Question: How can I find a counselor or therapist who understands anything about life with diabetes? It makes me even MORE stressed to have to educate them about why diabetes is stressful.

Answer: Seeking out the guidance of a counselor is a noble thing to do in coping with stress that might be associated with living with diabetes because you are certainly not alone.

Question: Self-care for those of us with diabetes can mean a lot of work, and can feel like a drag. How can self-care feel like it's a relief, not just one more thing we *have* to do?

Question: My family gets together a lot for various occasions, and many carbs enter the room in terms of snacks, desserts, and special drinks. It's always very yummy and my family says I should feel free to say no to the food, because of my diabetes. How can I get them to support instead of tempt me?

Answer: This is the number one question I receive from my clients. Social gatherings can be a challenging time to stick to your eating plan, but creating an environment of support can make all the difference in maintaining your health (and blood glucose).

Question: How can I make healthy eating a priority throughout all the rest of my life - work, spouse, kids, school, errands...? It's much easier to "grab something" to go even if it's not a low-carb vegetable.

Answer: I couldn’t agree more. We all know that broccoli is healthier than a french fry...but there can be so many obligations that can get in the way of making the best choice. Time restraints, budget, food preferences, and work schedules are all very real considerations to acknowledge.

Question: What are the most important medical tests for women with diabetes to have done regularly, and why? What if my MD or CDE doesn't mention any of them?

Question: What's the best way to prevent lows (or highs!) during exercise?

Answer: Exercise can be a very effective way to help maintain good blood glucose control, but special attention needs to be made in those with diabetes to ensure blood glucose levels don’t drop too low, or in some cases, become too high.

Exercising causes our muscles to use up glucose, which comes from eating carbohydrate-rich foods. This means that not eating adequate carbohydrates before exercise could potentially cause hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose (less than 70 mg/dL), which can be dangerous.

Question: Why do hormones make my BG so crazy? How can I beat back the nasty hormonal effects on my BG?

Answer: While most women deal with mood swings and food cravings during their menstrual cycle or other periods of hormonal imbalance such as pregnancy, those with diabetes may also have to deal with the sometimes unfortunate side effects that hormone imbalances can have on blood glucose control. Insulin, the major hormone involved in blood glucose control, is triggered by the consumption of carbohydrates. When the diet consists of very high carbohydrate foods at irregular times, insulin’s function can become disrupted. Because insulin is closely connected to many other hormones in the body, including estrogen and testosterone, these disruptions can affect both our mood and our blood glucose. While maintaining good blood glucose control is important during all times of the month, it can require a little extra attention during periods of high hormonal imbalances.

Caring for diabetes is a non-stop job as are many other things that we do on a daily basis. Monitoring blood sugars, eating appropriately, taking medications as prescribed, exercising, dealing with insurance, dealing with high and low blood sugars are things that are day multiple times throughout the day. Explaining diabetes and what it feels like to others is also a daily hassle. With a condition that is 24/7, stress and diabetes burnout is very natural. Although it is common, it does not mean that it is not easy to cope with.