My Diabetes Story

CLO, thank you so much for sharing your story. I was dx when I was in college and never did anything about it. I never saw an endo and never changed my diet. I had no comprehension of what I was up against, so I just continued to ignore it until about 10 years later. And then, at that time, I had all the tell-tale symptoms of full blown diabetes that you mentioned (extreme weight loss, peeing all day and night, insatiable appetite, unbearable thirst,etc). But it wasn’t until I got very sever neuropathy and fell over one morning that I knew I needed to get to the hospital. That was my first experience on insulin. My road took me ten years just to begin using insulin.

I began trying to work with an endo, but faced so many similar experiences as you mentioned about feeling judged and like it was shameful and your fault. I dreaded going to see my doctor bc I knew he would criticize me harshly and I would just leave there feeling miserable.

BUT I FOUND THIS BEAUTIFUL SITE, FUD, AND MY ENTIRE LIFE CHANGED.

I pray and hope that your will too. just hang in there and continue all the wonderful things you are doing to take care of yourself. Like Bill W. always said: “its just one day at a time.” just 24 hours. try and be gentle with yourself. Congratulations on your 7 months of sobriety.

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I’m so gald you got the help that you needed when you did!! The denial was such a huge thing for me too. I really did just pretended like I didn’t have diabetes for a really long time. I feel like we have alot of similarities in our stories and im so glad you commented on my post. Its so hard and disheartening feeling criticized by anyone but especially a doctor. Im so sorry you had to experiance that too. Its such a huge road block to be asking for help and not recieving it from the people who should be helping.

I am so so happy I found this site! I really dont feel like I have alot to add to the conversations on here but just being able to read through everyone’s stories and advice has helped me feel more “normal” than I ever have. It has definitely helped me accept that its okay to have ups and downs with my diabetes. Thank you so much for everything you’ve said :heart: i hope you are doing well these days!

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I pretended too. But I’m certain that you are familiar with the saying “Acceptance is the Answer.” It truly is where living life begins! Cherish it. and now that you’ve found us, be a part of our community as you do your AA community! It’s kind of like the same thing. We all help each other one day at a time. No question is too stupid or ever judged. We are all here to help one another live with this disease. And we do it with great class and terrific style. We’re the coolest support group around :wink: :star_struck: :+1: :heart_eyes:

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@clo - welcome! Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on achieving all you have in this short time! I also often hear that awful voice in my own head, berating me, telling me what I did wrong, how I messed up, questioning why I made the choices that I did … and then I have to remind myself that I ask my own daughters, when they speak about themselves so harshly, don’t give themselves a break, and don’t see themselves as the beautiful people they are: would you talk to a friend that way? Would you speak to another human that way? No. Then I cannot speak to myself that way either. We’re all deserving of compassion for ourselves. (But ohhhh, setting aside the perfectionism is so. damn. hard.)

You’ve come to the right place for support and compassion and advice! xoxo- Jessica

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That’s a great way to think about it !
We are often much more sensible and understanding of others, but not to ourselves!

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@JessicaD Thank you for that. That is a great way to redirect my negative thoughts. I would never be this hard on a friend and I still need to work on being kinder to myself. Perfectionism is sooooo hard to combat. I appreciate your response :heart:

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