To look after your wellbeing when you have diabetes requires plenty of diabetes supplies, such as testing strips, glucose meters, medications, and supplies with sharp edges, and these supplies need looking after too. Properly care of your supplies will save you money as they will last longer, but also it could make a big difference to your wellness as well-maintained supplies will give you a better chance of controlling your blood sugar.
Firstly, your ‘sharps’, or needles and lancets, should be disposed of properly. According to internist Danny Sam, MD, the residency program director with Kaiser Permanente in California and adult diabetes treatment specialist, ‘Sharp needles are bad for young kids. They can get at it and poke themselves’ so the family bin is a no-no, and the bin at work risks the wellness of cleaning staff members. Sam also emphasises that if you have ‘a blood infection, there is a risk of transmission for someone who gets stuck with the used needle’. Therefore you should ask a pharmacy whether they have a system for safely getting rid of your sharps or a secure container that can hold your used needles or lancets until you bring them in for safe disposal. You can make your own container from a box that won’t open easily and can be put out of the way of other family members or colleagues.
For your medications and testing strips, make sure you know the expiry dates and don’t exceed them. Sam warns that ‘Heat limits the lifespan of products’, as does extreme cold so keep your medications and testing strips in a cool, dry space, but don’t put them in the freezer or anywhere icy. While you’re checking the expiration dates, look at the label for the product’s specific storage and use instructions. You can check up on medications, especially insulin, visually. Has the colour changed or crystallisation occurred in the bottle? If it doesn’t look normal, don’t use it.
Finally, keep your glucose meter going by keeping it in the same cool dry place that you keep your other supplies, as heat can hurt its function or even melt it. Use the control solution that comes with, or is recommended for, your meter to check it and your testing strips for optimum functionality. This solution lasts for roughly 30 days before it needs replacing. Always keep spare batteries on hand, and if your glucose meter gives you abnormal or unusual readings, take it in to a technician. Every step you take to take care of your supplies gives you one more advantage over diabetes.
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