Successful strategies so far in dealing with depression and Diabetes

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So far
- Recognising the impossibility of perfection
- Record and shut the book until the weekly review
- Heads up
- I am ... more than Diabetes
See above for an explanation if you missed these

Another useful strategy was to
Ask for help
I found that I was expecting my OH to be able to mind read and then getting annoyed when he was unable to know what help I needed!! I started to explain more what was causing me difficulties in managing my D and started to ask him to help and explained how he could do this.
He now happily
- calculates the carbs when it is his week to cook and calls me half an hour
before our meal, so that I can test and decide when to deliver the insulin.
- offers to get my test kit or reader when I have forgotten to bring it up to bed.
- checks if I want help during a night hypo or hyper.
- inserts my Libre sensors, since he has clearer access to the back of
my 'wings'
It makes a lot of difference.
I can manage on my own but it it is nice to have the help offered.

I am also more honest with friends about the times when I feel hacked off with my D. They are then also more than happy to share celebrations when things improve or feel more manageable.
 
Keep it coming, SB.🙂 Your experience and advice are so helpful...I didn't realise how fed-up I was until I read this thread!
 
There has been a bit of pause in my posting, but here is another idea that helped me.

Celebrate 60%
I had in theory accepted the impossibility of perfection, but still found it difficult to convince myself that it was okay to accept out of range readings. We agreed that I would ask my DSN for a sensible percentage of premeal readings on target that would be 'good management'.

We set on (For me- this will be different for others)
- 60% for premeal targets.
- limit hypos to one per day
I know that there are some on here who will think that that is a bit low. However I need to move away from the perfectionism and need to be nicer to myself so that I enjoy life now rather than being so worried about the future.

My weekly review of my written records only focuses on premeal and bedtime levels. I find the percentage that are on target and then celebrate if over 60%. I check the number of hypos and also colour the results to get a visual image of whether I am generally too low (yellow) or too high (blue)

Very much work in progress.
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Bloden said:
Keep it coming, SB.🙂 Your experience and advice are so helpful...I didn't realise how fed-up I was until I read this thread!
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I hope the posts are not making you feel more fed up.
 
SB2015 said:
I hope the posts are not making you feel more fed up.
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No, SB, quite the opposite! This thread couldn't have appeared at a better time. 🙂 I feel very optimistic and upbeat most of the time, but find that depression is still nipping at my heels. You sharing your experience is extremely helpful - and the more it gets talked about, the less of a taboo it becomes.
 
That's a really good idea about colouring the results. I keep a food and results diary, and all the results are listed down the outside margins, so in theory I can flick through easily, but it would be much easier to get a general snapshot of how often I'm in range if I could spot the colours. I sense a pack of highlighters coming on.
 
Steff said:
Thanks sb really need this thread right now x
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You are very welcome Steff. It is a rocky road we follow and at times it seems so hard.
Glad your doc is seeing you tomorrow and hope you get some sleep tonight.
 
Robin said:
That's a really good idea about colouring the results. I keep a food and results diary, and all the results are listed down the outside margins, so in theory I can flick through easily, but it would be much easier to get a general snapshot of how often I'm in range if I could spot the colours. I sense a pack of highlighters coming on.
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Glad the idea is useful for you. I like being able to look down at all the breakfast ones together, and the same for other meals and bedtime. Makes pattern spotting easier.
 
Bloden said:
No, SB, quite the opposite! This thread couldn't have appeared at a better time. 🙂 I feel very optimistic and upbeat most of the time, but find that depression is still nipping at my heels. You sharing your experience is extremely helpful - and the more it gets talked about, the less of a taboo it becomes.
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I agree Bloden. It is easy to get the idea that everyone else is managing perfectly well.
 
SB2015 said:
I agree Bloden. It is easy to get the idea that everyone else is managing perfectly well.
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That's so true. So it's great that the forum is so busy these days. It means that there are lots of newbies, like Kaylz, posting from lots of different perspectives and starting threads that help us share what's really going on! 😛 And it isn't all gloom n doom as a result. 🙂 There's still plenty of silliness. At the end of the day, we all just want to get on with our diabetic lives as best we can.
 
So I am away on my own with time to spare. Firstly I am coping well which I don't think I would have done a couple of months ago so I am pleased with the progress I have made.

Another success was recognising and solving the soluble problems.
There are lots of things to do with diabetes that just does not follow the rules and catches us out but there are also quite a few things that I found that actually had a simple solution. So here goes:

P I have mentioned before that I had expected my OH to be a mind reader,
and got annoyed when I found that he wasn't.
S I try to tell him what I need when I need help now

P I was getting fed up with bleeders from when I removed a cannula, especially when out and about
S I put plasters in my test kit to deal with these.

P My finger prints had changed and I got stopped giong into USA to check my identity. My fingers were sore from pricking them so often
S I tried a finer lancet (Accu check Fastclix) and successfully asked Practice to swap me over to these

P I was constantly worrying about what ratios or rates I needed to change
S I switched to a weekly review

Where problems had a solution I looked for it.
Where they did not, this process which included writing them down, made me recognise this and try to accept that I just had to live with it (that does not mean that it is always easy to do).
 
So glad to hear you're making progress and coping better, SB.:D

You were finger-printed at US immigration?!😱 You must've been looking well shifty!😉
 
Today is the first groups session that I am attending. Very nervous about it, but hoping to come away with some useful strategies. Reassured by conversation with group leader that we have agreed an exit strategy if I find it simply does not work for me.

I will let you know how things go.
 
SB2015 said:
Today is the first groups session that I am attending. Very nervous about it, but hoping to come away with some useful strategies. Reassured by conversation with group leader that we have agreed an exit strategy if I find it simply does not work for me.

I will let you know how things go.
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Hope it goes well SB im off for a first appt with psyciatrist in my local MH unit later
 
SB2015 said:
Today is the first groups session that I am attending. Very nervous about it, but hoping to come away with some useful strategies. Reassured by conversation with group leader that we have agreed an exit strategy if I find it simply does not work for me.

I will let you know how things go.
Click to expand...
Hope it goes well.
 
Steff said:
Hope it goes well SB im off for a first appt with psyciatrist in my local MH unit later
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I hope your appointment went well Steff.

I was doing well until they asked us to come up with a plan for this week.
Do something small that is enjoyable.
The examples they gave were
- go out for a nice meal (I won't know the carbs, so not so relaxing)
- go for a pleasant walk (guaranteed to cause a hypo)
- do something different from normal (so more to work out how to deal with changes)

I had been very positive about the ideas that were put forward, but then it just got too much, as it just emphasised the continuous nature of the job of managing the condition successfully. I crumbled!!

So perhaps this post is not in quite the right place. The leader is going to phone tomorrow and we will talk about whether this is the best support. He weaver I know it is this or wait for a year!
 
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