Burnout

Dragging Diabetes Through the Christmas Season

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It’s definitely starting to feel like the end of the year. And I, for one, am feeling plain exhausted. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just that end of the year, over-it-all exhaustion.

I’ve had a lot of late nights recently. I’ve often sat down in front of the laptop with the intention of surfing the web for Christmas gift ideas. That’s often ended with me at the eBay checkout at midnight, after hours deliberating over goodies for myself. Last week it was a new phone case, a longer iPhone charging cable and some headphones with an extension cord. I was also hunting down an iPad, a new Medic Alert bracelet and a few diabetes books.

Work is beginning to feel plain monotonous. I don’t feel like I’m a human being during the mornings as I’m getting myself up and ready. I can no longer be bothered bringing my lunch from home. I feel about half as motivated than normal during the day. I stubbornly told myself that I’d work through it and save up my annual leave a few weeks ago. Now I feel like I am well and truly in need of a break.

I have zero motivation towards managing my diabetes well at the moment. There are get togethers and festive meals planned over the next couple of days. Boxes of chocolate, shortbread, Pannetone and candy canes are beginning to pile up at home. And there’ll be plenty of leftover food and deserts in the fridge to indulge in during the aftermath. I’m giving insulin injections my best guess, and closely monitoring my blood sugar levels about twice as much than normal.

Yet amidst all of this, I still somehow look forward to this time of the year. Going to the Christmas tree farm and cutting down our third real, live Christmas tree.

Seeing the suburbs light up in colourful Christmas lights in the middle of the Australian summer.

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Making the most of the sunshine and cool Summer weather before the heat sets in for the rest of the season. And yes, I can even spend Christmas at the beach!

Seeing family (some of them, at least!). Good food. Collapsing on the couch feeling stuffed and happy. Post Christmas bargain hunting (although I think I’ve already started on this one!)

Managing diabetes is hard work. I feel it more than anything at this time of the year, when everyone and everything else is taking time out to unwind at the end of the year. I would love to have the option for diabetes to shut up shop at this time of the year.

While that’s not a possibility for me, I am still proud to be able to enjoy this time of year. I can confidently say that diabetes hasn’t made Christmas too different since I was diagnosed. And in my eyes, that makes all the hard work and extra attention well worth the effort.

Merry Christmas. Wishing you a happy, and safe festive season.

– Frank

Dealing With Diabetes Blogging Burnout

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Two weeks ago, I wrote my 100th post here on Type 1 Writes. It still felt so unreal to me. That I had accomplished something I had put off for so long, and kept at it. Something that had seemed so overwhelming and so complex was actually just as simple as writing from the heart. Something that I had only ever imagined in my wildest dreams was now a reality. I felt so proud and accomplished, but at the same time I couldn’t help but feel that it was the right time to succumb to my growing exhaustion.

I guess in the past month, I’ve been pushing myself a little too hard. In these past few weeks, my brain has been exploding with ideas to write about. From things that happened during the day, to some super dooper #OzDOC chat topics, to other good reading within the Diabetes Online Community. There seemed to be no shortage of ideas, and I was pushing myself to get these ideas into blog posts. I was churning out more writing than normal, and it got to the point where blogging stopped being fun.

To top it all off, the peak of my burnout just happened to be on the #DayOfDiabetes that I was so looking forward to participating in. The #DayOfDiabetes where the Diabetes Online Community would partake in a day of live tweeting their condition. It pained me to Tweet this, but I had absolutely no energy or motivation to take part in #DayOfDiabetes (or to even read your Tweets like I promised).

So, how does one deal with, and hopefully overcome, blogging burnout?

I stopped.

I logged out of Twitter, I logged out of WordPress and I put my foot on the brakes.

I took some time to do some of the other things that I enjoy. Like watching the new season of Survivor Second Chance that I’ve been looking forward to ever since it was announced. Finally finishing my 877 page book that I’ve been reading for several weeks. And spending some time in the sunshine and fresh air.

I reminded myself of why I write. Because it helps, and motivates me. I reminded myself of why I love being a part of the Diabetes Online Community. Because you inspire me, and help me feel less alone. And I reminded myself of all of the good things that have come from this experience.

Two days later I finally felt inspired to write again, thanks to a compelling #OzDOC chat topic that week. I brought my laptop outside and wrote for a while in the sunshine, before switching off again for much of the weekend.

And going forward, that’s what I intend to do. To keep writing when I’m inspired. To keep writing from the heart. And to keep having fun. I won’t push myself to write when I don’t feel like it, and I won’t write more than my usual four posts a week for the time being.

Also for fun, I’m taking on the #DOCtober photo challenge this month thanks to Kerri at Six Until Me. I will do my best to post a diabetes related photo each day with the hashtag #DOCtober – follow me on Instagram to keep up!

https://instagram.com/p/8VXj1fg_QVEDvRc9IE8v0unsIyvPIjc58eFfc0/

 

#DOC Burnout Day

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When I started writing this blog earlier in the year, I knew absolutely nothing about diabetes beyond my own ability to live with and manage it. I didn’t even think that there were many diabetes blogs out there, let alone good ones. And little did I know that there was a whole community of people with diabetes out there to connect with, that I had missed out on for five long years.

I joined Twitter, where a few kind people reached out and followed me. I discovered the wonderful Oz Diabetes Online Community, and have joined them every Tuesday night since. I took part in my first Diabetes Blog Week, where I connected with many other people with diabetes who I have kept in touch with ever since. I have recently signed up for TuDiabetes, which has forums filled with lively diabetes discussion. I am also starting to venture into friendly Facebook groups, and launched a Facebook page for this blog last week as well (care to send a like my way?).

The DOC ignited my passion for diabetes. The DOC is one of the best sources of inspiration, conversation, motivation and support when living with diabetes. And the DOC is by far what motivates me to write and share through this blog each and every day.

Throughout my day, I get to see what’s going on in the DOC in Australia. Some of my DOC friends in the US will post updates about how their night is going (obviously not good, if diabetes is keeping them awake!). From late afternoon, my DOC friends in the UK will begin to emerge and give us their first thoughts of the morning. And then from early evening, the biggest DOC market, the US begins to emerge. There’s always breaking news, interesting stories to read and people’s thoughts to engage my mind with.

It’s hard not to feel a little overwhelmed, or even addicted to something which runs 24 hours a day, right across the world. It certainly can be difficult to go to sleep when there’s a whole other world out there that’s awake and buzzing with information. I certainly don’t want to give up something that I feel so strongly about and get so much out of. But I absolutely hate the fact that the DOC can be very time consuming. And I do feel as though I need a break from it sometimes for the sake of my wellbeing.

Athough I don’t do it often enough, I feel good when I switch off from the DOC a few hours before bed. I feel calmer and happier. I feel good at the thought of having time to myself. And it’s far easier to fall asleep when my mind isn’t swimming with DOC thoughts and information. I would love to get into a regular habit of switching off social media for at least 10 hours at night. And I need to remind myself more often that the DOC is still going to be there to catch up with in the morning.

Ever feel like you’ve gone through a DOC burnout? Today is Diabetes Social Media Burnout Day, and Diabetes Daily invites you to share your burnout stories and tips.

Like my blog? Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/type1writes.

Down Time

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I woke up at a quarter to eleven on Saturday morning. It had to have been one of my all time records. I never sleep in that late. I aboslutely hate the idea of wasting half the day sleeping. And to top it all off, my blood sugar level was a beautiful 18.9 (insert swear word). Waking up at that level is one of the worst things that I experience with diabetes. Being that high for the 10 hours I’d been sleeping is a horrible thought. The guilt of the potential damage I am doing to my body. The frustration of not having forced myself up during the night to check.

All in all, it was a pretty lousy start to the day. But it was hardly unexpected. It had been a busy and eventful couple of days. There were a couple of mornings where I started work earlier than normal. And of course, I didn’t make the time to get to bed any earlier like I should have.

Battling end of the week exhaustion, we also celebrated my Dad’s birthday on Friday. This, of course, meant a lot of bolus worthy treats to indulge in. Not to mention the delicious dinner that went before it. I can remember Mum handing me my slice of cake, asking if it was too big. It was too big. But, not wanting to draw attention or pity to myself in front of guests, I insisted it was fine. I really should have said something.

So, back to Saturday. I felt groggy. Lousy. Guilt ridden. I did something I never do. Its the one thing that I probably haven’t done since just before I was diagnosed with diabetes. I went back to bed in the middle of the day. Last time I did this I was on the verge of being diagnosed with diabetes. I had lost my appetite, my energy and willingness to go about my day. Today, I wasn’t unwell. I just needed to recharge.

Gotta say, it was just so nice to pull the blankets up, stretch my legs out and rest my head on the soft pillow as my blood sugar levels came down. I had The Goldbergs playing on my laptop and a cup of tea by my side as the afternoon light was streaming in through the window.

Turns out some down time was was just what I needed. I got up a few hours later feeling completely refreshed. My blood sugar had come down to a perfect 6.6. And I was ready to start all over again.