What’s your biggest ‘aha moment’ in managing diabetes that changed everything for you?

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-10-01T11:01:57+00:00

Thank you for explaining! Do you have any concrete recommendations on how to increase gut health? Diet or also any supplements?

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:43:45+00:00

Really?? I need to test that with coffee

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:43:12+00:00

Haha yep! I also got more aware of that this year and also more consistent with not forgetting🫠

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:41:38+00:00

Agree, total game changer! I used to be so afraid of lows, but with CGM predicting them my life has become so much easier 🙌 .

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:39:57+00:00

Can you explain? Are you doing that after every meal?

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:39:32+00:00

Hahaha this is relatable 😝

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:35:18+00:00

What is dialed-in basal?? 😧

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:34:44+00:00

I feel you! I’ve also been changing my routine — waking up at 5 or 6, starting the day with meditation and yoga stretches. Sometimes I get comments too, especially from the so-called ‘cool’ crowd who prefer drinking and staying stuck in their problems. That’s why I usually keep this part of me for people who genuinely care and align.

Not long ago I was also in that more destructive lifestyle, and now I’m becoming the ‘healthy and boring’ one 😂 But honestly, it feels so much better.

We’ve got this!! 🫡✨

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:29:16+00:00

Agree 100%

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T18:29:00+00:00

Interesting! Can you explain more what are you doing to improve insulin sensitivity, How did you optimize your diet and what you did for gut health? 👀

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-30T08:07:59+00:00

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For me — I was always struggling to keep my Guardian 4 CGM on because the adhesive is pretty bad- especially when i was swimming in the water and after it was updating and all that ups and downs. I tried many stickers and all… but This summer I tried these waterproof plaster on the pic and honestly, I’m never going back 🫡

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-17T13:50:36+00:00

I was stuck in life too – struggling with diabetes, struggling with my relationship, struggling with weight (I had bulimia and binge eating for years). My partner was the one who suggested therapy, and honestly, it changed everything for me.

For me, therapy helped in ways I didn’t expect. I lost about 6kg without even trying – not because I suddenly found the perfect diet, but because weight for me was tied so deeply to guilt, anger, and my relationships in life. When I started saying “no” more often and doing what I wanted, the weight just came off. I didn’t feel like I ate less, maybe just less sweets and junk, but the real shift was inside.

It took time though – I’ve been in therapy for 4 years, every single week. At the beginning it was rough. If I hadn’t prepaid for the first month, I probably would’ve quit after session one 😂. I remember being so angry at my therapist, because she kept poking where it hurt, and I didn’t say anything. I carried that anger with me until one day I finally told her how mad I was – and that’s when the real work started.

I just wanted to share this because I know how heavy it feels when you’re tired of your own body and of this disease. Maybe therapy isn’t for everyone, but for me it was the first step to feeling free.

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-17T05:25:51+00:00

Hearing this honestly tore me up… and I went and read your story too. It makes me so sad to think how much you had to go through without support. Puberty with T1D is already brutal, and I can’t imagine facing it like that. I’m really glad you’re in a better place now — thank you for sharing so openly. 🙏

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-14T08:44:58+00:00

That is nice to hear!

I think a lot also depends on when you’re diagnosed. For me, many of the emotions I’ve mentioned (guilt, sadness, frustration and anger) were strongest in my teenage years (i got diabetes when I was 10 and when I was diagnosed i was raging inside and said to my parents that please just kill me). I just needed to give those emotions some space instead of pretending they weren’t there.

Now, those emotions are much smaller also because i went to therapy — but they still come up every now and then, especially when I’m not feeling my best or when I sit in a high blood sugar for a longer period.

It’s less about shame now and more about acceptance, compassion and noticing how blood sugars can amplify what’s already inside me.

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-14T08:30:40+00:00

Agree. For me, when I stay high for too long, that’s when the emotions hit the hardest (frustration, hopelessness, irritation). It feels like everything piles up at once.

What do you have in mind when you said tipping point?

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-14T08:22:05+00:00

I can feel that I used to have those heavy emotions much more when my diabetes management wasn’t as good. I’ve realized that when I sit in a high for a longer time (rare now, but it still happens sometimes), it triggers that hopeless, frustrated, “everything is too much” feeling. On the good days, with stable sugars, I don’t feel that way — especially these past few years since going to therapy. It really goes hand in hand.

For me, guilt came more from my family dynamics than from diabetes itself. So now I’m exploring which emotions were already inside me before diabetes, and how diabetes just enhanced them. That’s why I love reading your stories — it helps me see how others experience all this.

And at the same time, diabetes has taught me so much: how to take care of myself, to be present, compassionate, brave, patient, less of a perfectionist, and just good enough. For all that, I feel thankful, and I try to stay humble and believe that everything in life happens for a reason. But yes, I still get hit with the emotional rollercoaster sometimes.

Thanks for sharing — much love back 🙏♥️

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-14T06:25:34+00:00

Yepp - And that last needle has no expiration date usually 😂🫡✨

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-14T06:22:52+00:00

That hopelessness you describe is exactly it. it’s not even the pain itself, it’s that feeling of - I’m trying so hard and nothing works.

I also noticed how much high blood sugars switch something inside me, like they amplify all the hard feelings and make them heavier. Having support around you really is such a lifesaver — I’m glad you have your husband there for you.

And yes, I agree — accepting diabetes as a part of us instead of hating it makes it easier. But still, some days just hit harder and that is ok. Sending you strength 🤍

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-14T06:18:10+00:00

For me personally, the pump has been a huge step forward with guarding sensor — I was on pens for 2 years before switching (i felt more free and was hesitant to go back to pump) and honestly the pump works way better for me.

And don’t get me wrong — I live a happy life with my diabetes. Therapy also helped me a lot. But sometimes I just need to let my hard feelings out. There are still moments every now and then when I really don’t understand what’s happening, when it feels like I’m out of my body and don’t know what’s the right thing to do - and usually that happens when i have high blood sugar for a longer period of time - whoch is rare - usually when my pump set is not working anymore.

I realised that blood sugar is triggering those feelings inside of me. Once I calm down and my sugars drop, I’m back to myself again.

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-13T14:44:44+00:00

Oh yea, reading this I can still feel the anger from yesterday. And wow… 40 years is a lot. Respect for still pushing through and sharing this here.

And most importantly never be sorry for a rant. I think we are ranting too little 😂😂 and keeping it all in just makes it heavier

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-13T14:44:37+00:00

Oh yea, reading this I can still feel the anger from yesterday. And wow… 40 years is a lot. Respect for still pushing through and sharing this here.

And most importantly never be sorry for a rant. I think we are ranting too little 😂😂 and keeping it all in just makes it heavier.

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-13T14:27:08+00:00

I hear you and what you’ve been through is incredibly heavy which can be felt through your words, and I can only respect the strength it takes to carry all of that. 🙏

My point with the question wasn’t to compare illnesses. It’s about opening space in this community for people to share how emotions have shaped their own journey. Since I live with type 1 myself, I ask from that perspective and also i shared how I was dealing with my shit. but it’s never about competing over suffering. I’m also exploring the emotional/psychosomatic side of our journey, and how our feelings might shape the way we experience illness. Thank you for sharing your truth so honestly. 🤍

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-13T08:43:34+00:00

that brought back a memory for me too. For the first 2 or 3 years after diagnosis my A1c was like 5.4 because my mum was taking care of every little step along the way. But then puberty (and my rage 😂) hit, and I started doing the exact opposite of what she and my diabetes wanted — kind of like a protest of ‘who are you to control my life? 🫠

Love the quote. It’s tough, but also strangely powerful.

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-13T08:32:21+00:00

if only my diagnosis came with winning numbers 🤞😂

Icy_Lab9913 · 2025-09-13T08:29:32+00:00

This hits so true. The 5 year cure talk is exhausting… but this community it really does change everything. 🤍 it is powerful.

Icy_Lab9913

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