Managing diabetes is as much mental as it is medical or physical.
I was in denial for many years, but that all changed when I attended Joslin’s DO IT program. I’ve embraced diabetes. It’s part of who I am, and I’m not ashamed of it, even though I don’t make a big deal about it. I have to live accordingly.
I still get sad, upset, frustrated, and unhappy. But I realize that such is life. I need to move on - citius, altius, fortius!
Well, I stole it from acidrock23, but it was just too good NOT to!!! 
Diabetes is physically, emotionally and mentally exhausting 24/7! After 17 years of being type 1 diabetic I’m on diabetes burnout! At my last appt. my endo told me if I keep micro managing my diabetes, my mental health with suffer! What can a diabetic possibly say to that? I said “well I’m trying to do my best to prevent any future complications!” which is a good thing but I’m now suffering from the mental burnout which this disease causes and I’m not sure how to find a balance?!
Don’t you feel like you’re walking a tightrope, and you’ll fall if you overbalance either way? 
It seems to me that it’s important to get the emotions OUT of diabetes. To be able to look at a number and think “OK, now what should I do” rather than “Oh crap, screwed up again!” That’s because there are so many things outside of our control that we CAN’T take either blame or credit for whatever our BGs are doing – we can only address the problem.
For me, having the CGM has taken SOME of the stress out of diabetes, because it’s a lot easier to whip out my pump and check my number than to have to get out all the paraphernalia and find a place to test. I used to be extremely embarrassed to test in public, and would often simply not test rather than go through that. With the CGM, I still have to test, but if it’s telling me I’m in a good place, then I don’t have to test – it’s only when it’s at the extremes that I do.
Also, it’s YOU that will know whether your mental health is suffering, not your endo. Some people are naturally more compulsive about it than others (I’m on the compulsive side), and you need to do whatever YOU need to do to maintain yourself in your comfort zone. I don’t know where that is, but neither does your endo. I once had a PCP tell me not to test more than once a day, because I was going to get anemic. Well, FOOF on that!!
Please keep on talking about your feelings – just talking about it takes some of the stress off, too. And remember, perfection is not the goal, because it’s impossible – just try for good enough! Hugs,!
I’m a perfectionist so it was very hard for me to accept the fact that no matter how much effort I put into monitoring/correcting my BG it’s never gonna be perfect! I also wear a cgm and am very thankful for this technology but found that I became very anxious soon after starting it. Now knowing how much BG levels actually fluctuate worries me about long term complications and started to put more stress on my mental health especially with those double arrows down with a BG of 60! However I’m now learning on using it as a tool to prevent the hypos and trying not to stress about the numbers every minute of every day! I find myself looking at my cgm constantly which I’m trying to change! It’s amazing how a disease (even one well controlled) can take such a toll on ones mental health! I guess “good enough” will just have to do!!!
well I guess from watching my son I’d have to say when your sugars are in range life goes pretty smoothly. when you get sick forget it. there up down and not very easy to control. The sugars seem to control the mood. I fought with my son teachers since the day he was diagnosed about his moods. I tried to exsplain the moods and they figured it was just a excuse for him to act out in class. High school was not pleasent. He is better now and in college but wasnt managing the sugar and had a serious DKA eppisode 2 wks ago. ICU for 3 days and at age 21 he realized he better pay attention to this now. He can have a down rite bad attitude sometimes but I’ve learned usaully his blood sugar is the reason so I incourage him to check it and fix it because usally thats what Lows do to him. I wish Diabetes could just gooooooooooooooooo away! Diabeteics are saine. Its those that dont understand the desease that aren’t… Enjoy your day. Kimberly
Hi I am new to this forum and this is the first post i have read. I recently started to take perscribed medication for depression, i have had two children in the last five years and at the age of 22 after 12 long rebelious years of this rotten disease i have discovered that i best start to look after my body as well as i can after all, I can't leave my babies with out a Mother. I'm here to hopefully get some help with my diabetes, my last hb1c was 8.4 and since the birth of my daughter a year ago i have strugguled to lose weight safely. I keep telling myself that its better to be healthy, forget what i look like, but i think about it all the time. Im still 2 stone over weight after losing 3 stone this year... insulin makes us fat though right? the closer i keep to range the more hypos and carb fixes i need. I can'y believe the start of this year I was even exercising at my local gym with ketones. All in the name of Vanity. I need help big time to get back on track. So hard to exercise without going low, and if i don't take insulin, there are ketone dangers... grrr so annoying and confusing. I wish they would find a cure. I'v got this far in life i sure as hell don't want to die. So with that, the conclusion is, to control it or it will control mine and my families future.
feel free to message me any do gooders out there.. lol i don't know any other type 1s, (a few type 2s that think they got it tough but thats about it!!)
lots of love Jess Essex, UK.
Hello Jess,
Exercising and insulin is a juggling act. One way to master it is to test before a certain type of exercise and then after to see what it does. The next time reduce the insulin a bit and do the same exercise. After you do this with each of your workouts you will be able to change your insulin depending on the workout you are doing that day. For instance, a workout of running might cause you to go low the first time. So the second time reduce the insulin a few for the meal just before that exercise. If you are using a pump you would suspend the basal for up to 2 hrs. All of this however should be discussed with a doctor before you start you new workout schedule.
It is hard to do well with all the complications that there are. Its as if its harder to do better. But like you said children are worth it.
I have seen a lot of people call diabetes rotten as well. The painful thing is that its permanent. I don't love the disease, but now I don't hate it anymore. I am becoming more interesting in what makes diabetics depressed. The disease or there life with the disease?
Feel free to write back.
Diabetes is def mental for me. I have always lived with depression, popping up here and there throughout my entire life. When I got diagnosed with diabetes I didnt understand much about how your moods really effect your BG. I read about how depression and stress could effect diabetes but when I brought it up to doctors/ CDE they would tell me no, it was what I was eating. So for awhile I believed them I mean I was new to diabetes and they were professional. It was until I started studying my numbers (I am a analyzer by nature), when they were higher, what I was doing and what condition my spirit was in when I noticed a connection. So when I get depressed or feel anxiety creeping up I first question myself: where is this coming from? Then I do something productive like exercise or clean. I also love to watch funny movies. Sometimes its harder to come out of it than others but in all I noticed a big difference in my overall numbers when I try to control my depression/ anxiety.
It's a vicious cycle, isn't it? When I'm feeling depressed, my diabetes control goes to pot. And I don't suppose those high numbers help my mood any, either. But I did make the contract with myself that when I'm feeling lousy, and really want to binge, I have permission, but I have to take insulin to cover it, and not get obsessed about how much insulin I'm taking. Yeah, it'll be a lot more than I take when I'm eating appropriately, but it's my way of accepting my feelings without making myself sick or killing myself.
One thing I keep telling myself and my daughter in law April is that when my son john is acting out of norm either very hyper or a complete butt to incourage him to check his sugar. I've had a hard time dealing with his attitude at times but it has always turned out that his blood sugar is affecting his mood.. Lows he can turn into a very bad mood suddenly than as soon as you fix it he's like a great person again. Its like turning off and on a lightbulb. very hard to get him to see the signs when a low is heading his way. Most people would see the attitude and not understand that its the diabetes and would get mad and walk away. Dont want him to be alone during lows but I know its part of being on insulin. I'm looking for a support group in the area of Lynchburg VA if anyone has a idea to send his way please let me know. He also has signs of neuropathyin his legs and feet now after his DKA two months ago. Hoping his body will heal its self now that we know he is type one and insulin dependent. thanks kindly Kimberly
It's good to read others' experiences here.
I've struggled with depression all my life and, for the most part, I've learned to manage it well, accepting that it's something I live with. I've only known that I'm diabetic for the last month or so, and I'm still not fully--formally--diagnosed. I believe that I'm a LADA. I see the endo in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I've become quite obsessed with monitoring my BG and carb intake. I've done very well, I think. On Oct. 18, my A1c was 13.1. For the last five days, I've only had one reading of 7.6. All the others--taken 8-10 times during the day--have been in the 5's and 6's with a few at 4.9 and 4.7. It's a huge improvement and I credit being on an ultra-low carb diet for the results. But I see myself becoming unhealthily preoccupied with the readings, finding that I tend to do a lot of self-analysis about whether I really want to eat, or whether I should eat, or whether I deserve to eat. I'm terrified by the prospect of complications in the future, and so if my BG rises over 6.8 I feel dreadful. I can't find a pattern in the spikes except that they happen about 2 hours after meals. They don't seem to relate to how much carb I've eaten or to anything else I can identify yet.
I wasn't enormously overweight, meaning that my BMI didn't reach the "obese" level, but I was overweight even so. I was on a low-carb diet before I was diagnosed and I've lost over 20 pounds in the last 6 weeks. That feels great. I'm not hungry, but for the first time in my life I'm afraid of eating anything.
I keep telling myself that having diabetes means that I can control so much in my life that I wouldn't have considered before I was diagnosed. I'm determined to live well for another 30 years. I hope my low mood and general anxiety will improve soon.
i believe the longest journeys are mental and diabetes is a journey we are stuck on. I compared my diabetes to a long distance bike ride. Once I get to mile 10 if my mind is not in the right place I wont make it back home. So my diabetes was at its worse when my mind was just not there. For me I was given way too many meds to control blood pressure , cholesterol , and diabetes at the same time. All the medicines I was given have depression as a side effect plus I have a history of chronic depression in my family. So I fell into a dark hole for a while and I think the biggest fight was in my mind. I stumbled through life and work for about a year and finally made it out after stopping most of the meds or turning down the dosages. So these days I try to prepare in my mind in life. So I am with you about diabetes being mental.
I was *always* a "looper" running as I wanted to be close to home, in case I had to bail out although I can't think of too many times I actually did that.
Last summer, I ran with a group and started running "out and backs", where we'd run 4-5-6-7-8 etc. miles down the trail, hit the "spot" and turn around and run back. I was amazed to find that it was sort of mentally easier to run over the same terrain and know *exactly* how far it was to go?
Angelic 1,
I think the hardest part is being the person watching. I haven't really ever asked those around me until recently how I am when I am not being responsible with my diabetes. For a while I didn't want to ask. I didn't want to see there frustration with me or disappointment. What I didn't realize is that it was more of concern and caring for me. Mismanaging diabetes is simple, fixing it is simple. Fixing everything else it affects is the real challenge. A diabetic sticks with a plan, then there isn't much to fix.
Afraid of eating, its a curse and a blessing....
I have always LOVED to eat. Its something I enjoy. Watching what I eat, has been a small sense of torture. The blessing in it though, knowing that if I eat the correct things, I can eat a healthy portion of them.
Mood and anxiety are challenging as well. Blood sugars can always affect a mood and anxiety of sugars can seem suffocating. One perspective is, would you rather be anxious about food, or not care and make it harder to control your sugars and affect your mood....?
I was diagnosed with type 1 in january 1996. At the time I was badly bullied in school so getting diabetes just made my depression worse. My mother was in charge of my illness then and could keep it/me under control then. I was 11 at that time. When I was 12 I got so depressed with everything that I took an overdose of my nighttime insulin and I almost died. I had to go through a lot in my teens which kept the depression there pretty much all the time. And it was showing in my HbA1c. Still does I´m afraid. So I absolutely agree on the mental effect on the illness and vice versa. Diabetes made me very moody when the sugars got high or low. It becomes like an evil circle really. You don´t have the energy to look after the diabetes when you are depressed and your sugars get high which make your moods swing which leads to a more unstable life which again leads to more depression. It takes great motivation to break that cycle.
Okey...i am also a type 1 diabetic and i usually experience a mental disturbance when i have a hypoglecemia attack...
maybe u should manage ur bloodsugar very well...if u manage then ur mental disturbance well vanish and u will live a wonderful life free from mental disturbance,,,and please avoid some stress okey...God Bless...
Thanks....
Roan
its very mental for me... Thats what I am struggling with right now. I can't focus and manage my diabetes 100% until I can manage and focus on me.
I had not thought too much about the mental side to be honest - though certainly, a disease that has to be on your mind every day can do things to you. Knowing that you will have it for the rest of your life - unless we find a cure of course, would definitely play a large role as well. It certainly affects us in different aspects of life, and is not easy to deal with.