I didn't know that high blood glucose would affect how I felt mentally. If I work hard and get my numbers down, I should hypothetically feel less of how I'm feeling? I mean to a certain extent?
Hi, pb&cj!
I have to tell you that I believe that high blood glucose can *cause* depression and anxiety all by itself. Add it to other triggers, certainly it would make matters worse because with high blood sugar, you feel just plain dreadful, though it comes on slowly enough that it may only be in retrospect that we recognise it. As my blood sugar control slipped, I had more and more anxiety attacks and became more and more physically depressed, though it was only as my readings came down that I identified the depression.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 25 years ago. That was so long ago that the “Internet” was mainly e-mail, so I joined an e-mail group of people taking control of their diabetes through what we then called n=1 experiments. (n=1 experiments means testing frequently and adjusting what we did to control our "numbers" accordingly. It was later called “eating to our meter. Everyone's experience was a little different, so reading the e-mails gave us not "answers", but new things to try - and as you are reading here, community and encouragement to stay with it. Without support, constantly having to avoid the foods other people offer and having to stick ourselves so often can be very hard. But with encouragement to stick to it, we begin to see the blood glucose lowering, and that renews our determination.
I got my sugars under control within six months, and when every reading was in the "safe" zone for years, I went on autopilot. But diabetes isn't a static disease. Life changes and so does our blood sugar control.
Pregnancy changed the rules. Menopause changed the rules, too. But I saw those coming and paid attention long enough to repeat the n=1 experiments until I found my new routines. All seemed well for a long time.
Then, seven years ago, I fell. (I fall a lot. One of my most annoying side effects of autism is interoception problems that give me the super-power of being able to trip over the pattern in a carpet, much less an actual uneven footpath.) In that fall, I broke both an arm and a leg. I was in hospital for four days. Oy! It took months to get back into my walking routines, and in the meanwhile I had developed some hobbies that were really pretty sedentary.
Then, three years later, another fall saw me with two sprained knees. To my surprise, it took even longer to recover from. I couldn’t even leave my house for six month, since I lived in a house with steps up to the doors. So, I focused on my hobbies. When my knees healed enough for my to climb the stairs, I slowly started getting back into my waking rhythms. Walking still made my knees ache, though.
Then COVID, and the attendant lockdowns hit. I was
allowed to walk, but only in my neighbourhood. All the places with beautiful scenery were off limits. Given that the exercise still hurt, I took the lockdowns as an excuse to walk less than I needed to.
After the lockdowns, now well entrenched in my sedentary hobbies, I started slowly to try to get back to my former walking routines.
And then I got COVID. That wasn't too bad, since I have had every vaccination I've been eligible for - but the long COVID? Yikes!
For a year and a half, I was exhausted. I could barely get out of my chair to get my chores done and walking just wasn't an option. I think the long COVID also kicked me in the endocrine system, because not only my glucose readings but also my hypothyroid symptoms were out of control. Fasting was causing sky-high readings. The fed readings were all over the place and seemed to have no relationship to what I was eating. Lower carb, as I had been using effectively "almost forever", wasn't working anymore. In fact, some days, an extra serve of carby fruit brought my numbers
_down_!!! (Now that was weird!) My doctor’s only suggestion for my climbing blood sugar was Metformin. I tried it for one bottle, but the main ingredient in Metformin tablets, aside from the medication, is corn/maize. I am very sensitive to grains, and corn most of all. I simply couldn’t tolerate metformin, so I was on my own.
My long COVID finally cleared up in April of this year. By that time, I was having trouble with my eyes. Last August, my research uncovered a combination of herbs that made my blood sugar responsive again. Neither worked alone, but together they gave me better results than Metformin had, but without the corn side effects.
A couple of weeks later, it was time for my every six months hbA1c, and for the first time my doctor was concerned. (When I first came to his surgery, I had a hard time convincing him that I actually am diabetic and he was reluctant to do the regular testing. Going off plan for a week and showing him the numbers fixed that.) My hbA1c had risen to 55; well into the danger zone (over 43). The same week, my yearly diabetic eye check came back with a result of retinopathy for the first time ever.
It was clearly time to do something. Nothing I had learned 25 years ago was helping enough, even with the herbs, so I came here and read like a newby. A great deal has been learned over the last 25 years - all those n=1 experiments over time have resulted in some pretty clear universal guidelines!
It turns out that I was not low carbing by modern standards - I was lower carb than the standard diet, but far too indulgent for my body's new demands. So, I adjusted my diet to go "lazy keto" (disordered eating means I still resist weighing and measuring my foods, lest I become unhealthily obsessed again.) Once I get my numbers down, I will experiment with how much carb I can actually handle, but for now my pancreas needs a rest.
I also upped my lackadaisical walking routine to 45 minutes per day on a nearby sports oval walking track. Yes, it's boring, but between that and the dietary adjustments I have seen my numbers drop from fasting of ~8.2 to ~5.7 in two months. Of course, adjusting my diet was relatively easy because I had already cut way down on the carbs, so carb flu wasn't an issue.
I would suggest that someone coming from a standard diet start by figuring out exactly where the carbs in your diet are coming from and making gradual replacements, to the highest carbs first. (Probably in the fruits and grains.) Maybe substituting your oatmeal breakfast with eggs and cheese? Maybe learning a few lower carb recipes for dinner? (I don’t recommend that people jump right into low carb substitutes – they never taste as good and they are more expensive, so the temptation is always there to eat the nice one instead like the rest of the family is doing.)
Once you have gotten yourself used to not relying on carbs at every meal, you can start aiming for specific carb levels. But gradual is, for most people, far more sustainable that an abrupt change to all new foods prepared new ways. Diabetes is a long term disease, so take the long view!
I hope you find something there to help...
Good luck, pb&cj. You can do this!
) It seems to take whatever our psychological weakness may be and magnify it. Like you, these areas have improved significantly for me since bringing my BG under control.
