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Do you ever get used to this?

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Sheepish1947

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I am a 73 year old female who got my Type 2 diagnosis two and a half years ago, although I had been diabetic for at least four years before that without knowing it. I am severely needle phobic, though therapy has enabled me to attend blood tests without actually having a panic attack. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse. Do you ever get used to being diabetic?
 
Welcome @Sheepish1947 🙂

I have Type 1 not Type 2 but I think personally it’s not so much getting used to it as learning to live alongside it. It’s like an unwelcome guest. Yes, you’d rather they weren’t there, but you can do things to make their presence more tolerable.

You say:

. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse.

Would you feel comfortable explaining a little more about your fear of eating? Others here have had issues with food and it’s not uncommon. It is hard to have ‘rules’ about what most people do naturally (ie eat).
 
Anitram said:
Hi. The short answer is yes. Once you've come to terms with it and made the necessary changes to your lifestyle, predominantly your diet, it just becomes a way of life. I'm 19 months in and having lost some weight, changed my diet and started exercising more I feel fitter and healthier (and if not younger then at least less old) than I've done in years. I can't imagine going back to how I was before, with my carb-heavy diet and a tendency to jump in the car to nip down to our local Morrisons, less than a mile down the road. My diagnosis has been a life-changing event for me, but in many ways a positive one.

Martin
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Thank you. I can’t imagine ever coming to terms with it. It’s my enemy that’s stolen my life away. I’m glad you’ve done so well.
 
Inka said:
Welcome @Sheepish1947 🙂

I have Type 1 not Type 2 but I think personally it’s not so much getting used to it as learning to live alongside it. It’s like an unwelcome guest. Yes, you’d rather they weren’t there, but you can do things to make their presence more tolerable.

You say:

. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse.

Would you feel comfortable explaining a little more about your fear of eating? Others here have had issues with food and it’s not uncommon. It is hard to have ‘rules’ about what most people do naturally (ie eat).
Click to expand...
I’m absolutely petrified by the thought that I might have to have insulin one day. I can’t even take a splinter out and need EMLA cream to have a blood test. I keep looking at food and wondering what it’s doing to me.
 
May I ask how you manage your diabetes? Do you track what you eat and log it against how you feel perhaps?

i ask because I know that when I eat the things which work best with my T2 diagnosis (diagnosed this year) I know I feel much better than I do if I eat other things so I’m learning which foods do what to my body.
 
Sheepish1947 said:
I’m absolutely petrified by the thought that I might have to have insulin one day. I can’t even take a splinter out and need EMLA cream to have a blood test. I keep looking at food and wondering what it’s doing to me.
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So do you not test your blood sugar at home? I have a needle phobia too and yes, that made it hard, but I deal with it ok now (apart from blood tests that still freak me out a bit). The needles used for insulin are very tiny and very fine - nothing like you’d see in a GP’s surgery.

But you might well never need insulin, so don’t let the fear of that distract you. You say you see diabetes as an enemy - so do I and I hate it. But I channel that hate into beating my enemy. For me, every time I get a blood sugar test that’s in range, that’s a Win against the diabetes.

What kind of things do you eat at the moment? Do you count the amount of carb stuff you have in a meal/per day?
 
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Sheepish1947 said:
I’m absolutely petrified by the thought that I might have to have insulin one day. I can’t even take a splinter out and need EMLA cream to have a blood test. I keep looking at food and wondering what it’s doing to me.
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It might help you to watch a Youtube video showing what someone has to go through to inject insulin. It's not as bad as you think because the needles are microfine. You barely feel it going in.

The upside of using insulin is that you can go back to eating the things you like again as long as you watch your portion sizes and get a bit of exercise in there to put the insulin to some use. For example, last night I had a massive bowl of sticky toffee pudding, apple crumble and custard. 14 units of insulin 30 minutes before I ate it and a 3 mile walk an hour after eating and my blood sugars stayed below 6.0 for the whole night until breakfast.
 
I have come
Sheepish1947 said:
I am a 73 year old female who got my Type 2 diagnosis two and a half years ago, although I had been diabetic for at least four years before that without knowing it. I am severely needle phobic, though therapy has enabled me to attend blood tests without actually having a panic attack. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse. Do you ever get used to being diabetic?
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I have been Type 2 nearly 20 years and I am not on Insulin!
 
Sheepish1947 said:
I am a 73 year old female who got my Type 2 diagnosis two and a half years ago, although I had been diabetic for at least four years before that without knowing it. I am severely needle phobic, though therapy has enabled me to attend blood tests without actually having a panic attack. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse. Do you ever get used to being diabetic?
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Sheepish194 I don’t have any answers but some similarities. I’m 70 diagnosed 18 months ago so I’ve been on a diabetic roller coaster since (until I joined this forum) I had probably been type 1 for at least 12 years and equally likely all my life. I thought I was a wimp - so many stories I could detail. Since retiring I had my life sorted, voluntary work, U3A groups, different friends for lunch etc. Obviously lockdown had a huge effect but before that I had lost my routines, my habits in fact my identity so I know how hard it is. I was also terrified of needles. If I looked in a mirror I thought ‘I’m diabetic’ (rather than my hair needs a trim) It sounds glib but it’s your diabetes so take ownership, look in the mirror and say ‘I’m ME!’ and amongst many other things I have diabetes. The isolation I felt was so hard but that stopped by joining this forum. My lack of knowledge was not helped by the NHS but that has also benefited by using the DUK learning zone and reading the comments. I’m a long way off some of the members but I’m moving on and it’s much easier. Are you joining the Zoom call on the 8th November? It’s so relaxed and friendly I hope you join and perhaps we can chat
 
Hi @Sheepish1947 , sorry to hear of the difficulties that you have with managing your Diabetes.

As others have said the short answer is yes you do get used to it. That doesn’t mean it easy to do. I know that for me it took some time, but I would say I now live WITH it, and it is very much just a normal part of my life, just a different normal.

T2 does not need to progress to using insulin. As you will have read many on here have taken hold of it and made the changes they needed to, reducing their carb intake to match what their body can manage. Do you know how many carbs you are eating at each meal? Simply knowing that information can then help you to make changes to reduce the amount of carbs. This could be swapping to foods that are lower in carbs, or reducing the portion size.

Testing your BG at home can also help you to see how you react to specific foods. We all react in different ways. For example some people can manage to eat a small portion of porridge without their glucose levels spiking. Once I started to see my levels two hours after a meal I realised that I am definitely one of those.

Managing your Diabetes will require changes and this is in your hands. Testing and counting carbs can help you to have information that will help you to make appropriate decisions. This won’t go away so it is essential to ‘get used to it’ and, as I found, there is plenty of help available from others on here. Just ask any questions that you have, come and have a rant, whatever will help you.
 
Do you ever get used to it? No
So you ever learn to live we it? Yes.
5 years since diagnosis and still getting used to it.
 
Sheepish1947 said:
I am a 73 year old female who got my Type 2 diagnosis two and a half years ago, although I had been diabetic for at least four years before that without knowing it. I am severely needle phobic, though therapy has enabled me to attend blood tests without actually having a panic attack. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse. Do you ever get used to being diabetic?
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Yes and there's been days when one gets so used to it and becomes so routine, so subconscious that I've forgotten to take my basal.
 
I was diagnosed almost 4 years ago, and have been classed as in remission for some time now.
I just ate a large bowl of beef stew - done the easy way, a pack of chopped meat, some ready prepared frozen veges and a bit of onion and a tomato from the fridge. I don't need any medication.
If I wanted to eat dessert - I couldn't - I could have had sugar free jelly, frozen berries, some real custard or some cream or yoghurt.
I don't need to check my blood glucose as I know that (even with dessert) I would still be in single figures.
 
SB2015 said:
Hi @Sheepish1947 , sorry to hear of the difficulties that you have with managing your Diabetes.

As others have said the short answer is yes you do get used to it. That doesn’t mean it easy to do. I know that for me it took some time, but I would say I now live WITH it, and it is very much just a normal part of my life, just a different normal.

T2 does not need to progress to using insulin. As you will have read many on here have taken hold of it and made the changes they needed to, reducing their carb intake to match what their body can manage. Do you know how many carbs you are eating at each meal? Simply knowing that information can then help you to make changes to reduce the amount of carbs. This could be swapping to foods that are lower in carbs, or reducing the portion size.

Testing your BG at home can also help you to see how you react to specific foods. We all react in different ways. For example some people can manage to eat a small portion of porridge without their glucose levels spiking. Once I started to see my levels two hours after a meal I realised that I am definitely one of those.

Managing your Diabetes will require changes and this is in your hands. Testing and counting carbs can help you to have information that will help you to make appropriate decisions. This won’t go away so it is essential to ‘get used to it’ and, as I found, there is plenty of help available from others on here. Just ask any questions that you have, come and have a rant, whatever will help you.
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Thank you. I’ve started to track my carbs and seem to have about 30g per meal or a total of about 100g per day. I don’t know what affects me as the diabetes nurse won’t let me test my blood glucose levels as she says I’d just be even more obsessive than I already am! I’ve given up cereals and potatoes but have a wholemeal sandwich a couple of times a week and occasionally the small portion of rice or pasta recommended on this site which I precook, freeze and reheat. My husband sits and rolls his eyes at the portion sizes then eats a Wall’s Magnum!
 
Sheepish1947 said:
I am a 73 year old female who got my Type 2 diagnosis two and a half years ago, although I had been diabetic for at least four years before that without knowing it. I am severely needle phobic, though therapy has enabled me to attend blood tests without actually having a panic attack. I always had a sweet tooth and desperately miss all the foods I love. I have been having therapy for what is now a fear of eating but life seems to get worse. Do you ever get used to being diabetic?
Click to expand...
Personally for me, I think you learn to live with it, rather than get used to it. When I was diagnosed 3 years ago it was the end of my world, it meant a completely different way of life. Don't get me wrong in hindsight my lifestyle wasn't the healthiest so in a way the diagnosis forced me to make changes I should have made on my own, which may have prevented the situation I find myself in.

Every now and again I do feel like giving up, especially recently because my BG levels have taken a turn for the worst, and the repeated trips to doctors for bloods, testing before multiple times a day and now injections are making me feel like a pin cushion.

It does get me down from time to time, knowing that I can't freely enjoy eating and drinking what I like, when I like, especially when out with family/friends/colleagues but I try to look on the bright side. I know now that even in spite of everything I know that, perversely, the changes I've made are better for my body and this helps carry me through.

It's about baby steps. Try not to make wholesale changes at once as you're likely to lapse back into old habits. Make small changes at a time and when they become habit then slowly make further changes until you're where you need to be, and remember it's ok to have bad days. We all experience this, but keep looking to the positives and you'll get there 🙂
 
Hi there @Sheepish1947. 🙂 My answer is: Yes, I’ve got used to being diabetic. Tbh, it took me a while to get used to it, but now it’s just something I accept and get on with. It hasn’t been easy. There are lots of challenges, but they aren’t insurmountable (that is a word, isn’t it?😛). Things got easier for me once I’d found this forum, and realized I wasn’t alone!

As far as testing is concerned, there are plenty of “obsessive” (😉) Type 2ers here that check their glucose and use the information to learn what they can and can’t eat, etc. Invaluable info!🙂
 
Sheepish1947 said:
My husband sits and rolls his eyes at the portion sizes then eats a Wall’s Magnum
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We too end up with a mini magnum sometimes where the carbs are well below our target.

Many on here choose to test in spite of the advice from the DSN. They are rarely funded by the Practice but find that it helps them to manage their D effectively so choose to self fund the test strips.

It still irritates me when I hear nurses telling people testing will make them obsessive!!!! I think they are from the times when many were told to just continue and take the meds. Nowadays so many want to take control of their food intake and adjust it exactly as you have already done. It is your Diabetes so do what helps you.
 
Yes - well - what little madams they are and quite honestly someone ought to tell them just how far their authority doesn't go.
Personally I much prefer to have fresh salads or roasted veges than high carb foods such as fico bread potatoes etc. I tested to see how they affected me, and they did very little, so now I don't need to test as I know I am OK with them. Far better than not knowing and maybe concerned about how you respond to foods.
If you want to test, I suggest getting a meter. Just say nothing to them about it and look all innocent when they are baffled by you getting control.
 
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