How Do You Manage Being a Type 3 Diabetic?

There are countless forums and blogs about being the significant other of a diabetic because the condition affects more than just the diabetic. Being the significant other to a type 1 diabetic is often referred to as being a “Type 3 diabetic.”

Although you are not physically affected by the condition, it affects you in many ways. A type 3 diabetic will often find themselves in the role of a caretaker, cook, therapist, support system, scheduling manager — all in addition to being a loved one. It is important to learn how to manage these many different roles to protect your relationship and to best serve your partner’s health needs.

Get them to See a Counselor

Diabetics may experience mood swings as a result of high or low blood sugar levels and cause emotional turmoil in your relationship. Communication and patience through these times will be important to managing emotions. However, you should not be expected to be your loved one’s therapist day in and day out.

Diabetics are twice as likely to fall victim to depression and can benefit from seeing a counselor on a regular basis. It is a safe place for your loved one to process their feelings revolving around their condition and can prove to be especially useful for those newly diagnosed.

Advocate for a Dietician

It is difficult to watch your partner struggle in any part of life. It can be challenging to watch your diabetic significant other make poor food choices that result in them feeling less than 100% normal. Sometimes it can feel as if you are nagging when you push healthy foods on your loved one or are continually asking them to count carbs.

Ask your endocrinologist for a dietician recommendation that your loved one can go see to help them through this process. Hearing this advice from a health professional may better persuade them to make healthier choices, which in turn can help them not only manage their diabetic condition, but also prevent some of the afflictions that are frequently correlated with diabetes, such as kidney failure.

Get Them Active

If your loved one enjoys the outdoors, encourage them to do the things that they love to remind them that their condition is not going to prohibit them from being active. In truth, being active is important to keeping them healthy and increasing their lifespan. There might be small adjustments to be made, like wearing a wetsuit instead of a swimsuit while surfing due to poor blood circulation or warmer booties for fly fishing. You can learn a new sport or exercise together to promote a healthy lifestyle and relationship. According to Psychology Today, couples that exercise together have an overall happier relationship.

Automate Their Blood Sugar

A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is a great tool to have. You have to find the right one for the conditions that you work in, the right one for your body type and that fits you just right. It eliminates the need for test strips, needles and pens that you and your loved one might find frustrating. Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) take continuous blood sugar level readings and notify diabetics when their blood sugar is too high or low. Some of the newer technology can send alerts to their phones and they can opt to have notifications sent to their loved one’s phone as well.

Being the significant other to a diabetic can be difficult at times and that is why the term “type 3 diabetic” has been developed. By putting systems in place for you and your loved one to lighten the load of managing the incurable autoimmune disease, you allow for more room to develop and nurture your personal relationship with one another.