SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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 use to others. I know that there a lots of people for whom these will be unnecessary but if it helps some others then It is worth posting these.
Recognising the impossibility of perfection.
I had set myself unrealistic targets and was getting frustrated with the highs and lows of normal life with T1 which I was seeing as failures.
A strategy I found very helpful was to start to log events of hypers and hypos and to record the reason for these where possible, strategies available to overcome the problem another time, and to record whether this event was in my control, beyond my control or a combination of the two. It may sound simplistic, but I was amazed how many events I was beating myself up for which were beyond my control.
A useful piece of homework that made me reconsider my view of how I was managing.
More to come. I hope that it helps someone.
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 use to others. I know that there a lots of people for whom these will be unnecessary but if it helps some others then It is worth posting these.
Recognising the impossibility of perfection.
I had set myself unrealistic targets and was getting frustrated with the highs and lows of normal life with T1 which I was seeing as failures.
A strategy I found very helpful was to start to log events of hypers and hypos and to record the reason for these where possible, strategies available to overcome the problem another time, and to record whether this event was in my control, beyond my control or a combination of the two. It may sound simplistic, but I was amazed how many events I was beating myself up for which were beyond my control.
A useful piece of homework that made me reconsider my view of how I was managing.
More to come. I hope that it helps someone.
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