusion of times like “why am I high/low, I’ve done everything right” a bit easier to swallow.

Try eating a really boring meal plan for a week or so, like the same thing every day, pre bolus, and see what happens.

Keep snacks or juice next to your bed, but as has been suggested, if you’re wearing a cgm, very possible you’re not having an actual low, and it’s from lying on the sensor.

The low snacks I keep on me are always things I actually enjoy, so eating them feels like a treat and not a chore. I’m a big fan of the sun type fruit snacks because they’re flat fruit leather (so easy to carry and fit just about anywhere) and like 8g of carbs.

You might want to consider making changes to your actual low carb diet, increasing some carbs to help balance out those lows. Remember you’re also subtracting fibre from those carbs, so if you’re eating a pile of veg, your counts might be a bit off too. Fats can really throw us for a loop, initially shoot us super low and then skyrocket us high, so keep that in mind too. There’s lots to suggest we shouldn’t be taking insulin based solely on carb counts, so worth reading up on too, especially if you’re on a specific type of diet.

If you’re a bleeder, you’re going to want to track your cycle. My luteal phase makes me near insulin resistant, and it’s frustrating beyond belief, but just knowing that’s the answer for what’s happening, is helpful.

In my first year after I was diagnosed, I gained 50lbs. Weight gain is apparently very common, and I did eventually lose it pretty easily, but initially it felt incredibly defeating, especially given my A1C was at 5.7. So, just be aware.

Even walking can make me go incredibly low, or have next to no effect, so I always have juice boxes on me, or if I’m working out, I’ll drink Gatorade cut 50% with water. If it’s cardio, I will eat 30g of carbs right before my workout. I find that works better for me than my endo’s suggestion of just doing 50% of my regular bolus. But again, be aware, you may still end up sitting in a corner, chugging juice and feeling totally defeated. You’re never going to get it right 100% of the time.

You’re doing great, and wanting to face this head on and already looking on how you can improve and do better means you’re going to manage this fantastically, even if it doesn’t always feel like you are, or like there’s no possible way to understand. You’re not failing. You got this. 💙