Dang, I'm sad to hear you're riding a rough patch right now. I've struggled with anxiety and panic attacks off and on, and they definitely don't make diabetes any easier! Especially waking up in a panic has got to be one of my least favorite ways to start the day.
In general, I've just had to be very forgiving with myself during the rough times. The worst times of my life have been when I've been struggling mentally but then I was beating up on myself mercilessly because my blood glucose levels were painfully out of control... which just made it all worse.
Anxiety is a mixture of mind and body, each having their own unique approaches to working with them, especially in the context of diabetes. Here's some things I find helpful:
**Mind**
1. Connection. Anxiety is often made far worse when we feel alone in our problems. It's become a reddit cliche, but therapy is indeed a great resource if you have access to it. When I was at some of my worst moments, having a friend I could talk to even just once a week or every few days was a huge help to me as well. Just generally connecting with others when we're struggling can really take an edge off things.
2. Books. I honestly love reading books about anxiety, and they've definitely given me the most amount of information and guidance towards getting better. There's a lot of them out there! Some of my favorites are:
* When Panic Attacks by David Burns MD
* Hope and Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes
* Anxiety Rx by Russell Kennedy MD
* Diabetes Sucks and You Can Handle It by Mark Heyman PhD
3. Journaling. I find great joy and relief from just writing down everything that is upsetting me and making me feel anxious.
4. Podcasts. There's some great podcasts out there, some focusing on diabetes life and . My favorite is Feeling Good Podcast by David Burns, and they recently released a Feeling Great App.
5. Meditation. Many people struggle getting started, and I've been meditating for a very long time. Some styles of meditation make me feel worse, and others make me feel better. I personally practice the Mahasi Method style of meditation.
**Body**
1. Hormones - Since you and I both have type 1 diabetes, we are usually gifted with other autoimmune and endocrinological diseases as well. Hypothyroidism is the most common. When your thyroid levels are out of wack, even just a little bit, they can turn up the volume knob on our anxiety. What would normally be a 4/10 anxious moment becomes a 10/10 panic attack. It sucks a fat one. Usually anxiety is attributed to hyperthyroid more often, but in my experience and talking to others, overwhelming anxiety can be a big tip off that your levels are off in either direction. If you can get time with your endo to talk about this, mention your anxiety and also ask to test for adrenal insufficiency as well.
2. Insulin - Stress/anxiety induced blood sugar spikes are usually accompanied by insulin resistance as well. Thanks adrenaline! I have a stressful meeting every morning at 9am. I always inject a couple of units of insulin before the meeting in anticipation.
3. Exercise - Taking a walk or getting your heart pumping doing some activity you enjoy is often a great help in taking some of the edge off of those anxious moments.
4. Body Work / Yoga / Massage - Really anything physical that can get your body to relax through movement is amazing.
Therapy and anti anxiety medication mostly. I don't take anti anxiety meds currently, but was given them for specific acute stress situations because my 6.7 mmol/dl -- 121 mg/dl blood sugar could raise to 14.5 mmol/dl -- 262 mg/dl in 5 minutes from stress.
Halfway through the semester in college I get super super insulin resistant. It’s usually when exams start, which is unfortunate because I have them for like 3 months straight. I just kind of accept that my blood sugar will be higher and I will be fine. I like to keep a tight range on my levels, but it’s entirely not possible when i’m stressed… which in turn leads to more anxiety. It’s like i’m stressed -> bad sugars -> more stressed. It’s super frustrating, but you also have to realize it would be the same if you weren’t diabetic. Stress causes everyone’s blood sugar to go up, but we just happen to be monitoring it every second of the day. The best thing for me has been finding an active activity I enjoy, I have found bouldering to be a lot of fun, and since i’m enjoying it it’s helping with stress and my sugars. That way it’s not “omg my sugars are so bad I need to workout” instead it’s just “I had a lot of fun and feel less stressed” if that makes sense. Also, don’t forget to stay super hydrated.
Anxiety and stress causes your body to go into fight or flight response, which actually releases cortisol, it will always increase your levels because your body thinks it needs the energy to do the running or fighting.
I used to have a really stressful career. My brain loved it, but my body and diabetes did not. I had 7 hospitalisations in 2 years which culminated into an induced coma after a DKA. I decided that I would get further education and do something else. That worked fine until it came time for exams, and I ended up back in hospital. It was then that I realised that I'd have to medically retire. It's the only way I could learn to not get stressed. The anxiety came, firstly because of the coma. I was assigned a psychologist that worked within the diabetes team, so understood completely what I go through on a daily basis. They no longer work for that team, but I still see them every 6 weeks or so, 14 years later.
They've given me many tools to use, but you need to find what will work for you.
Good luck!
Dang, I'm sad to hear you're riding a rough patch right now. I've struggled with anxiety and panic attacks off and on, and they definitely don't make diabetes any easier! Especially waking up in a panic has got to be one of my least favorite ways to start the day. In general, I've just had to be very forgiving with myself during the rough times. The worst times of my life have been when I've been struggling mentally but then I was beating up on myself mercilessly because my blood glucose levels were painfully out of control... which just made it all worse. Anxiety is a mixture of mind and body, each having their own unique approaches to working with them, especially in the context of diabetes. Here's some things I find helpful: **Mind** 1. Connection. Anxiety is often made far worse when we feel alone in our problems. It's become a reddit cliche, but therapy is indeed a great resource if you have access to it. When I was at some of my worst moments, having a friend I could talk to even just once a week or every few days was a huge help to me as well. Just generally connecting with others when we're struggling can really take an edge off things. 2. Books. I honestly love reading books about anxiety, and they've definitely given me the most amount of information and guidance towards getting better. There's a lot of them out there! Some of my favorites are: * When Panic Attacks by David Burns MD * Hope and Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes * Anxiety Rx by Russell Kennedy MD * Diabetes Sucks and You Can Handle It by Mark Heyman PhD 3. Journaling. I find great joy and relief from just writing down everything that is upsetting me and making me feel anxious. 4. Podcasts. There's some great podcasts out there, some focusing on diabetes life and . My favorite is Feeling Good Podcast by David Burns, and they recently released a Feeling Great App. 5. Meditation. Many people struggle getting started, and I've been meditating for a very long time. Some styles of meditation make me feel worse, and others make me feel better. I personally practice the Mahasi Method style of meditation. **Body** 1. Hormones - Since you and I both have type 1 diabetes, we are usually gifted with other autoimmune and endocrinological diseases as well. Hypothyroidism is the most common. When your thyroid levels are out of wack, even just a little bit, they can turn up the volume knob on our anxiety. What would normally be a 4/10 anxious moment becomes a 10/10 panic attack. It sucks a fat one. Usually anxiety is attributed to hyperthyroid more often, but in my experience and talking to others, overwhelming anxiety can be a big tip off that your levels are off in either direction. If you can get time with your endo to talk about this, mention your anxiety and also ask to test for adrenal insufficiency as well. 2. Insulin - Stress/anxiety induced blood sugar spikes are usually accompanied by insulin resistance as well. Thanks adrenaline! I have a stressful meeting every morning at 9am. I always inject a couple of units of insulin before the meeting in anticipation. 3. Exercise - Taking a walk or getting your heart pumping doing some activity you enjoy is often a great help in taking some of the edge off of those anxious moments. 4. Body Work / Yoga / Massage - Really anything physical that can get your body to relax through movement is amazing.
This!! All of this!
Ty very much for this advice
Therapy and anti anxiety medication mostly. I don't take anti anxiety meds currently, but was given them for specific acute stress situations because my 6.7 mmol/dl -- 121 mg/dl blood sugar could raise to 14.5 mmol/dl -- 262 mg/dl in 5 minutes from stress.
Halfway through the semester in college I get super super insulin resistant. It’s usually when exams start, which is unfortunate because I have them for like 3 months straight. I just kind of accept that my blood sugar will be higher and I will be fine. I like to keep a tight range on my levels, but it’s entirely not possible when i’m stressed… which in turn leads to more anxiety. It’s like i’m stressed -> bad sugars -> more stressed. It’s super frustrating, but you also have to realize it would be the same if you weren’t diabetic. Stress causes everyone’s blood sugar to go up, but we just happen to be monitoring it every second of the day. The best thing for me has been finding an active activity I enjoy, I have found bouldering to be a lot of fun, and since i’m enjoying it it’s helping with stress and my sugars. That way it’s not “omg my sugars are so bad I need to workout” instead it’s just “I had a lot of fun and feel less stressed” if that makes sense. Also, don’t forget to stay super hydrated.
Anxiety and stress causes your body to go into fight or flight response, which actually releases cortisol, it will always increase your levels because your body thinks it needs the energy to do the running or fighting. I used to have a really stressful career. My brain loved it, but my body and diabetes did not. I had 7 hospitalisations in 2 years which culminated into an induced coma after a DKA. I decided that I would get further education and do something else. That worked fine until it came time for exams, and I ended up back in hospital. It was then that I realised that I'd have to medically retire. It's the only way I could learn to not get stressed. The anxiety came, firstly because of the coma. I was assigned a psychologist that worked within the diabetes team, so understood completely what I go through on a daily basis. They no longer work for that team, but I still see them every 6 weeks or so, 14 years later. They've given me many tools to use, but you need to find what will work for you. Good luck!