Staying safer: seven things to do anyway

This page is harm reduction, not permission. The alternative to saying any of this isn't that nobody uses — it's people using with none of these protections in place. If you're going to anyway, here is what lowers the risk the most.

Mixing doesn't add up. It multiplies.

Two drugs together, or any drug with alcohol, interact in ways nobody can predict for you. Now you've got two substances pulling your blood sugar in opposite directions, on top of the one condition that needs you paying attention.

If there's one change on this page that does the most good, it's this one: don't mix.

If you're going to anyway, do these seven things

1. Never skip your insulin

Not once, not "just tonight". Skipping insulin is the road to DKA — and DKA doesn't fix itself.

2. Never use alone

If you have to, the National Overdose Response Service (NORS) will stay on the line with you: 1-888-688-6677. It isn't the police.

3. One sober person knows

Someone there who is sober knows you have type 1, and knows where your hypo food is.

4. Wear your medical ID

Paramedics look for it first. If you can't speak for yourself, it speaks for you.

5. Fast sugar in your pocket

Not in a bag across the room. In your pocket, where you can reach it when you need it.

6. Phone alarms to check your blood sugar

You will not remember on your own. Set the alarms before you start.

7. Eat carbs before, during and after — and know what you took

Knowing what you took helps you, the people with you, and anyone treating you if something goes wrong.

Who else needs to know

Several of these steps depend on other people. The page What your friends should know is written for them — show it to the people who are usually there.

And your diabetes team belongs in this too. They have heard all of it before, at every age. Their job isn't to judge you — it's to keep your numbers safe around whatever you're actually doing.