Re: BG and depression

madlyinluvw/her <etetka_ent@xxxxxxxxx> wrote on 18 Aug 2005 14:21:09
-0700:
> This is only my second post but I am trying to get a consensus on how
> depression affects other diabetics.

Been there, done that, got a whole chest of drawers full of T-shirts.

> I know that everyone from time to time becomes depressed for one reason
> or another but I am curious if those with type one tend to cycle from
> severe depression to disorganization to irritability and so on.

I don't know of any tendency, but ....

> I am a relatively healthy male, 23 - 200lbs - 6',1" with a BMI of under
> %15, who was diagnosed at age 12(2 weeks before my 13 birthday).

Yuck! That was 11 years ago. What happened to you on being diagnosed?
How did your 13th birthday party go?

> I work out many times a week with weights and I also took up swimming
> which reduces the amount of insulin I take by about %30. While working
> out I typically feel fine but I usually have to negotiate with myself
> just to make to the gym.

I'm with you on the swimming! I typically drop 3 units insulin on the
evenings I go for a swim (in the Olympic pool here in Munich).

> Soon after I finish I begin to slip into the depression once again.

Again? Are the sessions at the gym and in the pool, of themselves,
actually pleasurable?

> At times when I am not depressed I slip into long periods of ADD
> symptoms. I'll forget the most basic of things like why I went into
> the kitchen and countless other symptoms. At these times I will check
> my BG and find it is great. After all that rambling my question is this
> I wonder if all of these symptoms problems are solely BG related or is
> it me and do any other seemingly healthy diabetics suffer from severe
> depression, etc.?

Possibly, the insulin you're using might be to blame. What insulin are
you using? Artificial (genetically engineered) insulin doesn't agree
with everybody by any means. You might well do better on natural insulin
(pork or beef). Read up about this at
<http://www.iddtinternational.org/>. Depending on where you live,
getting natural insulin might be as simple as finding a sympathetic
doctor (e.g. in Great Britain), or might involve an extensive and
expensive fight with bureacracy, or "smuggling" the stuff in from a
foreign pharmacy (e.g. in the USA). I'd try this first if you can,
because if artificial insulin is your problem, natural insulin should
help a lot and quickly.

Next thing to try is get direct treatment for the depression. Don't
wonder about this, just do it! (Yes, I've been there too, with a
substantial amount of (successful) psychotherapy behind me.)

In case you're wondering, I'm 47, type 1, and was diagnosed when I was 7.

> Thanks for any replies

No problem!

--
Alan Mackenzie (Munich, Germany)
Email: aacm@xxxxxxxx; to decode, wherever there is a repeated letter
(like "aa"), remove half of them (leaving, say, "a").

.

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