How does stress impact your diabetes?

[Cherrelle DUK]

As April is stress awareness month, I thought it might be useful to gain an insight on something that is often overlooked, the impact that stress has on your diabetes.

This could be a direct impact such as differences in your BS readings or more a psychological impact such as the ability to cope with things. Might be useful to see how common certain experiences are.

 

[John D M]

Stress blunts my will to / diligence in doing the simple things that are in my gift to stay in control - testing and correcting at the right time after meals.

 

[Toucan]

Stress can indeed be very disruptive to the routines and lifestyle that I use to try and keep my BS levels steady.

My in-built almost automatic re-action to a stressful situation is to go for the 'comfort' food, and stuff my self silly with things that don't usually feature in my daily eating life ( cake, chocolates, white bread. etc etc ). Of course it doesn't really help, just adds guilt-factor to the situation.

My solution is to try and be aware and limit the damage, but I have found it to be one of the hardest habits to break.
May be it stems back to childhood, when I was often given a 'sweetie' as a comforter.

I am getting better at keeping it to a short term binge, then trying to focus on better ways of dealing with the stress. I also try as much as possible not to have the 'danger' foods easily to hand.

 

[nonethewiser]

Sends bg up so try not to get stressed by things. Besides some things in life ain't worth worrying about, you discover this as you get older or have life changing event.

 

[helli]

Short term stress such as sitting in a tough meeting at work will push my blood sugars up. I am lucky to have a pump so can increase my basal insulin for the duration of the meeting.
Longer term stress means I get lethargic so don't feel like exercising and, unlike many, I go off food. My usual approach is to push myself to exercise and direct my frustration energy into something constructive. Exercise makes me feel better ... and hungry.

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

It's interesting to see that for some the impact is on their mood and therefore managing things.

Does anyone see an impact on their numbers directly?

 

[ajax]

My HbA1c was 'flatlining' year-on-year in the safe ✻green✻ zone ..I became a victim of a crime ..and my next HbA1c peaked at 108 mmol/mol ..only yesterday I learned my HbA1c is 68 mmol/mol ..thanks to the addition of Dapagliflozin and Gliclazide ..the cruel twist in ✻my story✻ is that high blood sugar levels exacerbated diabetic foot complications ..the damage to my body was 'done silently.'

 

[trophywench]

My work stress plus family stress and the fact that though I hadn't realised it at the time the statins I'd been put on had started to destroy my shorter term memory, I was therefore having complete gaps, lost whole days meetings and things I'd agreed to do for clients and then colleagues would be wanting to know why on earth I hadn't done this that or the other by the deadline we'd agreed and wanting me to explain - I was at a complete loss there because I couldn't explain and kept having to go out for a fag that I didn't want in order to walk round the corner of the building and cry - so used to send my BG sky high so I'd correct and then plummet, but the highs and lows didn't happen in any sort of time frame I could understand or recognise, I kept having D clinic appointments cancelled repeatedly for over 2 years, my GP was clueless as where I live they pass all T1s over to the hospital like we had Beri Beri and kept telling me my HbA1c looked ok - well it would when all the LOs were cancelling out the HIs, wouldn't it? whereas I'd had T1 for 30 years NP before and was utterly clueless back then that all types of stress increase the BG (amongst the numerous other things I didn't know about) .....

So I started doing what I swore I never would (because sensible authorities had told me so consistently for so long that a lot of complete rubbish was touted on it - and boy oh boy that hasn't changed has it?) and started searching the internet.

Saved my life and my sanity.

 

[Nayshiftin]

I don’t know yet if stress plays a part but I’m always stressed