You're running late one morning, so you skip breakfast. You are planning a weekend pig-out on pizza with friends, so you boost your insulin to cover the extra calories. You're not happy with your weight, so you start skipping insulin doses to see if you can lose a few pounds. Experimenting is part of growing up. Sometimes, your diabetes regimen can feel like a straitjacket.
Most teenagers do have it all.
The most serious mistake you can make, doctors say, is cutting back on insulin shots. Kids do this for different reasons. Some think it will help them lose weight. Athletes sometimes purposely elevate their blood sugar before a game so they won't have to test in front of their teammates midway through. The problem is that they won't necessarily get in enough activity to burn the glucose, says Patrice Yasuda, a Los Angeles clinical psychologist.