Anxiety from diagnosis advice

[Tally]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if other people had issues with anxiety when they were first diagnosed? And how did you get through it?

The reason I ask is that since I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago I've been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. I was signed off from work by the hospital for 2 weeks and told if I didn't feel ready to return to work to contact my GP. They have also put me on the list for counselling but I have no idea when that will be.

So as it stands I have yet to feel comfortable going out alone and, when I do have to go out my anxiety levels sky rocket and half the time I just give up and stay at home.

I contacted my GP yesterday and explained the situation, and they've given me an extension for a week, I never saw or spoke to the doctor it was all done through the receptionist. I know that I will not be ready by next week and that's now causing me anxiety worrying about what I'll do. It just felt like the receptionist thought I was being ridiculous and as a result I got the bare minimum they could give me for an extension.

I don't know if it's worth contacting my GP again and trying to get an appointment with an actual doctor and seeing if there is additional help that I could get or do I just hope that I can control my anxiety enough to attempt to return to work?

Sorry for the lengthy post but any suggestions/advice is appreciated

 

[Kaylz]

Get in touch with your diabetes team and explain to them what is going on they will be able to advise the best course of action to take good luck hun xx

 

[Tally]

Get in touch with your diabetes team and explain to them what is going on they will be able to advise the best course of action to take good luck hun xx

Thanks I've called my DN and she's going to call me later. I also went to the doctors to pick up my sick line and they'd done 2, one for a week and one for 2 weeks so I know I have that little bit longer now to get myself together and in a place that I can cope so that's helped me this morning x

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

Yes, I did, I was signed off for 5 weeks and didn't go out alone for a few months. It takes a while to get used to it.

 

[New-journey]

Thanks I've called my DN and she's going to call me later. I also went to the doctors to pick up my sick line and they'd done 2, one for a week and one for 2 weeks so I know I have that little bit longer now to get myself together and in a place that I can cope so that's helped me this morning x

I am so glad to hear this, two weeks feels much longer and you may feel differently then or you may have got extra support so you can have longer from work.
I am sure many feel like you and I know I did. It probbaly doesn't help right now but in time you will feel safe again and get your confidence back.

 

[Copepod]

My experience was a bit different when diagnosed - I was aged 30 years,working in New Zealand, with no family around nor friends I'd known longer than 4 months in the town where I was living. I did know a few other people I'd met in UK and Costa Rica, who lived in other NZ towns and cities. However, I didn't need to start insulin until a few months later when I was back in UK, staying with parents, in town where I'd grown up, but no friends within 100 miles, as all had moved away. I knew that life would change after those last few months before insulin, so preferred not to tell anyone.
Eventually, I took myself to GP, who refered me to hospital clinic. My parents were more concerned with a semi house trained teenager, son of my dad's sister who had died a few years previously, so I didn't ask them for any support, so I went to appointments alone. Gradually I learned that my minibus driving licence, possibility of professionally SCUBA dive, usemyBSc Marine Biology etc were going to be impossible / very difficult, and being offered counselling wasn't going to help. Within a few months I had secured a place on, and funding for, an MSc, which did increase my employment opportunities. Frustratingly, cousin was a fussy eater, who refused to eat spicy foods, pasta with cheese etc. A very kind family friend, a GP who grew up in Pakistan brought me some delicious curries, which was a beacon of light at that time!
I suggest that you try going out alone, with the check list of insulin, meter and hypo treatment sweets or whatever you want to use, and go out for a coffee or cinema or something, to prove to yourself that you can do it. Set yourself small targets and gradually increase.
For me, a big boost came when I me a friend for a couple of days walking in Yorkshire Dales, which proved I could still go fell walking. Working in a travel agency wasn't challenging enough for me, but MSc helped improve that situation. In summer between course interview and starting, I led a 1 month youth expedition to Costa Rica, which was reassuring - I wouldn't have done that in a country I didn't know well, having worked on a 4.5 month youth project a few years previously.

 

[Matt Cycle]

I can be quite an anxious person (beneath a calm exterior) but when I was diagnosed I came out of hospital on the Saturday afternoon and on Monday morning I walked to school after DKA and diagnosis the previous Wednesday - I had little idea what it all meant at the time, there was no blood glucose meter (I had BM strips) and I was on 2 injections a day. I didn't even miss any school as I was diagnosed during the Easter holidays. I was doing A Levels at the time with exams 3 months away and whilst T1 was a massive thing to deal with at the time (and still is to some extent) the A Levels were my main focus. I therefore didn't have time to sit and dwell on it and just had to get on with it.

As well as A Levels I was out and about doing things - riding my bike, football etc and quickly realised I could still do all these things without collapsing. I guess in my case as my mind was not solely occupied with diabetes i.e. schoolwork, sports etc then I had less chance at that time to feel anxious about my diabetes.