Having a very bad day.

rheannaraye

I met with a Diabetes Educator today who was very pleased with my changes and progress with my diabetes. We went over carbs, different foods and the carb servings, changing up some of my snacks throughout the day, etc. etc. etc. She even went over reading food labels, which is something that I haven't 100% been properly trained to do yet.

I left her office with my head swimming. Numbers bouncing around, eat this, not that, don't even touch this, but you can have a half cup of that, 15 carbs per meal, means you can have some of this, monitor this though, round and round and round it goes.

I don't know why, but now I'm just in a funk. I'm upset, and angry, and feeling very depressed. I feel like this is never going to end and I'm so frustrated and just want to scream, "Why ME?!" People who are not diabetic don't get it. They don't get how truly difficult it is to live with and how much goes into it. I'm so tired of medications and new meds and new doctors and being told what I can and can't do when the rest of the world can just la-di-da and do whatever the hell they please.

I'm whining. I know that. I know that depression and moods are also VERY common with diabetes. I guess I'm just reaching out, looking for support, and looking for a few pick-me-ups if anyone has any to spare for today.

cathylopez1975

Sorry you've had such a rough day. Sounds like you are totally overwhelmed. I'm with you on the being tired of meds and doctors and being told what you can and can't do. Just hang in there - it does get better.

You look young in your pic. I'm in my late 50s and so have a little different perspective. I avoided and ignored my type 2 for 10ish years before I got serious about getting control of my health in Sept 2012. It took the death of my mom from liver disease as a result of her poor food and diabetes choices to get me to make changes. I didn't want my life to end as badly as hers. So I was definitely motivated.

Here's my perspective on your rough day - Take what you heard today and focus on ONE thing. Learn all you can about that one thing and make it a habit. You look like A LOT was dumped on you today - maybe too much. You can't do it all. Just do the best you can. Make the best choices you can with what you know. As you walk through each day it gets easier and more natural.

By the way, it really never does end, but there are other things A LOT WORSE that we could be dealing with. At least we can make improvements with our good choices. I am grateful for that.

Again, hang in there! We are out here on the same journey as you.

retiree2006

It does sound like your frustration is understandable. When you get a huge amount of information at one time, that can really be overwhelming. As cathylopez197 already said, just begin working on one or two things and go from there. Look at other people's diaries to get some ideas of how to put together different meals, even though they vary quite a bit. That might give you a place to start and let yo see it can be done.

You're smart to work on your diabetes right away rather than ignoring it. Wishing you good luck and you'll find a lot of great support here!

scubasuenc

Diabetes is hard to deal with. Particularly when you are in a time of change, like changing medications or lifestyle. All I can recommend is to take it one day at a time and to do the best you can each day. Don't let a bad day sabotage the progress you have made.

When building new habits it is easier to make one change at a time than to try to change everything at once. It sounds like you received a lot of information today, so pick the one thing you think was most important and focus on it until you master it. Until it becomes a habit and part of your routine. Once you have that one down, pick another thing to focus on.

The real problem with diabetes is that we can often get away with non-compliance in the short term, but the long term effects add up. I'm in my 40's and realized I might have to live with diabetes for another 40 years. That is a long time for damage to accumulate. After ignoring it for a while, I'm trying to take control again to minimize damage.

CRody44

reannaraye,
I will assume you have a blood sugar meter and that your Dr. or Diabetes Educator gave you a target range for fasting (the morning, 12 hours after dinner and before you have anything for breakfast) after meals and before bed..

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that you keep your blood sugar levels at:
• 90 mg/dL to 130 mg/dL before meals
• Less than 180 mg/dL 1 to 2 hours after meals

I personally think this is high. I shoot for less than 120 in the morning and 160 an hour after meals, and 140 by bedtime. This is still high for a lot of people. Some target under 100 in the morning. I did this for a while, eating less than 25 carbs a day, but no longer. Carbs are anything plant based which is converted into sugar.

What has worked for me is “eating to my meter”. I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes ten years ago and had very little information on what to do, but over the years, I am starting to figure it out. When I got serious about my blood sugar, I started checking it in the morning, an hour after each meal (an hour after a meal is when your blood sugar is the highest sugar level) and at night. Depending on what you pay for your test strips, it could be expensive at the beginning. Now I only test in the morning.

I used MFP to log all of my food and spread sheet for my blood sugar readings. In a short time, you will learn what carbs spike your blood sugar. I quit things like candy, donuts, cake, malts and fast food because, logically, they are bad for you. For me, my big downfall was pasta, pizza, pie and too much fruit (I was eating 4-6 cups a day). I’ll now have my fruit at breakfast (because I take my diabetes meds then) and at lunch, but try to avoid it at dinner and especially before bed.

One thing that upset me, because I got of Insulin, then Metformin, was a high spike in sugar in the morning, sometimes 20-30 points higher than my before bed reading. This is called Liver Dump or Dawn Phenomenon. It is best explained at
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/health/article_8042.shtml

http://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/ub/view/Johns_Hopkins_Diabetes_Guide/547034/all/Dawn+Phenomenon
http://forecast.diabetes.org/magazine/features/rocky-morning-highs

Some good sites that do a much better job of explaining than I can are:

http://bloodsugar101.com/
http://www.diabetesforum.com/
http://www.diabetesdaily.com/
http://www.dlife.com/?gclid=CK6wncfe-7ICFYaDQgodLXEAmA

If you need any help, let me know and I’ll try to help out.

Chuck

rheannaraye

Thank you all VERY much- it's so nice to remember that I'm not alone. I'm doing good things, and I need to remember to focus on the positive. It's very easy to get overwhelmed. The reality is that I've lowered my A1C 3 points and am drastically changing my diet and am doing so many wonderful things for myself. The specialist was happy to hear them, then proceeded to throw out a bunch of numbers. It's hard to feel happy when you feel like there's so much MORE that comes into it, haha. I need to digest what she said, and pick out the most important pieces to follow for now- it didn't get this way over night, it won't change over night either.

Thanks for all of your support, advice, and warm feelings --- I appreciate it all SO much!

Gentyl

I met with a Diabetes Educator today who was very pleased with my changes and progress with my diabetes. We went over carbs, different foods and the carb servings, changing up some of my snacks throughout the day, etc. etc. etc. She even went over reading food labels, which is something that I haven't 100% been properly trained to do yet.

I left her office with my head swimming. Numbers bouncing around, eat this, not that, don't even touch this, but you can have a half cup of that, 15 carbs per meal, means you can have some of this, monitor this though, round and round and round it goes.

I don't know why, but now I'm just in a funk. I'm upset, and angry, and feeling very depressed. I feel like this is never going to end and I'm so frustrated and just want to scream, "Why ME?!" People who are not diabetic don't get it. They don't get how truly difficult it is to live with and how much goes into it. I'm so tired of medications and new meds and new doctors and being told what I can and can't do when the rest of the world can just la-di-da and do whatever the hell they please.

I'm whining. I know that. I know that depression and moods are also VERY common with diabetes. I guess I'm just reaching out, looking for support, and looking for a few pick-me-ups if anyone has any to spare for today.

Being a diabetic Sucks!!!! When I was diagnosed, that is exactly what I needed to hear, because that is exactly what I was feeling. It gets better. It gets easier. It becomes, in fact, with new dishes and new ways of eating, quite enjoyable. I couldn't think of any other way I'd rather eat now. Of course, I'm on an LCHF Woe (way of eating). It's brilliant, I love it. It took a while to learn to eat fewer than 30 grams of carbs a day, but the new foods more than made up for it. From an A1C of 10.7, I have been below 5.0. My last one was 4.7, as was the one before that.

Here's the real amazing thing about being a diabetic, however. You learn to really just love You. You become conscious and caring of what you put into your body because you are worth it. You begin to look better and feel better than you have in years. And you begin to see, in the end, just how much your life has changed for the better. Most of us were diabetics long before diagnosis. it's time to feel good again, to enjoy your life, your future. You do need extra care. But, You are worth it. And that's always a good feeling.

rheannaraye

Being a diabetic Sucks!!!! When I was diagnosed, that is exactly what I needed to hear, because that is exactly what I was feeling. It gets better. It gets easier. It becomes, in fact, with new dishes and new ways of eating, quite enjoyable.

[...]

Here's the real amazing thing about being a diabetic, however. You learn to really just love You. You become conscious and caring of what you put into your body because you are worth it.

I am 90% sure I'm planning to copy this and pin it up somewhere as a constant reminder. THANK YOU.

GlucernaBrand

What a lot of helpful, realistic suggestions folks are posting. I really like the recommendation to pick just one thing to work on at a time, and to remind yourself that you're making healthy changes to focus on the positives. I think often diabetes educators pack as much information as possible into an hour, because we're afraid we'll forget something, or we'll never see this person again and need to make sure they have all the information they need. No wonder your head was spinning! ~Lynn /Glucerna