Emotional and feel stupid!

[Jilly986]

I have had type 1 diabetes since 1997 and also thyroid problems. My control has never been good as these two conditions play havoc with eachother. Now the complications are setting in. Retinopathy and deteriorating kidney function, both of which are being addressed. More recently I have found myself feeling constantly tired and gradually gaining weight. This issue distresses me more than anything. I've tried less carbs and using my exercise bike on a daily basis. So now I feel so down about it I seem to start crying all the time. I feel depressed and sluggish and so unattractive. My self esteem is at an all time low. When I saw some recent pics of myself I felt ashamed and disgusted. If I get invited out anywhere I find any excuse not to go. I am confused about my blood results which show my thyroid is slightly overactive but my emotional state would suggest its underactive. The doctors dont seem concerned or understand how desperate I am to lose weight. I thought that was an important issue with diabetes. I am now considering taking herbal slimming pills. Has anyone had any experience with taking these. I just want to feel normal and be happy with myself.

 

[lizdeluz]

Exhaustion and weight-gain are certainly aspects to home-in on. Many people on this forum have tried Low Carb High Fat as a way of (1) improving blood sugar control and (2) losing excess weight and (3) gradually feeling happier and more energetic. It's definitely worth a try and you may find that it makes you feel a lot better. It certainly helped me and I wouldn't have known about it without the help of the forum. Have a look at the Low Carb forum/threads for advice and recipes, and keep posting.

 

[Scandichic]

I have had type 1 diabetes since 1997 and also thyroid problems. My control has never been good as these two conditions play havoc with eachother. Now the complications are setting in. Retinopathy and deteriorating kidney function, both of which are being addressed. More recently I have found myself feeling constantly tired and gradually gaining weight. This issue distresses me more than anything. I've tried less carbs and using my exercise bike on a daily basis. So now I feel so down about it I seem to start crying all the time. I feel depressed and sluggish and so unattractive. My self esteem is at an all time low. When I saw some recent pics of myself I felt ashamed and disgusted. If I get invited out anywhere I find any excuse not to go. I am confused about my blood results which show my thyroid is slightly overactive but my emotional state would suggest its underactive. The doctors dont seem concerned or understand how desperate I am to lose weight. I thought that was an important issue with diabetes. I am now considering taking herbal slimming pills. Has anyone had any experience with taking these. I just want to feel normal and be happy with myself.

First of all - have a big hug! @Totto has a thyroid problem so she might be able to help.
@Spiker and @Heathenlass are T1 and might have some hints.
I am T2 but would recommend that you check out this website:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=Type+1&submit.x=-962&submit.y=-178
It is written by a Swedish doc who specialises in T1 and T2 diabetes and obesity. It has been a life saver for me. He is extremely helpful and responds to emails. I have now lost 3 stone 5lbs on this diet since 28th of January.
This site is lovely and the people are very helpful. Keep posting and asking questions and hopefully you'll get the answers you need.

 

[Heathenlass]

Thanks for the shout out, @Scandichic I may as well use the fact that I'm up at a ridiculous hour constructively
@Jilly986 , it's entirely possible that the way you are feeling is more related to depression and burnout than to your thyroid problems, though obviously that has some bearing on it as it makes your control difficult Depression and burnout are very, very common with diabetics, as we deal with it on a daily basis, and when it doesn't seem to be going well, we feel failures, and for you, weight gain and the additional thyroid problems must really dent your self esteem.

I think it's important to realise that you are far from being alone with this, and while you sound as if you are feeling horrible, you are doing well to be able to post about this, and judging by your avatar picture, you actually look just fine

May I ask what insulins you are on, and if you are confident with carb counting ? Oh, and are you under the care of a diabetes clinic at a hospital, or through your GP ?

And welcome, by the way

Signy

 

[Lesleywo]

Hi Jilly

Sorry you are feeling so low ... when I read your post the first thing that screamed out at me was menopause (or perimenopause). I have Hashimoto's Disease and Addisons Disease and had the menopause from hell (relatively early, started around age 43). Severe depression, weight gain, self loathing and the worst insomnia you can imagine. Definitely didn't see that coming! Jokes aside, there were times that I couldn't have cared less whether I woke up in the morning or not.

You could always chat to your GP about it and request a blood test to see where your hormones are at and talk about your feelings of depression, the teariness etc.

I wish you luck and hope you feel better real soon xx

 

[Totto]

Hi Jilly, depression, sluggishness, unwillingness to go out and meet people are very common symptoms of under active thyroid as is, of course, weight gain. Hypothyroidism is a terrible disease.

What tests have been done? Results? Are you on thyroid meds now?

Hormones are very tricky indeed and they seem to give similar symptoms. Couldn't figure out why I was so tired and lost hair an memory when my thyroid level was perfect and it turned out I was diabetic.

What you can do immediately is to cut out all grain and grain products, particularly everything that has even the tiniest amount of wheat in it. And look into LCHF, there are recent threads on LCHF and type !, have a look. It might help with energy levels.

 

[Jilly986]

First of all BIG THANKS to everyone for your encouraging responses. This forum is a godsend. I'm so grateful and relieved to realise I'm not just going out of my mind! There is light at the end of the tunnel. Ok where to start....
lizdeluz - I have heard many times about low carb diets but assumed I would just feel more hungry. However I will take your advice and look much further into this.
Scandichic - Your success in losing weight is very encouraging. I've had a brief look at the diet doctor link which looks very interesting and I will have another look again in more detail later.
Heatherlass - Sadly the avatar pic is about a year old and I have gained weight since then. I use the pic as some kind of motivation. I am on novorapid fast acting during the day and lantus for night time. I learned about carb counting on the DAFNE course last year but I found it difficult to keep going with it. Althought my daily sugar readings improved I also started to gain weight so slipped back into old habits.
My GP and diabetic nurse look after me but dont seem concerned about the weight gain. I have an appointment with the nurse this week.
Lesleywo - I also wondered about the menopause as I had been suffering night hot flushes earlier this year and my menstrual cycle completely stopped after Christmas. I ask my diabetic nurse who told me there was no blood test to find this out which I find hard to believe. The hot flushes seemed to have subsided though. Again is it more to do with my thyroid? I also have Adock disons Disease since 1983 and I take hydrocortisone for this. Yet another stumbling block for losing weight.
I will try again with my gp regarding menopause issue.
Totto - I had my last blood tests done about 2 months ago. They showed that my thyroid was a little overactive even though it feels more like its underactive. The doctor reduced my thyroxine from 150mg to 125mg but that made me feel really bad so I increased it back up to 150mg again which marginally improved things. I always thought an overactive thyroid caused weight loss and may explain the excessive sweating I was experiencing.
I have noticed that I feel very sluggish and tired after eating wheat products so that would be an avenue to try. I am going to look more at the diet doctor link Scandichic sent me later on. It looks very encouraging.
On my last visit to see my diabetic nurse she was concerned at the restricting diet I was on which consisted of mainly toast, eggs and cuppa soups. I have introduced salad into my diet since then and I was considering weightwatchers. The nurse said I was not allowing myselt all the nutients needed for a healthy diet. Even so, I didnt lost much weight. The nurse and doctor told me to concentrate more on improving my blood sugars which are very erratic. I am waiting for a cataract operation but this won't go ahead until my HBa1c has improved drastically. It has been stuck on 11mmol for as long as I can remember.
Anyway thanks again. Have a good day xxx

 

[Jilly986]

First of all BIG THANKS to everyone for your encouraging responses. This forum is a godsend. I'm so grateful and relieved to realise I'm not just going out of my mind! There is light at the end of the tunnel. Ok where to start....
lizdeluz - I have heard many times about low carb diets but assumed I would just feel more hungry. However I will take your advice and look much further into this.
Scandichic - Your success in losing weight is very encouraging. I've had a brief look at the diet doctor link which looks very interesting and I will have another look again in more detail later.
Heatherlass - Sadly the avatar pic is about a year old and I have gained weight since then. I use the pic as some kind of motivation. I am on novorapid fast acting during the day and lantus for night time. I learned about carb counting on the DAFNE course last year but I found it difficult to keep going with it. Althought my daily sugar readings improved I also started to gain weight so slipped back into old habits.
My GP and diabetic nurse look after me but dont seem concerned about the weight gain. I have an appointment with the nurse this week.
Lesleywo - I also wondered about the menopause as I had been suffering night hot flushes earlier this year and my menstrual cycle completely stopped after Christmas. I ask my diabetic nurse who told me there was no blood test to find this out which I find hard to believe. The hot flushes seemed to have subsided though. Again is it more to do with my thyroid? I also have Adock disons Disease since 1983 and I take hydrocortisone for this. Yet another stumbling block for losing weight.
I will try again with my gp regarding menopause issue.
Totto - I had my last blood tests done about 2 months ago. They showed that my thyroid was a little overactive even though it feels more like its underactive. The doctor reduced my thyroxine from 150mg to 125mg but that made me feel really bad so I increased it back up to 150mg again which marginally improved things. I always thought an overactive thyroid caused weight loss and may explain the excessive sweating I was experiencing.
I have noticed that I feel very sluggish and tired after eating wheat products so that would be an avenue to try. I am going to look more at the diet doctor link Scandichic sent me later on. It looks very encouraging.
On my last visit to see my diabetic nurse she was concerned at the restricting diet I was on which consisted of mainly toast, eggs and cuppa soups. I have introduced salad into my diet since then and I was considering weightwatchers. The nurse said I was not allowing myselt all the nutients needed for a healthy diet. Even so, I didnt lost much weight. The nurse and doctor told me to concentrate more on improving my blood sugars which are very erratic. I am waiting for a cataract operation but this won't go ahead until my HBa1c has improved drastically. It has been stuck on 11mmol for as long as I can remember.
Anyway thanks again. Have a good day xxx

Lesleywo - Sorry I meant to put 'Addisons Disease'....my laptop has a mind of its own! x

 

[Lesleywo]

Lesleywo - Sorry I meant to put 'Addisons Disease'....my laptop has a mind of its own! x

Haha I gathered that ... but interesting we share 2 of the same endocrine disorders. The problem is, the symptoms of menopause and hypothyroidism are very similar and if your bloods are showing you to be a bit overactive then it doesn't sound as though it's thyroid related.

Can't believe the dr said you can't test for menopause .. I had my hormones tested (follicle stimulating hormone, estrogen, progesterone, testerone etc ) and the dr was horrified ..said I had the hormones of a 60 year old woman and I was only in my mid 40's. Also generally folk with Addisons have low DHEA which doesn't help matters. I have been taking bio-identical hormones on and off for several years to hopefully protect my bones and used to be on anti depressants. I never in my wildest dreams envisaged that this was what menopause was like .. nobody ever really talks about it and many women cruise through it. For me it was an absolutely bloody nightmare ... only good bit was no more periods!

Have you had your cortisol checked lately?

 

[Jilly986]

Haha I gathered that ... but interesting we share 2 of the same endocrine disorders. The problem is, the symptoms of menopause and hypothyroidism are very similar and if your bloods are showing you to be a bit overactive then it doesn't sound as though it's thyroid related.

Can't believe the dr said you can't test for menopause .. I had my hormones tested (follicle stimulating hormone, estrogen, progesterone, testerone etc ) and the dr was horrified ..said I had the hormones of a 60 year old woman and I was only in my mid 40's. Also generally folk with Addisons have low DHEA which doesn't help matters. I have been taking bio-identical hormones on and off for several years to hopefully protect my bones and used to be on anti depressants. I never in my wildest dreams envisaged that this was what menopause was like .. nobody ever really talks about it and many women cruise through it. For me it was an absolutely bloody nightmare ... only good bit was no more periods!

Have you had your cortisol checked lately?

Yes my cortisol is checked with all the other routine tests. It wasnt really discussed and no adjustments were made so assumed it's ok. As I said, I'm going to ask about being tested for menopause. I got the impression before that so many different issues going on that they just couldnt be bothered!

 

[Scandichic]

The other problem you may face if you eat LCHF is a lot of opposition to this diet. My nurse was shocking but I ignored her and persisted. The official NHS line is nothing is forbidden, you must eat starchy carbs with every meal for energy when many of us have found the reverse to be true. The 2 best bits of advice I have had were to test and ditch starchy carbs and have small amounts of berries rather than loads of fruit because of the fructose content. I am never hungry and if I want something sweet then a couple of squares of dark choccie do the trick. Have you been tested for vitamin d deficiency?

 

[noblehead]

My GP and diabetic nurse look after me but dont seem concerned about the weight gain. I have an appointment with the nurse this week.

Jilly, ask your gp to refer you over to the care of your hospital diabetes clinic, you will get more support and advice there for the issues you are dealing with.

 

[Jilly986]

Thats very interesting, Sometimes you know in your own mind what's best for you. As far as I know I havent been checked for vitamin d deficiency. At least it's never been discussed with me. I have often wondered about the intake of fruit. How much? I must admit I much prefer raspberries, blackberries etc to apples. I love mandarins, grapes and mangos but obvioiusly they impact hugely on my diabetes control. I love porridge and I'm told its an ideal meal but that also makes my sugar reading go sky high. I must be doing somethng wrong.

 

[Jilly986]

Jilly, ask your gp to refer you over to the care of your hospital diabetes clinic, you will get more support and advice there for the issues you are dealing with.

I will ask about that as well. The gp only seems to know a minimall amount of information about my issues.

 

[noblehead]

I will ask about that as well. The gp only seems to know a minimall amount of information about my issues.

The hospital clinics are more use to dealing with the complexities of living with type 1 diabetes, better to be seen there given your on-going problems Jilly. Good luck and best wishes.

 

[Scandichic]

Thats very interesting, Sometimes you know in your own mind what's best for you. As far as I know I havent been checked for vitamin d deficiency. At least it's never been discussed with me. I have often wondered about the intake of fruit. How much? I must admit I much prefer raspberries, blackberries etc to apples. I love mandarins, grapes and mangos but obvioiusly they impact hugely on my diabetes control. I love porridge and I'm told its an ideal meal but that also makes my sugar reading go sky high. I must be doing somethng wrong.

This is my point. The NHS healthy eat well plate recommends porridge, fruit, bread, pasta, bread and potatoes as well as portion control. If I eat any of those foods in tiny quantities my bs goes to double figures. Not really surprising as all carbs are converted into sugar in the stomach and when released into blood stream raise bs. So eat to your meter. You may be able to eat these things but by the sounds of things you are struggling with them. I would keep a food diary and test every half hour for a couple of hours after food to see if you get a spike, what it is and for how long. Just till you get better control. Obviously I don't know about the whole insulin thing as I don't inject.

 

[Scandichic]

@Jilly986
Try this thread for some good food tips!
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.36803/

 

[Jilly986]

Does anyone know if diet pills would be an option or am I being naive?

 

[Scandichic]

Does anyone know if diet pills would be an option or am I being naive?

Don't know enough about them. Seriously, try the LCHF. You will feel **** for up to a week whilst your body detox then you will have bags of energy, control over bs and lose weight. You have nothing to lose!

 

[Jilly986]

i'm willing to try anything even if it means going through the pain barrier. There seems to be a lot of positive feedback about this diet regime which is very encouraging