The other day, I was scrolling through Facebook and I noticed a post from Diabetes UK. It was saying something about the complications that can occur in diabetes. Usually, when I see links like this I never click on them because it’s not good for me to focus on negative things. It sends me into a paranoid state of worry and I end up getting very upset with myself it I miscalculate a bolus and end up high. So, instead of clicking on the link, I looked at the comments that other people had made and it appeared that others would prefer not to see it either. It upset a lot of people and “made them feel even shittier about this disease than they already did”. I mean, why would anyone want to be reminded that they are more likely to go blind and or lose a leg?
Is it really necessary for us to know so much about these complications? I don’t think so! I think it is best to let the doctors take care of that and then we can learn from them (and books) if and when it happens. I didn’t start learning, in detail, about diabetes until I was diagnosed with it so why should I learn about neuropathy if I don’t have to. Non diabetic smokers don’t learn about lung cancer just because they smoke, do they? When I look through the comments on posts similar to the one mentioned above, if I see something negative in the comment I skip it straight away and look for someone who has said something good. I know it sounds pretty ignorant of me and I obviously wouldn’t ignore someone who was talking to me directly. But, for my sanity it is best to look at the positive in everything. While one person is saying that they lost their drivers licence, another is sharing their improved hba1c result.
I suppose this post is just a suggestion to you and I to carry on looking at what can go right. It would be so nice if dominant companies could post something positive. It would be nice to read the success stories of diabetics who keep their levels under control and the benefits it has had towards their health. For me, Instagram is the place to be. I always see lots of positive posts about diabetes on there.
What do you think? Do you know the ins and outs of everything diabetes? Let me know.
Rowena x
Type 1 Active 
I agree with you. I am the same way, I’ll get overly worried and paranoid and that often leads to a low on my part. However, part of my type A personality is a need to be as educated as possible so I often research complications in order to know more about them. It’s a fine line to walk between managing the diabetes and not throwing myself into an unnecessary panic.
Yeah, it’s a very fine line isn’t it? Whenever I think about it I just try to recognise it and move on.
One type 1 I look up to is Dr. Bernstein, who’s now 80 years old, has an A1C in the 4s, and has better cholesterol than most non-diabetics half his age. In the 70s he turned around a lot of complications that were starting and is in great shape still. There is a lot of promise out there, with good control 🙂
I’ve seen his book, but I haven’t read it yet. I may give it a go as it sounds like he knows what he is talking about 🙂