What Is 'Diabetes Overwhelmness' and How Can I Handle It?

— -- Question: What is 'diabetes overwhelmness' and how can I handle it?

Answer: There are many things that we ask people with diabetes to do. I have patients who are taking multiple injections of insulin a day. I have patients who are checking their blood sugar one, two up to seven times a day. And I have a number of patients who are on several different medications for the treatment of their blood sugars, their high blood pressure and their cholesterol. All of this can lead to the burden of diabetes or what we call 'diabetes overwhelmness.'

One of the keys, I think in reducing diabetes overwhelmness is to partner with your health care provider; to sit down with your health care provider and prioritize the one or two things that you can implement now.

For example, for some of my patients, just getting out and walking 10 to 15 minutes, three to four times a week can make a very big difference in terms of their blood sugar control. And building on that, they can actually decrease their cardiovascular risk.

For other people it's making a more consistent choice in terms of a meal. So there are many things that we can do that are small yet consistent steps that will improve not only blood sugar but hopefully decrease cardiovascular outcomes.

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