I can feel it. It is slithering in like a snake through murky water. It makes little ripples as it moves in, just enough to sense it if you’re looking for it, but not enough to visibly disturb the peace and calm of everyday life. It is sneaky, resting still when you’re looking for it the hardest, hiding in plain sight. When you’re back is turned, it is busy, wrapping itself around everything that is good and dragging it under the surface, dominating.

It makes things heavy, without trying to lift anything. It makes my heart pound, even when I’m calm. It makes me want to cry, but the tears just won’t come. It makes me want to scream, but the effort is too great. It makes me want to fight, when I have nothing to fight about. It makes me forget hunger. It makes sleep something that I can only appreciate because I hear others talk about it.

It is awful.

It makes things awful.

It makes me feel awful.

After all my years with diabetes, it wasn’t until very recently that I learned that depression and diabetes go together like stink and manure. A quick Google search will tell you that depression from diabetes is due to the the daily stress of diabetes management. All the pricking and poking and stabbing and pinching and squeezing and dabbing and dripping and wiping and changing and checking and fixing and… Okay, I can certainly see how someone would get to that conclusion. Diabetes management is exhausting, and maybe that is part of the depression and diabetes picture, but it isn’t all of it.

Some sources say that it is the consequences of diabetes that drives depression. Things like nerve damage, loss of sight, loss of feeling in feet and hands, and weight gain all contribute to this sense of hopelessness. Having had diabetes for 30 years, I don’t subscribe to that. The consequences of diabetes certainly are nothing to shrug off, but I know many people with diabetes today, and those that do have diabetes complications definitely do not let those complications rule their lives. These are some of the most admirable people I know, who carry on in a daily pursuit of contributing to the world and helping other people. That is their focus, so no, I don’t subscribe to the “Oh, woe is me…” reason for depression when you have diabetes.

Sources even say that depression is the reason for depression with diabetes. No, that isn’t a typo or me repeating myself. Many sites, including the ADA, say that because of depression we slack on good diabetes care practices like regular blood glucose testing, eating right, routine exercise, and sometimes even insulin dosing. While slacking off due to depression our health declines, and then we feel bad about it, unintentionally making matters worse.

Something that doesn’t get reported enough is the science that also comes into play with depression and diabetes. In Will Dubois’s book “The Born-Again Diabetic,” he points out the often overlooked malfunction in the serotonin level production of people with diabetes, which can affect mood and cause depression. Will believes that all people with diabetes should be on anti-depression medications, and I’m starting to agree with him. Diabetes is hard enough without having to deal with feeling awful about it for no apparent reason.

The problem I have with depression, besides the general feeling of “blah” that comes with it, is that there is still such a taboo about it. I have a hard time admitting it to myself when I get depressed. Even now, I’m not certain that what I’m feeling is indeed depression. It could just be that I’m worn out from all the stresses of work, life, and responsibilities. Nevertheless, once I can admit to myself that I’m having a bout with depression, I start to blame myself for it. Maybe it is because I haven’t been taking as good of care with my diabetes as I could. Maybe I haven’t been making time to exercise as much as I should. Maybe I haven’t been eating as well, letting excessive carbohydrates creep into my diet more than I should. Never in all my maybe’s do I stop to say, “Maybe what I’m dealing with is something that has nothing at all to do with anything that I’ve done.”

I have felt it all day today. I’m upset, for no reason. I’m aggravated and annoyed, when I have absolutely nothing to be aggravated and annoyed about. I’m tired, yet I can’t rest. I’m not hungry, yet I haven’t had anything more than a pot of coffee today. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I just know I’m not me.

I have an endo appointment coming up in a couple of weeks, and perhaps I will ask him about it. But I probably won’t. As unrealistic as I know it is, there is a part of me that is afraid I’ll be judged as being weak because I can’t deal with things on my own; that I shouldn’t feel the way I do, and the way I feel is nobody’s fault but my own. I don’t want another prescription to pay for either, another pill to take, and another something to have to do on a daily basis. I’m also as stubborn as a mule, and I don’t want everyone trying to fix me and telling me what I need to do. I really don’t want anyone telling me what to do right now. (I know, I’m real mature like that. [sarcasm]) That sort of mentality is probably why the ADA says that depression begets depression. Writing this post took a tremendous amount of my courage, and I just don’t know if I have enough left to face depression (if that is even what this is) head on in the clinical setting.

I’m trying my best to get through this funk. As much patience as I need from others, I also need to be patient with myself when it comes to navigating my way through it all. I’m going to stop stressing over the fact that I can’t keep a CGM sensor on my body for more than 24 hours before it falls off, no matter what kind of sticky substance I put on or over it, and keep trying to find a solution that works. I’m not going to stress out over whatever my next A1C is going to be, and just focus on getting through diabetes one day at a time. I’m going to try to not carry around the guilt of low blood sugars that sometimes happen that I need help with. I’m going to start riding my bicycle again, because there is no room for all this baggage on the road bike, and it is really hard to have a bad day after you’ve started with a good bike ride in the morning. I’m going to get things that are broken fixed, so I can stop looking at broken things (like my TV, washing machine, and my old cruiser bicycle).

I’m going to do what I do best: Focus on the positive.

And somehow through all of this, I will get the most important broken thing of all fixed…me.