Hey everyone! Just as a heads-up, I am going on a very long awaited skiing holiday on the 25th January 2022 for 2 weeks. So on the 31st January 2022 and 7th February 2022 won’t be any new blog posts! But on the 14th February 2022, I will be back posting every Monday!
I am sure that we have all had the same thoughts, that doctor’s sometimes do not give you the full picture, especially when it comes to Diabetes, whatever the type but I will be primarily speaking about Type 1 Diabetes.
I thought with this week’s blog post I would share all of the things that I have wished my doctor’s told me!
- That if I am being brutally honest, I wish the doctors had told me that the likelihood of a diagnosis for Type 1 Diabetes is slim, especially after having the diagnosis for so many years now. They always tell you that in the next 5 years there will be a cure, but now I am 18 years down the line and still diabetic. Just shoot down any chance of hope at the first hurdle!
- The diagnosis is not smooth sailing, it doesn’t just click and then everything is normal again. Diabetes is such a difficult thing to manage as everyday something changes, and your blood sugars will hurt you for it. I was always told that if I give my insulin at all meals then I could live my life normally. But I think we all know that isn’t the case, diabetes is a lot more complicated than that!
- That diabetes will always be on my mind. There isn’t a passing moment when I am not thinking about it. First thing in the morning to last thing at night it will always be ‘What are my blood sugars?’, ‘Have I given insulin?’, ‘Am I going to be walking today? Will this drastically upset my blood sugars?’. I was actually once told that diabetes only takes up 5 minutes out of your day so why was I making it into such a big deal, BY A NURSE! I cannot tell you how wrong she was and how disgusted I still am for saying that to a diabetic patient but also who was going through a severely bad time. I have to say things only went downhill from there!
- That we are prone to many more infections and other illnesses. No doctor ever thinks to mention this, but due to the increased pressures our body run at, especially under high blood sugar, it is much easier to pick up an infection which then feeds off the high quantities of sugar in our blood.
- There are an unconditional amount of things that impact our blood sugars on a daily basis, it isn’t just the food we eat or the exercise we do. It comes down to sleep, stress levels, hormones, type of exercise, illness and so many more! If you have the same diabetic routine every day, each day will result in different outcomes.
- That hormones and going through puberty does weird and annoying things to your blood sugars that no medical professional ever explains. Such as if you have consecutively high blood sugars, it can cause your menstrual cycle to delay. It will take you out of a normal cycle and leave you second guessing what is wrong with you but no just diabetes playing havoc! For those who are experiencing this, please read Navigating Type 1 Diabetes and Hormones. Also know that your period will come back, just give it time after blood sugars have come down!
- That you will be very tired! As we have to manage the disease we make hundreds of additional decisions everyday, this is draining. When our sugars run out of range, the increased stress on the body is crazy so anticipate earlier nights and potentially naps on particularly bad days!
Please comment below the things your wished that your doctor told you at diagnosis!
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Blog of a Type 1 