The Draining Battery

During holidays, or stressful times, living with a chronic illness can feel like a draining car battery.  Enough juice to make an attempt, but not enough to go anywhere.  You may feel a heavy sense of guilt, not doing enough as others or falling short on your to-do list.  While this isn't just an occurrence for people living with an illness, seeing the direct correlation of stress and your bodies response (blood sugars) is a tell tale sign.

For me this year has been full of excitement, planning, and of course a lot of stress.  Having been planning a wedding for the past seven months, maintaining a couple jobs, and the recent loss of my grandfather, dealing with diabetes and stress has been an open tab for quite some time. Fluctuating blood sugars, constant lows or constant highs, I've been riding a rollercoaster of unpredictable blood sugars for months now.

Often times in diabetes education appointments, they will speak about how to deal with diabetes when you're sick, but often the mental health aspect of diabetes is overlooked.  While I may not be coming down with flu like symptoms, my mind is busy, overworked and I am tired - now what do I do? 

There really is no one-size fits all answer. While, during sick days you're taught to keep a close eye on blood sugars, drink plenty of fluids and change your insulin ratios - it seems stress doesn't always play such a predictable game.  My best advice that I've tried to focus on for myself is taking time to enjoy those moments where my heart feels content, whether that is playing with my niece, spending time with my friends or family or just being in a space where I feel calm.  

Blood sugars will rise and fall, I haven't come across anyone whose blood sugars remain the same. Stress will come and go in many different forms and life will keep on passing by.  Maintaining the charge in your battery will always be hard, but never impossible. 

Kayla