The App Every Few Minutes
There’s a particular version of T1D that most people don’t talk about.
Not the crisis version — the hypos, the DKA, the dramatic events. The quiet version. The one where everything is technically fine, the blood sugars have levelled out after a few difficult days, and you find yourself checking the app every few minutes anyway. Not because you need to. Because you can’t stop.
I know that version intimately. I’ve been there more than once.
The slip from normal checking to obsessive monitoring doesn’t announce itself. It creeps in. Usually after a run of difficult readings — a few days where the numbers were erratic, where you felt out of control, where the unpredictability of the condition was at its most evident. When things finally level out, the checking intensifies rather than relaxing. Because now you need to be sure. Now you need to know that the stability is real. Now every five minutes of okay numbers needs to be verified before you can believe it.
That’s the line. And it’s surprisingly easy to cross.
What Obsession Actually Costs
I used to obsess over hitting those ideal numbers until it hurt. Physically hurt. Headaches from the tension of constant vigilance. Muscle tension in my neck from repeatedly looking at the app. My entire day organised around what the numbers were doing.
I’d go to some very dark places in my mind during that period. It’s too painful to go into detail — but I’ll say this: the cost of that obsession went beyond discomfort. It was unsustainable. Something had to give.
The Moment It Changed
One day, in the middle of my overkill vigilance, I simply said: fuck this. I’m not doing this anymore.
What followed was one of the most significant moments of relief I’ve experienced with this condition.
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!
It was like stepping away from the edge of the rim to Hell.
It didn’t feel like giving up. It felt like actual freedom. The weight that lifted in that moment — the weight of the obsession, the constant monitoring, the relentless vigilance that was producing anxiety rather than safety — was enormous. And what replaced it wasn’t recklessness. It was a more reasonable, sustainable relationship with the numbers. Check when you need to. Trust the alarm to catch what you don’t.
Where The Line Is
The line between appropriate vigilance and damaging obsession is personal — it sits in a different place for every T1D. But there are signs that you’ve crossed it.
When checking your levels is producing anxiety rather than reducing it. When the numbers are okay and you still can’t relax. When the app is the first thing you look at in the morning and the last thing you look at at night and multiple times every hour in between. When the monitoring is running your day rather than informing it.
Those are the signs. And they matter — not just emotionally, but practically. Because obsessive monitoring, paradoxically, can make blood sugar management worse. The cortisol from sustained anxiety raises blood sugar. The mental exhaustion of constant vigilance reduces your capacity to respond thoughtfully to what you’re seeing. The obsession becomes part of the problem it’s trying to solve.
Loving Life Alongside Numbers
The goal isn’t to stop caring about your blood sugar. The goal is to care appropriately — to check when it’s useful, to respond to what you find, and then to put the phone down and get on with living.
The numbers are information. They are not the main event. Your life is the main event.
That reframe — simple in principle, genuinely difficult in practice — is one of the most liberating shifts available to a T1D. And it starts with recognising when the monitoring has become the problem rather than the solution.
The Reality: Diabetes Burnout Is Real and Relentless
Chasing perfect numbers is like playing darts in the dark with shaky hands. Even when you do hit the target, the win feels hollow. Why? Because no one claps when your meter reads 5.5. Not even you.
And eventually, the relentless pursuit of control becomes… well, controlling.
Stop Worshipping the Glucose Graph
Yes, Dexcom graphs are sexy. Yes, CGMs beep like needy toddlers. But being glued to your numbers all day is a one-way ticket to mental overload.
You are not a glucose graph.
You’re a messy, beautiful human with cravings, moods, and the occasional desire to eat a churro without feeling like a criminal.
Don’t Let the Algorithm Run Your Life
Every app, tracker, and device claims to help you target blood sugars, but some of them do a better job of targeting your sanity. When you’re obsessively refreshing your app more than you check your texts, it’s time to log out and touch some grass.
Where Did Your Joy Go?
When’s the last time you did something just for fun — not because it burned carbs or improved insulin sensitivity?
You don’t have to earn joy. You’re allowed to have it even if your blood sugar is 11.2.
(Look at you. Still alive. Incredible.)
How to Target Blood Sugars and Reclaim You
Redefine Success — It’s Not Just in the Numbers
Success isn’t a straight line from 4.4 to 6.6. It’s in how you bounce back from a rollercoaster, how you treat yourself when things go sideways, and whether you can still laugh at your own diabetic disasters.
Eat Without Apologising
Food is not the enemy. You are not a failure because you had dessert. You’re not “cheating” — you’re eating.
What’s the point of living longer if you hate every meal along the way?
Build In Joy Like You Schedule In Insulin
Plan something each day that has nothing to do with diabetes. A walk, a nap, a good book, a full-volume scream into a pillow. Doesn’t matter what — just do it for you, not your pancreas.
Say No to Shame (Even When It’s from Doctors)
If your doctor acts like you’re a blood sugar misfire with legs, find a new one. Shame has no place in health. You’re not a naughty child. You’re a grown adult managing a complex condition like a damn legend.
Laugh at the Madness
Ever injected insulin in a pub toilet with your elbow because your hands were full of nachos? That’s art. Find the absurdity in this condition or it will find you.
Dark humour is survival. Use it.
When You Target Blood Sugars, Don’t Forget to Target Balance
Mindset First, Maths Later
Most of diabetes management is psychological. If your head isn’t in a good place, no spreadsheet will save you. Prioritise mindset and the numbers will follow. Or not. Either way, you’ll handle it better.
Take Breaks (You’re Allowed)
Rest. Detach. Even God took a day off.
You deserve breaks from counting carbs, from diabetes Facebook groups, from trying to be the perfect diabetic unicorn.
You’re not quitting — you’re pacing.
Your Body Is Not a Battlefield
Your body is trying. It’s showing up every day with its tired pancreas and weird hormone responses. Give it some credit. Say thank you. Take care of it like a scruffy but loyal dog, not like a machine that’s constantly breaking down.
Stop Explaining Yourself
You do not owe anyone an explanation for why you’re eating that or why your number is high. Unless they’re your endocrinologist — and even then, keep it short.
Your health is not public property.
You Can Love Life and Target Blood Sugars
You’re Not Lazy — You’re Exhausted
You’re not falling behind. You’re navigating life with a constant background alarm and a to-do list that never ends. Give yourself a break.
Connect With People Who Get It
You weren’t meant to do this alone. Join a group. Message a diabetic mate. Find someone who understands why “just eat better” makes you want to scream into a croissant.
Try Diabetes UK’s support groups.
Be Kind to Future You
Future You doesn’t need perfection. She needs consistency. She needs grace. She needs you to keep going even when it’s messy. Especially when it’s messy.
This one’s a doozy
You’ve done enough suffering.
You’ve done enough tracking.
You’re allowed to love your life while you manage your health.
You deserve more than numbers. You deserve peace. And that’s what I do, I help you find your peace again. Reach out to me here and let’s have a chat about that.
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Speak soon,
Pete 🙂
T1D Mindset Coach
