Diabetes and Menstruation

In some women who have type 1 diabetes, the hormonal changes that come with menstruation increase blood glucose levels (sometimes decrease).

Two or three days before menstruation, as estrogen and progesterone levels are changing, a number of women — but not all — will notice that their insulin needs increase substantially because their blood glucose levels are rising. It is also possible to need less insulin the day after menstruation.

Monitoring levels and adjusting insulin accordingly is key to managing this monthly shift.

How does Jade Help with Menstruation?

Jade provides an additional dosing factor that allows doses to be magnified or reduced by a percentage. When your gender is set to female, adding a dose with [+ Add] will show the Menstruation Factor on the right of the Exercise factors, as well as icons for Stress, Pain, Adrenalin and others.

Touch the Menstruation Factor icon to turn it on. When you do so, 2 things happen:

1. The bolus dose is adjusted up (or down) by your Menstruation Factor. The percentage change can be set under Settings\Dosing\Factors\Menstruation. The default value is an increase of 5%. Use your own judgement or speak to your clinician about setting this value.
2. A duration of 24 hours is added to the Menstruation Factor. Until you turn it off or the 24 hours elapses, the Menstruation Factor is applied to every bolus dose.

To turn the Menstruation Factor off, just hit [+ Add] to add another log. If the Menstruation Factor is still running, you will see the button [Stop] next to the duration.

If you need less insulin after menstruating, you can use Custom Factor 1 or 2 to modify doses to cover that time. It works in exactly the same way as the Menstruation Factor, with a customisable % change and a duration.

Jade also includes a specific Menstruation Report, so that you can see what happens to Blood Sugars before, during and after your period.

Note: Basal doses are not modified – you need to modify basal doses yourself.

Period Trackers

The following Period-tracking apps work well with Jade. When you log a period start in one of these apps, Jade will record a 24-hour menstruation dosing factor.

Listing Period Tracking Apps – Our Criteria

• Must put menstruation data (with Start=Yes) into Apple Health on iOS at the time the event occurs

Know any other good Period Tracker Apps?

Please first check that they write data to Apple Health at the time the event occured, and then
let us know!

Like your Period Tracking App listed here?

If it writes data to Apple Health, please
contact us

Further reading

• https://asweetlife.org/does-your-period-affect-your-diabetes/
• https://www.diaverge.com/blog/2018/2/12/changing-insulin-menstruation

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