Ep 95: Getting More Out of Diabetes Technology — with Justin from Diabetech
In this episode we talk about:
- How most people are not fully utilizing their diabetes tech’s capabilities
- Justin’s journey to a type 1 diabetes diagnosis
- Making pumps, CGMs, and apps work in everyday life
- Comparing automated insulin delivery systems
- The importance of optimizing personal settings
- Progress over perfection with time in range
- Reducing diabetes burnout through technology
- Helpful apps, displays, and tech hacks
- Where diabetes technology is heading next
Are you getting the most out of the diabetes technology you use every day and do you know what’s coming next?
In this episode, Dr. Steve Edelman and Dr. Jeremy Pettus sit down with diabetes tech expert Justin Eastzer, creator of Diabetech, who is also living with type 1 diabetes, for a conversation about the steadily growing and expanding world of diabetes technology. They talk about how CGMs, automated insulin delivery systems, connected apps, and wearable displays are continuing to improve the way people with type 1 diabetes manage glucose in daily life.
Justin shares his diagnosis story, including being initially treated for type 2 diabetes before learning he had type 1, and how the online diabetes community helped him find the right answers. That experience led him to build a platform dedicated to reviewing devices, following industry developments, and helping people better understand the technology available today.
The discussion explores the current landscape of automated insulin delivery systems, practical differences between pumps, and the growing ecosystem of apps, displays, and data tools that allow people to interact with their glucose data in real time. They also look ahead at what’s coming next in diabetes tech, including new pump designs, smarter algorithms, improved connectivity, and continued efforts to reduce the day-to-day workload of living with type 1 diabetes.
Loved the show. Suggestion when you mentioned the apps, you only said it quickly at the beginning. Please repeat at the end of each discussion the name of the app including spelling.
Thanks for everything you do.
Will pass that on…thank you!
Great to hear all the updates. My dream is for those of us with 60 yrs of T1D get to go to the head of the line for cures! Because we are in-range & have better A1C ONLY because we have had T1D for SOOO LONG are pushed to the bottom of any trials etc. Which means we will never get a cure because our control is too good! Who would have said that to us in the 1960’s?? We know the in 10 years things will be better…LOL! nope we will die with T1D because no one cared about us because we were in too good of control! Most of us can’t even get Affreza because of our control! I’d like to eat a donut without spiking or running 5 flights of stairs.
I just passed my 60 year mark since diagnosis, not sure if I’ll see a cure. Maybe? Not holding my breath. I had a better A1c on MDI using my own brain than I do now on the adaptive AID pump but I accept that because I can have a life outside of diabetes.
Congrats on 60 years…you are what we call a diabetes legend! 💪 Hopefully a cure does come in your lifetime…things are moving faster than ever before.
First of all, congratulations on being in such good shape, having had diabetes for so long. Secondly, there is a lot of pressure on these companies now to increase the upper age for clinical trials. I have seen that myself and I’m very encouraged by it, because I’m not eligible either! And I would like to be involved in some trials too. On the plus side, if you have to wait until something is commercially available, at least you can let other type 1s be the guinea pig!
Glad to hear the discussion about the mis-Dx’s of T2 for adults. That happened to me. I was a recently retired ballet dancer (fit etc) with no D of any kind in my family tree. But…I was 30 years old. Treated for T2D (then called adult onset – that’s probably why I got the Dx I did. I was 30 years old. It took being found in a coma from DKA by a neighbor. I was 108 lbs (I’m 5’5″) and lucky that I worked for SDFD. When the neighbor called to say I wasn’t coming into work – she couldn’t wake me, they dispatched from HQ and I got to the ER in time. Hopefully with the change from juvenile/adult to T1/T2 this doesn’t happen as often. And what luck for Justin that some of the commenters mentioned the possibility of T1D!
Holy cow – that is quite a story. Thank goodness for your neighbor and for the quick response of SDFD. It’s unbelievable that more doctors are not aware that half of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes today are adults. And yes, pretty amazing that it was Justin’s followers who pushed him to get tested for type 1! Thanks so much for your comment and for sharing your story. 😊
Thanks for the fun, informative episode! Dr Jeremy, I would like to encourage you to try slowly increasing the amount of your “fixed prime”. You are not alone with struggling with higher sugars after a set change. It’s like the site needs priming before it can work effeciently. Think about how much you need to add in over the first few hours & add 1/4 that amount to your Fixed Prime. There are a good number of folks who have gone from 0.3u to 0.9 or higher. And as you know, “every body is different”. Give it a slow move & see if you can’t have a few more hours in target each week. Best to you.
I shared your comment with Jeremy (he’s out of the office this week) and he said to say thank you, and he’ll give it a try!
I was wondering if anything has progressed on the Evopump, it is supposed to hold both insulin and glucagon. It is supposed to be about the size of a bandage, so I am figuring that it doesn’t stick out from your skin like the Omnipod does. And has anything happened with the Biolinq CGM??
Not sure where things stand with Evopump. More than one company is working on this, but the main sticking point is getting a stable glucagon. The dual-hormonal pump is still in the plans for Beta Bionics, but not quite ready for prime time. The Biolinq at the current time doesn’t really give the same info as the Dexcom, FreeStyle Libre, or Eversense.