Coping and Blood Glucose Monitoring
Learning your body's reactions to stress can help your coping strategies.
Dealing with a chronic illness, on top of daily responsibilities and life events, can be challenging. People with diabetes are twice as likely to experience depression, and stress - in any form - can make it difficult to stay in your target blood glucose range.
Stress: When you are stressed, adrenalin (a hormone) is released and your body reacts. Your blood pressure increases (from your heart beating more rapidly), your digestive system slows down, and blood glucose increases from the liver releasing stored glucagon. Stress can be as simple and brief as spilling coffee in the car or being upset because you forgot something. Or it can last for weeks or months and be overwhelming like a death in the family, or losing a job. Your body is in "survival" mode and unless you make changes to your food, mood or activity level, keeping your blood glucose in control will be hard to do. Which means it will be hard to you to feel better.
Depression: People with diabetes can easily become depressed. Symptoms of depression include fatigue, feeling sad, feeling lonely, feeling hopeless, not enjoying things you normally enjoy, wanting to hide or not socialize with friends and family, finding it hard to focus or complete tasks. Depression is a treatable medical condition, so if you or someone you know has depression symptoms, please seek medical attention immediately.
Whether you are dealing with stress or depression, learning how to manage the factors that impact your mental and physical well being will help you stay in your target blood glucose range and ultimately feel better.
Monitoring means information
People with diabetes can feel "off" just because of fluctuating blood glucose levels, and stress and depression just add to feeling poorly. Pay attention to your mood swings and how you feel. If you want to know whether food, medication, physical activity or relaxation can help improve your mood (by improving your blood glucose level), try monitoring your blood glucose. How often you test will depend on:
- The schedule you've set with your healthcare team
- Your level of control
- Your medication (or therapy type)
- How much your blood glucose fluctuates during the day.
Being aware of your blood glucose level can also help you and your doctor modify your medication dosage or food plan, or switch you to a physical activity or relaxation technique that's more effective for you. Blood glucose testing around your mood provides an immediate, as well as trend over time, information to keep your blood glucose levels in range, and help you feel your best.
What are some ways you might use monitoring?
Be sure to discuss patterns with your healthcare team and explore opportunities for improving your blood glucose control. For example, if your mood improves and your blood glucose is in your target range after you exercise, consider testing before and after you start a "relaxation" activity. Then you and your doctor can look at the pattern and determine which activities (or combination of activities, food and medication) help you feel better. Once you've mastered cheering yourself up and keeping your blood glucose in range, focus on making relaxation, and enjoying life, a lifelong habit.
