Navigating the Lows of the Holiday Season

The holidays can be hectic enough—office and school closures, holiday recitals, family events, running around on last-minute shopping trips for meal prep and presents. Add in diabetes management and it’s enough to make anyone fall over with exhaustion. 

But what happens when your blood glucose is actually running low from all of the running around? This guide will help you avoid hypoglycemia and prepare for a safer and more cheerful holiday season. 

If your blood glucose runs low over the holidays, here’s why:

Diabetes management can be easier with predictability and routine. Knowing how your body is going to react in a given situation, like going for a walk in the evening after dinner, is helpful to keep blood sugar levels consistently in range. 

But the holidays don’t always have time for your tried and true systems. Unpredictable sleep schedules, time off from work, travel, meals on the go and family gatherings can all be hard on your diabetes routine, which can sometimes lead to low blood sugars. 

Every person with diabetes’ body is unique, but specific things that could lead to extra lows include:

• Extra activity
• Change in sleep and eating schedules
• Dosing medication for unfamiliar foods and meals 
• Alcohol consumption
• Change in weather and temperature
• Change in diabetes management habits around new people

The good thing—with a little preparation and planning, you can stay safe from hypoglycemia during the cheer (and chaos). 

Steps to help avoid low blood sugars

High and low blood sugars can happen even when you plan ahead and do all the “right” things. But there are things you can do to help the dips happen less often and be less severe. Try a few of these strategies during the holiday season!

Stick to a schedule 

This can be hard during the holiday chaos, but sticking to the overall shape of your daily patterns can be incredibly helpful! If you usually exercise in the morning, try to get some movement early in the day, even when you’re travelling. 

Invite a loved one on a walk or volunteer for that house project everyone keeps putting off. It doesn’t have to be in the gym to be effective. If you have a go-to breakfast and coffee routine, stick to the same timing of your meals for an easier rest of the day. 

Try to minimize the number of variables that are out of your control within your day, and your blood sugar management will be much easier! 

Get plenty of sleep

Maintaining a regular, healthy sleep schedule during the holidays is crucial for proper blood sugar management during the holidays. 

Not having enough sleep can cause insulin resistance and insatiable hunger due to out-of-balance hormones, fatigue that makes exercising more difficult, and brain fog that makes carbohydrate counting that much harder. 

Getting the CDC-recommended seven to eight hours of high-quality sleep per night (for adults) can help keep you off the blood sugar rollercoaster. 

Manage your medications 

Make sure you take your medications on time and as prescribed. Talk to your doctor ahead of time about how to manage your medication doses when you may be eating differently or moving your body more or less than usual.

Be sure to have emergency back up medications and supplies, especially when travelling. Pack extra low blood sugar snacks like glucose tabs, fruits snacks, applesauce squeeze packs or juice boxes. 

And always be sure to have a filled, unexpired glucagon with you—needed for anyone on blood sugar lowering medication like insulin. Make sure your loved ones are trained in how to use glucagon and what to do in case of a diabetes related emergency. 

Shift the focus away from food 

Unusually large meals or increased intake of sweets can cause someone with diabetes to jump on the blood sugar rollercoaster, which is not as fun as the real ones! Once your blood sugar swings too high, it can be easy to accidentally overtreat and swing too low.

Instead of fighting highs and lows all day long—which can be truly exhausting—try and shift the holiday focus to include more than meals.

Some fun non-food holiday traditions may include:

• A group hike
• A family 5k
• Some meditative yoga
• Volunteering at a soup kitchen 
• Collecting canned food from family and friends and dropping it off at a shelter
• Visiting and walking dogs at an animal shelter for the day
• Doing a holiday craft, such as making wreaths or a homemade candle 
• Hosting a game night 
• Going out bowling or for mini-golf 
• Journaling and reflecting on the year 
• Playing music and singing karaoke 

Bring your own food 

This can be helpful, especially if you’re entering an unknown food situation. If you have a dish or recipe that is the perfect combination of fat/protein/carbohydrates for blood sugar management, bring a dish to share. This way, you’re guaranteed to at least have one diabetes-friendly and familiar option available. 

If you’re at a dinner or party, fill up first on non-starchy vegetables and protein, then have carbs like whole-grain breads and pastas, starchy vegetables, beans, fruit or sweet treats as a smaller portion toward the end of a meal. 

The protein, fiber and fat will not only keep you more full and less likely to over-indulge on added sugars, but will help stabilize your blood sugar and avoid the blood sugar rollercoaster. 

Limit alcohol

Limiting alcohol during the holidays can help prevent high and dangerous low blood sugars, since alcohol can have an impact on glucose levels. The risk of low blood sugar is higher if you drink alcohol on an empty stomach or drink heavily. 

So if you’re drinking, make sure you eat first and alternate alcoholic beverages with water. Bonus: staying hydrated also helps manage hunger, along with making blood sugar management easier.

After drinking, low blood sugars can last into the next day. This occurs because the liver is busy processing the alcohol content from the previous night’s drinks, so glycogen (glucose) will not be released from the liver if one’s blood sugar starts to drop. Keep a close eye on your levels and be prepared by consuming regular meals and having back up low snacks on hand. 

Be your own advocate

Since diabetes is invisible, it can be hard to make your needs known. If you feel comfortable, share what will make the day easier for blood sugar management with loved ones. If a relative insists that you try their homemade apple pie at Thanksgiving, but it will cause your blood sugars to go crazy, then stand up for yourself and gently let them know that you would prefer not to have it. 

On the other hand, if you feel that you’re starting to go low but dinner isn’t for another hour, feel confident heading into the kitchen for a drink or snack to treat your blood sugar without guilt. 

The holidays can be stressful, chaotic and busy, but don’t let hypoglycemia catch you off guard and steal your cheer and joy. With these strategies and emergency glucagon on hand if you need it, you can enter this holiday season with confidence.  

This content was made possible by Xeris Pharmaceuticals, an active partner of Beyond Type 1. Beyond Type 1 maintains editorial control over its content.