Stress Center Peer Support

Hi my name is Kathy and I am in the program in session #3. I have depression for many many years and o numerous antidepressants that never work. I have also had diabetes for 30 yrs and also have a pump it is alot better then doing the shots and it controls my diabetes alot better. When I didn't have a pump my a1c was 11 and now it is 6.8 so that is a really big differance. I have no complications from my diabetes except about 10 yrs or so ago I was going to go have a pancreas transplant and went to our university in minnnesota (it is well known for pancreas transplants)well there were alot I mean alot of testing that I had to go through and one of them was a heart catherization (I decided not to have the transplant done). When they did the heart cath they found out that I had a 50 % block in my left main artery a very crutal part of the heart because it controls 70 % of your heart so for the last 10 yrs or so I have been seeing a cardiologist. Well my family history is not so good my father had a triple bypass and I have high cholesterol that is controled by medication. Well in late january of this year I had neck problems and went to see my MD and he was doing munipulations on me - well this time my left arm really was bothering me so I called him and at that time I couldn't sleep it hurt so bad so he told me to call my cardiologist so I did and they said they had to do another heart catherization the next day. They dont put you all the way out when they do this and in the middle of it it got really quiet and my cardiologist came to me and said that I had 4 large blockages and I needed emergency triple bypass so the next morning I went down to have a triple bypass at the age of 46. WOW I was shocked -I was at home out of work with no disability for 2 1/2 mo and then the depression came back plus anxiety. I am on a small dose of antidepressant for now and I am in the session 3 of the program I know that this will work I just need to stay focused and yes the blood sugars when they are up or down make the symptoms worse so good blood sugar monitoring is good all the way around. And if you haven't seen a cardiologist and have diabetes please do see one. I hope that I didn;t cause more anxiety that is not my intention. I am glad to be able to talk to someone that can really relate.
Kathy

Hi there csprague1981 I just read your note and yes you need to take this very seriosly. I was diagnosed when I was 16 and now Im 47. The desease if not managed will kill your body or put you in a coma or kill your kidneys. YOU CAN DO THIS AND YOU HAVE TO DO THIS you deserve better then what your giving yourself. Is it work ya but ya know what no one but you can do this 1 step at a time. Read my other note in here. Take care of yourself no one else will and if not for yourself what about what you will put your family through. Make them proud and say I CAN AND I WILL DO THIS
Kathy

Hello fellow diabetics I was diagnosed when I was 18 and I am 55 now. I still have problems excepting the condition I had grandparents and uncle with Type 2 I think now that the high stress and depression as a child in triggering the diabetes. I work in the medical field and understand a lot, though my doctor never dicusses the use of an insulin pump I know ther is large variety , good and bad responses to them also. I know for sure that this disease has not helped with my depression at all. I have been having more tingling feelings in arms and chest area checking my BS more often . Does any one think the pump help in any way

These posts are so old I do not know if anyone is still out there with diabetes. Just in case, yes the pump is great! However it is only as good as you make it. The anxiety, depression, and lack of belief in myself has caused me to not use my tools to the best of their ability which really hurts in the long run. So far after 44 years of type 1 I have no problems which is thanks to God not to myself. I am back at being hopeful with having found this program. Also, my therapist is working with me on some other issues. My psychiatrist said I had anxiety but I did not believe her until I watched Lucinda and still doubtful until I got the whole package and started watching session 1 which does a lot of explaining. Hope someone out there can connect with me and somehow help in being able to take care of myself even if just by having the same problems.

Hello,

I have type 2 diabetes, started out as gestational diabetes then it never went away. When my anxiety first started I confused panic attacks with low blood sugar so I would eat (I didn't have a monitor at that time because the doctors thought the diabetes had gone away) this caused me to put on a great deal of weight.

It has been my experience that diabetes and panic disorder do not go well together. When I am anxious my sugars are sky high. The depression I feel makes it difficult to find the energy to exercise regularly and to cook healthy meals. I avoid checking my sugars because when they are high I feel like a total failure and I spin into depression. It is one of my hopes that as I get control of the anxiety that my diabetes will respond as well. Thankfully I am not in bad shape my last A1-c was 5.7, but no matter what I do my fasting number is always high, the rest of the day is fine. I would be interested to know if anyone else has this problem.

Type 2 is very different, yet very much the same as type 1. I did not realize for years that I was having anxiety and depression. Also, the doctors I had said that the reason my diabetes was not in control was because I did not try hard enough. Thanks for the exta baggage there....

Please do check your sugar and record it. And search until you find a doctor who is willing to recognize mental health and diabetes. The right doctor, certified diabetes educator, or maybe even a friend met in a support meeting, can help you with the ups and downs. Now don't think I've got it yet, but I am working on it. Just realizing how much stress effects my sugar was an eye opener. I do not feel so much like a failure. I keep reminding myself that I am just learning and one day I will get there.

I assume you are either on pills or diet? I am on an insulin pump because I am type 1. Some times morning highs are what they call a Dawn Phenomenon. Try reading this from
[URL=www.diabetic-talk.org]
"There are many ways of defeating Dawn Phenomenon. You will have to experiment with the following suggestions to see what works for you.

Try eating no food after dinner. This works for people whose Dawn Phenomenon isn't very strong. Basically, it lowers their baseline BG, so that when DP does hit them, the increase keeps them below a certain level, usually 120 (6.7).
Try eating a small snack of fat and protein before bed. Most find that a tablespoon of peanut butter, or some cheese and deli meat are effective. The theory here is that the slow-digesting fat and protein holds their BG high enough overnight to avoid Somogyi Effect (see below).
Eventually, you will learn how the two disparate approaches above work for you. Hopefully, you will set personal targets to guide you, eg., if my BG is below XXX (insert your target here), I need a snack. If my BG is over XXX, I don't need a snack.
The prescription medication Metformin HCl (Glucophage) is often very effective in limiting Dawn Phenomenon for Type-2s and insulin resistant Type-1s. Of course, Type-1s can adjust their basal (slow) insulin regimen to account for Dawn Phenomenon.
Lastly, EAT BREAKFAST. The resulting increase in blood glucose from food will often turn off the continued rise. If you don't, some diabetics will continue to rise until 10-11 am." or less likely it could be:
"Somogyi Effect, named for Dr. Robert Somogyi, its discoverer, is a high morning BG due to a low overnight. It is most commonly seen with insulin using diabetics, but is also seen with overnight reactive hypoglycemics.

The mechanism is a low overnight, which causes the body to react by releasing many of the same hormones seen in DP. The strongest blood glucose increasing hormone, glucagon, plays an important role. It tells your liver to start glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis to provide enough glucose for your body to survive. This is sometimes referred to as a Liver Dump. Often, this mechanism over-produces, and you wake to a significantly higher BG.

Setting your bedtime BG target a bit higher, will usually prevent you from having a hypoglycemic event overnight."

Thank you so much for all of the information. I will check out the site you recommended. I currently take Metformin and Byetta. I did check my bs this am 143, about average for me. Part of my feeling like a failure stems from my perfectionism. I am hopeful that this program will help me to become more realistic and accepting of myself.

I am 19 years old and a type 1 diabetic. it has been a really hard and tramatic life for me for the past couple of years now. i was diagnosed with diabetes in 5th grade but it has just been recent years when i have had to deal with depression/panic attacks/and anxiety also.

when i was first diagnosed i did the best i could to stay in control and for the most part was. it wasnt untill the end of middle school and the beginnig of high school when things started to change. i realized i didnt want to be diabetic anymore and was determined to not be diabetic. i would skip my insulin, never check my blood sugars and would just average blood sugars of 400 or so. i knew the consequences of my actions but i couldnt stop. i got use to the feeling of high blood sugars and was fine with them. i felt worse if i ever was in a normal range.

in high school kids would make fun of me, pull and tug on my insulin pump, call me a robot, make diabetic jokes and all i could do is laugh and pretend it didnt effect me when it really did.

this is when my depression and everything hit home for me. it was like i could never get away from anything. i felt boxed in and nowhere to go. i dreaded going to school and would make myself sick so i wouldnt be able to go. just the thought of going to school would make me freak out. i felt hated and different and that nobody understood me. i became very unsociable and turned away from anybody trying to help me. i took my anger out on my friends and family.

i am in college now and still suffer from depression and everything. i feel like i have messed up so much in the past with my blood sugars and everything that its just a matter of time before all the horrible things that can happen to diabetics will kick in like blindness and amputation or kidney disease or even death. i fear having seizures again in public when nobody will know what to do. and the scariest thing of all is that i have thought about committing suicide before (not recently) just becuase i feel overwhelmed with all my thoughts and everything in life and i just cant live this way anymore. if anyone has any advice that would be very helpful
thank you

Dear southerngirl,
I have had diabetes since age 10 and am now 54.
You have not screwed up yet. So forgive yourself and try again. Find a counselor to work with you on self esteem, join a group either diabetes support or something like weight watchers or the church based groups weight loss - the reason is to learn nutrition and have people who understand the difficulty in maintaining a balanced lifestyle. If they are no help - find another therapist or group. They are out there but some times you have to search them out. High sugars cause depression and anxiety - no out of control sugars cause those problems. However then those problems make it harder to control sugars. Therefore, you need God to be strong in your life to give you a purpose to live and help to be in control. Self esteem (and God) are vital to living with diabetes. Like Lucinda says in this
program, you learn to ride the waves of depression and anxiety when they hit, and keep on going. Let it be that some days are hard, but do not discount the ones that are good and keep trying.

What is your major in college? Do you have girl friends? Are you a christian? What kind of pump do you have? What are your blood sugars running now? Do you like your doctor? Is your doctor and endocrinologist? Does he/she condemn you when your sugars are not in control or is she/he understanding and ready to help motivate you?

I will pray for you and be glad to talk with you or email if you want.

Sandra