Q&A ASK ELISSA

My daughter has always managed her type 1 so well, however, coming into her later teenage years, she has become very slack and the results are showing. How did you explain the importance of managing diabetes to your children?

Elissa says: Diabetes burnout is not uncommon, especially after managing type 1 for so long. Having to continually count carbohydrates, calculate insulin doses, consider how their activity is affecting their levels, when they need to resite their insulin pump, along with all the challenges of normal teenage mood changes. Diabetes has a huge impact on every part of their lives and something I truly didn’t understand until I went through this stage with each of my children.

Allow your daughter to talk with you, stay positive and try to reinforce how good a job she is doing.

When my teenage kids went through this, speaking with a psychologist was so helpful in offering them support and some strategies around how they could cope with their ongoing care and treatment. ➤ Elissa Renouf owns Diabete-ezy and is mum to four kids with type 1. Her range of convenient diabetes products is available at diabete-ezy.com