Tracking Diabetes Distress Triggers
How to identify your personal diabetes distress triggers with a simple tracking method. Neil explores the research, shares practical insights, and provides tools for managing the mental load of T1D. What You'll Learn • Trigger...
The episode, word for word
I'm Neil Greathouse, I've been living with type 1 diabetes since 1992, and this is Your Best T1D Year.
This is Episode 106, and today we're talking about how to track the triggers that crank up diabetes distress. Think of it as running a personal science experiment, but instead of test tubes and beakers, you just need a notebook or the Notes app on your phone.
We're in Week 35, and this month we've been unpacking diabetes distress: what it is, how it's measured, and how to respond without shame.
Diabetes distress rarely shows up randomly. There's usually something poking it.
It might be:
That 2am low that ruins your next day.
The 4th call to your insurance company this month.
A stubborn high right before a meeting.
Or a random comment from someone who thinks "just don't eat sugar" is a helpful strategy.
I've had weeks where I was short-tempered, fried, and couldn't figure out why. Then I looked back and realized, oh yeah, I had a pump site failure, three nights of alarms, and a bill that made me choke on my coffee. That'll do it.
When you track your own week, you start to notice patterns:
Maybe alarms at night are your biggest trigger.
Maybe it's not the numbers, but how isolated you feel with them.
Maybe it's the daily decision-making fatigue more than anything else.
The point isn't to collect data for fun. It's to shine a light on what's really spiking your distress.
Here's your mini-experiment:
Pick your tool. Notebook, sticky notes, or your phone's Notes app. Use whatever you'll actually stick with.
Jot down three things whenever you feel maxed out.
What was happening?
What number or event set it off?
How did you feel in the moment?
Circle your top 2, 3 triggers at the end of the week.
These aren't weaknesses. They're your pressure points. Naming them gives you a chance to address them.
Think of it like mapping potholes on your daily drive. If you know where they are, you can avoid the worst ones, or at least brace yourself before you hit them.
Without tracking, you're basically playing Whac-A-Mole blindfolded. You know something's smacking you around, but you can't see where it's coming from. Tracking turns on the lights, so instead of flailing at random, you know which mole keeps popping up and stealing your tokens.
Next time, we'll start unpacking two big strategies researchers say can actually reduce distress: skills and feelings. You'll see how both paths can help, depending on what your triggers look like.
But here's the encouragement for today: if you take the time to notice your triggers, you're already ahead. You're not failing, you're studying yourself. That's progress.
Type 1 diabetes is exhausting. But managing it every single day doesn't have to be. You're not doing a bad job, you're doing a difficult job. Nobody remembers easy. And I'm proud of the way you keep showing up, even on the messy weeks.
This episode is supported by Blue Circle Health. They know that people with type 1 diabetes carry two battles at once, the disease itself and the healthcare system. Blue Circle Health is changing the way care works so you can spend less energy fighting red tape and more energy living your life. Learn more at BlueCircleHealth.org.
This is Your Best T1D Year. New episodes drop every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This is Episode 106, and next time we'll talk about the two main paths that research shows can actually reduce distress: skills and feelings.
Week 36
107 - October 20
This is the script as read on the mic, lightly tidied for reading. Education, not medical advice. Talk to your care team before you change anything about your insulin.