How To Cope With Diabetes

Coping With Diabetes Can Be A Daily Struggle, So What Can You Do To Cope Well With Diabetes?

Introduction

Diabetes is a chronic condition that can sometimes be difficult to manage. The constant monitoring and management of the newly diagnosed condition can be hard to figure out.

There are different types of diabetes that people can either be born with, develop over time, and that can appear as a secondary condition to another health occurrence, such as pregnancy.

It is essential to understand the complexity of diabetes as a whole and understand that it has the ability to take its toll on the emotions of the people who have it; it can be an emotional rollercoaster until a balance is found, which is never the same for every person.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas does not produce any insulin at all. This is replaced with the introduction of insulin on a sliding administration scale.

Type 2 diabetes is potentially the most changeable type of diabetes. This type can be managed through diet, tablets, or indeed insulin. The pancreas does produce insulin but not enough in some cases.

Other variations of diabetes, such as gestational diabetes, are exclusive to pregnancy but often disappear after the baby is born, and this too can be extremely difficult to manage.

So what can we do when we are looking at how to cope with diabetes to make the condition more manageable and keep us safe in the event that something happens where we need to receive additional care?

Let’s have a look below!

Dont Skip Your Health Appointments

It is so essential that you attend all of your scheduled medical appointments with your health professional.

As a diabetic, you might find yourself at the GP office a lot more than a regular person. That is totally ok as they will need to keep your condition closely monitored to make sure that you stay well and can manage sufficiently.

Diabetic management can come in the form of many appointments to manage your medications and general health overall, as well as some additional appointments periodically, such as diabetic eye screening and blood tests, which are all super important.

Alert Your Friends and Family

It is important that your friends and family are aware of your condition, and there should be no shame over telling them everything about what is happening with you.

Alerting people to your condition can be helpful if there is anything to ever happen to you, such as a hypoglycaemic attack (low blood sugars) or a hyperglycaemic attack (high blood sugars).

If your nearest and dearest are aware, they will be able to inform any medical professionals that you are diabetic and the medication you take, if any, to manage your condition. However, if you are alone, you could consider wearing a bracelet from Medical Alert Bracelets UK, which can have all of your medical information and treatment schedules within it.

Know What Your Normal Ranges Are

As we mentioned, there are never 2 identical cases of diabetes as people are inherently different; therefore, diabetes will affect everyone differently.

With diabetes, it’s essential to continually check your blood sugar levels independently with a blood glucose monitor.

Still, more importantly, it is crucial to know how to translate those results into how your management should commence (and often, this is a daily occurrence that can get too much to cope with for some people).

Blood sugar readings are set within guidelines of low, normal, and high categories; however, this guide does not fit every single diabetic!

Some people who have a reading of 15mmol post-meal will feel absolutely fine. In contrast, some others with the same reading will be gravely unwell and require medical assistance.

So it’s super important to know what “Normal” is for you.

Coping With Your Diagnosis

Aside from all of the physical changes and management of your diagnosis, it is important to know how to manage the emotional aspects of your diabetes diagnosis.

A diabetes diagnosis can come as a shock to some people, and that in itself can be an emotional conversation.

Some organisations can assist in helping you to understand what diabetes is and teach you how to cope with the onslaught of changes you will need to make in response.

Often, the lifestyle changes that you will need to make in line with your diagnosis can be the hardest things to wrap your head around, and drastically changing your daily routine to incorporate blood testing, making different food choices, and taking your medication can sometimes be overwhelming.

Take time to understand everything and allow yourself to receive a little education and support from experts, charities and friends, and family.

Conclusion

Diabetes is a chronic condition that can come in different shapes and sizes, which makes the condition and its management as individual as the person it affects.

It is essential to take time to learn about how your diabetes affects you. This will help you manage your own diagnosis and help you understand your normals.

When you are looking into how to cope with diabetes, it may be worth seeking a little education for experts and charitable organisation to assist in the emotional side of all of the changes diabetes can bring; it can be overwhelming, but education can help to clarify some of the new restrictions you will have in your everyday routine.

Letting your closest friends and family know of your diagnosis should not bring any shame. They should be informed of your medical condition if anything happens where you may need medical assistance. It may also be worth wearing a medical alert bracelet with your medical information on it for those times when you are out alone, as a safety net in case anything happens.