Diabetes and depression
If you’ve been newly diagnosed as diabetic, or if you’ve been a diabetic for years, you’re bound to have bouts of depression due to fluctuations in blood sugar. Being diagnosed with a disease is definitely a depressing realization. One of the biggest challenges a diabetic has is to keep her or her blood sugar stabilized. When a person’s blood sugar is too high, she or he will have sadness and less energy. Whenever you are feeling blue, it may not be your job or a situation that’s getting you down. Test your blood sugar with your glucose meter even if you think the numbers will be okay. The meter is not there to judge you; it’s to help you. If your blood sugar is too high, you know you need to take more medication. Taking drugs sucks, but depression sucks even more!
This post is one of the best you’ve written because it speaks to a very, very important side effect of the endocrine instability issue. It is so easy to misdiagnose feelings of sadness and tiredness. I have thyroid issues. Before I was diagnosed I would get very depressed for seemingly no reason at all and could not figure out was was going wrong. I would also get extremely tired even though I had slept a full eight hours. It is so easy to put the blame on external circumstances, on relationships, your job, friends and family, when, in fact, it has nothing to do with any of those things. Even though having a disease is unfortunate, at least we have medicines that can and do alleviate the negative effects. Now I take a thyroid pill at the right dosage, get to the doctor to periodically check the numbers to make sure I am still getting the right dosage, and try to keep vigilant about my moods and energy levels.
Thanks for the compliment. Lots of people forget that doctors are there to help them. I’m sure there are readers out there that will be happy to know there are others that have thyroid issues too. If a medication doesn’t feel right, there is usually a different dosage or a different brand that will work better.