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Dafne

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
KAREN1

KAREN1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
hi this may sound strange to a lot of people but i am going on the dafne course on monday and i am dreading it! i feel sick at the thought of going and talking about my diabetes to strange people and the thought of just eating with the group just fills me with fear. stress levels are up bg r up cant imagine sitting there for a week talking about it has anyone else felt like this i hate being diabetic it sucks! :( thank you x
 
Karen, please don't stress about it! I am sure everyone will be lovely and after the first couple of minutes you will feel much more relaxed. Try not to think of it as a class where you have to perform - you are there to be helped, both by the tutor and the fellow attendees. I think that you are feeling like this because you aren't sure what to expect. It's similar in a way to when people come on the forum meets - it can be very scary. But on all the meetings I have been to EVERYONE has turned out to be lovely and friendly and welcoming. I haven't done DAFNE personally, but I have read many, many tales here of how much people enjoyed it, so try not to worry - they will be used to people feeling out of their comfort zone.
 
Hi Karen - try not too worry (easier said than done). Most if not all of the group will be feeling the same way as you are - worried about who they may meet and what they will have to share.

When I did a carb counting course there was very little you had to say. If you wanted the introduction could just be your name, and what you hope to get out of things. I would imagine that yours will be something similar.

Hope you find it useful.
 
Hi Karen.
(((((((((hugs)))))))))) I'm sure you will be fine though. Just remember everyone else will be feeling exactly the same as you. Also do remember the staff are there to help, not judge you. Think of all the good things which will come out of this coming week.
The tools/knowledge to help you control your diabetes.
New friends as well 🙂
 
I am confident you will feel at ease pretty quickly.............they are all in the same boat and wanting to take control of their diabetes.....

is it just a general fear of eating in front of people, can you eat out normally.......?

you will be so focused on counting what's on your plate and testing each other, you will have a great time........

good luck, enjoy, and expect some hypos.............:D
 
You will be fine, I finished the course friday and like novarapidboi said we are all in the same boat.

It was a good fun way of learning.
 
Aww Karen don't worry..

Like you I was also very anxious filled with dread etc. but this is taken into consideration within DAFNE course, as most diabetics have the similar fears..

It's taught in a very informal way, and you will be told that any personal information shared by the group is condifential to the group, and you aren't permitted to speak about others outside of the group..

The diabetics in the room will outweigh the non-diabetics, so everything from eating etc as a very different perspective to it.. Injecting when you eat is sooo natural thing to do as you aren't the odd one out, and if you feel more comfortable heading off to another room/quiet area to inject nobody bats an eye lid..

Our group constantly took the micky out of the trainers concerning that they were the odd ones out all week🙄

So try not to worry, don't forget what you are feeling is probably the same as the other 7 diabetics that will be attending with you are feeling
 
Karen you will be fine once you get into it you will wonder what all the worry was over, good luck and enjoy the course xx
 
sorry i havent replied till now been very tearful about it all, just want it to go away i know everyone here dislikes been diabetic and i am sorry to sound pitiful. my meals are very basic dont like rice pasta love my toast and basic foods and dont want to be judged. i cant imagine testing and injecting and eating with people i dont know feel so sick about going. everyone on this site is so welcoming and positive i feel like a weak link in the forum. I just want to say a massive thank you to you all and hope i havent offended anyone with sounding so negative than you once again you are all so great x
 
KAREN1 said:
sorry i havent replied till now been very tearful about it all, just want it to go away i know everyone here dislikes been diabetic and i am sorry to sound pitiful. my meals are very basic dont like rice pasta love my toast and basic foods and dont want to be judged. i cant imagine testing and injecting and eating with people i dont know feel so sick about going. everyone on this site is so welcoming and positive i feel like a weak link in the forum. I just want to say a massive thank you to you all and hope i havent offended anyone with sounding so negative than you once again you are all so great x
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Karen, no way have you offended anyone! Deep breaths and do what YOU want to do - no-one will worry! 🙂
 
Karen

You'll not letting the side down, we all react differently to our condition some cope better than others...

You'll be fine more so once you've got tomorrow out of the way, there seems to be a commardship built up amongst everyone very very quickly...

Yes the dietitians will base all the carb counting side of things around an healthy diet but saying that they won't judge you on your likes and dislikes or if you have an small pallet of foods choices...

This will be interesting when the subject of alcohol is brought up whether your dietitians seem to get a cough!
 
Hi Karen,

I can understand how you feel - I too am attending a DAFNE course (well, my own diabetes centre version of it - BERTIE) next month. And whilst I am looking forward to being more educated so I can stop feeling so useless when it comes to food choices, I am also dreading the food diaries. I too don't like a lot of foods so I can totally relate to you on that front.

I also suffer from ED-DMT1 so I am really going to be pushing all the boundaries and really stepping out of my comfort zone. A whole 4 days spent with people seeing what I eat and talking about food constantly is going to be very, very difficult for me. But I also have a choice. I am choosing to push myself as I feel this is what I need and what's best for me at the moment.

If you don't feel comfortable, and it's making you very unhappy, don't go - it is not worth stressing yourself out over and it can always be rescheduled for another time if needed. But also, think about like some of the others have said that you may get there and feel totally fine with it all and wonder what you were worrying about to start with. Whilst it's important that you go, I don't want to see you make yourself a state with worry :(

I'm here if you need to talk things out.
Big hugs. (-----)
 
that's the beauty of DAFNE, you can eat as much or as little of whatever food you like.............there might be folk there who eat lots of grub and so will be on much higher doses..............

the variety is good and makes for better learning.........


cant wait to hear how your first day was.............
 
Good luck with Dafne today Karen. Hope it goes really well and you actually enjoy it!
 
dafne update

went to dafne this morning still a bit tearful, had a little wobble and just took 10 mins time out to pull myself together, everyone was right nearly all were a bit dubious. I even managed to eat infront of the group and inject in public an achievement for me! will be going back tomorrow and hopefully will get better as the week goes on. Just like to say thank you to you allx
 
KAREN1 said:
went to dafne this morning still a bit tearful, had a little wobble and just took 10 mins time out to pull myself together, everyone was right nearly all were a bit dubious. I even managed to eat infront of the group and inject in public an achievement for me! will be going back tomorrow and hopefully will get better as the week goes on. Just like to say thank you to you allx
Click to expand...

Ah! So pleased it wasn't as bad as you feared - and well done on eating and injecting with the group! I know that can be very daunting if you are not used to it. Hope you can relax now and enjoy the rest of the week 🙂
 
KAREN1 said:
went to dafne this morning still a bit tearful, had a little wobble and just took 10 mins time out to pull myself together, everyone was right nearly all were a bit dubious. I even managed to eat infront of the group and inject in public an achievement for me! will be going back tomorrow and hopefully will get better as the week goes on. Just like to say thank you to you allx
Click to expand...

Well that fantastic news. Hope you can now relax and enjoy the rest of the week.:D
 
Well done you...

Facing one's fears isn't easy at all so a very big achievement indeed and hopefully tomorrow you will feel a lot more at ease with everything...
 
Hi Karen.
well done. I'm so glad things went ok for you 🙂 Today will be even easier for you.
PS your are not the only one who only eats plain and simple foods. Pasta I hate with a vengence as well. Oh and salads and................ the list goes on.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
Hi Karen.
well done. I'm so glad things went ok for you 🙂 Today will be even easier for you.
PS your are not the only one who only eats plain and simple foods. Pasta I hate with a vengence as well. Oh and salads and................ the list goes on.
Click to expand...

yay - sounds like I'm not the only very fussy eater....so nice to hear it's not just me 🙂

glad everything went well for you Karen! hope today's even better too :D
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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