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 

You never forget your first

There are a lot of things we learn to live with as a result of having diabetes.  Hypos are just one of many things that we people with diabetes have to face.

 

I remember when I was diagnosed that the specialist nurse I saw at the time tried to explain to me what it would feel like when I had a hypo.  (There’s no “if” in these cases – you’re bound to have a hypo eventually).  I don’t remember how she described it at the time, although in fairness I was too busy trying to work out how to carry all the stuff I’d been given and desperately trying to remember what doses of insulin I needed to take.

 

What I do vividly remember is having my first hypo.

 

I was working in a pub kitchen when that feeling we’re all familiar with started to wash over me.  I could feel my heart pounding and my hands were starting to shake.  I remember feeling quite disoriented – it was as if thinking had become something to concentrate on rather than being a reflex action.  I think the best analogy you can give someone who isn’t diabetic is that it’s like being in an induced state of panic.  I’m not sure it’s possible to convey to someone who doesn’t get hypos how it actually feels.  Of course your close friends and family will learn the signs and can see what it looks like (reports of me being grumpy in such situations are wide of the mark), but you can’t articulate the way it feels.

 

I’d been given a number to call the first time I went low so that a nurse could make sure I was OK.  I remember stepping outside and making that call, trying to explain what was happening as if I was the first person that this had ever happened to.  Of course that’s not true, but when it’s happening to you for the first time, you’re convinced that you’re the only person in the world that feels that way.

 

Of course the nurse talked me through what I needed to do.  I’m fairly sure I actually carried proper Dextrose tablets back then so having had a couple of those and a sit down I felt ready to go back to work.  The added bonus of working in a kitchen meant a free sandwich was fairly easy to come by.

 

There are so many hurdles we have to jump with this condition and whilst they get easier with time, the first time you go over one, it feels like a mountain.

 

Remember that you’re not on your own with your diabetes – there are a lot of people out there who understand what you’re going through and will help if you need it.  You can always contact us as peer supporters and we’ll help in whatever way possible.

 

Until next time, take care

 

Andy

@AndyPeerSupport