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Normal Life? or anywhere near.

L

lilla

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The usual, bigots; dictators........
Hands up if anyone here leads a near as dammit life.
Since being diagnosed, about 10 days ago I spend nearly every minute of the day, thinkiing about food, talking about food or preparing food then cooking and clearing up food, then it all starts again.
I worry if i have eaten a good meal or not, then im worried am i excersing enough, and to top it all, im worried im stressing myself out with all this worrying, and i know i have o much more to come.

Does anyone just get on with life, laugh and be merry, go out for meals, does life ever feel normal again? If the answer is no, then please do not reply.....im hoping for a few replies though :crazy:
 
It depends on what you mean by normal.

but yes, it does get easier and easier. And you will feel better and better too. It wont happen overnight. But in a few days or weeks you will be a lot calmer and happier.

Promise.
 
lilla said:
Does anyone just get on with life, laugh and be merry, go out for meals, does life ever feel normal again? If the answer is no, then please do not reply.....im hoping for a few replies though :crazy:
Click to expand...

Normal life? Hah!

If I look at pictures of myself just before I was diagnosed in March 2011, I look overweight, unhappy and frankly very ill (I had a long list of diabetic symptoms).

20 months later I'm fitter, healthier and happier than I've ever been before. I went from not being able to run 30s in 2009 to completing my second half marathon last Sunday. My HbA1c is better than most "normal" people, and I don't have any symptoms or complications.

All it takes is a few dietary adjustments. They seem kinda tough to start with, but once you've got used to it, you'll probably realise that most of the stuff that you liked to eat before, is just really addictive junk that you are better off without.

It's not anywhere near as hard as you think it's going to be...
 
A different life, but one that has become 'normal.'
Many, after diagnosis, seem to go through a period of thinking 'how am I going to keep all these balls up in the air at the same time ?'
It's simply that you're going through a period of change, so new habits haven't been established, yet old habits seem inappropriate, which leaves you exactly ... nowhere ! Thrust into a canoe without a paddle, and told to make your way upstream

So, old habits no good, but what good habits do I establish ?
For some it's devouring books, for others searching online, and for others searching posts on forums like this one.
Another way is to ask questions. Take one step at a time. With each step the road becomes less daunting.

And I know I'm not alone. I'd guarantee many here will say the same about their 'normal' lives.
Diabetes is a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Seems frightening until you see behind the curtain

Geoff
 
The thing is I id not feel ill had no symptoms except for peeing at night some times...........im not particularly overweight, although i could lose half a stone.

I do hope that I will be fitter and healthier tfor following this regime, tomorrow i am going to give up smoking, as HBP, has reared its head, and there is absolutely no point in eating healthily and still smoking, ridiculously smoking is my only vice, i really thought i could get away with it, until this diebetes thing came along.

Im glad 2 people feel their life is good, when i say normal, i mean how you used to feel before diagnoses, but i guess if most people feel bad before, then i suppose its good that they feel different.

I just feel out of control of my own body, and its scarey.

Yes Librarising, just saw your answer, thsts how i feel , im up the creek with no paddle, and the NHS do not seem to care that much, they speel the speel spin you around a couple of times, then out you go, on your own. :?
 
Oh, im so bad at this forum organising thing, i forgot to say thanks to Borofergie and lucylocket, thanks or letting me noe your thoughts, and im happy that they are positive ones!
 

Lilla ... we don't need 'vices' we just think we do because they seem to make life less boring. So good for you for stopping smoking. You're on a mission and you're on the right one and there's nothing wrong with right!

To be honest my life has improved a lot since I was diagnosed in August. It meant I actually KNEW what was wrong with my body and I could sort out what to do about it where diet was concerned. Before that I was just stumbling around in the dark not knowing what to do. Now that I know what to eat I'm feeling a lot better, not 100% but definitely improving. I do think about food a lot, but that's because I'm learning and experimenting with foods and I quite like that. As I've learned what I can eat, now it just comes automatically what to put in my trolley, so it's no big deal really.

Like you I felt my body was controlling me, rather than me controlling it, but now I feel like I'm regaining control again and it's a nice feeling.
 
Yes - once you make the diet etc adjustments & adapt to a new normality.

Eating out - just go for the low carb options.
 
Hi there
I have been diagnosed about 7 months. In that time I have lost 5 stone, am much healthier and feel all round great. None of this would have happened without the diagnosis. Diabetes is not a great thing to have, but I look upon it as a blessing.also remember you don't have to give up everything, just moderate and you will soon not miss the things you are worrying about now. Low carbing is a bit of an effort at times, but it does become routine and "normal" after a short while.
Eddie
 
I suppose 10days is too soon to think i have adjusted, im one of those people though, another challenge, must gt on sort it out.....its going to take time, and i have to accept that, ive eaten more veggies in the last 10 days than in the whole last 6 months! that must be good for me.
Thank you all, it is encouraging to know I could be healthier than before, I have purchased the Allan Carr quit smoking book, which i will be reading tomorrow, hopefully will finish it by the time i go to bed, and then that will be that.

Im so grateful to have found this forum so quickly as you all hav been very enlightening, no matter what i have asked.
 
Ten day's is a bit soon, you have to almost go through a form of grieving I think. You need time to say goodbye to the old life and hello to the new. You will probably find, you are settled in your new life, and then suddenly one day just realize it happened. Quitting smoking and taking charge of your health are two major changes you are making at the same time. Don't beat yourself up, just think about why you are doing it, and then all of a sudden you will feel a million times better, then you will know why it was all so worth it.

Good luck - Jo.
 
I suppose it becomes normal for us!!

I funnily enough did have a passing thought the other day what it would be like just to eat. Without having to weigh, calculate, test and inject and felt a little pinch of envy .................And then it passed

I suppose there could be worse things that one may have to do every day

Lucy xxx
 
Lucy there must be worse things to live with, its just one of those things, i never thought it would be me, things.

Jo, If they were the only two life changing things happened this month then it would be bad, but losing my Father too, isnt that just a bit much!!!!!!!!! The day before i found out about the diabetes, i was burying my dad, and i thought that was the last of the bad news and things i had to cope with.

I do hope that i can get my head around this sooner rather than later, and i must say as i live alone
(widow of 6 yrs) i have found this forum a godsend.

We all have different things to deal with, it doe help to discuss them, or rant away for a bit.
 
Hi again Lilla, give yourself a little time, you'll get there. Before I was diagnosed I didn't realise I was ill I just thought I was getting old. I had gynae problems, incessant thrush, incredible debilitating tiredness, shakes before lunch, sleepies after lunch and a host of other annoying troubles. But because I was so busy and stressed at work I just thought I was over doing it. One or two mornings I could not get straight out of bed, I was so **** exhausted. One business trip I went to bed at 7.30pm with two duvets having shivers and complete washed out exhaustion and I thought that was my lot for the rest of my life ...

Then I was diagnosed which for a while messed with my head. But when I got my numbers down, everything came back under control, my body was mine to command again. Since I found this forum my life has gone from ok to brill (sounds cheesy I know but its true). I feel so empowered, and the mild obsessiveness which I admit that I have at the moment about food makes me feel in control. I have just been out to dinner and had a lovely rump steak, I asked the waitress to replace chips with a salad, it was so yum. Now I am home I am drinking a coffee with cream, sheer indulgence.
 
Life does slip back into normality, it's just that your "normal" will be a different "normal" there's loads to take in at first, and there's also so many feelings to deal with and a million questions that don't seem to have an answer, you're like a snow globe that's been shaken up, bits flying everywhere, but it will settle. Just take one day at a time learning as you go, you will discover strengths you didn't know you had and one day you will realise how far you have come. Good luck
 


Lilla,

I do know what you mean, you just never think it will be you! I also get that your Dad passed away in the same month I am sorry, also about your late Husband.

We must all feel p'd off at some stage, strangely enough I seemed to just get on with it when diagnosed but I had had a baby 12 mnths before and a pretty stressful pregnancy. So whe diagnosed I just cracked on with it and with a little one and all other stuff going on I don't actually think it sank in! It did come back and bite me on the bum though a few years later when I became resentful. I am now so much more in control and there is nothing I can do but get on with it. Everyone copes in thier own way and comes to terms with it in their own time. You will and I am sure life will become normal again. ( well as normal as it can be )

Wishing you well,

Lucy xxx
 
Hi Lilla!

Things really do get easier. I remember at my diagnosis feeling this total panic. Scared to eat. Scared not to eat. Scared to exercise. Scared not to exercise. My life just started to revolve around what food I could eat, what I couldn't etc etc. More than 3 years on, I'm on 5 injections a day (turns out I was LADA and not Type 2 as diagnosed). But - I no longer have the panic about food. I work out carb contents of meals in my head - I didn't know I could remember so many numbers :lol: I know how many grams of carb I want to eat a day, and I just do it naturally and adjust my insulin accordingly. I use low-carb alternatives for most of my old favorite foods and although I am always aware of my diabetes, it doesn't rule my life anymore.

You'll get there - just give it time and a bit of effort.

Take care

Smidge
 
Hi. It is a wake up call and your eating will never be the same again. You do need to look at ingredients on the supermarket shelves and you will be horried at the junk you and all of us have been used to. Just consider the fact that you are not alone as there are millions of us also following the same process. A change of diet to a low-carb approach is vital together probably with a lower over food intake; you will get used to it but it's not easy at first. Don't panic as for most of us after diagnosis there is time to gradually sort the food out and work with the family so they understand what is good and not good when eating out. You can break the rules from time to time so you don't have to be obsessive about it. Beware the bad advice you can get from your surgery so do come back with questions if you want other opinions. The meter will guide you as to how far you can go and with what foods.
 
Well............im glad i asked the question, reading all your comments, suggestions and encouragement has at least assured me, that this is a process, and im not totally selfish for thinking 'how come i got it'.
I try to think positively, every morning i start o well, and by the i have had my evening meal and then started to feel hungry again, my mood changes, i cnnot concentrate, and i start to doubt mysel and my ability to navigate my way through to a good end.

The nhs will not give a monitor, i have asked saying i would feel better knowing how foods efect me and feeling i had some choice and control, but i was advised against testing.

I also asked for a DESMOND course to educate myself, she told me it was a years waiting list! hopefully i will know what i need to know by then. Im thinkingof paying for a nutrisionist, as im getting confused between south beach, and the nhs advice, is South Beach lowcarb high fat? i have high cholestral and hbp, so do i feed myself fat? that just does not sound right, i understand the low cal aspect though, that makes sense.

I cannot think anymore, but will ask these questions another day, on a post in the correct place.
THIS is what i end up doing EVERY night, everything whizzing around in my head, then i can feel my heart racing :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: Good night one and all, thanks for your kind and helpful advice.
 
im unable to reply to this post as i dont now what normal is ,i do how ever wish upon a star that one day i may be normal.
i was 4 when i was diagnosed 37 yrs ago.....and i havent had a easy day since,like i said i dont now what normal feels like....

:mrgreen:
 
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