Survey- How has diabetes affected your mood and eating habits?

[shahella]

I agree with surdoux.
Prior to diagnosis I had a number of health issues including anxiety and depression.
I now realise they were largely caused by my following a 'healthy' diet which simply did not suit me and was pushing me into diabetes via pre-diabetes and was leading to weight gain, hormonal imbalances and stress and low mood and poor sleep patterns.

Once I had my diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and I went on to a High Fat Very Low Carb (keto) diet my health and well being immediately improved and it has been doing so ever since. It was like a cloud lifting.

(You can see from my 'signature file' below this post how my blood sugar levels and other tests normalised very quickly and have remained there ever since.)

More than a year on and I have been consistently more healthy and happy than I have been for decades and this is despite having some very difficult and stressful life experiences to cope with on top of the default challenges I have had to deal with for decades.

I don't think I am alone in finding that being diagnosed with diabetes and dealing with the situation logically has led to a much improved standard of life.


Interestingly from a pharmaceutical point of view - many years ago I was prescribed Metformin as a therapy for my PCOS and I took it for 3 years and then stopped because I didn't consider the benefits to be outweighing the side effects and during that period my health did not improve and neither did my mood. Changing my diet has made an incredible difference and I can only imagine how different things may have been for me if I'd only realised the benefits of this way of eating much much earlier. However I am glad to have got there eventually and I am looking forward to being younger and healthier in my sixties and seventies than I was in my forties and fifties.

Thank you for sharing, I'm glad you are feeling much better now!

 

[shahella]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who completed my survey. I have now completed the data collection portion of my research.

If you need any further information on this topic, DiabetesUK have an informative page which i have linked below
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/emotions

If you require further support with any issue related to diabetes, i wanted to remind you that you can contact the DiabetesUK helpline.

The NHS also has a page to help you find services for your mental health.

How to access mental health services

Find out about the different ways to get help with your mental health, the process, and your rights.

www.nhs.uk

 

[Ian86]

Just completed although i have just seen you have completed your data collection after finishing.

I have done these before at clininc i always seem to struggle to answer certain questions

EG: what makes your mood low - all these are applicable at some point like sometimes id love to eat a bag of sweets or carb counting really irritates me at times although im not sure if id class it as a low mood just annoying and i try to not let it get to me

Or how would you describe your mood since being diagnosed - Ive had it for over 20 years so there is times i absolutely despise having it but for the most part just get on with it.

I always look for a box to sort of justify my answer, i probably just over analyse the questions though

Hope it helps with the research.

 

[trophywench]

Ian I always think my answers must be dead boring - as yeah in July 1972 I was often very upset by suddenly having this dumped upon me and frequently had an attack of the 'Why Me?' s but being 22 and having a brain I knew I was stuck with it for ever and ever amen, so I'd just have to try and make the best of it, hadn't |I? Which I did and still do, end of story.

If I've needed help, I've always known where to go/who to ask. So I've asked for it, and got it.

But there again I spose maybe it's a relief for the students when they get a nice boring one? LOL