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Feeling deflated need encouragement

N

NewbieHelp

Well-Known Member
Messages
106
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi
My Hba1c was 75 in October 24 which I then reduced to 67 at beginning of February
Since then, I’ve started testing my glucose levels daily, increased my activity by walking most days as well as eating no sweet things, greatly reduced my carb intake.
I’ve lost about 2lbs in weight and my glucose levels seem to be fluctuating.
I just seem to be getting nowhere even though I’m trying to do everything right and feel deflated.
I don’t sleep much but never had and I know I’m quite stressed but am trying to relax more. Also currently suffering from health anxiety which I never used to … just feeling overwhelmed…
I’m waiting on appointment to see diabetes nurse in my GP practice
Any advice or tips on anything else I should be doing
I’ve been reading this forum but again feeling overwhelmed with information
Not on any meds for diabetes at the moment
Thank you
 
I'm no expert, just struggling to reduce my HbA1c as you are, and also since October, when mine was 88. I did it mostly without a monitor, but on Metformin. When I got a 24 hour monitor about 2 weeks ago, I learned a lot. One thing was my blood glucose went up considerably during poor sleep - an important take-away. In my case, it's hard to correct because I'm so worried about Putin / Ukraine and other serious personal issues. But tackle it I must. We discuss diet, medication and exercise a lot. Too little about the effect of chronic stress. Just a thought. Good luck.
 
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I think this is a topic that just cannot be underestimated.
When I joined this forum - I had grand plans about writing some kind of self-help pamphlet that was going to be called something along the lines of "the 5 Ss" - sugar starch seed oils sleep and stress, then I was going to break down why each was important - because nobody had thought of doing anything like that....

...

Pretty soon (thankfully soon enough) I realised how dumb that was as a plan, and that - in fact, it seemed like most of my entire life had been lived in a state of shocking ignorance about the most basic of things...

Part of that sense of being overwhelmed comes from that - "how can I not have understood any of this" - at least it did for me... it made me mad - really, really angry. I was only doing what everyone told me was the right things...

Then - of course - I realised that being angry wasn't going to help either... and so, I put all that energy into learning... but it will affect us all differently.

Sleep and stress - they are just as important to well-being as anything else, yet as a society we dismiss them. Sleep, in particular is mainly seen as a thing you have to put up with for some stupid reason, mutter mutter evolution... but if you don't get enough good quality sleep, everything else is just so much harder. How to get better sleep - lots of stuff available on that, and none of it very complicated; provided you don't ignore it like so many of us (I did) ignore it.

And stress - 10 minutes a day of some kind of practise (I've been using Headspace to practise meditation for over a year now - utterly transformative) is / can be / immensely beneficial - and we can talk about going to the gym for a couple of hours a week to exercise the body, but it is still just not normal to talk about setting aside half of that to exercise a sense of calm - and it really is a direct comparison, it's just a thing you can practise, and if you don't that thing is harder to do..

One simple first step anyone can take, is just to recognise that it's all a big deal - all of it; it's taken most of our lives, lived in a certain way, and it leaves us feeling inadequate in the grip of it. But - we can decide to change - not all of it at once, and not all of it will be smooth, some days we will go backwards - but we can keep deciding to change. Over time, that sense can start to build into something much more solid in our lives.
 
From the sound of it, you're already doing a lot. Can you throw specifics at us? What do you eat/drink in an average day, what is your current carb intake, do you test your blood glucose around meals? What numbers are you seeing?

I agree with @Rosie9876 , we do bang on about food here when stress is very, very much a factor... As are quite a few other things; medication can drive bloods up, like steroids, or statins. The flu that's going around can push us up, you name it, it has an impact. What we eat and how much we move, whether we fast or not etc, is often easier to adjust than how stressed we are. There's no quick fix for anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, and well, with the current state of affairs in the world, anyone'd worry. I know I do. And many with me.

So just look at everything that's going on, then decide where you feel there is actual, real, feasible room for improvement. Try to let go of the things you can't control, (easier said than done, I know! I'm a worry wart if ever there was one...) and get a strangle-hold on the things you can. You're cutting carbs and walking, that's good. Those things aren't going to do anything but help. Now let's see whether there's more to be gained, somewhere, somehow.

Have you tried (herbal/pharmaceutical) remedies for anxiety? Talk to someone, maybe a therapist or a friend if waitinglists are too long... Maybe mindfulness, Qi Gong/Yoga with a bunch of like-minded people in some park somewhere. A gratitude journal, anything that'll get you to calm your head a little. None of those things work for me because my brain's wired stupidly, so for me, it's taking my camera out for a spin and photographing cats, or I dunno, spring flowers? Escapism through reading works well too. (Just nothing dystopian right now, it's far too non-fictional, haha!) Whatever works for you, whether it's off the beaten path or something half the world is doing... Give it a go.

Because, you know. "I'm trying to do everything right" might also be putting a bit too much pressure on. Right according to whom? And is it right by you, or some cookie cutter one-size-fits-all-but-not-really? Cut yourself a break, and take some time to look very closely at what your actual needs are, mentally and physically. Then go from there.

Hugs,
Jo
 
Thanks for all your replies ❤

After giving it more thought from your responses probably my biggest issues are sleep and stress.. I’ve a busy stressful job and I’m also stressed about a number of other things, I only manage about 4-5 hours sleep most nights- would rarely get above 6 hours! I do try to relax by reading but maybe I need to make time to try meditation etc

Food wise today so far:
Breakfast - mixed berries, Greek yogurt, almonds and a decaf coffee
Lunch - half a tin of sardines, half an avocado, 2 baked eggs, some cucumber and small spoon of low fat hummus … will have some almonds probably as a mid afternoon snack.

Not sure on dinner yet maybe some fish with salad and veg

My numbers this morning was 10.8
My numbers over the last few days were ranging from 11.8 to 6.7 … always seems to be higher in the morning which would link in with my lack of sleep and lying there worrying about things

Most days I would try to limit my carb intake to just one meal but try healthier options of sourdough, sweet potato etc but maybe they just aren’t healthy for me ….

Thanks for all the advice any other tips and insights gratefully received
 
"A gratitude journal" yes, I have started doing that this month. Everyday so far I have written down what I am grateful for and its not easy, but I try and so far have done okay. Sleep, sleep and more sleep is so good for my readings, combined with the exercise as exercise for me is my fix and diet. The stress is something else and very tricky to combat, but I do try and meditate with air force headphones on as I then cannot hear anyone, its bliss
 
Stress and sleep. I can talk about that combo. I was diagnosed with ADHD, I also, more likely than not kiss the spectrum. So lots of everyday stuff can stress me out, from clothing and food textures, to a disruption in my routine, smells, noise, an unwashed cup in the sink, to a spec of dirt on the floor. I fixate. So I use routine and ritual to help me cope with these things so I can manage them and manage my stress. The things I can’t manage potentially keep me awake at night. I also worry about world events. Particularly Trump and his constant threats to absorb Canada, where I live, into the United States. My in laws are American, but I don’t want to be an American No offence intended to our American members here) . There is nothing I can do about that, but I wake up with it. So it’s all about managing these stressors.

I can get to sleep, but I can’t stay asleep. Exercise helps me a lot. I can lose myself in exercise and this can help me clear my mind and sleep. I use music as a meditational tool. Both these things help. I never watch a challenging movie or show before I sleep, I watch shows like Seinfeld or the Big Bang Theory. Doing moderation duties on this site, I stop about an hour before I sleep. I don’t drink caffeine. I very rarely drink alcohol. I don’t eat after 6pm. These are small tweaks in my lifestyle. I have made. I have been to sleep specialists, because at one point I barely got more than 4 hours sleep at night. Gradually, I have improved the way I cope, calming my over active mind allowing my stress levels to fall and improving my overall health.
 
Not the same thing (at least not quite) but I've constantly got Obsidian open. It's a note taking app that can kind of be all things at the same time, so it feels like a daily journal, but I can also use it for all of the keeky metabolism learning I constantly do, and just need to tag a paragraph with #gratitude and that becomes a gratitude journal - or rather, when I take that suggestion on board and integrate that to my daily practice - thank you for that @Lainie71 - that will be my first entry.
 
Melgar said:
The things I can’t manage potentially keep me awake at night.
Click to expand...
I woke up yesterday in a flap.

The day before, a colleague told me a dumb joke-
"what did Yoda say after seeing himself on a 4K screen for the first time.?"

--

"HDMI"

Anyway - back to six AM, and I wake bolt upright, with the fully formed thought "but Yoda speaks in anglicised German grammar, so he would have said 'HD I am' - the joke just doesn't work!"

I have no idea what that means - I probably need help....
 
That would stress me out too @Chris24Main , I would analyze it, argue with myself about and draw a conclusion about it to satisfy my own thoughts on it. You are not alone !
 
Most nights I have no problem falling asleep but I always wake up during the night and struggle to get back to sleep …. I wax awake this morning since 4am ….. thinking of everything and anything… I read somewhere if you wake during the night it could be a glucose spike.

I think I need to keep doing what I’m doing food/exercise wise and concentrate on relaxing in the evening and trying to switch off and hopefully my sleep will improve
 
Morning all, maybe this thread in itself has helped relieve some of my stress and anxiety !!!

For the first time this year I actually slept for just over 7 hours

Tested my sugars this morning and my figure was 8.8 …. I know it’s still higher than I would like but it’s the lowest it’s been first thing in the morning, since I started testing
 
The longest journey still starts with a single step.. excellent news..
 
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