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Newly diagnosed; question about stress

K

Kate1610

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dear all,
I was diagnosed 2 weels ago with a HbA1c of 106 and was feeling pretty terrible (very tired/brainfog; recurrent serious infections; emotional instability). When I look back I had been having symptoms for quite some time but because I am only in my 40's and reasonably fit I just hadn't even thought of diabetes..... Which feels a bit stupid now since I had all the symptoms! Started on metformin and gliclazide straight away, with the doses already being increased as my glucose was staying very high (between 16 - 21). I am eating low carb but not no carb because of the gliclazide, but my glucose yesterday dipped under 10 for the first time, which is great! I do feel better already too. I'm interested in if it would be possible to get off the drugs at some point, and also in the effect of stress on blood sugar levels, since I have an idea that stress (I have a busy and high-pressure job) might be a contributory factor for me.
Best wishes,
Kate

​

 
Hello and welcome. In answer to your specific questions, lots of things affect blood glucose and stress is a major one. That is, after all, one of blood glucose's jobs - to prepare us for dealing with whatever is stressing us. We can't always do much about stress, but we can help our bodies manage the rise in blood glucose so that it can come back down again more effectively. It's a long job - we say here it's a marathon not a sprint - but it's helpful to know that a few changes can make big differences. Not all of us can come off medication completely, but plenty do - I'm one - so have a good read around the Board and come back with questions. No question is stupid or irrelevant. If you want to ask, we'll do our best to answer. Good to have you on board.
 
Hi @Kate1610 and welcome.

- as @Outlier quite rightly says - stress is enormously impactful.

Most of the focus on diagnosis of T2DM is around meds and diet, but you may be aware of the concept of "pre-diabetes" and "metabolic syndrome" - I don't want to give you a whole bunch of new stuff to confuse you with, but the simple version is that there is a trajectory that leads to being diagnosed with type 2 - and high levels of stress hormones are recognised as being part of that trajectory.

What you can do about it? well, focusing on reducing circulating glucose levels is still the most important, and sounds like you are doing that - fantastic - but you may find (I'll put it a different way; I found) that putting aside 10 mins a day for meditation is really surprisingly beneficial - I think about it now as fasting for the mind...

Anyway - then - should you be thinking in terms of the meds being temporary? - much more nuanced - statistically, many people will find that you progressively need more and more meds. For me; the underlying issue is that my hormones are out of balance. Meds were useful in managing the symptoms for a while, but by reducing the cause for the imbalance, I could reduce the need for the meds, and begin to drive the whole thing back to a much more healthy place.

The good news is that many people report improvements in all the symptoms you talk about (all of which I now see as metabolic issues) - but to temper that, don't expect to turn it around overnight - give yourself permission to take it at the pace it needs..

For what it's worth - my HbA1c was 155 when I was first diagnosed, and I spend about a year floundering before coming here... You have a massive head-start on that...
 
I started off on insulin for a very short while then maximum dose Gliclizide & Metformin. It took me a few years (can’t remember how long now) but with the support of my GP I reduced my carbs & reduced my meds, massive weight loss until I came of Gliclizide all together, I’m now on a small dose of Metformin only, I tolerate it well and for me I feel it has benefits not just diabetes wise but heart wise so I don’t mind taking it. I have about 20g carb a day, never hit the holy grail of remission but I don’t mind that - my Hba1c hangs around 48 -49 and I’m ok with that

I’ve been T2 over 14 years - off the meds for coming up 6 years- it’s a commitment as it’s a change for life not a quick fix, you may be able drop the meds quicker than I did, I took my time

If you scroll down to my signature you can see the stats where I started and where I am now
 
Chris24Main said:
Hi @Kate1610 and welcome.

- as @Outlier quite rightly says - stress is enormously impactful.

Most of the focus on diagnosis of T2DM is around meds and diet, but you may be aware of the concept of "pre-diabetes" and "metabolic syndrome" - I don't want to give you a whole bunch of new stuff to confuse you with, but the simple version is that there is a trajectory that leads to being diagnosed with type 2 - and high levels of stress hormones are recognised as being part of that trajectory.

What you can do about it? well, focusing on reducing circulating glucose levels is still the most important, and sounds like you are doing that - fantastic - but you may find (I'll put it a different way; I found) that putting aside 10 mins a day for meditation is really surprisingly beneficial - I think about it now as fasting for the mind...

Anyway - then - should you be thinking in terms of the meds being temporary? - much more nuanced - statistically, many people will find that you progressively need more and more meds. For me; the underlying issue is that my hormones are out of balance. Meds were useful in managing the symptoms for a while, but by reducing the cause for the imbalance, I could reduce the need for the meds, and begin to drive the whole thing back to a much more healthy place.

The good news is that many people report improvements in all the symptoms you talk about (all of which I now see as metabolic issues) - but to temper that, don't expect to turn it around overnight - give yourself permission to take it at the pace it needs..

For what it's worth - my HbA1c was 155 when I was first diagnosed, and I spend about a year floundering before coming here... You have a massive head-start on that...
Click to expand...
Thank you, this is all very helpful and encouraging! This comes at the end of an incredibly busy and stressful couple of years in my job and I just can't believe the two things are not related. Also had dangerously high heart rate and blood pressure when I got the diabetes diagnosis and am on beta blokkers now as well as the diabetes drugs.... I'll give the meditation a go!

It's going to be a learning process with the food, that is clear. Yesterday I had a (for me) very low reading before (low carb) dinner of around 5, followed by 10 this morning, and 15 2 hrs after breakfast, so not stable at all yet. Will keep testing and thinking and try to work it all out.

Great to have this forum :-)
 
Kate1610 said:
Dear all,
I was diagnosed 2 weels ago with a HbA1c of 106 and was feeling pretty terrible (very tired/brainfog; recurrent serious infections; emotional instability). When I look back I had been having symptoms for quite some time but because I am only in my 40's and reasonably fit I just hadn't even thought of diabetes..... Which feels a bit stupid now since I had all the symptoms! Started on metformin and gliclazide straight away, with the doses already being increased as my glucose was staying very high (between 16 - 21). I am eating low carb but not no carb because of the gliclazide, but my glucose yesterday dipped under 10 for the first time, which is great! I do feel better already too. I'm interested in if it would be possible to get off the drugs at some point, and also in the effect of stress on blood sugar levels, since I have an idea that stress (I have a busy and high-pressure job) might be a contributory factor for me.
Best wishes,
Kate

​

Click to expand...
You've already heard that stress is very much a factor, and Metabolic Syndrome kind of comes with the territory. (It's a bit of an umbrella term for issues like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood glucose and obesity. For me, I had everything except high blood pressure. So it's certainly not mandatory to be sporting all of the above, but they do tend to go together. Tackle the glucose though, and the others should improve as well... It's all connected.) I was on metformin first, which didn't agree with me, then gliclazide, which after low carbing for a bit, I didn't need anymore... So by no means a life-sentence, those meds, as I'm far from the only one here who managed it.

Try and find a bit of peace within yourself. Easier said than done, but it could help bring your bg down.

Good luck!
Jo
 
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