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Type 2 How do I deal with the stress of being newly diagnosed?

I struggled at 1st with my diagnosis as my son had been diagnosed with anaphylaxis to nuts a few weeks earlier so shopping was a nightmare! I struggled on through but as my GP said if i continue to look after myself & keep myself healthy there's no reason i should develop any of the nasty complications & i can lead as full a life as anyone else. I then went on to discover a fab yoga teacher & the others in my class are great. We have gripes like everyone else but on the whole yoga has taught us to be a bit more positive & concentrate on the here & now rather than worry about the past or future.
It is normal to struggle with initial diagnosis & i struggled but found this forum fab & very supportive. It does get easier once you get your head around diagnosis.
Living with diabetes does become a way of life & i look upon it more as a healthy lifestyle. x
 
Agree entirely, unfortunately some practitioners are negative,?had not nice experience with a nurse at doctors, told me she had no equipment in her room (I wasn’t even weighed) - this was 48 hours after diagnosis. Fortunately I got referred to clinic at hospital who are simply amazing. Dreading the day I get referred back to that nurse which is likely in the autumn
 
Hi @AllieRainbow It is a shock at first and your head will be filled with everything. There is so much to learn and as been mentioned depends on your Dr and Dn advice and attitude. I'm not saying ignore what they say but have a look at some of the threads on here to help you with questions. We are not medical practitioners but we have all been in your situation and found different ways to cope. What works for some may not work for others but at least you get a choice of what you can try and see what works for you. Look at some of the success testimonials for some inspiration. Look at some of the members "signature" of how things have improved for them. This forum is a great place for help, advice and guidance. As well as a listening ear to offer you the support as you continue your journey. Good luck.
 
Hi @AllieRainbow love your name rainbows are full of hope. I am also a carer of an elderly mum who lives 120 miles away as well as an adult autistic son living with us. I learnt the hard way that unless you care for yourself first you won’t be fit to look after others. I became very very ill when looking after others and working to the point of being suicidal and needed lots of help to get back on level. You are doing remarkably well in coping with what is a difficult diagnosis especially when it’s delivered by someone who is hardly giving you a message of hope. But it will get better - you can see your changes already and you need to really work at the importance of carving out me time even if in the beginning it’s only small chunks of time.
I can’t do full on meditation as too much of a time commitment but I do do the mindfulness Headspace app which I think is life changing. You can choose from sessions on the app from a couple of mins up to 20 but majority are 5 to 10 mins so can be fitted in daily. You can download a free mini version to try it.
Also try and work on the practical stuff. I couldn’t cope with being at my mums once a week because of my autistic son so have had to work around it but it may be that you could find some ways of reducing no of visits to release some time? Or are you able to chill during your travel time?
Shopping online for parents is a good idea I find that some delivery services are really good at putting stuff on to surfaces so mum can easily deal with the stuff and put away in her own time. I also pay for a weekly cleaner to do a good clean plus it’s a bit of extra company as she not yetat the carer stage. I go up about every 3 to 4 weeks but talk to mum everyday to ease anxieties and try and find alternative solutions that don’t need me to be physically there.
We’re all different and you’ll deal with this in the best way for you but the bottom line is make some time for you and take time to do small enjoyable things and make them a regular part of your life. The rest will follow you’re doing really great and things will get better.
 
AllieRainbow said:
I am not on any drugs,
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Realy because your hair says different.
Just teasing because its the same colour as my daughters and I have to re-open "Dads Hair Salon" tonight to touch up the roots. (for every one who thinks they've got it hard running "Dads Taxi Service" think again.)

But the stress question It's one of those things you have to answer for yourself. The best piece of advice I can offer is whatever you do chose to do make sure you remember to put aside time every day to do it.

It's amazing how hard it is to find 10 mins a day to do something.
 
Tomorrow is another day, and will be better than day before, and I applaud you for a great decision to at the moment take charge of your own body, the best medication! you have changed your lifestyle, eating correctly, you have results, and that is what we call here in Spain, absolutely fantastico! keep it up. I was pre diabetes couple weeks back now shown medical records non diabetic. I refused my metformin, opted as yourself which may give motivation, changed lifestyle, eat low carb www.dietdoctor.com intermittent fast three times a week this really helps keep control, and walk exercise as much as possible, a 68 year old surfer, and walk min five to nine klm a day, jump on the tread if you have one for only ten mins after each meal.

I have reversed and lowered my levels to normal, lost twenty four kilos in wright, and twenty three cm on the waist. have not eaten bread, pasta, rice or potatoes for one year and half, since diagnosed, do I miss them initially yes, now no, eating much more fabulous foods and substitutes, make own wonderful seed crackers with sunflower, flax, chia and sesame,grate caulifour for rice, spiralize zuchinni for pasta and eat super pumpkin instead of potatoes.

Hope this helps give indications you started off correctly, and keep it up, and I am sure you will see more results as well.
 
Hi Allie,
It's easy for me to say, but try to chill a little. I understand that you have lots going on and with this ontop, it must feel like you're being buried at times.
I see lots of folk getting really seriously into blood tests(and yes, I understand they're a necessary evil) but try not to get too swept up in levels etc. It can take you over. It did me for the first while. I was newly diagnosed a year ago and like you and thousands like us, I got really depressed. I was prescribed Metformin, 1/ day at first but then 2. Being blunt, I was scared to move too far from a loo, and even more scared to break wind(sorry nice people on the forum, but it had to be said!!). I explained to my dn and they took me off meds as Id lost a stone and my blood sugar dropped. Then the levels rose so I was prescribed Gliclazide. Levels came down, they leveled out around 6-8.
I've been told to just test a couple of times a week, but if Im honest, its about every other week.
Maybe I'm being a bit cavalier or careless about it, but thats how it is at the moment. You're doing great losing weight. Don't stop living, don't live around what you can't eat etc, etc. Just be sensible, cut down on sweet foods,carbs etc, exercise if you can. You are a person with diabetes, not just a diabetic. You know what needs to be done. You'll get used to how you feel before a hypoglycemic session and learn to live with it without living in fear as we all did when first diagnised.
I hope this has not offended or upset anyone, that was not my intention, but all I wanted to say was try to relax whilst being sensible about your new condition.
Forget the trip to Dignitas! Enjoy the nice weather, enjoy life! Good luck.
 
moleman said:
all I wanted to say was try to relax whilst being sensible about your new condition.
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This is what I have decided to do - I realised yesterday I needed to relax a little and just try and reduce the stress levels by being good enough and not stressing about levels too much. As long as the general trend is downwards, they will come down over time. I am setting aside time to relax and appreciate what I have got: a great family and loving husband, and enough time to look after myself better than I have been doing, and work on making some boundaries to protect myself from too many demands on time and energy.

Thank you to everyone who has posted - I really appreciate you taking the time to help when you all have challenges like me in dealing with your diabetes.

I honestly don't know how I would be feeling at the moment if it wasn't for this forum, and the people on it who are so willing to share their own experiences and thoughts about how to deal with this new direction in life.

I will definitely look at the meditation, and if that doesn't suit, I am sure there will be something that works for me to calm things down a bit. I am scheduling in some time for relaxation to start dealing with the stress as of yesterday, and that seems to be making things a little easier. I think avoiding the carb laden supermarket might be a good idea at the moment as it seems really stressful just walking around in there, surrounded by food that would just make things worse.

I have lots of healthy food in at at the moment and I am going to have a go at some low carb baking to see if I can make some bread today so I can feel a bit more normal, as I usually make my own bread. My first attempt was edible but not a massive success due to a mis-translation from cups to grammes, so I will be double checking my ingredients this time, and then checking them again! As you can tell by my username, I am nothing if not optimistic and positive.
 
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Morning @AllieRainbow a good positive attitude to where you want to be. I find meditation very helpful, It can be very easy to do. Find yourself a nice quiet area, sit on a chair that keeps your back straight (dining chairs are good). Place your hands palm down on your thighs so you are comfortable. Close your eyes and slowly just listen to your breathing, if other thoughts come into your head try and dismiss them and continue listening and concentrating on your breathing. This will help you relax. You can do this anytime you feel stressed. Like you say Wednesday is a busy day for you so try and have a little extra time to relax and meditate when you get home. It will give you something to look forward to after your stressful day.
One of my sayings is "if you cant find 10 minutes to meditate, meditate for 20 minutes" Good luck.
 
Hi Allie, 'loving husbands'?, no wonder you're stressed!!!!
 
Hello Allie,Yes i know it is a shock to be told you are diabetic.And it's progressive ,and you may go blind and have your legs amputated .Kidney failure gangrene etc .Reading what terrible complications you can get if you can not control your blood sugar .very frightening indeed.You do right keeping off diabetic drugs .They only hide the blood sugar so you may get lower readings the drugs will not cure your diabetes big pharma don't want that they would lose too much money.Keep away from these so -called doctors In my opinion they haven't a clue .I had type 2 diabetes for about 6 years before they sent for me to tell me. i was diabetic despite having routine 6 monthly blood tests etc.I felt ok at the time.I started getting none healing ulcers below the knee .A large blister formed on each big toe .the scab that formed on my right toe turned jet black and smelly.Gangrene was forming .My feet were totally numb due to very high blood sugar.I had to do something fast.I cut the gangrene off the end of my big right toe with a pair of surgical scissors.No use waiting for the doctors .I would have had to have my foot or lower leg chopped off.So i had read about Alternate fasting. I went on a 24 hour alternate fasting diet for a few weeks .Having full meals one day .Then not eating anything for 24 hours .you can vary the the fasting times to suit you .18,24 30 hours or longer if you wish just drink tea or coffee water maybe a bottle of red wine thrown in.I saw results in a short time i lost over 3 st in weight and my blood sugar fasting reading dropped from between 10.8 mml and 16+ to between 3.8 and 5.8 mml. And have remained so for over a year now.All my list of complications as long as your arm have cleared up.I am totally cured of diabetes.Yes i know the medics will say i am only in remission.but i beg to differ.People think fasting diets are drastic and you will loose muscle and starve to death.No such thing.Try it out if it's not for you ,jack it in I have tried calorie controlled diets where i lost maybe a stone in weight.got fed up with it and put all the weight i had lost back on again.With a fasting diet .I have not put the weight back on i lost and my blood sugar is normal.After over a year i can eat what i like without any adverse effects.I bought books by Dr Jason Fung The Obesity Code The Complete Guide to Fasting The Diabetes Code..He is on Utube.I cured my diabetes Without a doctor in sight If i had taken the doctors treatment .i would no doubt be dead now .Sadly all the diabetic people i have known are dead ,some younger than me.
 
OMG.

Talk about self-reliance, self educated, pragmatic and an absolute survivor! Sir, if the zombie apocalypse ever hits, I'm coming to hide out with you.
 

What an amazing result - and all by your own efforts and determination.

May I ask if you are still doing alternating fasting now? And how long it took to get your sugars down?
 
AllieRainbow said:
What an amazing result - and all by your own efforts and determination.

May I ask if you are still doing alternating fasting now? And how long it took to get your sugars down?
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Hello Allie.My blood sugar started dropping only after a few days .I'd lost over 3 st in 3 or 4 months i just eat normal meals now I have kept the fat off which i lost i don't bother fasting now .Still keep an eye on my blood sugar.occasionally i tested today my fasting reading was 5.2 mml .The fasting diet gives your liver and pancreas time to recover .I lost all of my belly fat and the constant pain in my upper stomach due to a fatty liver.I have tried ordinary calorie control diets .they work for so long .I lost over a stone on one got fed up with it and the weight started to increase.So back to square one.I can even see signs of a 6 pack I've not seen that since i was 16 years old ..You are not so restricted in what you can eat.you may lose the desire to be snacking all the the time as i was before the diet Try it the only thing you will lose is excess fat and your diabetes.It worked for me .If you try it ,it will work for you hopefully.
 
I just wanted to write to say you need to do what you're doing. Reach out and write about what you're feeling. You know that there are heaps of people reading what you've written and thinking "me too" right now, which is actually doing something to help those people too. So feel good about being able to express what you're feeling and be gentle with yourself.

yeah.. and me too!

ps. the stomach breathing thing.. just wow! thankyou
 

Thank you for that - one of the biggest issues for me is feeling alone in dealing with this, and I have been helped so much by reading about other people's experiences. I didn't know what to think when I was first diagnosed - the first I knew of it was when the surgery rang up to tell me I had an appointment with the Diabetic Nurse as a new diabetic!!

She seemed full of gloom and doom about my future, and if it hadn't been for this forum I would have struggled a lot more. Reading about people who have been successful in controlling their blood sugar by diet really inspired me to invest time and energy in myself and in understanding what I need to do to manage this condition successfully - and it is not a one size fits all solution, as I have found by reading on the forum. There are many different ways to control blood sugar, and what works for one person may not work for another.

It seems like the best approach is to listen to your body and get as much information as you can about your own responses and reactions to things - carbs, stress, lack of sleep etc.

I will be posting regularly on my own experiences, and hopefully it will be helpful to others.
 

You're amongst friends now.. and we've all been there and have the (now hopefully too big) t-shirt!
 
david1241 said:
I cut the gangrene off the end of my big right toe with a pair of surgical scissors.No use waiting for the doctors .
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Wow!! You're one tough cookie (low carb, of course)!! Well done for managing a bleak situation so impressively well.
 
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