The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes

Life is safer than ever for men and women with diabetes; continuous glucose monitors, hybrid closed-loop insulin pumps, faster-acting insulin, and more accurate carbohydrate counting and precision medicine have saved thousands of lives and make the day-to-day with diabetes easier than ever.

One element of that technology that has been a godsend for parents and loved ones of folks with diabetes is Dexcom Share. This feature of the G6 Dexcom continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) app allows the patient to share their glucose data with up to 10 other people, who receive all glucose levels, trends, and alerts to their cell phones 24 hours a day. But what is lifesaving for some seems too intrusive for others.

This article will outline Dexcom Share etiquette and what you ought to do if you’re in a sticky Share situation.

The CGM Revolution

Continuous glucose monitors save lives. What was unheard of only a decade ago is now ubiquitous in the diabetes community. Many people (thanks to widespread private insurance coverage and Medicaid expansion covering this expensive equipment in more states than ever) with diabetes wear these sensors on their skin, giving them up to 288 blood glucose readings per day.

More and more of these systems do not require calibrations, so offspring and adults alike are more free from constant finger pricking, unpredictable blood sugars, and stubborn HbA1c levels without an apparent cause.

CGMs make life with diabetes easier, more predictable, and more manageable for patients and their caregivers. 1st introduced with the G4 Dexcom system in 2015, the Dexcom Share app has been revolutionary in that it allows loved ones of people with diabetes stick to their blood sugars and be alerted to both high and low levels at all hours of the day.

It seems like a simple solution for kids, teenagers, and adults who may struggle with hypo-unawareness or to just act as a second set of eyes on an all-too-often complicated disease, right? Wrong.

Diabetes Is Personal

Diabetes and blood glucose data are personal. Some people are super unbolt and accessible about their diabetes, but others are not. A 19-year-old away at college may be shy about sharing all of her blood sugar data with a new boyfriend, or she may be trying to exert her independence and prefer not to have her mom constantly texting her, asking if she’s treating her midnight low.

And at the same time as it seems counterintuitive (why wouldn’t we have as many safeguards in place as possible?), letting (mature) kids and teens become aware of to manage their diabetes on their own and step into their autonomy is important for growth.

While the feature is absolutely vital for younger children and people who suffer from hypo-unawareness, if you have a tiny tot or teenager who is extremely independent, mature, managers their diabetes well, and isn’t comfortable with the Share feature, it’s worth the conversation and shows you honor them if you’re open to not utilizing it. Ultimately, the decision is up to the man or woman living with diabetes, and remember, people have been thriving with diabetes for decades before this technology ever even existed.

Safety Comes First

There are, however, caveats. If you’re struggling with open communication with your teenager, your loved one suffers from hypo-unawareness, or your child is traveling for the first time without you, the Share feature is an excellent way to stay alerted to overnight lows, stubborn highs, or worrisome trends that may require addressing.

It’s important to also recollect the reason for the Share app: to better equip people with diabetes and their loved ones to protect the health and safety of the person living with diabetes. It’s not to nag, hassle, or judge them for their actions (or inactions).

Share followers should not criticize or belittle someone’s blood sugars; there are no “good” or “bad” blood sugars. Blood sugars are just information directing someone to what they need to do next (like take insulin, exercise, or eat something to heal a low).

The Share app is simply one more tool one can employ to improve their diabetes management and nothing more.

Tips for a Less Intrusive Share Experience

If the person with diabetes in your life is begrudgingly allowing you to follow their blood sugars via Share, here are some tips you can employ to make the experience less intrusive:

• Always have a discussion with your child or teenager if you’d like to follow their blood sugars with the Share app. Do not hide it from them. They will find out.
• Set the high blood sugar alarm high and the low blood sugar alarm low. If you set your follow alarms to go off at 160 and 80, your phone will constantly be buzzing, and you’ll constantly be texting your child/teenager asking them if they’ve taken their insulin or treated their low. Really only set alarms for safety, not to be a bother.
• Use Share for a trial period. Test the system out, and if it’s stressing both of you out, turn it off for a while before trying it again.
• If you notice your loved one is running particularly high or low, do not comment on trends unless they ask for advice or if they have an Endocrinologist appointment coming up, adjustments can be made then unless it’s threatening their health.
• Do not text them to see if they’ve treated their high or low blood sugar unless it is jarringly so. If they are 78 mg/dL after exercise, you don’t need to tell them to drink juice, but if they crash in the middle of the night at a slumber party and their blood sugar is 39 mg/dL, it’s best to call immediately to make sure they’re okay.
• Make this a fun, learning experience! Praise them for the progress they’re making, and remember, with diabetes there is no perfection.
• Respect their boundaries, and if their thoughts and feelings on Share change overtime, revisit the topic and decide how you’d like to proceed together.

Everyone with diabetes is different, and their care and management will be too. Some people are more private about their blood sugars, while others enthusiastically request input from other people on advice and tips for improving their levels.

Allowing the Dexcom Share app into your life is a great privilege, but it shouldn’t be taken advantage of. Using it as a tool to help improve your loved one’s health and diabetes management can come with great benefits if approached with caution and a heavy dose of respect.

Do you utilize Dexcom Share for your loved ones, or do you share your blood sugars with family and friends? What boundaries have worked best for your situation? Share this post and comment below; we really like a lot hearing from our readers!

Diabetes Daily

The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes