long commute driving difficulties with diabetes

[tonepaisano]

Hello, I have had type 1 diabetes for 25 years now,I am reaching my 40`s. Started insulin pump therapy over a year now and it seems to be working good. I still get the fluctuations in high and lows. Recently, I had accepted a job that required a long commute to work, i thought that this job would be a very god fit for me. I was about to start the job in a few weeks,but taking the drive to the company to fill out paper work,
I started to get very stressed out because of the long commute,
my blood sugars were climbing to very dangerous levels.
I became more stressed because of the high blood sugar levels.
I decided that the long commute would not be good for me because of this condition.
Now, I am upset that i couldnt make the commute.
my question is how can i overcome this and if my decision was the right thing to do based on my circumstances?
some input would be appreciated.
thank you

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

As you found out, stress can affect your blood sugars. In my case (I am a type 1 diabetic for the past 36 years), stress can cause a dangerous low, but in the case of most type 1 folks, highs are the most typical result.  I believe you have to do what you can to keep the glucose levels as even as possible, for we must protect our health. That being said, I do believe that we have some control over how stressed we feel in various situations. In your case, you could possibly find ways to use that long commute in productive ways so you don't feel stressed by it but instead rather welcome it. If you wish to do the job, you could perhaps use that commute time to listen to book tapes or favorite music, or you could use the commute as time to think about solutions to problems that come up in the course of the job. One problem that many of our peers find in today's fast-paced society is the loss of time to ourselves and the loss of THINKING time. Perhaps you could change your feelings about the commute so that it became something no longer stressful, but could be used as time for yourself, time for peace and quiet, and time that you may find nurturing instead of stressful. If, on the other hand, you truly think that the long commute would continually cause stress to you, then it may have been a good decision to opt not to do it. Only you can really know how you usually react to situations, for different things cause stress to different people. Learning how to minimize stress in your iife may not be so much a job that requires changing the situations in life so much as a task of changing your outlook about these situations. I wish you the best.

[tonepaisano]

thanks for the feedback regarding difficulties driving long commutes to and from work with having type 1 dibetes.
As it turned out, I didnt not accept the job opportunity that was far away. I made the decision based on driving alone,the chance of not feeling well while driving, highs and lows and the concern about feeling stressed.
your viewpoints made allot of sense to me, the mindframe needs to be relaxed and to try and not think negative
thanks for your help, i want to know if i am the only one that feels this way.

[JDRF-Team-sgg]

I have a job with multiple tight deadlines, and the job stress can be awful when deadlines pile up. I have learned through the years to do something to "treat" myself when I start to feel stressed about deadlines piling up so that my brain associates the GOOD thing (the treat, whether it be a cd with beautiful music, a favorite sugarfree beverage, or doing the most fun job first so that the deadlines are not as piled up when I get to the nasty jobs) with the bad deadlines. So the fact that I have horrible deadlines doesn't change, but my ability to tackle them without feeling stressed DOES change. This works in most areas of life, even though it seems like nothing more than a mind game. I find that feelings of stress are rare when I make a concerted effort to put something good with the bad so my emotions don't focus on the bad as much.