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Using tags to tame your diabetes monster

11/2/2015 by Anne Kainz

Using tags to tame your diabetes monster

We have a lot of experiences every day. Events and emotions are a part of our daily life. Without ups and downs, joyful and not-so-joyful events, life would be pretty boring. As a diabetic, and a Monster Tamer it is important to document those emotions and events. Why? See for yourself ...

The chaos of your day

To have diabetes means a lifetime of learning. And we can learn much from our data. An example: You know them for sure – days where everything happens in a blur. A quick lunch, hurry to an important event, stressing about the next place you need to be and then even the train is late, too. Bravo. Quick! A BG check before the next stop. Crap. Blood sugar is up at a dizzying height. As an experienced Monster Tamer, you know what the hustle and bustle can do to your blood sugar. But how can such "events" be best documented? Clearly! With tags!

How do I use tags?

You’ve probably already seen tags in the mySugr App. The tags are small icons that describe certain situations and emotions.
mySugr Logbook tags
When you create a new entry, you’ll find almost 50 tags that you can use to help add context, or tell the story of that entry. You can easily select them with a quick fingertip tap. If they are active, they appear in monster moderate Green. You can deactivate it with another tap.

Reorder tags

Some tags you'll use very often, and you can move them to the front of your list. Tap and hold with your finger on the tag, move it to the desired location, and then let go. Tada! You have your favorite tags right where you want them! I have, for example, all of the meals tags at the front of my list.
mySugr Logbook screen with tags being reordered

Why use tags? What are the advantages?

Every piece of your diabetes data has a story. The tags help tell that story. They help you understand your diabetes and the relationships between certain situations and your blood sugar better. They help you find patterns in your values and help your doctor interpret your data. Therapy optimization is way easier with some context than trying to grope around in the dark.

Browse and search by tags

It's always a good idea to tag the first value after waking with the "fasting" tag. Then you can search in mySugr for all of your fasting values. That’s something I’m often asked about. If you need a “foot on the floor” (or wakeup) bolus, then tag it, too. Are you seeing high values for breakfast and you don’t know why you’re so freaking high? Take a look and see if you forget to take your “foot on the floor” bolus! See! Tags can shed some light in the dark.
mySugr Logbook screens showing how tags can be used in search

Before or after sports

My personal favorites are the "before sports" and "after sports" tags. After a sweaty workout, I just tag my post-exercise blood sugar with the "after sports" tag, and logically, I add a “before sports” tag for the check I did before starting. Because, unfortunately, it's often the case that after exercising my blood sugar goes on a bit of a roller coaster. So I’m working to identify patterns to adjust and optimize my therapy after a few well-tagged sports outings. Maybe I need to change something with my carbohydrates or try a different basal adjustment. With my logging and some experiments, I can find out!

Try it for yourself

You’ll see after just a few entries how quickly a pair of matching tags can be selected and what you can learn from them. Which tags are your favorite? Why? Have you been able to learn anything from using them? Let us know in the comments.

https://vimeo.com/144474917

The Smart Search Feature in the mySugr app is currently only available on iOS. We are also working to make it available again on Android in the future.

The mySugr website does not provide medical or legal advice. mySugr blog articles are not scientific articles, but intended for informational purposes only.
Medical or nutritional information on the mySugr website is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a physician or health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Anne Kainz

Anne-Sophie Kainz is Head of Customer Support at mySugr. She has been part of mySugr since 2014, yet tackling life with diabetes for over 17 years. Apart from taming the diabetes monster and writing for our blog (e.g. 3 Reasons Why Diabetes Makes You Awesome), you’ll find her outdoors with her lovely dog, Alfie, or in her garden harvesting veggies. On rainy days, she likes to kick back with Netflix and practice her hand lettering and calligraphy skills.