Do you need to adapt your diabetes meds during spring? These are views from out community members

Spring is a time when the weather is improving. There's a feeling of renewal and new opportunities. We know physical activity improves our health, especially when living with chronic conditions. Here, how our health-shared community tackles the changes from a potentially slower winter period into a more active spring period. With these changes come adjustments in diabetes medications for individuals. Understanding these comes with knowledge, but also experience. Our Healthshared community shares these experiences with you here. I think that some healthcare professionals are somewhat ignorant in what it's actually like and it's really interesting when you get asked by some people you know well how much insulin do you take and you go well it depends doesn't it And they're like, well, you know, you must have a set dose. And I'm like, no, not really. And I think that there is a perception that, you know, you take your insulin three times a day and you take your own acting insulin twice a day and you do this and you do that and you have to eat the same thing every day and you have to eat at the same time and it all is all very rigid. And I don't, I mean, that doesn't work for my life. I assume that probably doesn't work for a lot of people's lives. And I don't think people necessarily realize that it Whatever you do and however you treat it, it has to work with your life as well as make your diabetes control good. And that probably you have to alter your diabetes treatment and control more than your lifestyle. The transition between winter and spring where suddenly you have, as I've said, a lot more potentially going on, on different types of activity out and about a bit more, so a bit more physical exertion is one of the more stark contrasts and I think it can take a bit of time to get your head around how that impacts on your diabetes. When you couple that with, certainly for me and perhaps for other diabetics, also finding at the beginning of the year is the time when you are getting your perhaps increasing your self-discipline after the Christmas period and picking up good habits it can be difficult to juggle all those things and maintain the good habits are also facing a significant change in your general lifestyle. Physical activity that I find that I need to concentrate on and that's something that I would choose from the list above everything else because it matters to me to stay physically fit partly because of my diabetes and also because of my age. The best way to stay healthy is to stay active. My approach to spring is about knowing, owning and building confidence. It's knowing what my current medical situation is, is confirming that with my healthcare practitioner or support work if needed, owning the problems that have been around for maybe years or just recent and developing confidence about managing them. Ultimately, as this is a medical information related chat, we can't hide from the medical problems that we have acquired, we have to deal with them. And knowing, owning, and having that confidence are really, for me, one key characteristic of looking after oneself. There are over 500 million people in the world with diabetes, and there is a huge amount of ongoing investment in medicines from industry, and quite rightly so. But it can be daunting hearing so many different thoughts and points of view. Having confidence comes from being familiar with what's out there. But how do you get started? Knowing it's OK to take small steps can reduce some of those fears and anxieties. Join us at healthshare.com and join the conversation with like-minded people who also want to take ownership of their health. you