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Had enough this week

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

melissaf

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I was diagnosed Type 1 five weeks ago and I thought it was going well - back to work within days of being out of hospital, sorting out prescriptions, taking my readings, reporting into the nurse, texting my mum twice a day to say Im ok - but this week I swear Ive had enough. I missed my insulin on Tuesday cause I opted for a bottle of wine instead (I had booked the following day off work) and promptly fell asleep at 11pm without taking my insulin or eating dinner. My boyfriend came home from a night out (which he is choosing to have a lot of recently - probably cause Im just a misery to be around) to have to wake me and give me my insulin and beans on toast at 1am. My mum was in a panic cause I hadnt texted - eveything just feels like its gone to sh@t. Im 33 years old and I feel like Im behaving like 12 year old. I phoned in sick to work today cause I just dont want to see anyone - Ive got bags the size of suitcases under my eyes and dont want people to see me like this. My boss says Ive to take the time I need over Christmas to relax but before that can I write the final years reports and finish this and finish that - I just want to tell him to stuff it. Please tell me this is normal to feel like this cause I think Im going a bit crazy and not sure how to get past this
 
I'm not really sure how best to help but please take care- alcohol can lower levels ( yes you can still drink witth certain precuations) but skipping insulin completely ( whether intentional or not) is a bad idea as Im sure you've been informed. It will get easier to accept over time although a lot of us get fed up from time to time. Feel free to keep ventilating here but don't neglect vital self care
 
It is normal melissa, and we all have our 'moments' when we don't get things quite right - just try and learn from them and look forward rather than fretting about things in the past. It is still very early days for you and I think in the first few weeks people often run on autopilot and just get on with things, but then something goes a bit wrong and with it comes the realisation of what it all means for you. I felt very 'medicalised' in those first few weeks after spending half a century hardly ever needing to see any kind of health professional (I was 49 when diagnosed) so it did get me down and make me feel a bit broken and mortal.

Your boss sounds like one of my old ones - after being off for several weeks with a badly broken leg I was asked if I could do overtime to help catch up with work that needed doing! 😱 I think that often once you are back at work you are in perfect health again, but that is far from the truth with something like diabetes - you may look perfectly healthy but you are having to deal this something every day that never even crosses most people's minds - what are my levels like? Why are they high? Why are they low? Can I eat that now? How much insulin will I need? And so on. It does become easier with time and experience, but at the moment you are still on a very steep learning curve so congratulate yourself on the great progress you have made! 🙂
 
What your feeling is perfectly normal!! When i was diagnosed last year it took a week in hospital and then a further 3 weeks off work for me to get my head round everything and sort my head out, so the fact that you have gone back to work so soon after diagnosis its no wonder you are feeling so overwhelmed!

Maybe you could have a word with your boss, chances are he has no idea about what diabetes entails and what your going through so explain to him that you need some time to yourself and need the workload to be lessened, say you need to put your health first im sure he will understand.

Everyone feels overwhelmed at first but i promise it does get easier and it just becomes normal life.

**big hugs**

D_G x
 
All normal, Melissa.

To help with a couple of immediate issues, assuming you're on basal bolus insulin regime (long acting once or twice in every 24 hours, plus short acting with each meal) -

It's OK to have long acting insulin earlier than normal bedtime if you want an early night. It's

It's OK to miss an entire meal and insulin dose - with no food (carbohydrate) intake, no insulin is needed.

While it's tough getting diagnosed, and you need to look after your own needs, you also need to maintain relationships - assuming you have decided that it's worth it? In some ways, I grateful I didn't have a partner when I was diagnosed aged 30 years, and didn't meet him until about 3 years later, and that was nearly 13 years ago now!

A whole bottle of wine (if that's what you had) isn't a good idea - but you know that! 🙂
 
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