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Lonely as a Diabetic ?

anna29

anna29

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
4,789
Location
Preston Lancashire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Cruelty to Animals/Children
Liars/Manipulators/Bullying
Hi All .

Has anyone ever felt 'lonely or isolated' since living with
your or their diabetic condition ?

If you have ? how ? do you cope or deal with this ?

I have started this thread to cover this factor and give us all the chance
to discuss this .

I realise some members will or can cope extremely 'well' too - without much or any
difficulties at all .
Can these members suggest ways that others can use to assist themselves
to overcome any loneliness or isolation they may be using or experiencing .

Diabetes is certainly complex and can be somewhat suprising at times too .
Frustrating/baffling and can throw many a curved ball at us .
Especially when we think we may have got it 'cracked' or sorted :confused:

Things like illness ,infection ,certain medications (antibiotics/steriods),
cortisone or flu injections as well as weather/climate conditions, stress ,
trauma , can impact on our BG levels :banghead:

Its a constant regime we need to keep and stick with to remain with awareness
of how to maintain this as best that we can do as individuals .
The journey of this is our 'own' and for some a very SOLO journey too .
Persons (members) who may have no-one nearby to talk about things
being lonely or isolating for themselves .
Hence this thread is to help, support those that may struggle in this solo-ness
 
This is such a brilliant post ! .
I feel I maybe one of the ones who I guess the word 'cope' would be used . But for one reason only .
My family , I wouldn't be where I am today without them , they looked after me throughout and passed on all the information and have been behind me throughout everything diabetes has thrown at me . And I believe it's helped with how i now think and feel about my diabetes .
I'm not saying sometimes diabetes doesn't affect me because everyone has there down days when it doesn't work and ratios changing all the time and silly things affecting your bloods like you have said , but makes me want to work harder to find the solution to put it right .
I feel I have now accepted my diabetes and it works better that way for me , I can not change it nor get rid of it . So I've chosen to work with it and not against it to achieve the best health possible .

So I've posted that as I would feel very different about diabetes if it wasn't for the known support off having my family behind me 1000% .
I would imagine I would feel very alone and very isolated , and not quiet sure how I would of 'coped'
So mine is a very big thank you to my family who I love loads .

Its brilliant to see this post as I know not everyone has the support they need . So would be brilliant if they could find a little support within the forum .

:):):)
 
Hi Chloe 1992

Your post is GREAT - coping with things gradually and adapted to it .
Positive acceptance of this is here to stay alongside you , working with this and
refusing to let it get you down or giving up .

You are sooo lucky to have your family network and support around you .
Family members to share and talk your feelings and any difficulties through with .

Yep it can indeed be quite a juggle to correct things within the regime's of the routine's needed!
Can be a right balancing act - sometimes when other things impact or affect us for example .

As you say NOT everyone has this and could feel very different and much more isolated about things .

Your post has shown how much we ALL need a supportive structure in our lives .
It can help immensly to share the burden or lessen the load kind of thing .

You're family are lucky to have YOU too .
Your positiveness shines through .
It is inspiring and catching Chloe .
Thank you for such a hopeful sunny post . :)

We can help support other members here who may NOT have much or any direct/closer support .

This is what the forum DOES best and can help support many others should they feel lonely or isolated .
 
Good thread Anna.

Yes there has been times (mainly in my youth) when I've felt lonely living with type 1 diabetes, it's a condition....much like others where there no visible signs of the condition and unless you tell someone no one will ever know, very few people have ever asked me how I cope except my diabetes team and they all just assume you just get on with it, which in most respects we do.

I'm comfortable with it all now and by far coming on a forum like this helps immensely, you don't feel so alone when you know you have fellow diabetics in reach just at the touch of a computer keyboard.
 
I am very grateful to have a place like this forum to come to and it stops me feeling so alone. I see so many down and worried and feel for them. My Diabetes is Type 2 and was a shock whereas many, feel like they've been punched in the face and don't know where to turn once they're diagnosed. Even though we can't see each other, just to know people are willing to help and guide you is wonderful.

I do get down when a wound doesn't heal or I really fancy some devilish delight and have to refrain but thankfully I have amazing kids and a hubby who take my mind off how I feel. Bless them, they even tolerate Mrs Grumpy when she makes an appearance, (too often according to hubby lol).

We get the basics from our doctors and nurses but we need this forum to help us manage things and it feels like an extended family, even though I haven't been here for long. You can't put a price on that.
 
30 years ago it was a very lonely place to be in with a t1 diagnosis. No internet, no others that I knew with it.

I'm just grateful for this forum as I have made fantastic friends here and the help I have had over the last 4 years with my licence and going on a pump and eating more fat .. It has been the best. I find it amazing that people here are so supportive and understanding especially when many healthcare professionals are just clinical and just sum up their observations of ones control after a 5 minute snapshot...
 
Despite having /type 1diabetes for 30+ years I still feel 'embarrassed' about having the condition. Ever since being diagnosed as a teenager I have always been very reluctant to tell people that I have diabetes and even now will only tell people on a need to know basis. I know this is a totally stupid reaction, I guess it stems from just wanting to be the same as all my other teenage friends back then, and not wanting to be constantly 'judged' every time I ate and drank something. It has certainly been a 'lonely' condition at times
 
I was diagnosed 36 years back . My parents behaved very oddly about my diagnosis telling me I couldn't tell anyone even hiding my insulin in a neighbours fridge when relatives/friends came to stay. As a young girl I felt like I had done something awful to deserve it. That paved the way for me not to tell anyone and I ended up with severe complications by trying to battle on and pretend everything was alright.

It was lonely place and also difficult to get information before the internet. I didn't realise for decades that other diabetics struggled just as much as me to get good control. It was a real revelation when I started to see that others were in the same place as me.

I lost my sight first in one eye and then for about one year I lived with no sight at all. Thankfully I have a small amount of sight in one eye now. The year spent locked inside my head with no sight made me realise just how much I needed family and friends to support me. I started to explain to them how difficult it was to keep control day in day out and how much it had worn me down coping with all aspects of diabetes whilst still believing it was my fault.

Getting a bit of sight back in one eye was the most brilliant positive thing imaginable. I am proud that I have made it through and have good control. I still choose who I tell but I certainly don't cover up the times when I am struggling with my control. I haven't ever been asked at a clinic how I am coping with diabetes, all the physical aspects are checked but not the psychological aspects.

Forums are such a good way to find out you aren't the only one struggling. It can be a lonely job managing a chronic disease through thick and thin and it is great to be able to get support from a wide variety of sources.
 
I wouldn't say I feel lonely as a T1 as even before this forum, I had my cousin and my Dad etc, I might feel lonely in other aspects of life but not with diabetes, as I know so many different diabetics :)
 
Thank you anna for such a well thought out thread. Reading some of the posts has been an eye opener and I know in the distant past some diabetic children were cared for in an institutional environment away from their families, I'm sure it must of been a very lonely place for some.:(

I can find it a little lonely sometimes, it would be great to talk to another type 1 about it and the other auto immune conditions that keep attacking the body, and a lovely good ole chin wagging moan about the condition or just a ' I know exactly how you feel hug' would do the world of good and not feel isolated at times. But the internet has, at least, given us a forum to confide in, or moan, discuss and have laugh as well. Nice one anna x
 
my younger brother is type 1, he has had it all his life as opposed to me just being half.........

fortunately I don't feel lonely, either in a diabetic sense or general sense......

just general living and life gets in the way to be honest, which I think everyone should strive to achieve.........
 
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