I am 67 years old and have lived with Type 1 diabetes for over 42 years. In the last year I have read a lot about the possibility that I should consider modifying the intensity of my diabetes regimen and relaxing my targets. My endocrinologist suggested the same thing during my December visit saying that I have a lot of cushion in my numbers and could raise them without risking complications. Okay, she actually said I don’t have to worry about complications 20 years down the road…. Doesn’t she think I’ll be an active and vibrant 87-year old?

An article was recently published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism titled “Treatment of Diabetes in Older Adults: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline.” The conclusions of the fairly long article were stated:

“Diabetes, particularly type 2, is becoming more prevalent in the general population, especially in individuals over the age of 65 years. The underlying pathophysiology of the disease in these patients is exacerbated by the direct effects of aging on metabolic regulation. Similarly, aging effects interact with diabetes to accelerate the progression of many common diabetes complications…. The goal is to give guidance to practicing health care providers that will benefit patients with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2), paying particular attention to avoiding unnecessary and/or harmful adverse effects.”

I was able to access the entire article online and was optimistic that I would find information relevant to my current age and diabetes status. The article addressed all seniors with diabetes which we know is mostly Pre-diabetes and Type 2. But Type 1 was specifically addressed in areas where our needs might differ from those with Type 2.

In general I found the article to be “unhelpful.” If you want to check it out, I suggest that you just read the first couple of pages which is the “List of Recommendations.” Most of the text after that was repetitive and didn’t provide specific guidance beyond the introductory list. 

Throughout the article the words and phrases that jumped out at me were heterogeneity, minimize hypoglycemia, simplify management, duration of diabetes, overall health, cognitive impairment, fall risk, and cardiovascular disease. Those are hugely important considerations for me and all people with diabetes. Unfortunately I have a hard time seeing myself in this article because the scope of the age and health status categories are too broad. Although the authors emphasized the heterogeneity of this population, I believe there was too little distinction between an active and relatively healthy 67 or 72 year old and someone in their late 80’s in a nursing home. But the authors specifically mentioned seniors who have lived with Type 1 for more than 40 years as a group that should be targeted for de-intensifying management. And that’s me.

Slightly off-topic:  As I was writing this blogpost, I read in the Minneapolis paper that Best Buy has purchased GreatCall to expand the “retailer’s connection to seniors.” As I was multi-tasking with my laptop, iPad, and iPhone, I shuddered at: “a diverse portfolio of devices tailored to older adults — including simple flip phones with large buttons and extra bright screens, wearable alert devices and a line of sensors for high-risk seniors that monitor daily activities at home.” Just as medical professionals need to consider seniors with diabetes who have come into the 21st century with pumps, CGM’s, low-carb diets, and the ability to maintain near-normal A1c’s, tech companies need to move beyond the stereotype of Grandma with a flip phone.

There may come a day when I need to simplify my diabetes regimen. But that is not today as I have recently ordered a Riley Link to experiment with looping using an Omnipod tubeless pump and my phone as the controller. I continue to be excited by new D-technology and don’t have cognitive impairment that limits my treatment options. Heck, the process of getting the medications and supplies that I need under Medicare require vigilance, organization, and super-cognition! I can still recite my 14-digit library card number and can easily remember 6-digit codes texted by Amazon and my bank.

My guess is that the “average” population of seniors who have lived with diabetes for 40, 50, and 60+ years is different than the seniors that I know online. Those of us involved in diabetes social media tend to be knowledgeable about our diabetes and highly motivated. Some of us have diabetes complications; some of us have other health issues; some of us struggle to get the care that we require. But as a group we are a bunch of opinionated, hard-headed seniors who battle for the medications and technology we want and need to keep us healthy. We are not ready to settle for high A1c’s and yesterday’s medications and tech.

And yes, I need to remember that someday I may need a flip phone with large buttons and an extra bright screen. I may be in a nursing home where I cannot care for my diabetes. Like many seniors who have lived a long time with Type 1 diabetes, I have no faith that anyone else will be able to care for me. Type 1 is really, really hard even with my experience, motivation, and access to current D-tools. I can’t imagine anyone else doing it nearly as well as I do. My aim is to maintain my health so that I can care for myself as long as possible. And then when I can no longer care for myself, I hope my sister will “do me in.” Okay, that is a warped family joke but my sister who also has Type 1 and I have long joked about and been terrified of becoming incapacitated seniors with diabetes.

I am aware that it might not be a bad idea to raise my BG targets. I have too many moderate lows and know that I am overconfident in the safety net that my Dexcom provides. I haven’t needed help with a low in years. But that doesn’t mean I won’t tomorrow.

But I don’t know how to do diabetes differently.

If I can’t get it right with a target of 90, why should I miraculously be able to get it right at 100 or 120? My diabetes problems are not 10-20 unit variations. I struggle with false occlusion alarms on my Tandem pump and often get skyrocketing numbers when the cartridge gets down to 30 units or less. I don’t go from 80 to 100. I go from 63 to 197 or 241. I am at an age where I don’t have a lot of hormonal excursions. But lately I am seeing lots of up and double-up Dexcom arrows from lowish-carb meals or 2 glucose tabs. Is my Dexcom wonky or am I? My meter would say that it is me. I think it is my pump. For sure my diet has had more carbs than I know that I can handle. The frustration is that I rarely know precisely what is driving my blood glucose aberrations.

Oh cr*p, it’s just diabetes.

At the moment I don’t see changing my diabetes care because of my age. At the same time there are studies indicating that I might live longer if my A1c was higher. But not too high. And not too low. I look forward to looping and hope that it will ease the burden of my care, especially overnight. If not, I don’t expect to be worse off. I look forward to the Basal IQ update with my Tandem pump but it has been delayed for 6-9 months due to Dexcom not supplying the Dexcom G6 to seniors on a timely basis. I look forward to the Tandem Control IQ update but am concerned that Medicare recipients will not get access to the software update due to the likelihood that there will be a charge for the upgrade. 

I know in the short run that it would be a good idea to reduce the number of moderate lows I experience but I am not convinced that can be achieved by relaxing my care and targets. Actually I believe that more intensive regimens like Looping, Basal IQ, and Control IQ can address hypos more effectively. And probably the best way to level out my blood glucose numbers would be to get back on the wagon with more disciplined lowish-carb eating.

So on to another day with diabetes….