5th April 2007
Hi.
I'm 27, recently diagnosed with diabetes and am having a very tough time dealing with it. To give a bit of background information. A couple of months ago I went for a regular checkup and my cholesterol level was high so I started a cholesterol control diet and went back for a follow up 4 weeks later. The day after they took the test I got a call from the doctor saying they wanted me back asap because my glucose level was high. When I went back they did a rapid glucose test which came back as 251, this was 3 weeks ago. I was put on metformin and 2 days later my blood sugar was down to 191, at that time I was dealing OK with the diagnosis, obviously not happy but coming to terms with it and I was feeling a lot better than I had been.
The past weekend I started having chest pains and went to the ER and was admitted to the cardiac care unit overnight and put on aspirin, zocor and altace because of the diabetes and a family history of heart disease, plus a few other more minor things they found in the CCU. I went back to the doctor today for another diabetes checkup and my sugar is back up to 240 and he wants me to take Avandia. Ever since the episode over the weekend I've become very panicky, overwhelmed and emotional. I'm building every little twinge or feeling that I would have normally dismissed as normal into something major and panicking/worrying about it.
Right now I feel like I'm being smacked about from every direction. In the last month I've gone from not taking any medication other than the odd Tylenol to taking 5 a day, 4 of them prescription. I feel like I'm not in control of my body any more which is the thing my entire life I've always been petrified about. My family is doing everything they can and being very supportive but half my family and a lot of friends are in England and most of my American family doesn't really know too much about diabetes. Plus I have the constant feeling something is wrong and I'm either going to break down crying or have a panic attack which isn't helping.
Basically I'm looking for some re-assurance from people who have gone through this, any advice on how to deal with everything, any kind of techniques people use to calm themselves down, that type of thing. It would also be helpful to find out how people have educated family members and friends on the condition as I'm having a hard time trying to explain that even if my blood sugar drops to a normal level, that doesn't mean that everything is fine.
Thanks
I'm 27, recently diagnosed with diabetes and am having a very tough time dealing with it. To give a bit of background information. A couple of months ago I went for a regular checkup and my cholesterol level was high so I started a cholesterol control diet and went back for a follow up 4 weeks later. The day after they took the test I got a call from the doctor saying they wanted me back asap because my glucose level was high. When I went back they did a rapid glucose test which came back as 251, this was 3 weeks ago. I was put on metformin and 2 days later my blood sugar was down to 191, at that time I was dealing OK with the diagnosis, obviously not happy but coming to terms with it and I was feeling a lot better than I had been.
The past weekend I started having chest pains and went to the ER and was admitted to the cardiac care unit overnight and put on aspirin, zocor and altace because of the diabetes and a family history of heart disease, plus a few other more minor things they found in the CCU. I went back to the doctor today for another diabetes checkup and my sugar is back up to 240 and he wants me to take Avandia. Ever since the episode over the weekend I've become very panicky, overwhelmed and emotional. I'm building every little twinge or feeling that I would have normally dismissed as normal into something major and panicking/worrying about it.
Right now I feel like I'm being smacked about from every direction. In the last month I've gone from not taking any medication other than the odd Tylenol to taking 5 a day, 4 of them prescription. I feel like I'm not in control of my body any more which is the thing my entire life I've always been petrified about. My family is doing everything they can and being very supportive but half my family and a lot of friends are in England and most of my American family doesn't really know too much about diabetes. Plus I have the constant feeling something is wrong and I'm either going to break down crying or have a panic attack which isn't helping.
Basically I'm looking for some re-assurance from people who have gone through this, any advice on how to deal with everything, any kind of techniques people use to calm themselves down, that type of thing. It would also be helpful to find out how people have educated family members and friends on the condition as I'm having a hard time trying to explain that even if my blood sugar drops to a normal level, that doesn't mean that everything is fine.
Thanks