You can manage your condition and control it; not the other way round
Whatever type of diabetes you have, making a commitment to take command of the issues it presents can reduce adverse symptoms and give you more freedom to get on and enjoy life.
Keep a healthy outlook
Regular annual or half-yearly appointments with an optician will show up any signs of retinal damage, cataracts and glaucoma. And, since regular diabetes checkups may not flag kidney, circulation or foot problems, make sure you seek regular screening for these.
High blood sugar can weaken the immune system so keep up to date with inoculations such as flu jabs and any other vaccinations your specialists recommend.
Pamper yourself, especially your feet. Wash them every day in lukewarm water and dry them thoroughly, especially between the toes, with a soft towel. Then moisturize with you favourite lotion. Check for blisters, cuts, sores, redness or swelling. If you find a foot problem that doesn’t seem to be healing consult your doctor.
Always carry a note or wear an attractive piece of jewellery that says you have diabetes, and have a glucagon kit with you in case of a low blood sugar emergency. It would be helpful for everyone if family, friends and colleagues know how to use it.
Learn all you can about your diabetes and keep up with developments in research and treatment. Joining a group will provide support and good friendships with people who know the problems and share the triumphs that go with being diabetic. If you can’t find one you like, start your own!
Always seek advice from professionals; that’s what they are there for. And, remember, nothing is ever too trivial to mention if it is something you are concerned about.
Take a good look at known ‘vices’ because while smoking is dangerous for everyone, it is even more of a no-no for diabetics. The risk of heart attack, strokes, nerve damage and kidney disease, all known complications of diabetes, increase enormously for smokers. If you drink alcohol, do so responsibly. Alcohol causes high or low blood changes in glucose levels, depending on how much you drink and whether you eat at the same time. if you eat at the same time. It’s really best to drink alcohol only with a meal. And you need to be aware that the effects of what you drink is based as much on your gender, weight and metabolism as the number of units you swallow, if not more.
Eat like a king, or queen
If everyone adopted at least some of the rules for healthy eating that diabetics need to follow, we would all be so much healthier.
Think about consulting a dietician if you don’t already have one, just for reassurance about the food and drink choices you make, and an easy way to establish a routine for meals that suits you.
There is so much choice and plenty of information about what to eat and what to avoid that everyone‘s likes and dislikes can be allowed for when combining menus. Nothing need be completely off limits. Even items that you might think of as ‘forbidden’ could be a rare treat – in very small amounts, although they won’t help you nutrition-wise, and managing your diabetes is lot easier to do if you mainly stick to the safest options.
Keeping your cholesterol under control is also very important; so is allowing for the fact that your life style has a profound effect on the food you eat and the way your body processes it; meaning no two diabetics’ eating habits will be the same.
Eating healthy foods and exercising regularly can go a long way towards controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol and complementing any medication you may be taking, as well as insuring you avoid too much sugar or high carbohydrates.
Live the life you love.
With constant up-dates about research and new information readily available, brilliantly designed gadgets to help monitor the blood and an improving awareness of everything diabetics face from employers, restaurateurs and health food stores, it is certainly easier for anyone with diabetes to deal with it these days.
But stress, from whatever source, will raise its ugly head now and again and the hormones the body can produce to fight it can interfere and prevent insulin from working efficiently. Any sentiments and changes in behaviour this causes aggravate the situation and it becomes a vicious circle.
Choose a method of relaxing that suits you; the possibilities are endless for every type of personality and all mood swings. Find a place, locality or just somewhere in your mind to escape to whenever you can. And treat yourself for no good reason sometimes to up the feel good factor.
Boosting morale works wonders too. Take risks, within reason. Make time for other people and activities that will take you out of yourself and offer ways for you to prove how much you can do. All your triumphs, large and small, are a great encouragement when things aren’t going so well.