Learning to accept a diabetes diagnosis is a big task… We asked our South African diabetes community for their best advice – here it is.…
Author: Sweet Life
Sweet Life is a diabetes community that informs, inspires and connects people with diabetes in South Africa. We are here to offer reliable advice on all you need to know about diabetes, support people with diabetes and share that just because you have diabetes, doesn’t mean you can’t live a happy, healthy life.
Have you heard of Congenital Hyperinsulinism? Read on to hear Lienke’s story, and the challenges she has overcome.
SA Diabetes Advocacy has recently launched a 4 week Diabetes Advocacy Training course. It’s entirely online and totally free, and they want to empower as many diabetes advocates as they can. We asked them to explain more about the course…
What kind of information are you looking for in a sex and diabetes course? What do you wish healthcare providers knew about sex and diabetes? What’s your lived experience?
As Heart Health Awareness Month (September) draws to a close, here are a few reminders why people with diabetes need to be aware of heart health.
We’ve been talking about diabetes burnout a lot lately – what it is, what to do about it and how to help during diabetes burnout. The other option we want to discuss is how diabetes coaching can help.
Diabetes burnout is unavoidable, when you’re living with diabetes. But how can you help during diabetes burnout? What can you offer someone you love who is struggling?
None of us would choose diabetes, it’s true. But many of our community members have found a silver lining to diabetes with their diabetes-inspired businesses . Here are some of their stories – women who started a business specifically because of diabetes.
When Lize reached out to say that both she and her daughter Liya-Lome have Type 1 diabetes, we had to know more… Here’s their mother-daughter story.
If you haven’t read our Annual Report yet, what are you waiting for?! If you’re just looking for the highlights, though – here’s our year in review…
While diabetes has some common symptoms – particularly before you are diagnosed – there are also some less common side-effects of diabetes, when you live with the condition every day.
I could not be more excited to share The Type 1 Diabetes Guidebook – for parents with you. Here’s how to download your copy!
Sweet Life was so delighted to support the Mitchells Plein Diabetes Community Wellness Group at their recent seniors support camp. They are one of Diabetes SA‘s support groups, doing such wonderful work.
A recent announcement on the radical reduction in price of dulaglutide (Trulicity) will be welcomed by prescribers in South Africa. The DISCOVER study by Dr…
We love sharing our community’s stories of life with diabetes – including how to accept a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Here is Mokopane Bohlale’s story.…
We all have good and bad days, and it’s hard to stay motivated on the bad ones. It’s even harder when you have a chronic condition.
We know that many people in our community struggle with their weight, so we’ve gathered some healthy weight loss tips specifically for people with diabetes. Read on!
We have had a lot of questions from our community, lately, about how to get your medical aid to cover the FreeStyle Libre 2.
Do you know how to inject insulin? Here’s a video to help you.
If you inject insulin, what length needle do you use? Is there a right length needle? We recently asked the South Africans with Diabetes community…
We recently asked the South Africans with Diabetes community what they do with their needles… Take a look and see what they said.
I don’t know about you, but I really like finding out the reason behind why things happen… And when it comes to a chronic condition…
How will you manage your diabetes if a disaster hits? Have you ever thought of that? This diabetes disaster kit is helpful if you have…
While lifestyle changes are the foundation of treating and managing Type 2 diabetes, whole-food plant-based diets are now being recognized to significantly improve symptoms and quality of life. So is a plant-based diet for diabetes a good idea? Let’s unpack it.
We all know that living with diabetes – Type 1 or Type 2 – can be a rollercoaster. But are there any tools that help? We asked Renate Benjamin to share her story with us.
How often do you change your needles? Most people with diabetes don’t change them very often at all…
Today we’re talking about something a little sensitive… eating disorders. Please be kind to yourself – if you find any of this triggering, there’s no reason to read on. But it is an important conversation to have… Eating disorders thrive in secrecy, and we want to be able to bring the conversation into the light.
One of our community members, Zahni Terblanche, reached out to us with her story of diabulimia and Type 1 diabetes, and we wanted to share it to shed some light on the condition…
For those of us who inject insulin, it can become very much part of our everyday lives – just one more thing we have to…
We could not be more excited to share the news that in June 2022, for the first time ever, ultra-rapid-acting insulin is launching in South…
Do you know what lipohypertrophy is? If you’re living with Type 1 diabetes and injecting insulin, you need to!
When we decided to do a second season of the South Africans with Diabetes podcast, the first thing I wanted to do was talk about the awkward stuff… The things we’re all thinking about, but haven’t really brought into the open. One of those things is diabetes stigma. Is it real? Is it worse for people with Type 2 diabetes? What do we do about it, and how do we make it better?
Although diabetes is deeply personal to many of us, it’s important to take a step back, sometimes, and look at diabetes in South Africa – the big picture.
I’ve been thinking a lot about insulin timing lately… Which might seem like a weird comment to make, except that this year – at last, finally, thank heavens – ultra rapid-acting insulin is coming to South Africa.
The Discovery CGM Benefit can be tricky to understand! Here’s a simple explanation so you know how to access it.
The language of diabetes. I’m not going to lie, I have resisted writing this article for some time – and I’ll tell you why.
Diabetes distress and burnout are a reality at some stage for everyone living with diabetes. It’s not possible to live with a chronic condition 24/7/365 without sometimes getting exhausted by it. Here’s advice on what to do about it – from a psychologist living with diabetes.
Yes it’s true – Diabetic South Africans is now South Africans with Diabetes. But why, you might ask? South Africans with Diabetes Well, when we…
It can sometimes feel like there are a million factors that affect blood sugar – but here’s a list of 42 factors that affect blood sugar, courtesy of diaTribe.
We all know that diabetes and heart health go together – heart disease is one of the most common diabetes complications. But does that mean all people with diabetes need to worry about heart health?
We recently ran a survey to find out who exactly you are – who makes up the Sweet Life Diabetes Community we know and love. Here are the results:
Do you wish that images of people with Type 1 diabetes more closely represented you? Would you like to change that? Read on!
Living with Type 1 diabetes is a juggle at the best of times… But Type 1 diabetes and travel is even more challenging. We asked diabetes advocate Kirsten de Klerk to tell us about her adventures with travel – and what she’s learnt…
When it comes to diabetes, there’s a necessary focus on eating and food. But could we incorporate intuitive eating principles into the way we think about food?
High and low blood glucose are a big part of diabetes. Here’s how to reframe them so that your mental health doesn’t suffer from ups and downs.
Easter with diabetes is a challenge for all of us… Diabetes guilt can be particularly difficult around big holidays like Easter and Christmas, even if you don’t celebrate them, because there are so many ‘illegal’ treats on offer.
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) has over 160 mental health support groups nationwide. These groups are free to attend and offer support to all those who need it – and their families.
You’re off on an adventure! Your bag is packed, you’re ready to go – but wait! Do you have your diabetes toolkit? Here’s what you…
UPDATE: The camp has been postponed due to illness. We’ll post the new details as soon as we have them!
We all know how dangerous fake news is, and diabetes myths are the original fake news when it comes to living with diabetes. They also contribute to diabetes stigma, and misinformation, both of which are so harmful. Let’s take a look at 4 common diabetes myths.