Managing diabetes is always a difficult thing for anyone diagnosed. But for those who are also going through Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), it could especially be hard. ADHD could have a massive impact on your diabetes symptoms. You can fall victim to impulsive eating, forgetting to take your medications, or going to the doctor. But there are tips for diabetics with ADHD to stay organized and on top of their health better. Let’s talk about four of these tips for managing your diabetes symptoms when you have ADHD.
How ADHD affects Diabetes Self-Care
Many people with type 1 diabetes also have ADHD. While the link between the two conditions isn’t entirely clear, ADHD is known for being a disorder that affects people’s organization, memorization, and ability to focus. When managing a condition like diabetes well, you have to be good at staying organized about how often you take your medications and focused on watching what you eat. If you have moderate to severe ADHD, that could make it hard to stay on task with your diabetes management. Some common struggles include forgetting to take your medications, missing your meals, losing your medications, or procrastinating about your condition.
Create a Simple Routine for Diabetes Management
When you’re a diabetic with ADHD, it’s important to keep your health care organized. You can do this by creating a simple routine for managing your diabetes. Try using different forms of reminders for taking medications and meals. It’s also important to schedule how often you check your blood sugar. You can do this by making good use of these organizational hacks:
Utilize Tools and Apps to Manage Diabetes and ADHD
There are plenty of tools and apps that you can use to manage your health better. Some good ADHD apps to help you stay on track include Todoist and Inflow. Todoist allows you to start for free organizing your daily tasks and to-do list of activities. This productivity app allows you to organize your daily work tasks with people on your team. Some of the apps for diabetes management include Lose It!, My FitnessPal, and Carb Manager. Consider also utilizing smart insulin pens and glucose monitors with alerts.
Organize your Medications and Supplies
Keeping your medications and supplies in order is very vital to managing your diabetes the right way with ADHD. Label your medications properly and organize your pills in small containers. Keep your supplies clean and organized. Keep extra supplies in key locations such as in your car, office, and bag. It’s important to create a dedicated diabetes care station that you can easily use at home.
Plan Ahead of Your Meals and Snacks
When you’re a diabetic with ADHD, it’s important to plan for the type of foods you’ll be eating. Meal planning isn’t easy for people with ADHD, but it can be done. You can first try listing your favorite recipes that are easy to prepare and make for each day. When choosing recipes, it could be easier and money-saving to choose ones with similar ingredients. Start stocking your food inventory with what you already have or don’t have. Decide how long your plan is going to be. Is it going to be a week or a month? It’s also okay to be flexible in adjusting your plan as needed. Some have also found that prepping their meal in batches has been beneficial, especially if you’re trying to make soups or stews.
Keep Your Stress Level Low and Avoid Burnout
Stress could have a big impact on your diabetes care. The more stressed out you are, the more that could cause changes in your blood sugar levels. You could also try mindfulness techniques to lower your stress levels like deep breathing. Going to bed at a decent time each night is also important in managing both your diabetes and ADHD conditions. Sleep helps in maintaining your blood sugar balance.
Managing Diabetes and ADHD Takes Effort and Time
When you’re diagnosed with one illness, it could be difficult to figure out how to manage that. However, having two illnesses to deal with is even more hard. But it’s possible to manage both diabetes and ADHD by making good use of online or print tools and apps to stay organized, keep your medications and supplies in order, plan your meals and snacks to avoid impulsive eating, and keep your stress level down. By doing these things, along with having a support system of friends and family in place, you’ll be figuring out how to manage ADHD and diabetes one step at a time.
Is your ADHD impacting your diabetes symptoms? How do you work on managing both conditions? Feel free to share your advice or experience in doing this in the comments section below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next person you know going through this.
