My name is Lauren. I have been diagnosed with type one diabetes for almost nine years. Sometimes I find myself feeling alone and sad. I know that I am not alone, and that there are many others who have type one, but I just can’t help feeling this way. I have quite a few friends with type one diabetes, but most of my friends don’t understand what it is like. Some days I am happy and motivated, but others I just feel alone. What can I do about this. I feel like I was more responsible and motivated when I was younger. Now it feels like I am just taking care of myself to live. I don’t feel motivated enough anymore, to do it for any other reason. Has anyone else felt this way? I am just lost.
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@lrgreenwood hi Lauren, everybody gets burnout once in a while. We have so much extra added to our daily lives, so may extra decisions, so many modifications, troubleshooting, if-then-else types of things its no wonder we get exhausted sometimes.
I see in your profile that you are about 13. I think it’s a good idea to talk about this with your parents or guardian, because depression can be common with type 1. Sometimes we need people to talk to, and sometimes it’s more.
I avoided therapy for many years and as a result, suffered from depression and anxiety the better part of my young adult life. Don’t be like me. It’s okay to be sad, angry, and to ask for help.
hope you are ok. please check back in.
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Life is a lot of ups and downs. Most people I’ve asked say they experience a bipolar sort of roller coaster journey through life. Sometimes you feel like going out and conquering the world, and other times you just want to be away from everything. Maybe people are like batteries, they go from full of energy to needing a recharge every once and a while.
Some great advice that Ive heard all throughout my life and never paid attention to is to set goals. When you set goals, you’ll be more motivated to get results. Can your a1c be better, or if you have a CGM then your time in range? These would make diabetes less monotonous, and more of a healthy challenge. What about goals in your life? What are you going to be doing at the start of next school year? Where do you dream of being halfway through High School? Do you think you’ll go to college afterwards, or what kind of careers sound interesting? You don’t have to have an answer, but it’s great to dream about where you want to be in the future. I bet if you picked any destination in life, and drew a map of how to get there, being awesome at type 1 is an imporant step along the way.
12/13 were probably the toughest years of my life. You’re basically an equal both physically and mentally to adults, but then there is this struggle to push what’s left of being a kid(what you were your whole life before) away. So suddenly you have to come up with a completely new identity. I promise that if you make it through this time, amazing things are ahead of you in life. High School is going to be so much better than now. One day you’ll be 16, then 18, then 21. Just keep your eye on the horizon, and you’ll make it through this little rain storm your life is going through atm.
One of the hardest things about being diabetic is having to do it alone. The most important thing that happened to me in a day might have been diabetes related, but it’ll sound pretty boring to the normies. Diabetes often makes me feel frustrated, bitter, helpless, and tired, but those are things my closest friends can’t understand. You can always come and vent about it here online. Nobody here really knows you, we won’t judge you. But, everybody here shares something with you, we know the struggle, we have those days too, we are here for you when you need support, and hopefully you can be here to support us when we need it too.
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Lauren,
As stated above, you are feeling burnout! Ok? It’s kinda like that for everybody. Ya just get tired of the same ole routine day in day out.
You should talk to your parents when this happens. Or call one of the hotlines and talk to somebody.
Do you have any pets or a service dog? If you do they are great to talk to. They just listen and don’t talk back or interrupt either. I’m way older than you. I could be your grandfather. But you have been diabetic longer than I have. But I have pets and I also am training a service dog. He’s gonna be my back up plan for right now. Once he’s fully trained, my cgm may be my back up plan. But I do know this. He listens to me and puts me in a better mood every day. Right now he’s with me about 12 hrs a day. So he’s good to listen to me when I’ve got to vent, feel depressed, angry, sad or whatever.
I know that dogs work well and I even have a kinda proof. Dexcom sends a weekly report. I lost my self appointed service dog about 3 or 4 months ago. I had a corgi who was with me from the day I got diagnosed till then. He died from an aneurism ( a blood vessel broke), my next weeks report was off by 22% of staying in range. It stayed that way till I got a new dog. I miss my corgi,Tim, every day still.
It’s all a process that we have to go thru individually, no matter how much we don’t want to. But having someone to talk to about it is important. I’m not trying to talk you into getting a dog. I’m just trying to tell you how important it is to talk to someone!
Posting here is a great step towards that. I just think you need to talk with someone in the same room.
Good luck, if you need us post, well try to help.
Charlie
Hi Lauren!!!
Yep ~ burnout!!! And that is soooo typical when you have a chronic illness like ours!! Believe me, sometimes it DOES feel like we are just hanging on!! But you can do it!!
A ton of us are on this site and will chat with you about all of the ups and downs we have, if you want to!! I WILL!!!
I have had Type 1 for A LONG TIME…(YUCK!!) But I have learned so much about LIFE from diabetes, you will too.
I also noticed you play on travel teams!! GOOD FOR YOU!!!
Continue doing things that “inspire” you!
And, someone else said that the “teen” years tend to be the WORST!!
I know mine sure were!!
Hang in there, you are doing a great job and we all need one another!!!
Cindy
Hi Lauren!
I felt like this on and off growing up with Type 1 and could never really figure it out. As you’ll see on previous messages - burnout is likely the cause - and I can’t tell you what a relief it can be to put a name to the thing!! Now that it has a name, you can find ways to combat it. There is a lot of advise and tools out there, you just need to find what works best for you.
Something that I wish someone had told me is that it is just as important to take care of your emotional and mental state as it is to take care of you BG numbers. Remember that self-care is important and that you deserve it 
Hi Lauren. I agree with other posters on this subject. We definitely all get tired and overwhelmed, I know I do sometimes too, but remember: One Day at a Time. I think Joe recommended setting goals and I agree. Setting goals has definitely helped me, but one of the things that I learned early on is to set “attainable” goals for myself. I believe that if you do, “the best you can with what you have”; no one can complain. I am here for you as I know others are too. One Day at a Time Lauren.
I can relate to being overwhelmed at times. With me, I think that my feelings came from feeling helpless and that no matter how hard I worked to manage my blood sugar, it didn’t matter. I was all over the place, though, I would end up with pretty good A1C sometimes. I found that when I was able to be more in control of managing the condition, I felt better mentally and emotionally. For me, I really needed a pump as a tool. Maybe some people don’t, but, for me, it’s made a huge difference. While I still get very frustrated at times, I now know that I’m not incompetent or weak. I’m a very strong person with a lot of courage and heart. I just happen to be a person who has diabetes that is challenging to manage.
I’ll also add that I found that helping other people actually helps me feel better about everything. They see me running around, helping those in need, whether it’s raising money or taking someone food, clothes or just brightening their day, they don’t know anything about me, except that I’m showing them kindness. It makes me feel good. My cousin is in a Memory Care facility and when I visit, I get so much from those residents. They do much more for me, than I do them.
Bless you for reaching out to help those in need. I know that I also feel good when I can help someone in need. I am in a situation now where I am often the one who is in need and asking for help, so I guess I am helping people feel good in the best way I can.
Keep being the kind person you are. The world needs more of us.
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