Newby T1 + anxiety :(

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Minnie0008

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Type 1
Hi everyone,

I have been recently (2wks ago) diagnosed with T1 diabetes (undetected for god knows how long). I suffered with health anxiety previously, which after 4 years of constant panic attacks subsided for a few years until this diagnosis... had a hypo and panic attack at the same time the other night o_O i am also a mum to 2 girls (10yrs + 9 months) and in the middle of my disertation! Really feel like i need the support atm! Hoping ive come to the right place 🙂
 
Hi Minnie, don't think I will be the first to say this, but yes you have come to the right place! Read through some posts and you will see what I mean.

I am sure somebody from the T1 community will be along soon to get you going.
 
Hello, Minnie, and welcome to the forum. You sound like you've got a lot on your plate! The thing with me when I was diagnosed, was that I hadn’t realised how awful I’d been feeling in th run up to diagnosis, because it had come on gradually. Once I was on insulin and getting to grips with using it, I felt so much better that I found I could cope with life again.
 
Hi both,

Thanks for your replies. My life is definately challenging! Robin, i hadnt realised how bad id been feeling either, and deffo feel 100x better thanks to the insulin.

I have managed to gain pretty good control of my BS considering its only just been over 2 weeks since i was diagnosed. However, it has created so many unhelpful thoughts and kind of validated all my previous anxious thoughts! Im finding the relapse of anxiety much more challenging than the diagnosis of diabetes :(
 
Hi Minnie and welcome to the club no-one wanted to join.

Anxiety is absolutely normal for anyone diagnosed as an adult - and so is grief! Of course you're worried and anxious - surely anybody with a functioning brain and an imagination must be, in this situation? (I'm certain your brain functions from what you've already told us 🙂) It'd all the 'what ifs' and the 'what happens whens' that we haven't a clue about - and the stomach churning recognition that HELP! I know nothing about this - how the hell am I going to be able to cope with it?

Hence my view on the situation for you is that yes - you may well have exactly the same anxiety symptoms you've experienced before - BUT they've arisen for a completely and utterly different reason, since this situation is completely new. You yourself have attributed it to 'being the same as what I had before' - but it simply isn't, is it? The only way to get past this point, is to live with 'the beast' for a bit until you tame it, whilst simultaneously learning shedloads more about it and finding out which ways the two of you can co-exist until the join becomes impossible to detect.

I know you find it hard to believe - but it all gets easier - given time.

If anyone has a personal bereavement everyone fully accepts it's going to take them time to get over it - and being diagnosed with a chronic medical condition actually has the same effect on us. It's not just me saying that - it's fully accepted by the medical profession too - so your diabetes clinic are aware of it and will help you!

Meanwhile, Google the name of Elisabeth Kubler Ross and her 'Five stages of Grief' - eg - https://www.businessballs.com/health-and-wellbeing/elisabeth-kubler-ross-five-stages-of-grief/ to see your way through that part.

Good luck with it!
 
Hi Trophywench

Thanks for your reply...

It feels the same as before as in the same symptoms (panic, hyperventilating, tightening and pains in the chest, overactive brain and negative thought cycles). The worries are also similar to before, but yes you are right about the reason.. this time i have a more valid reason to worry (other than anxiety, there was nothing wrong with me before!)

I will have a read of that link, thank you
 
Hi Minnie0008, welcome to the forum. I’m sorry about your diagnosis. You have definitely come to the right place, there is a lot of knowledge and experience here. Now is then hardest time, but I promise you will soon get used to everything and settle into a new routine.

It’s worth having a look around the Diabetes UK site as there is a lot of information to be found.
 
Hi Minnie

I am very pleased that you have found this forum.

It is a shock being diagnosed with T1 and there is a lot to learn very quickly.
As you have already noticed once diagnosed and on the correct treatment, you realise just how ill you have been. It is a lot to organise at first but as @trophywench said it DOES GET EASIER. If you have any questions at all just ask. No questions are considered silly on here.

Keep reading, keep asking and keep in touch.
 
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