While most of us eagerly await those warm summers, people with diabetes might not be so over the moon about the heat.
As extremely high temperatures can mess with blood sugar levels, diabetes heat intolerance can lead to several problems during the summer months that need to be monitored and assessed.
Diabetes and heat may be a problematic combination, especially if the condition previously managed to damage your sweat glands. This may lead to problems with proper sweating, which can lead to heat exhaustion and even heat strokes.
Furthermore, high temperatures can also damage your diabetes testing equipment and the medications you might be taking. This is why it’s essential to be more vigilant during the summer months.
On that note, visiting a diabetes specialist in Port St. Lucie, FL, can be an excellent idea to get valuable guidance about how patients with diabetes should tackle the challenges that arise with elevated temperatures.
As such, this article will discuss a few diabetes tips that may help people better manage their condition during the summer.
Diabetes and Heat: How it Affects People
Does heat affect blood sugar? Medical experts say higher summer temperatures can meddle with blood sugar levels. The ways the heat may affect the sugar levels in the blood will depend on what you’ve eaten, what you are doing (activity level), and water consumption.
Heavy sweating can make you lose water which can raise glucose levels. This may trigger frequent urination, leading to losing more fluids and even more elevated blood sugar levels.
This may become even worse for patients who also receive insulin as treatment. The dehydration can potentially reduce blood supply to the skin, impairing its ability to absorb the injected insulin.
Medications, Diabetes, and Heat
Apart from affecting your blood sugar levels, high temperatures may also affect the medication you are taking. For instance, most insulin types tolerate temperatures of around 93-95 degrees Fahrenheit, but if you accidentally expose these meds to higher temperatures than that, they can break down quickly. As such, ensure that you don’t carry them with you in the heat.
It’s okay to store glucagon and insulin in your refrigerator, but you should also know that freezing temperatures can also cause these compounds to degrade, making them unusable.
Apart from that, the heat may also negatively affect your management devices as well. The effectiveness of strips and monitoring devices might change when the mercury rises due to the hot weather.
Adjusting Insulin Dosages
Heat does affect blood sugar. When people with diabetes are active during hot weather, they are at higher risk for both high and low blood sugar levels. According to experts, this means that patients should be extra cautious before exercising or being active outside.
Trying to maintain warm skin and adjusting insulin dosage before starting any type of physical activity should be of utmost importance.
On that note, it’s always best to get input from your healthcare provider to ensure you’re doing everything correctly and not causing additional strain to your body.
Diabetes Tips for Effective Blood Sugar Management
As mentioned above, diabetes and heat intolerance can lead to complications, but patients shouldn’t remain indoors all the time. Everyone can enjoy the fine weather and have fun under the sun with a few precautions.
As such, the following diabetes tips may be helpful.
Drinking Enough Water
Staying adequately hydrated during high temperatures is essential for everyone, but it’s even more crucially important if you are dealing with diabetes as well. Because of this, doctors encourage people with diabetes to carry a few small bottles of water with them or low-calorie sports drinks with electrolytes to help them manage the scorching heat and their condition.
Adjust the Insulin
Always make sure to consult with your diabetes educator or healthcare provider about how you should adjust your insulin and your carbohydrate intake before exercising. This can help you get prepared for getting more physically active during the summer without any unnecessary worries.
Perform Blood Sugar Tests Frequently
As mentioned above, blood sugar levels tend to fluctuate during hot temperatures, and because of this, checking them more often is a good idea. This way, people with diabetes can take the appropriate steps to keep their levels constantly stable. Experts recommend monitoring your levels frequently, even hours after completing a workout or participating in other physical activity. The effects of physical activity on blood sugar levels can last for more extended time periods. This is why more frequent testing is advised.
Always Have Some Snacks With You
Having a few healthy snacks with you all the time can come in handy both as meal replacement options and as blood sugar regulators to tackle the challenges of diabetes and heat. Still, make sure to consult with your dietitian before opting for specific food items.
Have Low Glucose-Treating Items With You
Make sure to have your glucose gels and glucose gels at the ready if you are at higher risk of having to deal with low blood sugar levels. If you’ve also had these problems in the past, you should also consider carrying a glucagon kit with you.
Take Proper Care of Your Supplies and Medication
Ensure that you take care of your blood sugar levels by being proactive about protecting your supplies, glucagon kit, and insulin before leaving your home, no matter the temperature. Opt for using a car cooler that you can plug into a 12-volt adapter in the car to keep your supplies from overheating. This will help you keep their temperatures stable for the time being. Take your supplies with you when you have to leave the car for longer.
Try to Avoid Getting Sunburnt
The excess sunlight that burns your skin can elevate your blood sugar levels. To protect yourself from the sun’s UV rays, make sure to wear sunglasses and boar-spectrum sunscreen. This diabetes tip is also essential if you are skiing during the winter, as you can also get sunburned there.
If It’s Too Hot, Try To Limit The Amount of Time You Spend Outside
While it’s essential to stay active during peak summer months, when the temperature is simply too high, there’s no need for anyone to stay under the sun for too long. Health experts often advise their patients with diabetes to take advantage of outside activities when the weather’s still hot but not overly extreme.
The heat Shouldn’t Be a Problem
While high temperatures can meddle with blood sugar levels and might mess with diabetes medications and supplies, those people who have diabetes shouldn’t lock themselves away from the sun during hot weather. With the right approach and with expert guidance, a few precautions and tweaks are enough to enjoy every season to the fullest.
That being said, if you want to learn more about managing diabetes during the summer heat, feel free to reach out to our experienced team. We’re more than happy to help you.