How does stress affect BG numbers

[Jude]

April 21st I started on Byetta & have suffered with persistent nausea & generally feeling unwell.
A few days later my husband was told that his job was under threat - there are 5 of them doing the same job and the council have decided they can only afford 3 so they are all having to apply for their jobs and will be interviewed on 27th July (as you can see this has dragged on).
Then on 30th April my eldest son (36) was kidnapped, hijacked, beaten up whilst sleeping in his cab overnight (car transporter) and the criminals stole the 6 new audis and then left my son by the side of the road complete with empty transporter. He has had no money for 11 weeks and is fast sliding into deep depression & I am very worried about him.
At the same time builders had just started on the conservatory which we had agreed to have before we knew about his job and just to add insult to injury last week some other criminal tried to take £1300 from our bank - they had got hold of my debit card from somewhere!
So, I had decided to give the Byetta a good chance but so far I have been struggling so much, hardly ever going out because of not feeling well. Tonight I am going to start on the 10 pen as I have been on the 5 pen for 12 weeks now and if I cannot tolerate the 10 then my diabetes nurse says we will have to try something else. I am so very down myself at the moment - all the other drugs & insulin put weight on.
I would just like someone to explain to me how the emotional stress affects my bg numbers - assuming it does. And if so, is there anything I can do to try and alleviate it? Another thing I have just thought of, is the stress likely to increase the side effects of the Byetta?

I am sorry this is such a difficult read for you but am sure someone will be able to help me.

Many thanks in advance. Jude

 

[cugila]

Hi Jude.

Here is a link to a very informative site which gives you all the answers about stress you are ever likely to want to know. It is clear and concise.
http://www.iddtinternational.org/health ... stress.htm

Hope this goes some way to helping you cope in what is clearly a difficulty time.

Ken.

 

[Spiral]

Look up cortisol, the stress hormone. It has an impact on insulin.

 

[lizives]

Have you been prone to stress before now? I found that after a breakdown caused by redundancies, money worries, almost losing my home, I was unable to cope with even mild stress but am getting better. The following tips are good. Get plenty of sleep and saying No to people does work. Don't try to deal with others stress before handling your own either. It does not work -makes everything worse. I know it is hard for you but you MUST take care of yourself and your health. The affects of high stress levels will never go away otherwise. I know - it happened to me leaving me with all sorts of physical problems and I became diabetic just when I thought the stress had gone completely. I dont know just how stress affects BG but it does and you must be careful. Hope tips below helps.

Ten general tips for coping with stress

1. Avoid self medication with nicotine, too much coffee, alcohol or tranquillisers

2. Work off stress – physical activity is a terrific outlet.

3. Don’t put off relaxing.

4. Get enough sleep to recharge your batteries.

5. If you become sick, don’t try to carry on as if you are not.

6. Agree with somebody – life should not be a constant battle ground.

7. Learn to accept what you cannot change.

8. Manage your time better and learn to delegate.

9. Know when you are tired and do something about it.

10. Plan ahead by saying ‘no’ now. You may prevent too much pressure piling up in the future. :|