Are You Managing Your Diabetes or is Diabetes Managing You?

Usually when you’re given the diagnosis of diabetes, you don’t consider how much diabetes takes control of your life.  Most people automatically think about the fact they have to change their eating habits.  Yes, with diabetes eating a healthy diet is a crucial step to diabetes control, but there is much more to consider once you have diabetes. Managing diabetes involves much more than just changing your diet and there are many reasons to make a serious commitment to learning diabetes self care.

Effects of diabetes when not under good control can be devastating and deadly.  Complications of diabetes are life changing and even deadly.  Yes, I’m stressing the fact that death can occur from poorly managing your diabetes.  Kidney failure, amputations, blindness, heart disease, and neurological problems are some of the results of poor blood glucose levels.  These are some of the more serious problems of poor blood sugar control.   There are more, less obvious, symptoms of poor diabetes control that can take control of your daily life. 

Things like extreme tiredness, low energy levels, changes in mood, and constantly being sleepy, can all be high blood sugar symptoms.  Learning to reduce blood sugar can eliminate these problems and greatly reduce the risk of the more serious complications of diabetes. 

When you don’t have normal range blood glucose, diabetes can control you without you being aware of what’s happening.   Since initial high blood sugar symptoms are not as profound, it is easy to contribute these symptoms to other causes.  For example, you come home from work and you’re barely able to have dinner before you fall asleep on the couch.  You think, today was a bad day at work and that’s why I’m so tired.  Before you just fall asleep, check your blood sugar.  If it is high, work may not be the cause, as one of the high blood sugar symptoms is being sleepy and tired. 

Learning to reduce diabetes blood sugar levels and gain control of your diabetes can reward you with a healthier, more productive and happier life.  For many simply eating a healthy diet and regular exercise will bring the rewards of more normal range blood sugar levels.  Normal range blood sugar levels will greatly reduce your chances of getting the dreaded complications diabetes causes and will give you the energy and mindset for a normal and happy life. 

The only way you can be certain you are controlling diabetes is by regularly checking your blood sugar, and having your doctor do an a1c test to make sure you’re within your target range.  Don’t hesitate to see your doctor if you’re constantly having higher than normal blood sugar.   

If your a1c results are above 7.0, you are not in a safe range. Do whatever it takes to get better control.  Learn all you can about your diabetes.  Read books, take classes, and don’t hesitate to ask questions. Most importantly, be sure to take action using what you have learned about diabetes. Knowledge without action is useless.  Managing diabetes is the key to taking control and not letting diabetes manage you.