Dr Ashley Ng

Diabetes technology has evolved at an insane pace over the last 15 years. When I was diagnosed, I had slowly accepted my fate of finger pricking and multiple daily injections. Never would I have thought I would have an insulin pump or CGM today. Let alone having these pieces of technology communicate with each other, taking away a lot of the mental load and maths of diabetes. Using an Automated Insulin Delivery system has been amazing and life changing – when it works well.

Recently I have had a series of unfortunate events, which has left me with a newfound anxiety around diabetes tech. It started with accidentally ripping my site out on the car door at work, forgetting to replace my spare infusion set in my kit, my CGM sensor expiring at the same and leaving my replacement sensor on the kitchen bench at home – all in the same morning. It was quite the Monday morning.

The last time I used a combination of finger pricking and injections was so long ago would have been over four of five years ago at least – before I was eligible for pre-conception CGM subsidy. I had never felt anxiety because of diabetes like I did that Monday.

What if I had given too much or not enough insulin for my morning tea? Did I bolus for breakfast? What if stressing is making my sugars sky rocket? Am I feeling nauseous because I’m high? Is my heart racing because I’m low?

I could barely focus on work and was able to rush home at lunch to get myself sorted out. It was really one of those #DuckFiabetes day. I was really frustrated, scared and resentful at how reliant I am on diabetes technologies to allow me to live my life.

Part of me now wants to take a complete break from tech to make sure I am confident enough to go back to basics, should the need arise. But another part of me is terrified of going without it. After my day of flying blind, I have found myself obsessively checking my CGM readings to make sure it’s up and running and comfort-patting (is that even a thing?) my pump to make sure it’s still there. My diabetes kit has become like the candle I have accidentally left burning when I leave home. I’m constantly checking and re-checking that I’ve got my spares in there and that it’s in my bag.

I’m sure, well I hope, that over time, this anxiety will settle. But this is why I cringe when people say all this new technology for people with diabetes is as good as a cure.

Because it is not.

It replaces one type of anxiety for another. One type of mental load for something else to remember. Diabetes technology is also not accessible to so many living with diabetes, whether that is due to their diabetes type, private health insurance or current financial situation – there are still a lot of barriers when it comes to optimising the use of diabetes technology to improve the quality of our lives. So when it comes down to diabetes technology, it is never as simple as “going out to get it” or a “set and forget”.