newly diagnosed, physically ok, sugars ok but mentally not good

[vinylandtrinkets]

I was diagnosed March 28th with type 2, after a really bad few weeks my bg/bs has settled, now off glick only on metaformin 1500mg daily.
after the normal shock that come with my diagnoses , the anger, and despair i thought now my bg/bs had settled, my vision is more or less back to normal i would be feeling happier, but im not,
I hate meal times, hate the thought of cooking/making something even though i know i have too, everything seems to be getting be down, things i used to love to do now make me think " why bother" i get annoyed quicker, even angry at the stupidest of things,
as my gp has told me to avoid so many things i used to love to eat, cut out all sugars where possible what my carbs, what my fat intake the list is endless! i dread even looking at food!
is this normal? should i still be upset all the time? is this depression or still shock?
im not seeing my gp until next week and dont want to worry my family so as everyone on here as been so kind and helpful i thought id ask here

 

[catherinecherub]

I would think you are still going through the grief stage, grieving for the life you had prior to diagnosis. It does become an emotional time for most of us when we are faced with the reality that we have a chronic disease.

Take a look at this article and see if you can identify with it.

http://www.diabetesexplained.com/the-five-stages-of-grief.html

 

[Phlogiston]

Hi V&T,
It's a kick up the backside whichever way you look at it. Food is pretty much at the core of us -"you are what you eat" is true in several ways.
I still lament the loss of risotto, biryani, pizza, whopping great baked potatoes - even the bags of chips I never ate much anyway.
I realised the need for an attitude change - or a paradigm shift to be posh. My previous diet was partly behind my ending up where I was, so it had to be reconsidered.
I try to focus on the things I can eat. It's a good job I already enjoyed vegetables.
I guess you're still in the early phases of dealing with the changes. After the anger will come acceptance and then you can move forwards.
Best wishes
Adam

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

thank you both for your replies,Catherinechereb thank you for the link, that is exactly how ive been feeling and explains a lot, Phloiston i love veggies which is a good thing lol, having to cook a meal for myself and then something different for my family is the hardest , i miss so many foods its crazy,
my diabetes is steroid induced which i was never told could happen so this is making things worse, if only we could turn back the clock!
i always had a pretty good diet, liked my cakes and chocolate like everyone else, miss fruit so sick of berries lol,

I used to bake a lot of cakes for family , friends and as i own a kids club i bake a lot for them, this i am struggling with more and more each time i start to bake,
after reading the info on the link Catherine kindly gave i am hoping the acceptance comes sooner rather then later

 

[SueB743]

Sorry to hear you are feeling low. As a newbie I too have found it difficult to adjust and adapt to my new lifestyle.

It might be worth looking at some of the recipe ideas as if you really like the sound of something you may look forward to eating it rather than what you could have been eating.

Have to admit I find being out for food worse as I am veggie so pretty much everything is potato rice or pasta.

Might be worth listing the foods you really like and rebalance things. As an example I love chilli and rice but I always had more rice than chilli. Now have loads of chilli and a little bit of brown rice, I know I should cut out the rice but it's a big step for me to take this step in the right direction.

Depression is an illness which treatment could help with.

If you are more feeling low as part of the grieving process maybe you need to treat yourself to something you really enjoy hobbywise like some time out somewhere.

Remember that you are important, especially to your loved ones. Hope you feel better soon

 

[June_C]

You're very newly diagnosed and your life has been turned upside down. I was diagnosed 7 months ago and went through a myriad of emotions, shock, anger, despair, grief, but not depression. I think you have a case of 'fedupness'. It's wearing having to think of what is permissable to eat after a lifetime of eating what you want when you want it. I sometimes feel as though I'm in a strait jacket, juggling low B12, highish cholesterol and now reducing the carbs and sugar for diabetes. I used to feel like throwing the towel in now and then and eating whatever I wanted and to hell with the consequences, but I've learned to live with all the restrictions as I want to feel like my old self - happy, healthy and enjoying life. With time, you'll find you can bring back some of your favourite foods and treats, just modify them a bit. Until I joined the forum, I thought chocolate was banned, but have learned that providing it's more than 85% cocoa, I can get away with a square or two with no nasty glucose spikes. It's a huge learning curve, but you'll get there.

 

[kateincornwall]

Hi , I was diagnosed in 2009 and still have off days when I feel a bit fed up, but it soon passes because I prefer to be healthy than eat foods that harm me . I remember crying when I was told I had diabetes so yes, what you are feeling is perfectly normal , enjoy the forum

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

thank you all again, ive found tesco sell 85% cocoa chocolate that i can manage a couple of squares really no sugar and low carbs it has stevia not sugar,, Sue being a vegetarian must have been a nightmare hun?
it certainlly is a learning curve, i cried the rain the day my gp told me, i have other health issues which dont affect my bg/bs thankfully
its soooo good to be able to "talk" to others who have felt the same, thank you all so much, now i know im not going mad or having a breakdown

someone told me the other day " dont be so stupid diabetics can eat what the hell they want too"! If only they knew or stood in our shoes for the day

 

[Lamont D]

As others have said, it's a huge upheaval in your life, a different lifestyle to get use to and an early warning that if you don't change your dietary intake then it will be probably worse down the proverbial road.
That's the bad news.
Here's the good news.
If you can get control of the condition and there has been many on this forum. Have a look at the success stories on this forum. Then you will have a much brighter future, and a longer healthier life.
More good news, when and if you get control, you can have the occasional treat. There is also many good things to eat, like a full English breakfast. Butter, cream. You can still eat curries, Meat and proper veg. Stews and soups, make your own. You can use it as a voyage of discovery. Your family and friends will help you, as we will!
You have the chance to achieve this early enough to make a big difference to your life and your health, get control and achieve it!

I've had a big fight to get to where I am.
I don't have the luxury of choosing my future.
I have to choose low carb for life. I will never get those choices you can look forward to.

 

[BooJewels]

Whilst it's a very long time since I was diagnosed, I can still clearly remember how I felt when I was told and immediately afterwards - and that was of relief - I had felt so very poorly and was getting a lot worse as the weeks passed. I'd seen various specialists and had a lot of tests and saw a different locum GP one day and he looked at me straight away and said, "I think you're diabetic. Don't ask me to tell you why, but I can just tell by looking at you". He did a finger prick test there and then and my BG was 14. I was so relieved that was all it was, that I've never actually felt grief over it. He told me to drop carbs from my diet for a week until I had the proper tests and he could get me in with nurses and dietitians and within 24 hours I felt so much better that I was delighted that it could so easily be fixed.

So the point I'm making is that it's all about perspective. I don't mean to belittle your concerns whatsoever, but for me, this is a relatively easy chronic problem to live with compared to some of the alternatives it might have been. My husband spent time on a life support machine in 2005 and is lucky to be here at all - and is now paying the price for living with a lot of now-emerging major problems as a result. My diabetes seems truly trivial in comparison. So I have to eat a pile of veggies for my lunch instead of butties, crisps and cupcakes. So what - there are millions of people in the world who won't even eat today - so it seems churlish to be depressed about my choices of food - at least I have a choice. I remind myself of this every time I stand at the fridge door wondering what to concoct for my lunch.

And you don't have to give up eating cake and the like - you can either adapt recipes to lower carb versions, or have the occasional treat. As long as you don't do it everyday, you can still indulge periodically - if you'd been diagnosed coeliac, that choice would be taken from you too. I have a little chocolate every day - I suck it slowly and can make it last and savour it all the more. As long as I can do that, I am happy to forego other things.

Nor do you need to make different meals for yourself than the family - I don't and never have. My husband and I eat the same basic food, we just eat different proportions - he eats more potato or rice etc., where I fill up on veggies. He eats fruit with some yogurt, I eat yogurt with some fruit. We eat spag bol together, he has wholewheat spaghetti, I have courgetti with the sauce. The kind of food you have to eat will be healthy for the family anyway, so work on adapting their diet to embrace the foods that are good for you. I've recently significantly reduced my carbs and my husband has lost weight too, even though he eats more carbs than me.

So please don't grieve for what you feel you've lost, rejoice instead for what you still have and how much better your future will be as a result of your lifestyle changes. Your efforts now are an investment in your future well-being and being there for your family long-term I truly don't mean to trivialise your feelings, I just mean it to be shouting over some encouragement. These are the things I remind myself of whenever I have those "why the bloody hell am I bothering, woe is me" moments - which we all do from time to time.

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

thank you Nosher for your reply, BooJewels thank you also, after reading that i feel quite guilty because your right there are people out there in the big wide world who are far worse off them i will ever be, puts things in perspective ,

ive been trying new recipes for almost everything we eat, hubby will eat more or less what i eat but our son is a food nighmare!
ive been working on new cake recipes with sugar alternatives ( some taste like vomit) not much luck so far lol.

 

[Lamont D]

I'm just about to have my evening treat of full fat yoghurt, a couple of pieces of 85% chocolate and a couple of strawberries.

What's so bad about that?

When you do put things into perspective, things are not as bad as they seem, only reasonably so.

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

I'm just about to have my evening treat of full fat yoghurt, a couple of pieces of 85% chocolate and a couple of strawberries.

What's so bad about that?

When you do put things into perspective, things are not as bad as they seem, only reasonably so.

after eating that are your sugars still ok?
what yoghurt do you buy?

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

i downloaded the recipe book on here, theres some really nice things to cook, shopping is my plan tomorrow,

 

[BooJewels]

@vinylandtrinkets - delighted that you took my post in the spirit it was intended - I thought it read a bit harsh when I read it back.

I know what you mean about low carb cake type recipes - there have been a few that I've tried (I can't use sweeteners) that I took a couple of bites from, took the lid off the bin and dropped them straight in, they were truly unapalatable. But you will find things you do like - I've picked up a few recipes here and made some up of my own that I now like better than the full carb recipes. I make a lower carb crumble topping (very occasional treat) with coconut, ground almonds, oats and chickpea flour and I won't ever go back to a plain flour recipe. So with a bit of trial and error, you will find ways - we learn to be resourceful if nothing else.

@nosher8355 (I used to have a behemoth of a ginger cat called Nosher, well Norris, but he got Nosher) my full fat Greek yogurt will be with frozen raspberries tonight - I zizz them in the food processor still frozen, so they stay as little bits rather than mush and it cools the yogurt just a little, which is turn defrosts them just enough. Yummy!

 

[vinylandtrinkets]

@vinylandtrinkets - delighted that you took my post in the spirit it was intended - I thought it read a bit harsh when I read it back.

I know what you mean about low carb cake type recipes - there have been a few that I've tried (I can't use sweeteners) that I took a couple of bites from, took the lid off the bin and dropped them straight in, they were truly unapalatable. But you will find things you do like - I've picked up a few recipes here and made some up of my own that I now like better than the full carb recipes. I make a lower carb crumble topping (very occasional treat) with coconut, ground almonds, oats and chickpea flour and I won't ever go back to a plain flour recipe. So with a bit of trial and error, you will find ways - we learn to be resourceful if nothing else.

@nosher8355 (I used to have a behemoth of a ginger cat called Nosher, well Norris, but he got Nosher) my full fat Greek yogurt will be with frozen raspberries tonight - I zizz them in the food processor still frozen, so they stay as little bits rather than mush and it cools the yogurt just a little, which is turn defrosts them just enough. Yummy!

i think i will spend a couple of hours again tomorrow looking for new recipes for everything, see how i go then, maybe something ive eaten is putting me in this mood?

 

[Lamont D]

after eating that are your sugars still ok?
what yoghurt do you buy?

Yes they are fine. I like the Tesco Greek style natural full fat yoghurt, but I have also tried the co-op and Sainsbury.
Do not buy the reduced fat or low fat versions as they are lethal to my blood glucose levels. Nor the ones with fruit in! Buy your own and add to taste.
I find that I sleep better a couple of hours before my bedtime.

 

[Lamont D]

@vinylandtrinkets - delighted that you took my post in the spirit it was intended - I thought it read a bit harsh when I read it back.

I know what you mean about low carb cake type recipes - there have been a few that I've tried (I can't use sweeteners) that I took a couple of bites from, took the lid off the bin and dropped them straight in, they were truly unapalatable. But you will find things you do like - I've picked up a few recipes here and made some up of my own that I now like better than the full carb recipes. I make a lower carb crumble topping (very occasional treat) with coconut, ground almonds, oats and chickpea flour and I won't ever go back to a plain flour recipe. So with a bit of trial and error, you will find ways - we learn to be resourceful if nothing else.

@nosher8355 (I used to have a behemoth of a ginger cat called Nosher, well Norris, but he got Nosher) my full fat Greek yogurt will be with frozen raspberries tonight - I zizz them in the food processor still frozen, so they stay as little bits rather than mush and it cools the yogurt just a little, which is turn defrosts them just enough. Yummy!

I'm more of a dog person and I'm definitely not ginger! In fact I have no idea of the colour of my hair on my head, for the simple reason, I have none, well a bit grey around my ears, but that's it! in fact the emoticon has more hair!

 

[BooJewels]

I get the Aldi full fat Greek yogurt - it's something like 89p for 500g - and is lovely and thick and creamy. The Lidl one is perhaps even nicer, but is in 1kg pots and I prefer having a smaller pot open. Has little effect on my BG - I have a bowl with assorted seeds mixed in at breakfast and with fruit as a dessert. It's tasty and filling. Someone was saying that coconut milk yogurt is lovely, so I might try that for a change.

 

[Jonnyjibbsuk]

Sorry...have to say just read the five stages of grief .......
And to me it's total crud.......where as some may see this as a way to answer things....for me it just made me more angry .....as did not fit for me