The Diabetes Rollercoaster

I've probably heard the words 'diabetes' and 'rollercoaster' being used in the same sentence a hundred times, possibly more.Thinking about my own personal experience since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I'd probably agree with anyone who claimed diabetes was a rollercoaster. 

From the moment of diagnosis, adjusting to the body's requirements, right through to learning to live a 'normal' life, there is constantly a battle to beat the lows, and keep the high's going. Anyone who lives with diabetes deserves a medal, from this perspective. But why does diabetes come with the rollercoaster of feelings, as well?

Some days will be good days. Waking up with a decent blood sugar reading, being able to calculate the right medication. No high readings and no horrible hypos. What a great day these are.

But then some days will be bad days. For some reason or other, you might wake up with a high reading, or you might catch a mid-morning hypo. How inconvenient, I always think. Especially if you're stuck in a meeting and no end is in sight! Halfway through a meeting the other day, I was convinced I must have had a reading in the mid-teens - I was falling asleep, I felt grumpy and I couldn't concentrate. After the meeting finished, I checked my sugar levels and I was a perfect 7. Perhaps what I had felt were just the symptoms of an incredibly boring meeting, in that case!

There might be times when you can pinpoint why your meter tells you you're a certain level. You might have forgotten about that small glass of fruit juice at breakfast, or you may have not had the time to have a mid-morning snack. Remembering though, can bring you a solution.

However, what about the times that you can't work out why your sugar levels are particularly high or low? The lack of control may well leave you wanting to bang your head against the wall in frustration. It might make you want to rebel against your diabetes. 

Whatever it makes you feel, diabetes shouldn't make you feel like it is controlling you and your life. Sometimes, we could perhaps take our sugar level readings with a pinch of salt (not sugar), accept the reading and look at how to fix it. Of course, this is easier said than done.

Diabetes has no right to make you feel the way it sometimes makes us feel. So, once you've taken a correction dose, or had a hypo treatment, remind yourself how incredible you are for living with diabetes, and say hi to everyone else who is probably feeling the same way as you. You're not alone.

Feel free to drop a line if diabetes is getting you down. Bottling up how we feel can do more harm than good. 

Signing out, Louise

louisepeersupport@live.com 

Working with diabetes

Managing your diabetes is a very personal thing and how (and with whom) you choose to share that with can also be a very individual thing.  Some people choose to be very open about it whilst others can be more reserved – and whatever works best for you is obviously the best thing.

 

But is there a certain amount we should disclose about our condition regardless of how much we might want to?

 

I recently started a new job (actually my third different workplace in the last 12 months – the price of being a contract worker) and I haven’t really talked a lot about diabetes since I began.  I have my tester and diary out on my desk all the time, I openly use my pump in the lunch room but I haven’t really explained any of this to my new colleagues.  I’ve told them I have type 1 diabetes but I’ve not elaborated any further than that.

 

I think the main reason is that I don’t want to make other people feel uncomfortable because of it.  Or that I don’t want people to feel any sort of responsibility towards me because of it.  That said, in a previous job, I ended up explaining to two of my co-workers all about type 1 diabetes in great detail when we had an overnight stop in London for some meetings.  It turned out that they were very curious and felt a lot more informed as a result.

 

I’ve always been very independent with my diabetes and whilst my immediate family and close friends know what they need to know I’ve never felt at ease automatically giving that same information to colleagues – partly because I’ve never felt like I needed to. 

 

But is it being responsible for your own health to tell people what might happen, how to treat a hypo and what signs to look out for?

 

I suppose the answer is always a pretty personal thing too.  If you’re going through a phase where your control isn’t as good as you’d like, or you don’t get hypo warning signs then maybe it’s more prudent to be open with your colleagues than if you’re a lot more confident in how your daily routine affects your diabetes.

 

What we should always remember is that there should be no stigma attached to having diabetes and you should always be able to speak openly about what it means for you and what it might mean for your colleagues too.

 

If you’re not sure about how you should broach the subject or want someone to talk to, don’t forget you can contact us in confidence to talk things through.

 

Andy

@AndyPeerSupport

andydiabetespsn@gmail.com