Im a Student Occupational therapist and I would very much love to hear peoples personal experiences about how Diabetis affects you from a physical, social and emotional perspective. I look forward to hearing about your experiences, regards, Mandy
This is my personal narrative to get the ball rolling, although very limited as I am borderline diabetic which was recently diagnosed.
Social: Biggest difficulty for me now is finding the correct foods to buy/cook/eat. At first I was envious that my friends could eat what ever they wanted while I had to look at everything, I had to keep reminding myself (thats poison to you) which helped lol. I find Im constantly searching and looking for information on the right foods. I felt like I was missing out on ‘treats’ and hated having to say No Thank you to most things. br />
Emotional: My husband left me just after new year, just before I found out I was borderline diabetic so my emotions were running pretty high. I remember thinking ‘why me, why am I being punished?’ ‘what did I do wrong to deserve this’. I have now accepted my lifestyle change and I try hard not to worry about the future and concentrate on the positives of a healthy diet and exercise. I believe this experience will help me to grow strong. I do still feel alienated sometimes though, that people dont realise the seriousness or have much of an understanding of this condition.
Physical: Sugar highs: Can feel lethargic, exhausted, lack of energy, muscle fatigue, Thirsty, Cranky, irritable.
Anyone who would like to share their personal thoughts and experiences please feel free to comment, regards, Mandy 
Hello Many, and welcome to this wonderful site.
Beings as you are newly diagnosed, and I hope you dont’ mind me saying so, but I feel I must! I just want you to know that there is no such thing as “borderline” diabetic. I cannot speak for others here but I find that word offensive and degrading, almost as much as people saying you can “reverse” diabetes.
There are many forms of diabetes, and through those different forms, each person diagnosed with diabetes has a disease unique only to them.
I urge you to read and learn as much as you can about your disease, experiment on what works for you and what doesnt. Become an expert on YOUR diabetes, because you are the only one that will be. Not your Dr, or any other healthcare professional. That being said, I am not saying that yoou should not listen to these professional’s advice, what I am saying is that try what they suggest, see how your body works with those suggestions and if it works, great! and if it doesnt, then find a way to “tweak” it so that it works better for you.
I became an expert on MY diabetes by bying a journal. ( a large one with lots of space to write) anf for an entire month I wrote down everything I put in my mouth, what time, and tested at least 8x a day.
I tested when I first woke up, before and 2hrs after meals and snacks if I had any and before I went to bed. I also tested before and after workouts.
It takes about a month to figure out a pattern and a rythum of how your body dances with your diabetes, it is a lot of work to do for a month but I can assure you… it will be well worth the trouble and the time as then YOU will be an expert on YOUR diabetes!
I hope you are not offended by my comment about the “borderline” comment. I feel that the more you learn, someday that word may annoy you as well.
take care and keep us updated on your “expertness!”
I went through an ugly divorce. Emotions play a huge role in controlling sugars. Its a roller-coaster but there is a “light at the end of the tunnel”. Take care of yourself and don;t worry about the ignorant people who don;t understand D.
Sheila
Thank you sheila for your kind words of encouragenent
Thank you care bear for sharing your views with me. I apologise that I offended you with my choice of word ‘borderline diabetic’ I agree with you and realise that it was and is a very poor word choice. Please excuse my ignorance and thank you for enlightening me. I am a student and still have a lot to learn I believe the word 'prediabetis would have been the correct choice of word to use. Thank you once again, for your excellent advice, I have been keeping an online journal for the last two weeks and I am testing regulary. Take care, Mandy.