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3 Ways Peer Support Can Help With Diabetes Management

3 Ways Peer Support Can Help With Diabetes Management | The LOOP Blog

Diabetes is not an easy disease. From diagnosis to daily management, diabetes can cause a lot of self-doubt and at times, make you feel down. Peer support can help you assure yourself you are managing this disease the best you can, and there are ways to live a healthy lifestyle despite all of the negative feelings you may be feeling at the time. Peer support can help you get through the tough times that come with living with diabetes.

Here are 3 ways peer support can help you manage and cope with your diabetes.

1. Insulin Pump Questions

We have all had questions about our insulin pumps from time to time, whether it is a question about a specific alarm, how to use the dual-wave bolus feature, or even a question about an infusion set site. Being able to talk with a peer who has experience pumping, gone through the same situation, or had the same question can help educate, encourage, and provide you confidence in managing your diabetes with technology.

Please always keep in mind you may need to call your diabetes device (pump, continuous close monitor (CGM), blood glucose meter, etc.) manufacturer about specific problems.

2. Health Concerns

During your lifetime with diabetes, you’ll often hear and learn about the potential complications related to diabetes. All of these potential health effects can create a lot of worry about your future health and well-being. Being able to talk to someone about a concern you have about potential health issues can make you feel so much better in two ways. First, just being able to get that concern off of your chest and not have to hold it in constantly. Secondly, sharing experiences and seeing how other people living with diabetes think about and deal with a certain health risk can make you feel a lot more at ease.

3. Just Someone to Be There

This may actually be the most important aspect of how peer support can help you manage and cope with your diabetes. Just having someone who is willing to listen and be there for you is powerful, especially if that person is also living with diabetes. I am the only person in my family with type 1 diabetes. I can talk to my wife, parents, brother, and friends and they offer empathy and support, but it just doesn’t feel the same as when I talk to another person living with diabetes. It is a magical feeling to have a discussion about a concern of mine with someone else who understands what I’m going through and know that I am not alone.

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