Poor mental health

CathyFP

CathyFP

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1.5 LADA
Pronouns
She/Her
Hi,
I was diagnosed with T1, at age 64 last March, so I am only just 6 months in. I have started to struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I have had these problems previously but it was usually brought on by work pressure and resolved quite quickly. This time I think I’m exhausted by trying to manage my diabetes, take my insulin 4 times a day, count carbs, use my Libre CGMs and treat hypos. I find I swing continuously between being terrified when things go wrong and being very depressed with no energy to do anything the rest of the time. I’ve now had to take time off work sick and have spoken to my GP and started on an antidepressant (Citalopram) which has helped me in the past.

The diabetic nurses and my consultant tell me I’m doing really well ( i.e. my time in range is good) but I feel really awful. I’ve gone from being very active and always doing a lot to being scared to leave the house much or to take exercise which I used to love.

I know everyone says it gets easier with time but I can’t see how life will improve.

Have others felt this bad. Where did you get help? What did you do? I’d really appreciate some help. I’ve been told my diabetes clinic only has psychological support for children and not for adults.

I know I can try general NHS talking therapies but I feel I need help from someone who understands T1 diabetes. I’d be really grateful for any suggestions

Thanks
 
Hi there, can relate, the mods here know I am having severe issues too.. im finding exercise helps me to keep positive, have you got a local community mental health team ? Sounds like you're overwhelmed which can affect your bloods too.
 
How good is your Time in Range @CathyFP ? I ask because maybe it’s ‘too good’ and that’s adding to the pressure. If so, relaxing your control ever so slightly and mentally relieving the pressure on yourself helps a lot.

It’s still early days for you. I found it took me a year or two to properly get used to it.

You might find talking to a counsellor helpful, or simply chatting here.
 
ME3 said:
Hi there, can relate, the mods here know I am having severe issues too.. im finding exercise helps me to keep positive, have you got a local community mental health team ? Sounds like you're overwhelmed which can affect your bloods too.
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Thanks for you reply @ME3 I’m struggling with exercise right now as I haven’t really worked out how to stop my BG going low. I used to do 2 HIIT classes a week. I also used to swim but haven’t worked out how to manage that yet either.

I will look into mental health team options too.
 
Inka said:
How good is your Time in Range @CathyFP ? I ask because maybe it’s ‘too good’ and that’s adding to the pressure. If so, relaxing your control ever so slightly and mentally relieving the pressure on yourself helps a lot.

It’s still early days for you. I found it took me a year or two to properly get used to it.

You might find talking to a counsellor helpful, or simply chatting here.
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Thanks @Inka. My time in range is between 80 & 90% mostly. I think you are right about me needing to relax my control a bit. The CGM is good but there is almost too much information and when I go low I get so nervous, even though I know what to do and it usually works first time.
 
What type of counselling have people found helpful if they have used it?
 
CathyFP said:
What type of counselling have people found helpful if they have used it?
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I haven’t had counselling for diabetes, but I had some trauma counselling recently which i accessed through my works EAP scheme. It was useful just to talk through things with someone who helped me to work out my own feelings.
 
CathyFP said:
What type of counselling have people found helpful if they have used it?
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I haven’t had diabetes counselling either @CathyFP But it would give you a chance to talk through your feelings, whether they be upset, anger, anxiety or whatever. Talking things through helps you get things clear in your head - like tidying up your mind. This can help a lot.

Did you see @rebrascora ’s recent thread about not wearing her Libre? Sometimes a break from all that information is good (obviously you still fingerprick).
 
This is definitely something I can relate to @CathyFP. You sound so overwhelmed right now and I found myself in that same position when I was diagnosed with T1D in January 2022 but thanks to a local mental health and wellbeing team where I live I managed to get though it
So I hope there is something like this where you live and they can help you as well
 
So sorry to hear about your MH struggles @CathyFP

It’s such a huge part of living with T1D - but in adult settings there’s still often very little resource you can call on if you are struggling :(

One member here @SB2015 made a thread to document some strategies and techniques that had been helpful to her while working through a period of depression and anxiety.

SB2015

Thread '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. Depression descended.

Thanks to Rosie on here I eventually asked for help, but there was a one year waiting list for any talking therapies. I was able to pay for counselling and I thought I would be up front about some of the strategies that I have already found helpful in the hope that these may be of...
  • Like
 
In the early days of having Libre I found having a break from it was really important, particularly if my diabetes management wasn't going as well as I would like and it almost felt like the Libre was judging me and I was failing and I would start to resent it. Then a few days off from it and I would really appreciate how much easier it makes my life but the down time from it was also important. I haven't felt like I needed a break from it for well over a year but this most recent, slightly enforced break earlier this week because the sensor ended early, really brought it home to me how mentally restful it is not having it for a day or two, even if it caused minor panic going to bed the first night without it. There definitely was a relief and benefit to be had from a day or two off from the intensity of it and just doing the very basics of finger pricking for a day or two and not feeling like I was at it's beck and call.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
So sorry to hear about your MH struggles @CathyFP

It’s such a huge part of living with T1D - but in adult settings there’s still often very little resource you can call on if you are struggling :(

One member here @SB2015 made a thread to document some strategies and techniques that had been helpful to her while working through a period of depression and anxiety.

SB2015

Thread '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. Depression descended.

Thanks to Rosie on here I eventually asked for help, but there was a one year waiting list for any talking therapies. I was able to pay for counselling and I thought I would be up front about some of the strategies that I have already found helpful in the hope that these may be of...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Thanks @everydayupsanddowns . I have had a quick read through and will read it more carefully tomorrow. At the moment I don’t do any manual recording of anything to do with my T1D so it all sounds a bit difficult but I will investigate further.
 
rebrascora said:
In the early days of having Libre I found having a break from it was really important, particularly if my diabetes management wasn't going as well as I would like and it almost felt like the Libre was judging me and I was failing and I would start to resent it. Then a few days off from it and I would really appreciate how much easier it makes my life but the down time from it was also important. I haven't felt like I needed a break from it for well over a year but this most recent, slightly enforced break earlier this week because the sensor ended early, really brought it home to me how mentally restful it is not having it for a day or two, even if it caused minor panic going to bed the first night without it. There definitely was a relief and benefit to be had from a day or two off from the intensity of it and just doing the very basics of finger pricking for a day or two and not feeling like I was at it's beck and call.
Click to expand...
Thanks @rebrascora . I like the idea of a break but tbh I would be absolutely terrified. I’ve had Libre since I was diagnosed. I only do finger pricks when Libre says I am going low. I’ve never managed without it (although I suspect I need to know how) When I go low I get no symptoms or warning at all. I think all this is part of the reason I am feeling so bad. I feel completely dependent on the Libre and my phone to keep me safe.

Can anyone suggest how I could start to feel less dependent on the tech?
 
When I go low I get no symptoms or warning at all.

@CathyFP None at all? Not even if you were, say, 2.9? That isn’t good if you’re recently diagnosed. Are you dipping low a lot over 24hrs? Hypo awareness is usually strong for the first years and only starts to blunt after many years of Type 1. What’s your Low alarm set at? If you set it at 5.6, and aim to stay above 5 (ie have a glucose tablet or half or whatever if you’re 4.6 to push you up above 5) and keep that up for some weeks, your hypo awareness should improve.

Remember that for decades and decades we had no CGMs. We fingerpricked and had no alarms, only our own unawareness. I went through 3 pregnancies with no CGM and set an alarm at 2am every night to make sure I wasn’t going too low early in pregnancy (early pregnancy causes bad hypos). In the earlier decades there weren’t even glucose meters just urine tests.
 
CathyFP said:
When I go low I get no symptoms or warning at all.
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Have you spoken to anyone for advice on fixing this ASAP? If you have a driving licence and have hypo unawareness you must declare it to the DVLA and will lose your licence. For your own safety though you need to regain hypo awareness as an urgent priority.
 
I wonder if you simply haven't had a proper hypo and therefore haven't experienced the warning signs. The only way you would know that you have absolutely no hypo awareness is if you lose consciousness because of a hypo. Is that the case?
 
rebrascora said:
I wonder if you simply haven't had a proper hypo and therefore haven't experienced the warning signs.
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Cathy says she checks the hypos with fingerpricks though, so they must be real hypos
 
CathyFP said:
I only do finger pricks when Libre says I am going low.
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@Lucyr Is this comment by Cathy what you are referring to, because this doesn't specifically say that she is hypo, just that she double checks with a finger prick when Libre says she is going low.

As @Inka says, the question is how low has she been on a finger prick reading and not felt hypo and which meter is she using? I find my Caresens reads about 1mmol above Libre at low levels and so a 3.1 Libre will usually be about 4.1 with a finger prick, but if I use Freestyle Optium test strips in my Libre reader it will often give me the same or slightly lower than the Libre reading itself. I am inclined to think that Libre products all read a bit low with my body chemistry as my Libre predicted HbA1c is always lower than my actual HbA1c, so I continue to trust my Caresens and assume Libre and the Optium test strips are underreporting for me.
 
CathyFP said:
Thanks @everydayupsanddowns . I have had a quick read through and will read it more carefully tomorrow. At the moment I don’t do any manual recording of anything to do with my T1D so it all sounds a bit difficult but I will investigate further.
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Hi Cathy
Sorry that you are struggling at present. It is not uncommon and makes things even more hard work. Keep in touch on here and also talk to your team.

My burnout was from too much recording and unrealistic expectations set by me. The strategies I learnt are more general but I hope you can find them helpful.
 
rebrascora said:
@Lucyr Is this comment by Cathy what you are referring to, because this doesn't specifically say that she is hypo, just that she double checks with a finger prick when Libre says she is going low.
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Yes it was this comment, but Cathy wouldn’t be treating hypos unless she actually is hypo on a fingerprick surely
 
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