Switching off from the stress of Diabetes

[pjgtech]

Was having a think today, yeah I know, potentially dangerous! Lol...
Thinking about how much time just dealing with diabetes takes up..... which is a lot.
I'm sure it must be worse for T1's or other types than T2, but it slowly dawned on me how much I have been constantly thinking about diabetes, how it affects me, how it affects my Wife, my weight, what I eat, how much I exercise, what I can eat whilst I'm out and about, my recent BG levels, my long term HbA1c levels, my blood pressure, taking measurements, etc, etc, every day, every week, every month, for about two or three years, constantly.

And I came to a realisation that it takes its toll, mentally and physically!
Sometimes you just need to switch off, take a step back, de-stress, relax.

I am so lucky that I am recently retired, and now have a fairly easy, relaxed life, as I think trying to deal with it all, whilst still working, commuting, in the office, attending meetings, mobile lunches, dealing with colleagues and clients, etc, would be much harder. So for me its been relatively easy and I wonder how others manage to cope whilst still working or if they have very busy lives?

My family have been supportive and my Wife has also been incredible, she was doing the diet with me and has been really supportive, and she has lost weight and lowered her BG levels as well, so its a joint effort. So this again got me thinking about how people who are alone, or who have no family or friends, how they manage to cope with little or no support network. It must be so hard?

So although I do feel that the last couple of years have been stressful for me, and have taken a physical and mental toll, I still count myself lucky that I have (so far) been fairly successful in managing my T2 and have had lots of support and encouragement.

But you have to keep an eye on things. It is so easy to get complacent, to stroll along, doing the "life" thing, and then it hits you, stress, or depression, or mental or physical fatigue, or any one of 100 others signs that Diabetes, and all its little niggles, are getting the better of you.

So be vigilant people, and if you have to take your foot off the gas and just check out for a bit to get some relief, then so be it. Be nice to yourself, don't beat yourself up. Dealing with Diabetes, in all its forms, is hard work, and takes effort, and never goes away. But, we can do it.

 

[Leadinglights]

Was having a think today, yeah I know, potentially dangerous! Lol...
Thinking about how much time just dealing with diabetes takes up..... which is a lot.
I'm sure it must be worse for T1's or other types than T2, but it slowly dawned on me how much I have been constantly thinking about diabetes, how it affects me, how it affects my Wife, my weight, what I eat, how much I exercise, what I can eat whilst I'm out and about, my recent BG levels, my long term HbA1c levels, my blood pressure, taking measurements, etc, etc, every day, every week, every month, for about two or three years, constantly.

And I came to a realisation that it takes its toll, mentally and physically!
Sometimes you just need to switch off, take a step back, de-stress, relax.

I am so lucky that I am recently retired, and now have a fairly easy, relaxed life, as I think trying to deal with it all, whilst still working, commuting, in the office, attending meetings, mobile lunches, dealing with colleagues and clients, etc, would be much harder. So for me its been relatively easy and I wonder how others manage to cope whilst still working or if they have very busy lives?

My family have been supportive and my Wife has also been incredible, she was doing the diet with me and has been really supportive, and she has lost weight and lowered her BG levels as well, so its a joint effort. So this again got me thinking about how people who are alone, or who have no family or friends, how they manage to cope with little or no support network. It must be so hard?

So although I do feel that the last couple of years have been stressful for me, and have taken a physical and mental toll, I still count myself lucky that I have (so far) been fairly successful in managing my T2 and have had lots of support and encouragement.

But you have to keep an eye on things. It is so easy to get complacent, to stroll along, doing the "life" thing, and then it hits you, stress, or depression, or mental or physical fatigue, or any one of 100 others signs that Diabetes, and all its little niggles, are getting the better of you.

So be vigilant people, and if you have to take your foot off the gas and just check out for a bit to get some relief, then so be it. Be nice to yourself, don't beat yourself up. Dealing with Diabetes, in all its forms, is hard work, and takes effort, and never goes away. But, we can do it.

You have to have a life as well and be aware of when things have taken a step backwards and as you know what you need to do then action can be taken.
Retirement is a big change to adapt to not only for you but your family as well and that in itself can be challenging. Finding other things to focus on, new activities, hobbies doing the things you never had time to do before and enjoy.

 

[Wendal]

Was having a think today, yeah I know, potentially dangerous! Lol...
Thinking about how much time just dealing with diabetes takes up..... which is a lot.
I'm sure it must be worse for T1's or other types than T2, but it slowly dawned on me how much I have been constantly thinking about diabetes, how it affects me, how it affects my Wife, my weight, what I eat, how much I exercise, what I can eat whilst I'm out and about, my recent BG levels, my long term HbA1c levels, my blood pressure, taking measurements, etc, etc, every day, every week, every month, for about two or three years, constantly.

And I came to a realisation that it takes its toll, mentally and physically!
Sometimes you just need to switch off, take a step back, de-stress, relax.

I am so lucky that I am recently retired, and now have a fairly easy, relaxed life, as I think trying to deal with it all, whilst still working, commuting, in the office, attending meetings, mobile lunches, dealing with colleagues and clients, etc, would be much harder. So for me its been relatively easy and I wonder how others manage to cope whilst still working or if they have very busy lives?

My family have been supportive and my Wife has also been incredible, she was doing the diet with me and has been really supportive, and she has lost weight and lowered her BG levels as well, so its a joint effort. So this again got me thinking about how people who are alone, or who have no family or friends, how they manage to cope with little or no support network. It must be so hard?

So although I do feel that the last couple of years have been stressful for me, and have taken a physical and mental toll, I still count myself lucky that I have (so far) been fairly successful in managing my T2 and have had lots of support and encouragement.

But you have to keep an eye on things. It is so easy to get complacent, to stroll along, doing the "life" thing, and then it hits you, stress, or depression, or mental or physical fatigue, or any one of 100 others signs that Diabetes, and all its little niggles, are getting the better of you.

So be vigilant people, and if you have to take your foot off the gas and just check out for a bit to get some relief, then so be it. Be nice to yourself, don't beat yourself up. Dealing with Diabetes, in all its forms, is hard work, and takes effort, and never goes away. But, we can do it.

Great post and fully concur.
Sometimes I feel a bit of a fraud posting on this kind of subject after only being diagnosed 20 months ago so relatively new and like you having a very supportive family and employer.
Am also lucky not to get anxious and am able to exercise and adapt my lifestyle.
However I do consider that there are things I do in order to enjoy a normal life which is pivotal as well as relax my normal routine to fit in with my wife in order not to compromise her life.
That has always been my attitude to life and hopefully can strike a reasonable balance but must admit I do feel for those who have had to manage the condition for a lot of years especially those diagnosed early in life with all the added pressures that brings.
So really best wishes to all

 

[nonethewiser]

Think with longevity diabetes becomes the norm so you unknowingly spend less time thinking about it, don't know if that makes sense but anyhow.

Wrongly or rightly never been one to want a fuss so rarely ever mention diabetes to family & friends, so consequently they rarely mention it to me, like it that way & feel more comfortable with it, if someone does ask about diabetes I'm happy to explain things but that's about it.

 

[helli]

I think there are two types of stress along the "diabetes journey".
There's the initial diagnosis when I had lots of unknowns, lots of questions and needing to sift the relevant facts from the irrelevant facts and untruths.
Later, there is the stress from the relentlessness of managing diabetes, finding the techniques I have been using in the past stop working or I find myself in a different situation where what I learned previously doesn't work. It's the day to day grind.
Many days, when it is the norm that @nonethewiser mentioned, I do spend less time thinking about diabetes. But then there are days when the stress may not be related to diabetes but I realise diabetes is something else I have to deal with that most people don't need to worry about.

My friends and family will occasionally ask "how's your diabetes?" but they don't have diabetes and, as most of my diabetes management is unseen (I eat what I want and give myself insulin through my phone), they have little idea about the decisions I am making much of the time.

I would certainly love a day off and, when my insulin regime is not working, I would love to be able to "just have a treat and not worry about the affect on my BG" for change. But that is not possible with Type 1 - if I was treat myself with a cake, for example, and not take insulin, my BG would rise and rise, stay there (a walk around the block would certainly not help - it may raise it further) and make me feel very unwell.

 

[Lauren]

Such an important point to make. I'm glad you posted this as sometimes we can be so hard on ourselves, but actually it is a massive thing and it's important to take that into account now and again.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Great post @pjgtech and very wise to be mindful of these additional pressures. I think there was research at one point that suggested people intensively managing their diabetes make on average an additional 180 decisions per day. Which, assuming you are only disturbed by an hour at night is between 10-11 extra decisions/checks/CGM glances/interactions every hour of the day.

Yes it can certainly feel like a full time job at times. And not one we ever signed up for, or can ever take a day off from*.

Hardly surprising that folks experience burnout from time to time.

* Well almost never. There are very rare times when it almost feels like I’m having a day off from looking after my diabetes - https://www.everydayupsanddowns.co.uk/2019/07/diabetes-days-off.html

 

[trophywench]

After I retired I started volunteering for groups that dealt with things that interested me, one of which was diabetes. OH pretty much thought I was nuts 'doing stuff for other people' until after he'd had prostate cancer so we went along to the local support group who were very active but apparently, it was made evident at their AGM, short of people to run it hence two 'old blokes' were apparently doing it all between them. One of em still had a wife whereas the other was a widower. So I thought oh sod it, and stuck my hand up. OH said that as we now only had one car and I wasn't driving as I'd just had my second cataract removed hence he'd have to ferry me to committee meetings anyway he might as well join the committee/board of Trustees as well ...... both still very involved with that one.

One of those 'two old blokes' - both by this time well into their 80s - popped his clogs earlier this year and the other also well into his 80s has found his health declining too. We're ALL feeling our ages and now in the same boat that those two 'old blokes' found themselves in, nearly 25 years ago. People just don't want to do it; how boring dealing with the admin of things ..... no I've retired from work and you don't get paid for all this, so why put myself out?