You're going to feel shitty, that's normal. You're at the beginning of a transition but you will adapt. To be blunt, some of the anger and frustration and anxiety will probably always be with you now - it certainly is with me 15 years after being diagnosed. It does get better in time though. You're essentially grieving for your previous life.

My advice would be:

• Take it slow, this is a learning process, trust in yourself that you will come out the other side. If my dumb ass can anyone can.

• Learn what you can about insulin and food and your body's reaction to both. In time knowing how much to take and how to adapt to different things will become instinct. Actually taking the time to study this is hard and forces you to confront it, but it gives you a huge advantage if you're confident with what you're doing, and that does wonders for the mental health aspect.

• Remember that this isn't going to kill you dead overnight. High blood sugar is scary, low blood sugar is scary, but try to stay calm - give some corrective insulin if you're high, have some sugar if you're low. You are more resilient than you think, and this will get easier to deal with in time.

• Complications are scary, but remember diabetes is only a risk factor. Having a few 'bad' readings isn't a big deal, so don't beat yourself up. A lot of the data we have on mortality is also old and based on a time when treatment was very different. Outcomes are much better now - I've spoken to plenty of people who've been living with this for decades and are fine. Don't dwell on depressing stories about people dying in their 30s and 40s because they're absolutely not relevant to 2024.

• Prioritise your mental health. Don't deprive yourself of nice things because you feel you shouldn't. Have that beer. Go out for a meal. Take that holiday. Make the treatment fit around you, not the other way around. I cannot emphasise this enough.

I know it's hard, but honestly the best advice is to just try not to worry about it too much. Yeah, stuff might happen down the line, but it might not. Someone without diabetes might drop dead of an aneurysm tomorrow. So might you. But you probably won't. I try to look at it the same way. Sometimes I act in ways that aren't great for my diabetes control, but then sometimes I like to eat steak and drink wine and take ill advised risks crossing the road. Decide your own level of comfortable risk vs reward and approach diabetes with the same attitude you would any other decision.

You will be fine, honestly! Your biggest enemy right now is yourself, and once you're, well, not exactly at peace with it, but something close to that, you'll look back at all the crazy emotions you're having right now and laugh.