not coping well with diabetes

[rosieposie6661]

okay, so it's been 5, almost 6 years since my diagnosis, and i'm still not coping well. i'm having what i like to call "diabetic burnout" and it's causing me to over eat and engage in other self-destructive behaviors, as well as anger and depression. anybody have any tips (outside of seeing a therapist, because i already have one) for coping better? such as affirmations, tips for self care, etc?

 

[GrantGam]

Sorry to hear that, never easy regardless of who you are!

You could try and start by setting yourself small and achievable diabetes related goals. Such as test my blood before and after everything I eat for a week. Take a log of your blood sugar. Just something small that you can do. In doing this you'll feel a sense of satisfaction each and every time you complete one of your goals, no matter how small. And every goal will result in a positive step towards you getting back in charge of your diabetes.

Over time, you can build on these small goals for slightly larger ones. You mentioned over eating as an example, maybe after a while you could set yourself up for 3 meals a day with the allowance of two healthy snacks for example? Cut out on the not so healthy foods or combine this with exercise X times per week?

Take up a new hobby, learn an instrument, meet new people - the goals that you achieve can also be non-diabetes related to decrease your anger and depression issues. Everything I'm saying here is purely for example purposes by the way, everyone is different.

By making small changes with the things that you notice your slipping up on you will start to come out of this burnout phase. I see my diabetes as a challenge which I'm tackling head on rather than a life sentence. Try and look at things in as positive a fashion as possible and you will feel noticeably better

Grant

 

[azure]

Hi @rosieposie6661

I don't know if you've tried this, but lots of people find Mindfulness helpful. You can buy books about if if you're interested.

I see you've posted elsewhere about your eating problems too. I think they're more common than you think among people withndiabetes because we have to think about food so much. I find planning my days meals helps me not think about food too much (and makes things easier). I also make sure I don't go too long without food because then I start craving lots of less wise foods.

 

[himtoo]

Hi @rosieposie6661
I just read your post this morning and in various ways loads of us get diabetes burnout having Diabetes.
I think the hardest thing to do is be kind to yourself and realise that you can only do your best 1 day at a time , like everything in life.
with that starting point perhaps introducing some little steps at first
like taking a blood sugar in the morning and storing it on an app

or maybe trying to promise to just inject and eat breakfast ( its usually the easiest and quickest thing to organise )

or maybe start a topic here and just update the 1 thing you were able to accomplish each day ( and you'll make some new friends here doing this too )

-- and if you don't do one thing then we'll all be here to help support

going to tag some of my good friends on the forum to come say hello and offer some support for you
@Mrsass , @MH2010 , @Juicyj , @Jaylee , @claire1991 , @AmandaD , @Tanny35

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @rosieposie6661 - Welcome to the forum. I agree with @azure about practicing mindfulness meditation, it is a great way to relieve the anxiety associated with managing type 1, it's almost like a release valve, as it teaches you to live in the moment and calms the mind. Living with type 1 is different for all of us, so it's finding a technique which helps you cope better mentally with it, some find exercise helps, or a walk in a park or green space, or just even talking. If you can find support within your healthcare team too to discuss how you are being affected that could help as they may have a resource that you can tap into too

 

[AmandaD]

I'm diagnosed 29 years and I still get days/ weeks where I feel like this. Take it one day at a time like others have suggested just try one thing for a week and see how it goes. Testing your blood sugar and watching what you eat for a week for breakfast and if that went ok then adding in lunch. If its sugar in tea or the like try sweetener for a couple of cups at first then reduce sugar. How is your diabetes team?? Are there any support groups available to you through your clinic, I know in mine they have groups for all different ages and its just a chance to meet once a week and vent about diabetes with people who have diabetes and know what you're talking about, they finish off with pizza and there is no judgement from anyone, the nurse holding them often leaves cos she knows she may be holding some people back from contributing by staying. The bottom line is your diabetes is going no where so you need to start afresh and use these forums and all the people you meet here as your support. One day at a time is all you can do. xx

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,
Keeping blood sugar levels within healthy parameters on a steady curve is half the battle...

Easier said than done. (I know.) But it can remove the insidious, unnerving, stressful feeling of yo yoing from one blood extreme to the other... Which can compound other emotions.

Though I would never knock "meditation".. (I've done Yoga in the past.)
You may feel more "cynical" less open to a session if your BS is running at (for arguments sake?) 18mmol..?
Focus on the diabetes first. Then everything else will "fall into place."

 

[rosieposie6661]

i used to meditate, but i kind of fell out of the habit, and i'm going through DBT therapy (focuses a lot on mindfulness) so i already know a bit about mindfulness. enough to know i'm not very good at it! but i will try meditating, i'll start after dinner.

 

[azure]

i used to meditate, but i kind of fell out of the habit, and i'm going through DBT therapy (focuses a lot on mindfulness) so i already know a bit about mindfulness. enough to know i'm not very good at it! but i will try meditating, i'll start after dinner.

Mindfulness is always a work in progress, as far as I'm concerned. Some people do a lot, some people less like me. But I do return to,it when I get stressed and then I do more.

For me, the most useful exercise I've found is breathing correctly. I learnt that in Tai Chi, and I always return to that when I want to feel calmer. It can be done in a minute or two

 

[bootyful0]

Hi
rosieposie6661
I have only had T2 for about 18 months. I felt the same as you and still do sometimes. I don't have any expertise but what worked for me was just getting up in the morning and doing something for myself like putting on make up or doing my hair. Sounds vain and stupid in writing, I'm not particularly a vain person but I did start to feel better about myself and that lead to taking better care of myself. This is a good forum too. I learnt about Low carbing whch I do (sometimes I fall off the wagen) but I take each day at a time and I don't beat myself up. there's just no point. Keep your chin up you can do it.x

 

[busydiabeticmum]

I find alternatives to my favourite foods, low carb alternatives, i get that just before and at the beginning of the period!

It was frustrating to find a recipe book for low carbers and no sugar... only to find it wasnt and they said just change the flour and sugar for alternatives (like a vegetarian cook book full of meat recipes!) Any way trial and error have helped me find some good yummy foods i can eat without feeling guilty or losing control of my bg.

 

[alaska]

@rosieposie6661

One problem is that high sugar levels actually gives us depressive symptoms -making us more likely to feel burnout.

I was in your position for a number of years.

Eventually -thanks to the forum here- I tried reducing down my carbs.

Taking that step, of cutting my carbs down and having more fat in my diet (more dairy, less carbs) made a huge difference and allowed me to take control of the condition for the first time in years.

The other thing that completed the change was to test my sugar levels more than I had been doing. I went from testing about 4 times a day to testing 6-7 times a day which helped me to better work out what my sugar levels were doing between meals -great for catching any hypos before they hit.

The great advantage was that despite testing more I felt better because the low carb, high fat diet was giving me much nicer blood sugar results.

I've found that it's not the lancets that hurt, it's the pain of seeing bad numbers. The bad results really cut inside and got me down. Seeing good numbers for the first time in years was an absolute breath of fresh air.

PS big thanks to fergus for inspiring me to make the change to my diet