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The effect of stress on blood sugar..Not Happy!

JoKalsbeek said:
I have to admit, I had to look anhedonia up, though the similarity to hedonism gave me a clue. Again, been there, though I never called it anything but depression. There used to be a mental health flyer here with a lady at a party, and her thought bubble saying "I should be enjoying this...". Just being unable to is hard, no emphasis needed, I hear you... I just kept doing things I knew I'd like, if I'd just felt something. After a while, it happened, (still have trouble every now and again, but considering I wanted to kick the bucket on saturday morning, and refused to stay at home on sunday in spite of pain... I just keep at it.). But I guess the other issues you have make it one complex thing.

I haven't been able to travel for years, because I feel insanely responsible for our diabetic cat (He's blind, and if he doesn't know where we are, he gets scared and depressed. All that's not good for his bloodsugars. So he knows we're always home in time for dinner. That is acceptable to our Lord and Master, Night the Cat.). So we haven't been on vacation since a weekend away about 5 years or so ago. Before that it was another weekend, and before that, our 5 day honeymoon, 9 years ago. It hasn't been much, while I used to fly to Canada and have never had the pleasure to show my husband around there. So what do we do instead? As I don't leave the house during weekdays, we do stuff in the weekend. Visit old cities, zoo's, museums, do special guided tours with actors and storytellers, cat cafe's, go to comic cons and fantasy fairs. Usually there's a lot of people in such places, but I cope by using my camera. (People scare me. If I reduce my surroundings to what I see through the view finder, I'm often okay. If I'm not okay, my husband gets me out in a hurry. Perks of being married to a tall guy who can look over crowds, and is rather attuned to my state of mind.). It's not the same as traveling abroad, not even close, but considering there's quite a few old cities and zoo's around here, it keeps us busy enough. I have a calendar filled with (often cheap) places to go, options, in case we feel like a long drive, a short one, or just not much of anything at all. There's breathers, little get-aways. Don't need a passport, and quite a few things can be cheap or free. Takes some searching sometimes, or just going for really, really early bird passes (Like a year before the event, but at 50% discount, I'm getting tickets!), but... It's better than being stuck at home. Sometimes, we've got to work with what we've got.

Probably no help at all, but couldn't help trying. ;)
Jo
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Thank you
 
I am always in awe of people with diabetes who have additional worries to cope with as well (knowing myself, that managing diabetes is challenging enough on its own). My heart goes out to Patrick and Jokalsbeek to name but two. Still on here posting their experiences in order to help others, still hanging on in there instead of giving up, fighting and fighting to get healthier despite things like depression, etc. Well, there's not a lot the rest of us can do other than try and provide emotional support but I just wanted to share my admiration for them. x
 
I'd make a distinction between acute stress (short-term) and chronic stress. But both can affect BG levels adversely. The mechanism is that cortisol (stress hormone) causes insulin resistance. Great in our hunter-gatherer times, when a short, intense (i.e. acute) period of stress meant that extra glucose being available was a good thing. Now, when many of us are chronically stressed, it's not such a good thing. I've just started Dr Rangan Chatterjee's new book, 'The Stress Solution' (having read 'The 4 Pillar Plan' previously). It's brilliant, written in a very accessible way. He puts forward many ways to deal with stress, and it's about using the ones that you can manage.
 
KK123 said:
I am always in awe of people with diabetes who have additional worries to cope with as well (knowing myself, that managing diabetes is challenging enough on its own). My heart goes out to Patrick and Jokalsbeek to name but two. Still on here posting their experiences in order to help others, still hanging on in there instead of giving up, fighting and fighting to get healthier despite things like depression, etc. Well, there's not a lot the rest of us can do other than try and provide emotional support but I just wanted to share my admiration for them. x
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That is very kind of you.

I suppose we struggle on because the alternative is too awful to contemplate but, that said, that alternative can be very tempting so its a constant fight with myself, let alone everything else, to carry on.
 
Colin of Kent said:
I'd make a distinction between acute stress (short-term) and chronic stress. But both can affect BG levels adversely. The mechanism is that cortisol (stress hormone) causes insulin resistance. Great in our hunter-gatherer times, when a short, intense (i.e. acute) period of stress meant that extra glucose being available was a good thing. Now, when many of us are chronically stressed, it's not such a good thing. I've just started Dr Rangan Chatterjee's new book, 'The Stress Solution' (having read 'The 4 Pillar Plan' previously). It's brilliant, written in a very accessible way. He puts forward many ways to deal with stress, and it's about using the ones that you can manage.
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I use punching walls and self-harm.

Not the best admittedly but, right now, its all I've got.
 
KK123 said:
I am always in awe of people with diabetes who have additional worries to cope with as well (knowing myself, that managing diabetes is challenging enough on its own). My heart goes out to Patrick and Jokalsbeek to name but two. Still on here posting their experiences in order to help others, still hanging on in there instead of giving up, fighting and fighting to get healthier despite things like depression, etc. Well, there's not a lot the rest of us can do other than try and provide emotional support but I just wanted to share my admiration for them. x
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That's getting you a teary-eyed thank-you: Thank you!
 
may not be of use...

BUT earlier on in my life, really stressful situation had me climbing the walls with barely suppressed rage, and stupid thoughts.

For me, what helped, was a closed door, no one in..one thick pillow held tightly to my face and some good old SCREAMS.

sound pathetic, right.
but that screaming drained me of the all the angry energy. in that moment in time

i was then able to sit and meditate.( .I was doing martial arts, so the cool down was always very relaxing,
so tried to bring that into daily life ) not something i could do until that anger was gone.

didn't always work, but more often then not, it usually helped.

Much more pleasant then punching walls, as effective as that might be.

Worth a go /?
 
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jjraak said:
may not be of use...

BUT earlier on in my life, really stressful situation had me climbing the walls with barely suppressed rage, and stupid thoughts.

For me, what helped, was a closed door, no one in..one thick pillow held tightly to my face and some good old SCREAMS.

sound pathetic, right.
but that screaming drained me of the all the angry energy. in that moment in time

i was then able to sit and meditate.( .I was doing martial arts, so the cool down was always very relaxing,
so tried to bring that into daily life ) not something i could do until that anger was gone.

didn't always work, but more often then not, it usually helped.

Much more pleasant then punching walls, as effective as that might be.

Worth a go /?
Click to expand...
I’m not a screaming person.

I enjoy hurting myself. Sad but true.
 
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