Gift Yourself Grace: Navigating the holiday season with type 1 diabetes
The holiday season can serve as a time to establish tradition and reaffirm relationships. It can also be a time of high stress and emotion. When living with a chronic condition like type 1 diabetes, the season also arrives bearing gifts of a challenging nature.
Type 1 diabetes is a full-time job, no matter how you look at it, and it does NOT take time off. EVER. Sometimes those daily tasks associated with diabetes management become palpable at the end of the year. If you toss in all the “extra” of the holiday season, it creates the potential for burnout.
The holidays can demand a lot from us.
While often viewed as a time of happiness and joy, the holiday season, for some, is a time of anxiety and loneliness. The busyness of the season and the expectations we place on ourselves can create an influx of stress. The shorter days and colder weather can also impact both our mental and physical health. Navigating food and gatherings can also be more difficult, especially if avoiding relatives who ask, “should you be eating that?” as you nibble on a gingerbread cookie.
While the timing of these challenges may not garner a warm fuzzy feeling, it is because of their timing that these moments are often highlighted and woven into our memories of the holiday season.
And that means we can utilize them to prepare and plan for the next one.
Sleighing Through the Stress
Type 1 diabetes itself can be stressful. The constant monitoring of blood glucose levels, carb counting, insulin dosing, site changes, injections, navigating highs and lows (and everything in between!), plus the emotions attached to those actions already places strain on a person living with, or caring for a person living with diabetes.
Combining all of that with a hectic holiday season can leave people feeling stressed.
When we are stressed our bodies release adrenaline and cortisol, and that can make diabetes management difficult. Stress can impact your blood glucose levels; during moments of stress, we may see our blood glucose levels rise.
I have personally found that it can often be difficult to pinpoint the thing causing me stress, but if it is obvious to you, then eliminating it is your first course of action.
Another way you can combat stress is through movement. Whether partaking in a workout or a spontaneous kitchen dance party while decorating cookies, moving your body will assist in decreasing your blood glucose levels.
Breathing. We all do it. But learning how to employ slow, deep, controlled breaths can be beneficial during stressful moments. Even if you have to sneak to somewhere quiet for 5 minutes, sit and breathe mindfully.
Employing these tactics, where and when I can, is helpful when navigating the holidays. But I would be remiss if I neglected to mention my insulin pump. Otis (my Omnipod DASH® PDM) is an integral member of my support team and has helped simplify the holidays for me over the last few years. Being able to make on the fly adjustments allows me to spend more time to enjoying the holidays.
Simplify your diabetes management with the Omnipod DASH® Insulin Management System. Watch an overview of the system here.
The holidays and special events of the last two years have looked a little different. We have moved family gatherings and celebrations virtually or skipped them altogether. But as we re-introduce situations and start coming together in-person again it can be overwhelming.
It is important to remember that it is okay to say no.
Cold Weather Warnings
When you live somewhere the temperature fluctuates, you may notice that your blood glucose levels do the same. And this can create additional hurdles during the holiday season.
The thermometer today is reading close to minus 15-degrees Celsius.When you live somewhere the temperature fluctuates, you may notice that your blood glucose levels do the same. And this can create additional hurdles during the holiday season.
The thermometer today is reading close to minus 15-degrees Celsius. Not only does that signal a need for warmer gear but also to reconfigure the storage of diabetes supplies I need when out in the snow. My Omnipod DASH PDM, cell phone (where I can see my continuous glucose monitor readings), and low treatments, will now reside in the inside pocket where they are closer to the warmth of my body.
While stress often leaves us being reactive, we can plan and take the initiative when it comes to the challenges of wintry weather and type 1 diabetes. Here are some tips:
- Maintaining good hydration and health is important. Indoor heat can dehydrate, so along with getting good rest and being mindful of handwashing, remember to drink water.
- Keep an eye on your blood glucose levels. Should you be fortunate and wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), have a peek more frequently at your numbers. And, if you monitor with a glucometer, you may consider testing more often; it can prove beneficial and allow you catch those potential fluctuations.
- Get your body moving. This may be harder for some during the colder weather, but a bit of movement every day can go a long way. Even walking laps around your house or climbing the stairs will help your body and blood glucose levels in the colder temperatures.
- Try and keep your spirit light. Mental health is every bit as important as physical health. There are so many factors ready to come together for seasonal burnout (end of the year, colder temperatures, diabetes burnout, winter blues) so reach out to your family, friends, or healthcare team, if you need to.
Festive Food-ing
Ah, the holidays. The time of year where it feels like there is an endless parade of nibbles and seasonal snacks always at arm’s length. If you are like me, that means grazing, and often, blood glucose levels higher than I would like.
I try my best to execute diplomacy. Do not focus on the numbers too much. If your blood glucose levels drop/spike then treat/correct and move on, do not dwell on it.
I love to cook and bake, especially in preparation of the holidays, so when I am in the kitchen for hours it is not unusual to find my blood sugars creeping higher as I have a taste of this and that. However, this year I was able to employ what I discovered last year and ran an increased temp basal while decorating cookies with my son and niece.
Visiting friends and family during the holidays can also present culinary challenges. Plan and make inquiries – nowadays people have a variety of dietary needs so requesting menu information is not unusual. Ask if carb counts are available. This is also a wonderful time to establish boundaries and educate people that you can eat that gingerbread cookie, you just need to bolus for it.
If you find that stressful or uncomfortable, then bring your own food or snacks.
Remember, it is your health, both physical and mental so do what you need to feel your best.
DASH-ing Through It All
The commercialization of the holidays creates the unrealistic expectation that we will all rejoice and feel nonstop holiday cheer. If you combine those feelings with a chronic condition like diabetes it can lead to seasonal burnout and added stress.
While the holiday season, and all it brings with it, is temporary, type 1 diabetes is not, something made abundantly clear to me this year as I was due up for a site change on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.
It was a stark reminder that diabetes really does not take a break.
It is a 24/7/365-day job.
However, through conscious and careful planning, and by making room for diabetes at my holiday table, I was able to more easily navigate the challenges and stressors that will inevitably arise.
Remember to be mindful of you. Learn to recognize when you need to take a step back or just sit down and breathe for 5 minutes or decline an invitation.
Keep in mind there are things like wintry weather and stress that can impact your blood glucose levels. Simply being aware of them makes them more manageable.
Do try to enjoy yourself, and that seasonal treat! Remember that what you eat is no one else’s business and requesting carb counts or menu information to better plan your dosing is a completely understandable ask.
Most importantly, the holiday season presents a suitable time to employ grace and goodwill towards yourself, something important to establish and carry with you into the impending new year.