Diabetes and depression or
why don't I care anymore?
Diabetes and depression can be an additional challenge for people with diabetes. I can speak from my own experience that it can negatively affect your life. Many times, I did not even know what was happening to me. This was a long term issue for me because I always felt differently from my friends and family because of all the other/extra things I had to be doing for my diabetes. Part of my original feelings as a young adult, let me think I was invincible and that my diabetes could be "ignored". I just wanted to fit in and be normal. This was a bad idea as I later learned. Later, after realizing I was slowly killing myself, I decided to take control and deal with this disease. Feeling blue or down sometimes is pretty natural. However, when these particular feelings last longer than a couple of weeks, then there might be some symptoms you need to see if you have. They are :
Diabetes and Depression signs :
Change in appetite
Feelings of Guilt
Sleep pattern change
Suicidal thoughts
Lack of energy
Feelings of hopelessness
Feelings of being worthless
Another suspect in Diabetic depression, might be your Thyroid. I know when my Diabetes specialist read my labs that checked for Thyroid issues, she found that there was definitely something going on with my Thyroid. She put me on Levoxyl and since starting the medication, I have felt more like me than ever before. Normally, there are going to be 2 ways in which to deal with Diabetes and depression. These are counseling and medication. Sometimes, both will be used in conjunction. If medication is required, Psychiatrists are the only people in the mental health arena that can write prescriptions. As always, make sure you ask about any side effects that may be caused. Finally, it has been suggested that diabetics often go through the 4 stages of grieving. I know this cause it happened to me.
The 4 Signs of Grieving :
Denial-nope, it's not a river in Egypt. I had this for many, many years. As I stated earlier, I often thought I did not have a problem and could drink, party and do other things that regular people do. Anger-When I finally realized I was not "invincible" I was ticked off, and suffered from the why me syndrome for sure. There was no way I could have Diabetes and depression. I hated shots, testing my glucose, eating correctly and I really was not a pleasant person to be around. Depression-suffered through this for a long period. I thought it was necessary to beat my self up for a disease that I had no control over in getting. I spent time in both counseling and taking medications for it. Acceptance-this is where I am now! I now know if I want to live as normal a life as possible, then I need to just get on with doing what is necessary for managing my diabetes. I regularly see my doctors, test my blood sugar 10-12 times a day, eat nourishing regular meals and generally try to enjoy my life.
Other Complication pages of Interest
Diabetic Shock
Diabetic Nephropathy
Diabetic Impotence
Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Diabetic Gastroparesis
Diabetic eye problems
Microalbuminuria
Diabetes and Hypertension
Return from Diabetes and Depression
to Your Healthy Diabetic Life
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