Newbie to the forum and need some advice!

[Anonymous 02]

Hi everyone,
I have been a type 1 diabetic for nearly 10 years now. I have managed to cope with my diabetes for the majority of it, however within the past year I have been getting in a really low and dark place. During this time I don't want to eat a lot and everything seems to be a mental challenge. I am not the sort of person who likes going to the doctor's or hospitals and so I try to avoid them the majority of the time and just deal with whatever is there, and so I don't want to go to the doctor's or tell my diabetes specialist team about this. If anyone has any useful coping mechanisms or advice it would be really appreciated.
Thanks xx

 

[SB2015]

Hi @Anonymous 02 , and welcome to the forum. Very pleased that you have found us.
This is a quick reply as we have visitors just arriving. I will check in again.

I was diagnosed just a few years before you at the age of 53. Whenever you are diagnosed it is a shock and takes a bit of adjustment. There are the practicalities of living day to day with T1. How do you manage yours. What insulins are you using? Are you using a pump or multiple injections? This info can help us in any advice we give.

However it is not the practicalities that are the issue for you at present. I too have been through times when I have found life with T1 very frustrating and irritating. I have kind of fought it rather than learning to live with it. I had a lot of support from others on here, who just get it.

I am happy to share the strategies that I found successful for me in working with a counsellor. I did post them on here and will see if I can find the thread to link back to.

You have done a good thing linking up with others that have T1. That is a great first step.

 

[Anonymous 02]

Hi @Anonymous 02 , and welcome to the forum. Very pleased that you have found us.
This is a quick reply as we have visitors just arriving. I will check in again.

I was diagnosed just a few years before you at the age of 53. Whenever you are diagnosed it is a shock and takes a bit of adjustment. There are the practicalities of living day to day with T1. How do you manage yours. What insulins are you using? Are you using a pump or multiple injections? This info can help us in any advice we give.

However it is not the practicalities that are the issue for you at present. I too have been through times when I have found life with T1 very frustrating and irritating. I have kind of fought it rather than learning to live with it. I had a lot of support from others on here, who just get it.

I am happy to share the strategies that I found successful for me in working with a counsellor. I did post them on here and will see if I can find the thread to link back to.

You have done a good thing linking up with others that have T1. That is a great first step.

Hi, @SB2015 . Thank you for replying.
I have been on an insulin pump for 8 years now.
And yes it is not the practicalities of having T1 that I am currently struggling with, it's more the mental health side of it.
I am not a very open person and so limited people know how much I have been struggling. I have looked on these forums before but only after talking to a close friend decided to actually post on here and ask for some advice. I also feel really bad for dumping all of my problems on people, which probably doesn't help me when it comes to opening up.
So thank you for any help or advice!

 

[Annemarie]

Hi, @SB2015 . Thank you for replying.
I have been on an insulin pump for 8 years now.
And yes it is not the practicalities of having T1 that I am currently struggling with, it's more the mental health side of it.
I am not a very open person and so limited people know how much I have been struggling. I have looked on these forums before but only after talking to a close friend decided to actually post on here and ask for some advice. I also feel really bad for dumping all of my problems on people, which probably doesn't help me when it comes to opening up.
So thank you for any help or advice!

Hello, I joined a week or so ago. I still find the technology of it challenging but as for my diabetes I already feel less alone. I thought ‘I was the only diabetic in the village’. I was a diabetic and that was that but I’m already thinking NO I’m me and I happen to have diabetes. I have friends I could talk to but I didn’t, I was concerned they may think,”oh here comes the diabetic again!” Quite ridiculous I know but here I feel I can talk about diabetes all day long if I needed to. I’ve already learnt about a course I didn’t know existed and found an interesting recipe and there’s much more to learn. People with diabetes have so much experience and knowledge and here they are prepared to share it. If you were diagnosed 10 years ago you can probably advise me too!

 

[SB2015]

Hi @Anonymous 02

Our friends have just left. An evening of carb counting, injecting and then topping up because the chocs that they brought were too tempting!!

I was on a pump, and using the Libre and getting better and better at my management and then things did not improve. I hit a wall a few years ago and became very depressed about my Diabetes and the impact that it was having on my day to day life. It took me a long time to seek out help, and I was persuaded to talk to my consultant. This is not something unusual. It is hard work managing T1 and we don’t get any time off. I worked with a counsellor and the post linked below outline sthe strategies that I worked on with her, which worked for me.

Successful strategies so far in dealing with depression and Diabetes

I found it tempting to hide away over the last couple of months. After 9 years of Diabetes I finally hit a wall as HbA1c reached the mid 40s and so no longer improved, spinal stenosis gave me numb feet over night, an MRI showing lesions on the brain and I watched my Mum die of Dementia...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

I hope that they are of some help. I know that I have come out the other side and have stopped fighting D. I accept that it is now par of our normal, and is not going to go away. I have named Diabetes as this very irritating ‘friend’ who just wont go away. There are days when I swear at her, and others where I just accept her as a know it all who just looks far too smug.

Keep contact on the forum it really helps. People are so supportive.

 

[Inka]

@Anonymous 02 You describe a “really low and dark place”. Could you have depression unrelated to your diabetes? This sounds a bit more than diabetes burnout.

Please speak to your GP. I know you’ve said you don’t want to but if it is depression then they can help you climb back out of this dark place. Depression isn’t a weakness, it’s a chemical imbalance and can be helped.

 

[Annemarie]

@Anonymous 02, @Inka
A chemical imbalance certainly but surely circumstances also have an affect. This year has been challenging for all, loneliness can lead to feeling low etc. During those times snacking and or drinking must influence chemical balance. One doesn’t have to live alone to feel lonely but being able to speak openly on a site like this should help. Talking with strangers is often easier but there’s also a need to keep those thoughts secure

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi, @SB2015 . Thank you for replying.
I have been on an insulin pump for 8 years now.
And yes it is not the practicalities of having T1 that I am currently struggling with, it's more the mental health side of it.
I am not a very open person and so limited people know how much I have been struggling. I have looked on these forums before but only after talking to a close friend decided to actually post on here and ask for some advice. I also feel really bad for dumping all of my problems on people, which probably doesn't help me when it comes to opening up.
So thank you for any help or advice!

So pleased you have joined the forum @Anonymous 02 but sorry to hear the difficulties you are facing at the moment.

You have taken a small but really significant step in posting here, and you should not underestimate its importance. Diabetes can be very isolating and challenging to live with at times, and the ongoing burden of self-care along with the dozens (hundreds?) of extra decisions and choices it requires you to make every day have a well understood mental burden. Being able to share some of that, and discuss the frustrations among others who are walking the same path, and instinctively ‘get it’ can be hugely beneficial - and clinical studies demonstrate the effectiveness of peer support networks.

Not only that but erratic BG levels can come with a double-whammy of feelings of being ‘out of control’ or ’failure’ alongside negative physiological impact of those BG fluctuations. So they make you feel worse, and make you feel worse about feeling worse! Living with diabetes increases your risk of developing clinical depression, so you need to be kind to yourself, and not just tell yourself to ‘pull yourself together’. Depression isn’t like that.

Getting help and staying safe is really important. Please do reach out to your GP to discuss how you are feeling, and see what help and support they can offer. If that feels too much, please call the Diabetes UK helpline on 0345 123 2399 weekdays during office hours,

And if you find yourself in that dark place again please call the Samaritans (call free on 116 123) or Mind (https://www.mind.org.uk/)

Diabetes burnout is really tough, and you don’t have to go through it alone.

And in the meantime, please do keep sharing with us here. We are here for you, and we want to help.

 

[Ditto]

Hello @Anonymous 02 and welcome to the forum. 🙂 I am so sorry you feel bad.

 

[Anonymous 02]

So pleased you have joined the forum @Anonymous 02 but sorry to hear the difficulties you are facing at the moment.

You have taken a small but really significant step in posting here, and you should not underestimate its importance. Diabetes can be very isolating and challenging to live with at times, and the ongoing burden of self-care along with the dozens (hundreds?) of extra decisions and choices it requires you to make every day have a well understood mental burden. Being able to share some of that, and discuss the frustrations among others who are walking the same path, and instinctively ‘get it’ can be hugely beneficial - and clinical studies demonstrate the effectiveness of peer support networks.

Not only that but erratic BG levels can come with a double-whammy of feelings of being ‘out of control’ or ’failure’ alongside negative physiological impact of those BG fluctuations. So they make you feel worse, and make you feel worse about feeling worse! Living with diabetes increases your risk of developing clinical depression, so you need to be kind to yourself, and not just tell yourself to ‘pull yourself together’. Depression isn’t like that.

Getting help and staying safe is really important. Please do reach out to your GP to discuss how you are feeling, and see what help and support they can offer. If that feels too much, please call the Diabetes UK helpline on 0345 123 2399 weekdays during office hours,

And if you find yourself in that dark place again please call the Samaritans (call free on 116 123) or Mind (https://www.mind.org.uk/)

Diabetes burnout is really tough, and you don’t have to go through it alone.

And in the meantime, please do keep sharing with us here. We are here for you, and we want to help.

Hello @everydayupsanddowns
Thanks for the advice and reply. I am now starting to reach out to some places and people so thank you.
I do, and have always struggled to speak to others about my problems, especially as I usually just freeze up when trying to say something, so chatting on this forum is really useful for me. So thanks .

 

[trophywench]

Good!

You can always write yourself a script you know, even for an arranged phonecall - just tell the person you are speaking to, that you want to read them the notes you've made first, before they start asking questions and you start getting more uptight.

 

[SB2015]

Good!

You can always write yourself a script you know, even for an arranged phonecall - just tell the person you are speaking to, that you want to read them the notes you've made first, before they start asking questions and you start getting more uptight.

That is such a useful idea @trophywench.

 

[trophywench]

I always made myself notes for calls when I was working - if you'd ever tried explaining the complexity of some legal liability situations to folk who were engaged in running businesses, so steeped in that particular business terminology rather than that of what you're attempting to convey, you'd have found this helpful! You can tick the points off on your list as you go and I gained job satisfaction from being certain I'd covered it all, and that (hopefully) the client had grasped it.