08 July 2026
Episode 360 - Highs, Lows, and Hormones: Aging with Type 1 Diabetes with Melissa Slemp
Diabetics Doing Things Podcast
About
Melissa Slemp has lived with type 1 diabetes for 44 years — since she was
diagnosed in 1982, before glucometers, before CGMs, back when insulin came
from vials and syringes and "boiling your needles" was still a recent
memory for a lot of people. In this episode, she and Rob trace that whole
arc: what early management actually looked like, the high-risk pregnancy
she navigated in the 90s, and the moment — after more than four decades on
injections — she finally switched to a pump. If you've ever wondered what
it's like to hand over that much control after that much time, this is the
conversation.
But the real heart of this episode is the part almost nobody is talking
about: what happens to blood sugar when a woman with type 1 diabetes hits
perimenopause. Melissa walks through her own experience of watching her
basal insulin needs climb for no obvious reason, the years she spent
without an explanation, and what she eventually learned about estrogen,
progesterone, and insulin resistance — knowledge she says she had to dig up
herself, because most endocrinologists and OBGYNs simply aren't trained in
the overlap. That research became the reason she wrote Highs, Lows, and
Hormones, a survival guide for women navigating diabetes from their monthly
cycle through menopause.
Along the way, Rob and Melissa get into hormone replacement therapy, why so
many women blame themselves before they ever think to blame their hormones,
and the bigger pattern underneath it all: how much of diabetes research and
care has historically centered men, and what it costs women when it does.
There's also a genuinely great story about how Melissa met her husband, who
also lives with type 1 — on the side of the road, of all places.
This one's for anyone managing type 1 diabetes as a woman, anyone who loves
someone who is, or anyone who's ever felt like their body changed the rules
without telling them why.
Chapters
* 00:00 — Cold open and introducing Melissa Slemp
* 01:21 — Welcome, and 44 years living with type 1 diabetes
* 02:24 — Diagnosed in 1982, before glucometers existed
* 04:03 — Reframing: the best and hardest time to have diabetes
* 04:59 — Growing up rural with limited access to healthcare
* 07:09 — Early management: injections, mixed insulin, urine strips
* 07:46 — A high-risk pregnancy in the 90s
* 08:13 — Switching to a pump after 40+ years on injections
* 10:24 — How Melissa met her husband, also living with T1D
* 13:06 — Introducing the hormone and diabetes connection
* 20:14 — Rising basal needs and insulin resistance in perimenopause
* 25:25 — Community stories and menopause's hidden career toll
* 29:44 — The gender gap in diabetes research
* 33:04 — Hormones, GLP-1s, and insulin as hormone therapy
* 36:03 — Advocating for yourself with doctors and specialists
diagnosed in 1982, before glucometers, before CGMs, back when insulin came
from vials and syringes and "boiling your needles" was still a recent
memory for a lot of people. In this episode, she and Rob trace that whole
arc: what early management actually looked like, the high-risk pregnancy
she navigated in the 90s, and the moment — after more than four decades on
injections — she finally switched to a pump. If you've ever wondered what
it's like to hand over that much control after that much time, this is the
conversation.
But the real heart of this episode is the part almost nobody is talking
about: what happens to blood sugar when a woman with type 1 diabetes hits
perimenopause. Melissa walks through her own experience of watching her
basal insulin needs climb for no obvious reason, the years she spent
without an explanation, and what she eventually learned about estrogen,
progesterone, and insulin resistance — knowledge she says she had to dig up
herself, because most endocrinologists and OBGYNs simply aren't trained in
the overlap. That research became the reason she wrote Highs, Lows, and
Hormones, a survival guide for women navigating diabetes from their monthly
cycle through menopause.
Along the way, Rob and Melissa get into hormone replacement therapy, why so
many women blame themselves before they ever think to blame their hormones,
and the bigger pattern underneath it all: how much of diabetes research and
care has historically centered men, and what it costs women when it does.
There's also a genuinely great story about how Melissa met her husband, who
also lives with type 1 — on the side of the road, of all places.
This one's for anyone managing type 1 diabetes as a woman, anyone who loves
someone who is, or anyone who's ever felt like their body changed the rules
without telling them why.
Chapters
* 00:00 — Cold open and introducing Melissa Slemp
* 01:21 — Welcome, and 44 years living with type 1 diabetes
* 02:24 — Diagnosed in 1982, before glucometers existed
* 04:03 — Reframing: the best and hardest time to have diabetes
* 04:59 — Growing up rural with limited access to healthcare
* 07:09 — Early management: injections, mixed insulin, urine strips
* 07:46 — A high-risk pregnancy in the 90s
* 08:13 — Switching to a pump after 40+ years on injections
* 10:24 — How Melissa met her husband, also living with T1D
* 13:06 — Introducing the hormone and diabetes connection
* 20:14 — Rising basal needs and insulin resistance in perimenopause
* 25:25 — Community stories and menopause's hidden career toll
* 29:44 — The gender gap in diabetes research
* 33:04 — Hormones, GLP-1s, and insulin as hormone therapy
* 36:03 — Advocating for yourself with doctors and specialists