Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Manager of Marketing at T1D Exchange.
Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.
Yes. I use that great invention by Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese court official–a technology called paper. Reminds me when 3 days are gone for pump & 10 days for sensor. 🕺
No. I use the Tandem X2, Control IQ system with the Dexcom G6 sensor. The sensor and pump do all of the work. I just have to remember to take my insulin bolus before I eat meals. Nice system 🙂
My pump reminds me to change sites.
I would definitely forget to take my once-weekly injection Ozempic if my Amazon Echo didn’t announce it every Sunday night. “Ginger, this is your reminder. Take Ozempic.” It’s critical! :p
Yes
0n my Google calendar I have a reminder every 3 days to change pump site and a reminder every 10 days to change Dexcom. Then I have reorder supply reminders every 3 months.
I like to change pods at around 5:30pm, so on that day I will set an alarm. Otherwise, time gets away from me and I get off schedule.
Yes: a reminder every 10 days that my CGM expires
I have set, cartridge, and sensor change reminders on my laptop Calendar with alerts in addition to the reminders that come from my pump and the Dexcom app on my phone. I also have reminders every 90 days to check on insulin and supplies refills, which are supposed to happen automatically but don’t always. My Calendar also reminds me to make and keep appointments for routine care like labs and annual eye exams. I need all the help I can get keeping track of things!
90 day event reminder is a great idea! Thanks for the idea! My sensors and pump supplies come at different times.
I allow the two diabetes management devices I wear, t-Slim x2 and Dexcom G6 provide all relevant reminders.
Tandem built-in reminder system alone is sufficient, providing: G6 expiry countdown [better than Dexcom], site change reminder, reminder if I don’t take a bolus within an hour after “usual” meal-time.
I have a rise alert on double arrows… that reminds me I forgot to bolus for my carbs. I have alert b4 low alarms that remind me I need to eat. Goin on 40 years with T1D it’s not like I don’t know but I don’t feel the lows till their pretty bad now. And I lost my appetite years ago.
I do physical labor during the day which requires a zero basal profile. I have a reninder to turn my “normal” back on.
I mark every 10 days for the Dexcom in my calendar so that if I make a plan for that day, I’ll remember to take the new one with me. (I always have a backup omnipod on me, but the Dex is just too bulky to cart around)
I do that too. I also have a recurring calandar reminder for cartridge/infusion sets for every 2 1/2 days.
Then adjust it and future entries depending on exactly when i do change.
I use Google calendar to remind me of site changes (3 days) and sensor changes (10 days).
As others have mentioned, my pump does the reminding. The only other part of technology I use for such things is that my pharmacy sends me a text when its time to refill my scripts.
The only time I use a phone alarm is to remind me to deactivate daytime “sleep” or “exercise” mode on my Tandem control IQ. Those modes can’t easily be set to last for a select number of hours, so a phone alarm is my hack for remembering to turn them off… Important!
I sure used to! Before I got my pump I had 5 alarms each day centered around needing to each since the crossover of long/short insulin was always a problem.
My only reminders are from my Dexcom Continuous Glucose monitor and that is plenty.
My pump and CGM will remind me that my insulin has gotten to a low level and also that my CGM sensor or transmitter is about to expire.
When I was on Lantus, I had an alarm on my phone set for 7 am to remind me to take it. Now I use Tresiba for basal which is more forgiving if I’m a little early or late with my dosage, so I’ve removed the electronic reminders and just take it when I wake up.
I started setting a daily reminder to check my settings because I often turn off my alarms when I am in meetings, etc. and forget to turn them back on
I wear an insulin pump and my blood sugars are checked every 5 minutes by Dexcom.
Save for the rawest, brad new diabetics, given the time periods long-acting insulins now cover why would such a reminder(s) be necessary? The entire purpose of modern insulins is complete and total flexibility rather than adherence to rigid schedule(s)???
The regular reminder is set on my pump, a Medtronic 780G, to tell me when I’m due to change my infusion set. (I don’t possess a phone, so I can’t set reminders on that. lol.)
Pumps work using fast-acting or rapid-acting insulins, so I have no need to have a reminder about taking long-acting insulin.
I currently have 6 different basal settings that change within a 24 hour period, and should my blood glucose levels ‘stray’ outside of the range that I’ve programmed my pump to ‘stick to’ it does it’s best, using its inbuilt algorithm to maintain those levels.
I note on paper calendar when I can expect to change sensor. I write starting dates of new insulin vials there also.
My insulin pump alerts me of highs and lows as well as delivers insulin when needed, so no need to set any other alarms
I set alarms to check bg in the middle of the night if my daughter’s sensor isn’t working well and sometimes when her Dexcom is warming up. Also, sometimes I set alarms for when she can eat after a prebolus, because sometimes we get carried away and she can crash.