Diabetes Distress

[Eeyore1lucky]

Hello. Has anybody received any help for diabetes distress? I’m really struggling and have been unable to speak to my consultant.

 

[Inka]

Burnout? Yes, I spoke to my DSN about it, and my consultant at the next appointment I had. Do you have a number to call for your DSN?

Can we help at all?

 

[Eeyore1lucky]

I don’t have a DSN as apparently my hospital do not see people from my Borough just really struggling and don’t know what I’m doing wrong! Thank you for replying

 

[Inka]

When you say you’re struggling, do you mean to control your blood sugar or do you mean struggling with the whole mental burden of it? Or both?

If it’s struggling to get control, then we can make some suggestions of things that helped us as individuals. What insulins do you take? We can’t specify doses or anything but we can suggest where problems might be.

 

[Inka]

I’d also think you should have a DSN. Is it your GP who normally does your diabetes care? If so, could you ask for a referral to a consultant? If you got that, you could ask what hospital the consultant was at, then ring that hospital, ask for the Diabetes Dept, and ask to speak to a DSN there while you’re waiting to speak to the consultant.

 

[Eeyore1lucky]

I’d also think you should have a DSN. Is it your GP who normally does your diabetes care? If so, could you ask for a referral to a consultant? If you got that, you could ask what hospital the consultant was at, then ring that hospital, ask for the Diabetes Dept, and ask to speak to a DSN there while you’re waiting to speak to the consultant.

I’m struggling with both! I did exactly that at my hospital but was told that they don’t see patients in my Borough, only the two neighbouring Boroughs ‍♀️

 

[Inka]

I’m struggling with both! I did exactly that at my hospital but was told that they don’t see patients in my Borough, only the two neighbouring Boroughs ‍♀️

That’s madness! Is there another hospital you could be seen at? Perhaps your GP surgery would know? Or, if you’re happy to give an idea of where you are, there might be someone here who’s in the same area who could say where they go.

With burnout, I found that non-diabetic stresses were wearing me out mentally, and then to have the work of trying to control the diabetes on top of that was too much. What I did is relaxed my control a little (it was quite tight) and that took some mental pressure off. I also ate/eat similar breakfasts and lunches to remove some work/carb counting.

 

[Eeyore1lucky]

I eat the same too but some days my levels just don’t seem to shift! I’m in Havering so would be great if anyone knows the services here

 

[Inka]

It might be worth you starting another thread with Havering in the title eg “Any Type 1s near Havering?” or even just In London, then it will catch more eyes. If you’re in London, I’d think you’d have a very good choice.

If you tell us your insulin regime - name of insulins, when you take your basal - and whether you carb count, then you’ll get suggestions of how to improve your blood sugar. The usual thing is to do a basal test to check that’s ok, then move on to the individual meal ratios.

 

[Eeyore1lucky]

Ok thank you! I have Tresiba morning and night then novorapid for fast acting with food. I do carb counting but spend 30% odd in target most days

 

[Inka]

I’ve never used Tresiba but I think it’s unusual to have it twice a day? When you say you’re only 30% in target, are you going high mainly, going low mainly or both? Is there any pattern you can see eg are you always high after breakfast, or waking high?

Have you done a basal test to check your basal is holding you roughly steady in the absence of food? You don’t have to starve yourself all day - just do a segment of the day at a time.

 

[Piglet]

HI Eeyore,

Distress is horrible. mine comes and goes, I've just learnt to recognise when it is happening. Just remember you are not doing anything wrong. Be kind to yourself and accept that sometimes for no apparent reason diabetes can throw you a curve ball. Only those who live with diabetes understand it so don't be afraid to grab the bull by the horns and tweek with your insulin doses slightly. if it runs higher than it should increase it and if it runs low you can deal with this too.

Your control might be down to no quite enough tresiba or the timing might need to change. I had the same issue a while back. if you feel confident and comfortable in dealing with hypo's you could try to increase your dose of tresiba by a couple of units and let the new dose run for a week keeping a close record of your test results and see what happens the worst that might happen is a few low blood sugars. or you could consider asking to change the timing of your tresiba to bed time.

It might be worth looking up a local support group for more support and encouragement as they might be contactable by phone.

You can do this.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear you are having such a tough time, and Covid lrobably isn’t helping you access appointments

Weird response from your clinic - I thought one of the things with the NHS was that you could choose (or ask) to be seen wherever you wanted. Maybe they have a capacity issue?

Perhaps try calling the Diabetes UK helpline 9-6 Monday - Friday 0345 123 2399. They will be able to give practical pointers,