Diabetes and Scheduling: Starting a Routine

Keeping a routine when you have diabetes can help ensure adherence to diabetes management, according to Maria Koen, C.D.E., nurse practitioner, at Joslin Diabetes Center.  It helps establish consistency in blood glucose levels and reduces the risk for severe blood glucose fluctuations.

Getting Started

In order to implement a routine when you have diabetes, it's first important to gain a good understanding of what major factors influence blood glucose levels, so you can keep them in mind while building your routine.  Some major factors that influence blood glucose levels include:

• food/meals
• physical activity
• diabetes medications and/or insulin

Illness, stress, hormone levels also have a significant effect on blood glucose levels.  However, often times these factors are not easy to control or incorporate into a routine.

The second step in establishing a routine when you have diabetes is to gain an appreciation for the timing and interaction among these various factors, Koen says.  For example, understanding the action and approximate onset of meal time insulin and digestion of various micronutrients may help guarantee optimal timing of insulin administration.

What to Include in your Routine

Key components of a diabetes management or lifestyle routine should include relatively consistent:

• meal schedules
• physical activity schedules
• sleep schedules

Depending on what type of diabetes medication or insulin you take, it may also be necessary to select a specific time for administration.  Some types of insulin and/or diabetes medications should be coordinated with meals, while others should not.  Some regimens also allow for more meal time flexibility than others.  In selecting a diabetes medication/insulin program, it's best to think about your own individual preferences and lifestyle, she says.  Speak with your diabetes team about your preferences so you can find the most appropriate and effective diabetes medication treatment plan.

Starting a routine should facilitate your ability to manage your diabetes by allowing for some control in preventing erratic or severe high or low blood glucose patterns, which can be beneficial to your diabetes management.  For more information on starting a routine when you have diabetes, make an appointment with a Joslin diabetes educator by calling (617) 732-2400.