Diabetes – 4 Tips To Start Out
There is no cure for diabetes, you have to live with it no matter what. Fortunately there is a great deal of information and support groups available today, so whist it can’t be cured, living a near normal life is quite possible.
It can be quite a shock to discover you have type 2 diabetes (or type 1 for that matter). Below are a few small pointers to make your life a little easier, and to make you feel less alone.
Commit yourself to you.
One of the problems with diabetes is that with the correct medication and monitoring, you are almost left to yourself. It’s not a disease that keeps you in hospital until you recover. You have it for life. The fact that medicine is self administered and blood glucose levels self monitored means that contact with your doctor is kept to a minimum. In the early days, this can be a concern. So what you need to do, is put yourself at the centre of your concern. Be careful not to marginalize others, and don’t become self-absorbed, but the fact is there is a lot of information available and you need to explore it and discover how best to look after yourself.
Take charge of yourself.
Taking medication and monitoring your blood sugars (keep a written record) keeps you in touch with your diabetes on a daily basis. The fact is, the health professionals treating you can interpret their medical examinations and go into great depth about the current state of your diabetes, but you will find over time that you recognise certain symptoms – you will know when your sugars are rising or falling and take pre emptive action. The fact is, everyone’s diabetes is different. You need to find out what affects you, and you do this by taking charge of yourself.
Enlist your nearest and dearest.
Probably the most important support group is your immediate family and / or friends. You need to keep them onside with you. It can be easy to be very angry at having diabetes at first, and those who are closest to us often have to bear the brunt of our displeasure, so please be careful not to appear to be blaming them, or making rediculous demands. Just have some quiet conversations and explain why you need certain things and what they can do to help.
Meet the experts.
Your doctor and healthcare professionals cannot manage you 100% of the time. Perhaps one of the problems with diabetes is that unlike other chronic diseases, there is no need to stay in hospital to be treated until you recover. With proper self monitoring one can live a near normal life, but your medical team are there to offer advice and support. Get to know how the system in your area works and make use of it.
It’s very important not to let diabetes get you down. Try not to live by the thought that “diabetes makes one depressed”, as this only serves to reinforce a sterotype. By talking to those directly and indirectly around you, you can experience a better sense of wellbeing, rather than a sense of being left alone, although when you think about it, being left alone and monitored is better than spending your life in a hospital bed!
Toby has been living with type 2 diabetes for almost 2 years now but is doing all he can to enjoy a near normal life. Have a look at his new website giving the best deals on round table cloths at http://www.roundtableclothsreview.com
