"My A1c went from 6.0 to 7.5, and the anxiety of being constantly connected to a device whose failure mode is my blood sugar out of control was terrifying. It didn’t fit in my workout clothes that I wore daily for coaching weightlifting and teaching dance, and I couldn’t hide it anywhere easily in my suit for engineering customer meetings."

– Lolly - Engineer, dancer, instructor, mom

Smart Insulin Pens and Exercise

Smart insulin pens (or smart pens) can help you make informed decisions around exercise if you use multiple daily injections (MDI). For more information on smart insulin pens, check out our device library.

Device Library

Smart pens can help manage diabetes during exercise by ^{Vieira G. Connected Insulin Pens: Here are Today’s "Smart Pen” Options. T1D Exchange. December 6, 2023. Accessed August 23, 2024. https://t1dexchange.org/connected-insulin-pen-options/|https://t1dexchange.org/connected-insulin-pen-options/}^{Heinemann L, Schnell O, Gehr B, Schloot NC, Görgens SW, Görgen C. Digital Diabetes Management: A Literature Review of Smart Insulin Pens. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2022;16(3):587-595. doi:10.1177/1932296820983863 |https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1932296820983863}^{Heinemann L, Schnell O, Gehr B, Schloot NC, Görgens SW, Görgen C. Digital Diabetes Management: A Literature Review of Smart Insulin Pens. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2022;16(3):587-595. doi:10.1177/1932296820983863 | https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1932296820983863}:

Tracking Insulin Levels: Keep track of how much insulin works in your body (insulin on board or IOB), which can help you make decisions during exercise (for example, when and how much to eat to reduce the risk of lows).
Smart Pens and Fitness Trackers: Many smart pens can connect to apps on your smartphone that combine your insulin information with your blood glucose data, like Apple Health, Google Fit, Glooko, and mySugr. The Lilly Tempo Pen even connects directly to compatible fitness trackers Fitbit and Garmin to provide additional insights on activity and diabetes management.
Adjusting Insulin Doses: Can suggest ways to change your insulin doses before, during, and after exercise to keep your blood glucose in target glucose range, like increasing or decreasing your insulin dose based on your current glucose level and exercise plans.
Preventing High or Low Blood Glucose: Can help you avoid having too high or too low blood glucose by giving you dose reminders and alerts through the app.
Recording Data: Can keep track of your exercise and insulin use in the app, which helps you and your doctor make more informed choices about your diabetes care.

Smart Pen Options

Many smart pen systems have features and integrations for exercise. These features can help track insulin on board before and after physical activity. Below is a table showing some of the different physical activity options you can use with smart insulin pens from Bigfoot Unity, Lilly Diabetes, Medtronic, and Novo Nordisk^{T1D Exchange. Smart Insulin Pen Benefits. Available at: https://t1dexchange.org/smart-insulin-pen-benefits/. Accessed September 12, 2024|https://t1dexchange.org/smart-insulin-pen-benefits/}.

I want to live the healthiest, longest life I can. If I believe this device is the way to do it, I am willing to pay some extra money for it.

Kat

Mother, Camp Director

Sometimes it is information overload, but I would rather have too much information than not enough.

Christine

Woman, Wife, Thinker, Reader, Sister, Silly

I selected the [Tandem] t:slim X2 because of how much [insulin] it holds.

– Lolly - Engineer, dancer, instructor, mom

Smart Pen Options

Kat

Christine

Jacquean

References