Hi all!
Been diagnosed for about 2 and a half years now but have been ignoring it. I'm now very worried about it and have previously been worried about seeking help from doctors and struggle to be able to come to terms with my diagnosis.
I'm worried about my future and was seeking first step advice for people who may have also found it very hard to come to terms with the diagnosis. What are the first steps people took, and how did you push yourself into taking those steps.
I am extremely scared of needles and blood tests (to the point of panic attacks) so some advice on those would be lovely as well.
Thanks in advance!
Extremely scared of needles, eh.... That's inconvenient. If you let things get out of control by ignoring them, you are a step closer to having to use needles to inject insulin. A few times a day. I don't know if that's a reason for you to adjust how you've been dealing (or not dealing, as the case may be) with the diabetes? Because you know what? ANY reason to change your current approach, is a good one. Find reasons, any reason, to change the way things are now. For me personally, I saw a lot of complications, pain and death in my family and friends, and I didn't want to put my husband through that. He's already my carer, and I didn't want him to have to put me on the toilet as my legs have gone AWOL above the knee, like my uncle, or become an early widower. I don't quite care about me. That's not going to change. What I do care about is my husband, so I do everything I do, for him. Like I said, any reason is a good one, and while "love yourself first" is nice on a tile, that doesn't work for everyone! (If I had to wait to come to terms with myself, I'd never have done anything!). So you figure out your motivation, whatever it may be, and then take this condition on. Also....
@Resurgam is right. You could've had your blood sugars under control within months, maybe weeks, if you'd not stuck your head in the sand. Now there's years of damage to undo, far as that's possible. Let's make sure not to add more years to that, eh? You CAN get a grip on this, you know. It's not even all that hard, when it comes down to it. Well, a little more complicated if you don't check your blood glucose with a meter (requires a finger prick after all), but yeah.... Depending on what medication you're on you could just go as low carb as possible and hope for the best. (Wouldn't fool around with moderate low carb, as you can't test whether it's enough or not.) If you're not on insulin or gliclazide-like medication.... If it's just metformin or something, you could just dive right in and go for a
ketogenic diet. Meaning 20 grams of carbs a day or less. (Some remain in ketosis at 30 grams, but again, that requires finger pricks and those are a no-go, by the sound of it. At 20 grams or less you're assured of it though.) It'd get your blood sugars down and into the normal range quick.
https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html hopefully will help. Keep in mind that there's always someone here who'll have answers to your questions, and there's no need to do any of this alone. Oh, and one more thing: Once I found out I could actually have a say in how high or low my blood sugars went, I felt rather empowered.... You don't have to be a victim to this condition, you do have some influence here. You have a say in how this condition progresses, if at all!!!
Hugs,
Jo