How Smart-Pen Technology Can Help You Stress Less About Food
It’s no secret that diabetes and food are closely connected, and an integral part of diabetes management is determining how much insulin to give based on the amount of carbs you eat. Fortunately, smart-pen technology can help you stress less about food, and give you more confidence in your insulin-dosing abilities and food choices.
How Do Carbohydrates Affect Blood-Glucose Levels?
Many factors impact blood-sugar levels such as exercise, alcohol and illness.
The effect carbohydrates have on blood-sugar levels, however, tends to steal the spotlight.
Carbohydrates (“carbs”) are nutrients found in foods such as bread, pasta, fruit, milk, yogurt, potatoes and peas.
Carbs turn into glucose when digested, which raises blood-sugar levels. With such a strong relationship between blood-sugar levels and food, it’s common for people with type 2 diabetes to develop an unhealthy relationship with food, such as:
- Completely eliminating carbs
- Having strict food rules—such as not eating certain foods (while becoming very distressed if you do)
- Engaging in binge-eating episodes
- Eating disorders——up to 20% of people with type 2 diabetes suffer from one.
How Can Smart Insulin Pens Help With Blood-Glucose Management?
Taking insulin can exacerbate the anxiety you might feel around food, as having low blood-sugar levels—also called hypoglycemia—is possible.
Smart insulin pens can alleviate that anxiety, and are a great option for people taking multiple daily injections.
Smart insulin pens have features that are similar to insulin-pump features, such as:
- Bolus-dose calculators
- Fixed-dose options
- Correction doses
- Dose reminders, and
- The ability to give insulin in ½ unit increments
These features make it easier to determine how much insulin is needed at each meal— or when you snack. To relieve the burden of carb counting, smart insulin pens also allow you to set concrete doses for certain meals.
In addition, smart insulin pens give correction doses based on:
- Insulin-sensitivity factors, and
- The amount of active insulin in your body
Smart insulin pens also make it easier to figure out how well your insulin regimen is working. You can determine if your insulin-to-carb ratios and basal settings are adequate by capturing data like:
- When and how much insulin was given
- Missed doses and basal/bolus percentages
With this data available:
- It becomes easier to see how food and other factors impact your BGLs
- Your doctor and you can make changes to your settings based on the information.
- Some of the stress associated with eating carbs is relieved
What Are the Available Smart Pens?
Lilly has developed the Tempo Personalized Diabetes Management Platform, which includes:
- The Tempo Pen
- Tempo Smart Button
- TempoSmart App, and
- The Tempo Blood Glucose Meter
The TempoSmart app lets you connect your insulin-dosing data with your :
- BGLs
- Food intake
- Exercise routine, and
- Sleep routine
You can also pair a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor with the TempoSmart app.
Between visits, you can share the data with your healthcare provider, and make any necessary changes to improve your blood-sugar levels.
There are other smart pens on the market as well, such as the Medtronic InPen. This simply includes the Pen and the app it connects to via Bluetooth. The app shows information such as:
- Your meal history, which shows when and how much you’ve eaten
- Your dose history so you can see when and how much insulin you’ve given
- Your action history, which shows different things you’ve done, like meals and doses.
You can pair the app with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), such as the Medtronic Guardian system.
Novo Nordisk’s versions of a smart insulin pen are the Novopen 6 and Novopen Echo Plus. Both Pens record the time, date and amount of insulin given per dose. They are compatible with several apps, including Glooko, FreeStyle LibreLink and MySugr, which allow you to send your insulin dosing information to your healthcare provider.
Like other smart pens, The Novopen 6 and Novopen Echo Plus are also compatible with CGMs.
The Bigfoot Unity System includes smart pen caps that incorporate integrated CGM data and health-care professionals instructions to provide insulin-dose recommendations for people with diabetes who use multiple daily injections of insulin
Find a Professional to Help Heal Your Relationship with Food
In addition to using a smart insulin pen as part of your journey to healing your relationship with food, having a professional who is trained in helping people with diabetes let go of the fear and anxiety they have around food is another great option.
By having a dietitian like Kristie Messerli in your corner, you have someone readily available to answer your questions and provide you with trusted resources as your journey progresses.
If you would like to learn more about the Tempo Pen, visit the website!
You can also find information about the savings program and get answers to your frequently asked questions.
This content was made possible by Lilly, a Founding Partner of Beyond Type 2.
Beyond Type 2 maintains editorial control over its content.
