Tag: recharge

How to beat the springtime blues

Springtime blues? “What’s that about?” you ask. After about four years of consistently feeling miserable for about a week every April, I think I’ve finally realized that for me, something about springtime wreaks havoc on my diabetes management.

I find myself suddenly feeling sluggish, cloudy and hungry.

My blood sugar levels go up and stay up, like they’re stuck on a higher plateau.

Insulin just doesn’t bring me down like it typically does and because I’m running higher, my appetite increases and I just want to eat…carbs.

And then all of a sudden the insulin will bring me down like a ton of bricks and I’ll be arrested by an intense low blood sugar.

So…I have some hypotheses. It does make sense to me that the same inflammatory response caused by seasonal allergies would not be so great for T1 diabetes, which by its nature is an inflammation of the immune response. My friends with T1D have turned me on to some research to suggest that springtime is a hard season for many people with various autoimmune conditions.

Spring is also a time of new beginnings, change, waking up from winter and everything suddenly gets so busy. In this space of having so much to do and so little time to do it (and feeling like my head is full of pollen), my typically stress and diabetes management technique of daily concerted exercise hasn’t been as attainable. So I’m here to share – with no guilt – that this week I got a massage.

This was actually my second of two 30 minute massages with Monique Kennedy, who I recommend highly if you’re in the triangle area. Check out her practice: Exhale Massage Therapy – where you can book directly online.

And the name really says it all – exhaling (a topic I’m excited to write more about soon) and its partner inhaling are so hard to prioritize and yet so very beneficial. Since the massage and the reminder to breathe deeply, to prioritize resting and recharging, my blood sugars have been just a little bit more ‘normal.’

I’d love to hear other people’s experiences with autoimmune conditions and spring time and about massage as part of a healthy life!

Find your break

This past weekend I went on a run with a friend. I resort to running when I’ve crammed my life so full that I feel it’s necessary to expedite working out. My usual preference is for walking, which I’ve just returned home from.

Here are some of the things I saw on my walk:

  • White and pink Dogwood blossoms. Dogwood trees have a distinct smell – sweet and earthy.
  • A black and white cat tiptoeing through an overgrown corridor of leggy flowering grasses.
  • A mockingbird trilling from a tree limb.
  • Tightly packed azalea flowers flocking front porches.

This walk and yesterday’s yoga class were inspired by suggestions from two people whose wisdom I value. They suggested that in order to get everything I needed to done, I take a break. Different times call for different sorts of breaks, and lately I’ve needed a computer break. Like my friend, I’ve been losing productivity as one assignment blurs into the next. I’ve been losing sleep too and waking up with high or low blood sugars. These past couple days, stepping away and doing something slowly has made space for me to breathe – which, one could argue, is just another way to practice public health.