Hi my name is Robin I am 57 years old and was diagnosed with type 2 in August 2012, I was diagnosed in 2009 with severe clinical depression and severe to moderate anxiety due to work related pressures, this makes managing my diabetes very difficult and already have develoaped background retinopathy, although I am new to the forums I have been using the site for some time trying to keep up with everything.
Hello all
- Thread starter Robin Smith
- Start Date
Well, i really admire you casue you have a optimistic attitude!
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Robinredbreast
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bernie.freeman
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Hi welcome to the forum, this is a good place to be. There are a lot of friendly knowledgeable people on here.
Bluetit1802
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Hello Robin
Well done for joining the forum.
Anxiety and depression are really difficult things to be dealing with on top of your diabetes, so it's not surprising that you are finding it hard to manage your blood glucose levels. I hope that we can encourage you to focus on the measures you need to take to improve your situation.
Can I ask, what sort of obstacles do your depression/anxiety create that get in the way of your diabetes management?
Well done for joining the forum.
Anxiety and depression are really difficult things to be dealing with on top of your diabetes, so it's not surprising that you are finding it hard to manage your blood glucose levels. I hope that we can encourage you to focus on the measures you need to take to improve your situation.
Can I ask, what sort of obstacles do your depression/anxiety create that get in the way of your diabetes management?
Clivethedrive
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Big hello and welcome robin , it can be hard when your just diabetic so congratulations for getting on the forum
Hi Nancyb, the biggest problem I have which affects both my depression and blood glucose levels is binge or comfort eating, when I feel really down I tend to eat things I shouldn't for example normally I would only eat one or two biscuits, but when I am in a low I will eat a whole packet, this both affects my bg levels and creates what seems to me at the time a unbreakable circle as I feel bad about the resulting affect on my body, my weight which in turn damages my self confidence and the effects that the high bg is having on my body etc. The other thing is that when I am in a very deep depresive cycle I do not take my medication because when I am like that I am unable to see the point of carrying on, life just seems to stack up against me, every minor thing which people usually take in their stride becomes major disasters to me and I find it difficult to find a way out. I am trying very hard at the moment to loose weight and stop smoking, but I know this is probably only a temporary phase as so many time before I have tried to improve my life but I keep getting knocked back down.
Sorry for rambling on here and should have probably posted this in the type 2 section
And thank you for the warm welcome here
Robin
Sorry for rambling on here and should have probably posted this in the type 2 section
And thank you for the warm welcome here
Robin
We share a lot already.
Giving up smoking, I used to get through 80 per day, comfort eating about the same .
In the end I stopped smoking and later lost 88 pounds.
If I can do it so can you, you just need to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME and then it becomes a habit that you never wish to return to.
Anyway welcome to the forums and best wishes for resolving your issues, I am sure you will get plenty of help here.
Giving up smoking, I used to get through 80 per day, comfort eating about the same .
In the end I stopped smoking and later lost 88 pounds.
If I can do it so can you, you just need to take it ONE DAY AT A TIME and then it becomes a habit that you never wish to return to.
Anyway welcome to the forums and best wishes for resolving your issues, I am sure you will get plenty of help here.
Bluetit1802
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It must be very difficult for you, but you are in a good place for help with at least your blood glucose and weight problems. Perhaps if you tell us a little about your last HbA1c results, what medication you are on, and whether you have your own blood glucose monitor, plus give us an example of a typical day's food, we may have some pointers for you.
Thank you for sharing that Robin. Please don't give up hope, and like Pasha says, take it one step at a time.
I was wondering, regarding the comfort eating, whether you could find comforting things that are low carb. For example, for years I have avoided things like cream, but on a low carb higher fat diet you can eat some of the things that in the past you might have felt guilty about.
I was wondering, regarding the comfort eating, whether you could find comforting things that are low carb. For example, for years I have avoided things like cream, but on a low carb higher fat diet you can eat some of the things that in the past you might have felt guilty about.
Some background information about me - diagnosed in 2012 type 2 after visit to docs with low abdominal/bladder pain, HbA1c was 10%, cholesterol was 5.9, HDL 0.67, weight 88.4kgs, BMI 29.8, started off on 4 x 500mg metformin, 20mg amvistatin, 40mg fluoxetine, was refered by diabetic nurse to the x-pert programme, Jan 2014 HbA1c 67mmol/mol, Apr 2014 70mmol/mol, November 2014 65mmol/mol. medication changed in June 2014 to 4 x500mg metformin, 1 x 100mg sitagliptin, 1x20mg atorvastatin, 40mg fluoxetine. Between June 2014 and November 2014 gained 12lbs in weight, In 2013 after routine retanopathy screen was told I have background retinopathy and same again this year. I also have mild copd, severe tinnitus in my right ear and 40% earing loss, quite bad arthritis in my right elbow. After my last check up, I asked about victoza but was told It was not time to go on that yet and put on 1000mg slow release metformin twice per day.
I bought a freestyle freedom lite glucose meter back in 2012 after reading a article on this website, mainly because test results were not being passed to me by my GP, noticed early on that the test I did first thing in the morning before eating or drinking is usually high average around 8.5mmol with high spikes around 15mmol. I am on a diet at the moment using Almased powder ( I saw this advertised on this website as suitable for diabetics) in place of my breakfast and lunchtime meals and trying to eat smaller sensible meals of a evening, the early results have been good I have lost six pounds in just over two weeks, my post lunch time BG has been around 6.5 and as low as 4.5 which I haven't seen since being diagnosed.
One thing I have noticed that since taking sitagliptin I frequently have to get up in the night to go to the toilet?
I am hoping that the weight loss continues as it plays a major part in my depression at the moment, this is because I have been separated for three years now and totally alone during that time, I don't have any friends outside of work, mainly because I don't like the way I look so would not expect anyone else to like me if I don't like myself, to be honest I hate being alone and miss the closeness of a relationship, my other goal is to give up smoking I stared two weeks ago and finally managed to stop yesterday at 4pm and haven't had one since.
As far as food goes, if I am behaving myself I stick to vegetables, chicken, salad, beans and low fat foods, I stopped drinking sugary drinks back in 2012 and drink only no added or sugar free drinks now, I have been told that I do not drink enough water, never have liked just drinking straight water, I only drink alcohol occasionally and then only vodka, I don't eat much red meat anymore, and have replaced it with tinned tuna. In a bad period when my depression is bad I will eat anything and everything, not take medication and smoke more.
Apologies to the forum moderator for taking up a lot of space here was not sure where to post this
Robin
I bought a freestyle freedom lite glucose meter back in 2012 after reading a article on this website, mainly because test results were not being passed to me by my GP, noticed early on that the test I did first thing in the morning before eating or drinking is usually high average around 8.5mmol with high spikes around 15mmol. I am on a diet at the moment using Almased powder ( I saw this advertised on this website as suitable for diabetics) in place of my breakfast and lunchtime meals and trying to eat smaller sensible meals of a evening, the early results have been good I have lost six pounds in just over two weeks, my post lunch time BG has been around 6.5 and as low as 4.5 which I haven't seen since being diagnosed.
One thing I have noticed that since taking sitagliptin I frequently have to get up in the night to go to the toilet?
I am hoping that the weight loss continues as it plays a major part in my depression at the moment, this is because I have been separated for three years now and totally alone during that time, I don't have any friends outside of work, mainly because I don't like the way I look so would not expect anyone else to like me if I don't like myself, to be honest I hate being alone and miss the closeness of a relationship, my other goal is to give up smoking I stared two weeks ago and finally managed to stop yesterday at 4pm and haven't had one since.
As far as food goes, if I am behaving myself I stick to vegetables, chicken, salad, beans and low fat foods, I stopped drinking sugary drinks back in 2012 and drink only no added or sugar free drinks now, I have been told that I do not drink enough water, never have liked just drinking straight water, I only drink alcohol occasionally and then only vodka, I don't eat much red meat anymore, and have replaced it with tinned tuna. In a bad period when my depression is bad I will eat anything and everything, not take medication and smoke more.
Apologies to the forum moderator for taking up a lot of space here was not sure where to post this
Robin
Hi and welcome to the forum
Just want to say that if you have stopped smoking do not think when you last smoked it will put cravings in your mind and mind can make you do what it wants to.
You might gain weight but then giving up on smoking is so much better than having a few extra pounds i'd imagine.
Congrats on giving up smoking and just dont think about it anymore.
All the best
Just want to say that if you have stopped smoking do not think when you last smoked it will put cravings in your mind and mind can make you do what it wants to.
You might gain weight but then giving up on smoking is so much better than having a few extra pounds i'd imagine.
Congrats on giving up smoking and just dont think about it anymore.
All the best
JohnD54
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@ robin smith,
Welcome to the forum Robin, sorry to hear about your medical and personal problems, but you have come to the right place for information and advice. They are a friendly bunch on here and lots of information to be garnered.
Concerning your smoking I know from personal experience 46 years a smoker myself and finally stopped only a few weeks ago that taking it one day at a time is certainly the way to go it's already having an effect on my BG levels and personally following what is basically a LCHF sort of eating, still losing weight and feeling better than I have for many years.
Good luck with your journey, any questions just ask away, there is always someone with advise.
Welcome to the forum Robin, sorry to hear about your medical and personal problems, but you have come to the right place for information and advice. They are a friendly bunch on here and lots of information to be garnered.
Concerning your smoking I know from personal experience 46 years a smoker myself and finally stopped only a few weeks ago that taking it one day at a time is certainly the way to go it's already having an effect on my BG levels and personally following what is basically a LCHF sort of eating, still losing weight and feeling better than I have for many years.
Good luck with your journey, any questions just ask away, there is always someone with advise.
Hi Robin, welcome to the family. We all support each other here, so don't think that we won't want to know what you're going through. Whatever support you need someone will be able to help. I'm so lucky that I was in a position to tell my boss where to stick hes job when I was 58, otherwise I don't think I'd be here now, so I hope you can sort out the work stress because it doesn't stop when you walk out of the office. Just ask anything, there's no such thing as a daft question, chances are someone would have been thinking the same thing. Well done on cutting out the smoking. Although I gave up years ago, I still think a ciggie would go down well mostly after a really good meal. Keep up the good work and if you feel like slipping get on the forum for a bit of support
