Diabetes and nerves

[LauRa Lu]

ok, i've only been diabetic for two months now but i'm getting used to it pretty much and not letting it get in my way.

But today for the first time i experienced a problem that although it has been with me all my life, has now been made even more unbearable by my diabetes.

I'm a design student with just two years left of study. And today for the first time since becoming diabetic i had my first project briefing with real clients for a real company, for which i'll have to do a really live presentation for in six weeks with my work.

Now this may not seem like a problem for most, but this kind of thing scares me to death! :eek: :( :eek:

Usually i'd just some how get through and perhaps hide my nerves, or if that fails i'd just get through it shaking and squeeking.

But today even just sitting through the briefing made my b.g drop so low i felt i would pass out! :(

It's something i'm gonna have to do through out my life, being a designer obviously i have to present and sell my products... :rolleyes: But i can hardly start munching half way through can i!?!

This was always gonna be a problem for me even before my diabetes came along, i even thought about a different career path because of it....something where i can hide and not speak! :p But this is what i wanna do and i'm trying so hard to get on top of it...but how can i now that my nervy brain and body loose control!?



Any one have any suggestions?

And does anyone else suffer a similar problem? Or get crazy regular hypo's that are affected by emotion and not food? :confused:


Laura :)

[HeatherP]

Yes. Nervousness and emotions will affect your sugars. Your best bet would be to talk to your CDE.

My suggestion would be, ck your b/s immediately before your presentation, and if it's not already high, drink some juice to "up" it so you don't go low and pass out or something. Maybe have a little glass of it (like you would water) to sip from time to time while making your "speech". Then, once you're done, ck your b/s again immediately, and if it's too high, you could make a correction dose of insulin. This may not be the best way to handle it in the long run, but I think it'll get you through it for now.

Hope that helps a bit,
HeatherP

[lgvincent]

I have a problem going into insulin shock while under stress. What I do is check my blood sugar before I take an exam, or something like that, and try to check it frequently during the time, if possible. I'll also lower my insulin a little before the stressful situation but I don't know if it helps or not.

[fishy]

Normally (which is not to say always) stress will make your BG rise as adrenaline inhibits the action of insulin. I have some post lunch spikes on particularly stressful days which my consultant atttributes to this effect. Although giving yourself a little extra carbs before such a situation will do little harm you problably want to do more before and after testing in the long run to work out exactly what is going on. It might just be that you had overdone the insulin anyway and were due a hypo.

The best advice I can give about presentations and nerves is to remember that its just your bodies way of preparing you to perform at your best and think of it as excitement rather than nerves. take a few deep breaths and go for it and before you know it you will be in the swing of things. Knowing your stuff really helps -- perfom your presentation *out loud* a couple of times first and even if you get really nervous you will tend to go onto "auto pilot" and keep going. Starting really is the hardest part and once you get going its always not half as bad as you think. Most times you will end up enjoying it as (hopefully!) you have good things to tell people and they like to hear good things.

Finally be confident and make eye contact with your audience (don't hide behind a projector or table for example). Remember that the people in the audience will want you to succeed (its natural instinct) and so will be "on your side" to a large extent.

Hope this helps,

Matthew

[LauRa Lu]

Originally posted by fishy


The best advice I can give about presentations and nerves is to remember that its just your bodies way of preparing you to perform at your best and think of it as excitement rather than nerves. take a few deep breaths and go for it and before you know it you will be in the swing of things. Knowing your stuff really helps -- perfom your presentation *out loud* a couple of times first and even if you get really nervous you will tend to go onto "auto pilot" and keep going. Starting really is the hardest part and once you get going its always not half as bad as you think. Most times you will end up enjoying it as (hopefully!) you have good things to tell people and they like to hear good things.

Finally be confident and make eye contact with your audience (don't hide behind a projector or table for example). Remember that the people in the audience will want you to succeed (its natural instinct) and so will be "on your side" to a large extent.

Hope this helps,

Matthew think of it as excitement



I agree with all of that and it works for most people! But i think i get an extreme case of nerves!

it's just so bad i'd do anything to get out of the situation. i've only ever been 'un-nervous' the once, that was when i was way too ill to think about it. It was just before i was diagnosed and my b'g must have been through the roof , i did a great presentaion probably coz my body was too busy feeling poop to get nervous :p

[Rainsunbow]

Laura are you a T1 or T2?

I have only been diagnosed for a month and my doctor told me I was going to have feelings of shakiness, dizziness, rapid heart beat and confusion as my blood sugars are trying to stabilize. I have been hit really hard with all of these symptoms. I'm having such a hard time studying. I just took midterms last week and I could have done a lot better, but I have no concentration, I can't remember anything. I'm an A student and I got B's on 3 of the 6, and I have had harder classes. I know its from my blood sugars lowering, I have never felt this way before. I'm really not all that stressed out, so I know that these feelings come from trying to get my b/s to a normal level. I have jumped from average 200 last week to average 130 this week, I go through phases of feeling like I am going to pass out even though I'm not below normal.

I know you were just diagnosed 2 months ago, so I am wondering, could this be going on with you too? Have you already stabilized your b/s? Is it only happening during stress? Or other times too? What is your b/s when this happends?

Take care
Leigh

[Jon]

One trick that somebody taught me, and it worked really well, is to print out your speech in a really large font on the computer. You probably won't be able to fit more than a sentence or two on each page. Every time you turn the page, look up at the audience. It gives the impression that you are looking up all the time, and it is easy to not lose your place. It also helps you to not speak too fast, because you have to pause every time you flip to the next page.

And if you eat a little extra 30 minutes before the presentation, and don't bolus until after you speak, it won't kill you, and it will keep the bg up a little higher.

[Belinda]

Since it was your first presentation it is understandable and for a few there after but I think once you get comfy in the position you will be fine. I have low's when it is something new and once i am comfortable doing it (presenting etc. ) I do fine.

[Teresa]

my blood sugar tends to drop if i get shocked or frightened... it dropped low and i had a hypo when i was in a car crash and then we had this very minor earth tremor in England and i was soooo scared and i had a hypo then too... dont know if thats connected with the nerves thing but thought id share!

BTW, i sympathise, i hate doing presentations too

[statdeac]

I have never really experienced low blood sugars AS A RESULT of being nervous. Now, I DO think that I have felt nervous as a result of low blood sugar. Is this a chicken and egg thing?

I have to give presentations every few weeks. One time I started feeling hypo about 15 minutes before a big presentation, and asked my colleague to go get me a soft drink - anything to help bring me back up!

[LauRa Lu]

Originally posted by Teresa
my blood sugar tends to drop if i get shocked or frightened... it dropped low and i had a hypo when i was in a car crash and then we had this very minor earth tremor in England and i was soooo scared and i had a hypo then too... dont know if thats connected with the nerves thing but thought id share!

BTW, i sympathise, i hate doing presentations too

An earth tremor in england? was that around ten years ago? I remember something happening like that when i was about ten but was too young to understand, cant think of any others since then.. :)

Oooh whats gonna happen when i come across a spider in my house???! :eek: I think my bg will drop to zero...i wouldn'nt be suprised if it did before i was diabeteic!

Originally posted by rainsunbow
Laura are you a T1 or T2?

I have only been diagnosed for a month and my doctor told me I was going to have feelings of shakiness, dizziness, rapid heart beat and confusion as my blood sugars are trying to stabilize. I have been hit really hard with all of these symptoms. I'm having such a hard time studying. I just took midterms last week and I could have done a lot better, but I have no concentration, I can't remember anything. I'm an A student and I got B's on 3 of the 6, and I have had harder classes. I know its from my blood sugars lowering, I have never felt this way before. I'm really not all that stressed out, so I know that these feelings come from trying to get my b/s to a normal level. I have jumped from average 200 last week to average 130 this week, I go through phases of feeling like I am going to pass out even though I'm not below normal.

I know you were just diagnosed 2 months ago, so I am wondering, could this be going on with you too? Have you already stabilized your b/s? Is it only happening during stress? Or other times too? What is your b/s when this happends?


I'm type one. My sugars are pretty much under control really, except when i'm stupid and can't resit a cookie when my boyfiend sits next to me munching away!

I was like you for the first two weeks or so, my b.g was up and down all the time regardless of what i ate or did.

going back to my situation the other day when i had my briefing, i was actually a little too high before hand (9.1mmol/l) because i got lost before i got there and couldn't find the room. So when i finally did arrive, on time still, i sat for 2 mins and had a small snack, because i'd dropped a little.

So... i got nervous coz i was late...went a little low....knew i'd get nervous and go lower so i had a snack.....went a little too high after snack.....then went low during the briefing...!


:(

[Gina]

I become very nervous while I am in a HYPO....

why dont you try keeping a piece of Candy in the top of your mouth during your presentation....or even pop in some glucose tablets....

I dont mean to sound mean but usually once you see a pattern of being nervous and going low...you should really check your sugar before you even go into the presentation .....to me that just seems like common sense for anyone with diabetes....just like going to the gym, you test before during and after...just think of your presentation like a workout routine hahaha....

[Teresa]

Originally posted by LauRa Lu
An earth tremor in england? was that around ten years ago? I remember something happening like that when i was about ten but was too young to understand, cant think of any others since then.. :)

LOL.. no it was about 18 months ago - when I lived in Birmingham... the epi-centre was in Dudley if i remember right... I was petrified!!

[Gina]

IVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE

[snakeye]

Last year I went to Germany for a tradshow to have business meetings. All scheduled no time to waste n so... Hypo cases and timings should all be right. But things happen. But I dont really force the situation too much at all times. At all my business relations I'm always a type of one which makes people feel relaxed and sincere I tell em the truth and till now I never had a bad experience about it. They ask a few question and it's over. I'm much relaxed that way.

But in any case it's better first to take precautions. But do what you have to do if severe! You might not know what the number is.

Once I went on a training session held by the "provider" company even I asked at the dinner table if who's responsible if something happens to me! Just Relax.