Long term Clinical Depression, Anxiety and Type 2 Diabetes

[snowball12]

I have suffered Clinical Depression and Anxiety since 1988 and Type 2 Diabetes since 2011. I take Duloxetine 120mg per day and 4x500mg Metformin per day. Currently waiting for GP to telephone with my results of HbA1c which I know isn't going to be good. My last one in December was 78 I had been 53 previously. I am about a stone overweight. I have had as much as I can take of all this. Whatever I do makes no difference.I am at the point of hating food as it's the enemy!!! So I am at the end of my rope. Can anyone help. No Keto as I am dairy intolerant and I get so hungry. Thanks for reading

 

[Docb]

Hi @snowball12. Some of the ideas I put on the forum might sound a bit odd but they are maybe worth thinking about. In my world food is a fuel, nothing more nothing less. You can't hate it or love it. You cannot do without it but you can overdo it. You can find some fuels that are more pleasant than others. As a result you never find me proposing some diet fad or other as providing any solution to any particular problem other than finding a way to make money for somebody selling a book.

When my HbA1c went wonk I took a step backwards and decided I would be a good idea to lose a small amount of weight and to cut my carb intake That did not mean following a "diet", it meant eating a few fewer calories and changing a few things to cut the carbs. Nothing drastic. I used my blood glucose monitor and bathroom scales to get fast feed back to make sure I was heading in the right direction. It worked for me.

So my thought for you is that you ignore all the diet stuff, look at what you like eating and see what you can do to make some adjustments... maybe cutting a few things out and playing with portion sizes... to get to where you want to get to. It does not have to be complicated.

 

[Drummer]

There is far more to eating a low carb diet than dairy - unless you avoid meat and fish/seafood and eggs too. They seem to be very satisfying when eaten with low carb veges in stir fries, and there is always something to eat so you need never be hungry. If you like home baking then there are lots of recipes for biscuits, buns and cakes which are low carb and the ingredients are easily available these days. I go to Amazon and Grape Tree and get things by mail order.

 

[snowball12]

Hi @snowball12. Some of the ideas I put on the forum might sound a bit odd but they are maybe worth thinking about. In my world food is a fuel, nothing more nothing less. You can't hate it or love it. You cannot do without it but you can overdo it. You can find some fuels that are more pleasant than others. As a result you never find me proposing some diet fad or other as providing any solution to any particular problem other than finding a way to make money for somebody selling a book.

When my HbA1c went wonk I took a step backwards and decided I would be a good idea to lose a small amount of weight and to cut my carb intake That did not mean following a "diet", it meant eating a few fewer calories and changing a few things to cut the carbs. Nothing drastic. I used my blood glucose monitor and bathroom scales to get fast feed back to make sure I was heading in the right direction. It worked for me.

So my thought for you is that you ignore all the diet stuff, look at what you like eating and see what you can do to make some adjustments... maybe cutting a few things out and playing with portion sizes... to get to where you want to get to. It does not have to be complicated.

Thanks for this, you make total sense. I will try and see what happens

 

[picitup]

Hi

I've decided to lose weight (about 3 st) but don't like the idea of 'being on a diet'. I've stopped snacking and have not eaten or drank a single refined sugar product since being diagnosed as prediabetic (2 weeks ago). Also my evening meal consists of some random meat, peas, cauliflower and brocolli, but no spuds, chips, pasta or rice, just meat and a bunch of veg. I'm losing weight slowly but am in no great rush, I'm going in the right direction.

I know some people on the forum count carbs, but that's not for me. Just a gentle moving away from junk food and high carb foods.

Sorry you're suffering from depression - I see depression as 'a thief of time' it steals time away from you. For me, depression is part of my normal cycle as I'm bipolar. Over the years I've managed to accept it as becoming frustrated with it only makes it worse and then comes the anxiety. I take duloxetine too - all the time lol.

I do wish you luck with your recovery, but don't put too much pressure on yourself when you're low as this will help bring you down. In any case, 1st overweight isn't that much I think. I'm 3st over lol.

You didn't mention exercise. For me, it does help improve my mood. And the best exercise is...... Anything you enjoy! Jogging, swimming, badminton, cycling, anything. My love is cycling and I've just started doing a mile on the flat each day. No panic to get really fit again, just enjoying the exercise and I'll improve naturally over time,

Once again, best of luck

Steve

 

[snowball12]

Hi

I've decided to lose weight (about 3 st) but don't like the idea of 'being on a diet'. I've stopped snacking and have not eaten or drank a single refined sugar product since being diagnosed as prediabetic (2 weeks ago). Also my evening meal consists of some random meat, peas, cauliflower and brocolli, but no spuds, chips, pasta or rice, just meat and a bunch of veg. I'm losing weight slowly but am in no great rush, I'm going in the right direction.

I know some people on the forum count carbs, but that's not for me. Just a gentle moving away from junk food and high carb foods.

Sorry you're suffering from depression - I see depression as 'a thief of time' it steals time away from you. For me, depression is part of my normal cycle as I'm bipolar. Over the years I've managed to accept it as becoming frustrated with it only makes it worse and then comes the anxiety. I take duloxetine too - all the time lol.

I do wish you luck with your recovery, but don't put too much pressure on yourself when you're low as this will help bring you down. In any case, 1st overweight isn't that much I think. I'm 3st over lol.

You didn't mention exercise. For me, it does help improve my mood. And the best exercise is...... Anything you enjoy! Jogging, swimming, badminton, cycling, anything. My love is cycling and I've just started doing a mile on the flat each day. No panic to get really fit again, just enjoying the exercise and I'll improve naturally over time,

Once again, best of luck

Steve

Thank you Steve, you are very kind. I can only walk a mile or so due to arthritis in my knees but it's better than nothing. You are right I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself and I must stop. Again thank you so much

 

[picitup]

You're welcome 🙂 Dunno if this helps, but when my mood is low, I tell myself I'm doing well, even though I'm ill. This gives a nod to not being myself and a sense of achievement. My cycle is like this:

1) Low mood
2) Low performance in all kinds of ways
3) Frustration and anxiety
4) goto 1)

And so round and round it goes. The trouble with mood is it's invisible to others. If you broke your leg, nobody would expect you to run up the stairs and you wouldn't expect it of yourself either. Mood can be just as debilitating I think.

Do you like swimming? It's good exercise and supportive for your joints, so no impact. Any road up, yes a mile is much better than nothing, by a long chalk. And as far as putting pressure on yourself, maybe you need to forgive yourself for being unwell. Then maybe you can give yourself a break from pressuring yourself. Or in other words, let yourself off the hook.

I've spent a good few months with crushing tiredness. First the doc thought it was low folic acid, but with that addressed, it seems now I'm prediabetic. It's been a good kick up the backside for me as I'm not having any refined sugars and am cycling a mile a day. So, improved diet, better fitness and weight loss. It's given me a bit of a boost, looking after myself and the tiredness is starting to fade.

The problem I have is that if you have a significant illness, you tend to lump all symptoms into that category, but it may be something else. Always worth getting your bloods done at the GP I think. My wife thought the tiredness was low mood and she may be proved to be correct. Time will tell. It's bloomin' hot here in Deal, so the bike ride will have to be later when it cools. I don't fancy adding dehydration to my list lol.

Anyway, once again, I wish you all the luck in the world getting better.

Just one more thing. I went on a time management course and the guy said you should make a list of your tasks and tick them off one by one and you'll feel good about it. I remember thinking what? Am I 12 years old? But I tried it and it does.

The difficulty of the tasks on the list depends how gaga I am. If the gaga is pretty high, it might be things like take a shower, do the washing up, buy milk etc. They may sound trivial but that's the best I can do at the time.

Of course at peak gaga, all bets are off, no lists, no positive thinking, just feeling rough, but sometimes it beats you and you have to accept that, hoping tomorrow you can do better.

Blimey I think I've gone into full ramble.

Anyway good luck 🙂

Steve

 

[snowball12]

You're welcome 🙂 Dunno if this helps, but when my mood is low, I tell myself I'm doing well, even though I'm ill. This gives a nod to not being myself and a sense of achievement. My cycle is like this:

1) Low mood
2) Low performance in all kinds of ways
3) Frustration and anxiety
4) goto 1)

And so round and round it goes. The trouble with mood is it's invisible to others. If you broke your leg, nobody would expect you to run up the stairs and you wouldn't expect it of yourself either. Mood can be just as debilitating I think.

Do you like swimming? It's good exercise and supportive for your joints, so no impact. Any road up, yes a mile is much better than nothing, by a long chalk. And as far as putting pressure on yourself, maybe you need to forgive yourself for being unwell. Then maybe you can give yourself a break from pressuring yourself. Or in other words, let yourself off the hook.

I've spent a good few months with crushing tiredness. First the doc thought it was low folic acid, but with that addressed, it seems now I'm prediabetic. It's been a good kick up the backside for me as I'm not having any refined sugars and am cycling a mile a day. So, improved diet, better fitness and weight loss. It's given me a bit of a boost, looking after myself and the tiredness is starting to fade.

The problem I have is that if you have a significant illness, you tend to lump all symptoms into that category, but it may be something else. Always worth getting your bloods done at the GP I think. My wife thought the tiredness was low mood and she may be proved to be correct. Time will tell. It's bloomin' hot here in Deal, so the bike ride will have to be later when it cools. I don't fancy adding dehydration to my list lol.

Anyway, once again, I wish you all the luck in the world getting better.

Just one more thing. I went on a time management course and the guy said you should make a list of your tasks and tick them off one by one and you'll feel good about it. I remember thinking what? Am I 12 years old? But I tried it and it does.

The difficulty of the tasks on the list depends how gaga I am. If the gaga is pretty high, it might be things like take a shower, do the washing up, buy milk etc. They may sound trivial but that's the best I can do at the time.

Of course at peak gaga, all bets are off, no lists, no positive thinking, just feeling rough, but sometimes it beats you and you have to accept that, hoping tomorrow you can do better.

Blimey I think I've gone into full ramble.

Anyway good luck 🙂

Steve

You are right I need to accept the bad days/weeks. Hubby tries to help bless him. Becoming a gran has helped too. Thanks so much for your advice

 

[picitup]

It's good your hubby is supportive. My wife is supportive too, although she gets fed up sometimes which I can't blame her for.

Cheers

Steve