Managing stress

[Anjery]

Hi, i'm going through some family problems and am really stressed and worried about it. How do you cope with stress to reduce impact on blood sugars.
What i eat is no different to normal, just maybe not as much/often. I had hypo in the night at 3.5 and now i'm at 22.5
I'm not perfect but normally no more that around 10, so this is a worry - which doesn't help when i'm already stressed.
Any ideas what i can do?

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi, i'm going through some family problems and am really stressed and worried about it. How do you cope with stress to reduce impact on blood sugars.
What i eat is no different to normal, just maybe not as much/often. I had hypo in the night at 3.5 and now i'm at 22.5
I'm not perfect but normally no more that around 10, so this is a worry - which doesn't help when i'm already stressed.
Any ideas what i can do?

Stress certainly can affect your blood glucose but if you get a reading which is way different from what you might expect then you should repeat the test to double check.
As to what you might do in those 2 specific instances depends on what medication you take.
There are many meditation or relaxation techniques which may help though they don't suit everybody Headspace I believe is one.

 

[rebrascora]

Are you using Freestyle Libre or are these finger prick blood tests?
If the 3.5 was a Libre reading then it may well have been a compression low unless you double checked it with a finger prick?? Compression lows happen when you lie on the sensor and it compresses the tissue underneath causing it to register a false low reading. When you roll off it again it will rebound slightly higher than the correct reading and then settle back down to where it actually should be. Gradually you either learn not to lie on the arm with the sensor on or to place the sensor further back so it doesn't happen. At the top end of the scale Libre is less accurate and if it has been rising fast it will usually over predict your actual level, so always double check low and high Libre readings before taking any action, unless you feel obviously hypo.
Libre is a brilliant bit of kit provided you understand how it works and it's limitations and there are times where you should not take the reading it gives you at face value. I believe you have only recently started using Libre so it may just be that you are now seeing the spikes in your BG levels that you were unaware of before because they happened between finger pricks. Timing of your insulin is the way to reduce meal spikes and prebolus timing (the time between injecting and eating) will vary between different times of day and different foods. So for me I have to prebolus about 45 mins before I eat breakfast to prevent my levels spiking up to 15 each day and then plummeting back down to 5. Spiking up and and then dropping like that can actually make you feel slightly anxious even before you factor in other stresses like family and work, so if you can adjust your timing to prevent those big spikes, it really helps you feel a bit better. 45 mins is quite extreme for a prebolus time and many people would hypo during that time but it works for me. You have to find what works for you with your insulin (Humalog I believe) and your body and the food you eat. I should also say that at other times of day I only need 15-20 mins prebolus time. You start with however long you wait now between injecting and eating and gradually increase it by a few minutes each day until you find the point at which it doesn't spike too high and you don't go hypo. It sounds complicated but Libre makes it so much easier to figure out than doing it using finger pricks.

If you want to post some of your Libre graphs where you are having problems we could take a look at them. Keeping notes on your Libre of when you inject your insulin and when you eat helps to interpret the graphs.

As regards your stress, let me know if you find something that works well. Apart from a long brisk walk, and unfortunately I struggle to motivate myself to do that when I am stressed, I haven't found anything much except breathing/meditation exercises. In fact I am pretty sure that is why a brisk walk works so well, because I have to get into a good regular rhythm with my breathing and my strides, particularly when I am pushing myself to keep pace up a the local hills which are all pretty steep. I hope you find something to ease the strain a bit.

 

[Amity Island]

Hi, i'm going through some family problems and am really stressed and worried about it. How do you cope with stress to reduce impact on blood sugars.
What i eat is no different to normal, just maybe not as much/often. I had hypo in the night at 3.5 and now i'm at 22.5
I'm not perfect but normally no more that around 10, so this is a worry - which doesn't help when i'm already stressed.
Any ideas what i can do?

Hi,

Two things to consider which might help.

1. Dealing with stress, once already stressed.
2. Not getting stressed to begin with.

Easier said than done, but it helps if we realise we actually have very little control over events and other peoples actions. Stress occurs when we try to control or react to these things. It's hard to do (initially), but it can be less stressful to let things run their course, let things work their own way out. People don't listen anyway, no matter how good or well intended the advice.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear what a stressful time you are having @Anjery

I have also found some of the mindfulness / CBT resources helpful in terms of self-care.

Initially I found the book ‘Mindfulness’ by Mark Williams and Danny Penman a very good introduction. It concentrates on techniques which have clinical evidence to support them, and has a guided course of guided meditations on CD taking you through a process over about 6 or 7 weeks I think.

Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now is also very thought provoking, if a little more esoteric.

There are apps that can help support your efforts too (I signed up to a free year with one that I think was called ‘balance’).

Good luck! Hope you find a way to navigate through this stressful time more steadily.

 

[ColinUK]

I use Balance as well as Ten Percent Happier and Insight Timer for my regular meditation/mindfulness fix.

If you’re an Apple user then Apple Fitness+ has some really good meditation and mindfulness content.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I use Balance as well as Ten Percent Happier and Insight Timer for my regular meditation/mindfulness fix.

If you’re an Apple user then Apple Fitness+ has some really good meditation and mindfulness content.

Yes I’ve found these things really helpful in understanding how my brain works, and how some of the default patterns of the problem solving ‘doing’ brain can lead you towards an endless sense of dissatisfaction and stress if you aren’t careful!

 

[ajax]

A 'tactile' fidget toy ..in the form of an olive wood holding cross ..helps me to ✻dispel✻ nervous energy ..this, in turn, enables me to manage my diabetes better.

 

[Niori]

Stress can be difficult to avoid. A teenager being a rebellious teenager for example is always going to be stressful.

Sitting and stewing over rebellious teen can cause our body to react in the same way whether that teen is there or not.

Stress/anxiety is fun like that. Imagined/remembered stress is just as bad as the event itself.

With that in mind, I find training my mind through meditation enormously helpful. It helps me to recognise when I'm thinking/stewing and I bring my thoughts back to whatever it is I am doing instead of creating imaginary stress.

Breathing exercises. If I get stressed, I tend to breathe higher up, shoulders get tense, etc etc. Learning to belly breathe, slow and deep, can really help to calm the body's stressed state. Bear in mind that adrenaline can take a while to disappear, once the stress has flooded the body with it. It's not an instant thing.

Learn to read your body language. Jaw tense? Frowning? Shoulders up near your ears? Rapid shallow breathing? When you realise you are displaying stressy body language, take steps to breathe yourself into a more relaxed state.

Good old Exercise. Adrenaline ramps your body up for fight or flight....use it. Burn it off. Cardio is good for this I find. Punchbag even better if you are angry stressed.

YouTube belly breathing and alternate nostril breathing for free instruction. Loads of resources on there.

My personal favourite...Yoga. Gold. Keeps me sane. I have a daily practise. I can recommend yoga with adriene on YouTube if you fancy having a go. She has lots of beginners vids and vids on individual moves too.

It all passes in the end but it's horrid whilst it's going on. Be kind to yourself x

 

[harbottle]

Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now is also very thought provoking, if a little more esoteric.

Marillion based a whole album on this book (Happiness is the Road). I keep meaning to read it!