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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kleigh88" data-source="post: 2703093" data-attributes="member: 93236">Hello there <img class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" alt="☺️" title="Smiling face    :relaxed:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/263a.png" data-shortname=":relaxed:" />I'm really sorry to hear that your son is struggling. Sadly I am very familiar with his story as it is very similar to mine. I was diagnosed at age 25, 11 years ago. The first 2 years, my control was really good but I have perfectionist tendencies and I really struggled on days where I was trying so hard to manage my diabetes but the effort was not reflected in my glucose levels. Over time this started to really bother me and I hit a mental block and suffered with burnout. 9 years later and my control still isn't good but my mental health is the best it has ever been. I accept that whatever comes my way are the consequences of my actions but I know myself well enough to know that the more focus I put on my diabetes, the more my mental health suffers. I did spend some time chatting to a psychologist who was a specialist in diabetes due to me hitting rock bottom, sadly I developed diabulimia (eating disorder) I was restricting insulin to lose weight. Growing up I always had a very negative image of myself and have always been very self critical, this plus the burden of type 1 diabetes probably led to the eating disorder. Now I don't omit my insulin to lose weight, I just do the bare minimum to get by. I have been begging for an insulin pump for years now as the diabetes healthcare team have often asked what would help me to manage my diabetes better and I have always been denied due to poor control. I was told I could have one when I was able to manage my blood sugars properly and the diabetic team have just finally realised that is not going to happen, so I go for an appointment this week to discuss getting the insulin pump. I honestly believe that this will take some of the mental effort away from managing the condition and to get some control back.I really feel for your son as the condition is so hard to deal with, not necessarily physically but definitely mentally, it is a huge burden and I imagine even more so for a teenager. It might be worth you asking your son what it is that he thinks would help him, that way he is giving you the answer rather than you trying to guess. Just let him know that you are there for him and that you will help in any way that you can or that he wants you to. I do feel that the more you try to push your son in to taking back control, the more he will push back but this is just due to being frustrated and every single one of us that is diagnosed does understand the consequences of not complying with our regime, it will just take patience, baby steps and time. Hopefully you get the answers you need from your son and he will let you help. A diabetic psychologist will really help but your son has to be completely open and honest to ensure he gets the right approach to his mental wellbeing. I really wish your son well and also you too</blockquote>

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