I receive a lot of emails with questions about diabetes, mostly on pump models or how to motivate teenagers to test their glucose more often. I do my best to point people to the most valuable resources around. But late last week last I got an email I felt helpless to reply to:
“I’m 28 years old my name is K. I’m type one diabetic, I’ve never really taken good care of myself… I rebelled (and) I started an addiction to crystal meth. I’m okay now but don’t know where to begin. I’ve gone to doctors, but when I tell them to start slow with me so I will stick with it, they look at me like I’m retarded. Maybe anyone can give me any tips? I would really appreciate it.”
I guess I am to understand that this reader has kicked her meth addiction, but is dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath — complicated of course by thestruggle to get a handle on her diabetes care. What can I tell this woman to be of help? (Note: I wrote about meth addiction once before, here, but still can’t claim to know the path to healing.)
I find it upsetting that the doctors this woman has seen have reacted so contemptuously. For goodness’ sake, she is begging for help! This is not a time for passing judgment. And from a diabetes perspective, it should be clear that a case like this is miles away from the traditional approach of just giving the patient a bunch of handouts that list “all the right things to do.”
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: we understand that doctors are not wizards. They cannot make our ailments magically disappear. What we’re mostly hoping for are some real-life practical tips, and some empathy, not miracles!
Any doctor worth their salt should know that the challenge for addictive personalities is to “break the cycle,” to stop falling into old, compulsive habits.
Are doctors trained to have any empathy for these behavioral challenges, I wonder? Or when they hear of drug addiction, are they just falling back on human nature and passing judgment?
“How do you define methamphetamine addiction? Is it a crime, or is it an illness?” I found an article from the North Dakota Law Review about posing this question to a roomful of lawyers.
“I requested a show of hands: ninety percent of the audience defined methamphetamine use as a crime,” the author writes. “The response from our legal system agrees with the audience. The penal system has increased exponentially as a consequence to the definition of methamphetamine addiction as a crime.”
“Using (medical) definitions, methamphetamine clearly meets the criteria for addiction and disease. When referencing meth addiction as a disease, it meets the criteria of loss of control. If asked to apply the same logic to other well known ‘diseases’ such as diabetes, I doubt if the audience would define this disease as a crime. This means that the preconceived notion that addicts have control of their behavior (regardless of cognitive impairment), and have the choice to function normally, and hence should be held criminally accountable for their actions, is not necessarily true.”
The comparison to diabetes here is ironic – especially in light of the fact that the author goes on to discuss how people addicted to meth find it so hard to create structure in their lives. And without “structure,” creating a regimen for taking care of your diabetes is close to impossible, is it not?
“Replacing drug use with responsibilities, self care, community involvement, and work are difficult concepts for the recovering meth addict,” the law author writes.
Btw, I learned about the definitive difference between drug “abuse” and “addiction” – it’s a fine line, but the main differentiator is feeling truly powerless to stop yourself: “When a person goes into addiction, their choice in the matter is either severely limited or taken away entirely.”
The other important point of understanding about crystal meth addiction, the experts say, is that it is as much a disease of the spirit as it is of the body and mind. “Unlike other chronic diseases, like diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, the spiritual component of crystal meth addiction will play a major role in a person’s recovery.”
I’m not sure I agree completely there; I think a healthy mind/spirit component is critical to “succeeding” with diabetes, too. We all know that many PWDs slip into severe depression.
In any case, this post was meant to inquire: Does anyone out there know of any good resources specifically for diabetics struggling with meth addiction and its consequences?
Greatly appreciated, in advance.
$113 billion is spent on marijuana every year in the U.S., and because of the federal prohibition *every* dollar of it goes straight into the hands of criminals. Far from preventing people from using marijuana, the prohibition instead creates zero legal supply amid massive and unrelenting demand.
According to the ONDCP, at least sixty percent of Mexican drug cartel money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., they protect this revenue by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering countless innocent people.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so NOW, but if we can’t then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. One way or the other, we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate their highly lucrative marijuana incomes – no business can withstand the loss of sixty percent of its revenue!
To date, the cartels have amassed more than 100,000 “foot soldiers” and operate in 230 U.S. cities, and Arizona police are now conceding that parts of their state are under cartel control. The longer the cartels are allowed to exploit the prohibition the more powerful they’re going to get and the more our own personal security will be put in jeopardy.
My heart goes out to this reader. My husband and I work with some teenagers who are courageously fighting through addictions or mental illnesses. In a perfect world, it would be idea to try to find a counselor, therapist, or mental health professional that would agree to partner with the reader’s endocrinologist. Support groups, positive influences, creative outlets (yoga, church, drawing, hobbies, sports, music) all seem to help out kids we work with too.
Keep your head up reader! You’re in my prayers. I feel for ya.
There is a facility called Timberline Knolls in Chicago that specializes in drug addiction as well as eating disorders and others medical issues. They have treated three residents with type 1 in just the last three months, even though the residents were not primarily there for type 1- basically they have enough knowledge on how drugs and eating disorders effect type 1 and understand the patient is the expert that they can safely treat both.
They commonly see meth addiction there and have great statistics for sobriety rates months out. They will also set you up with outside doctors (ex: if diabetes is out of control because of drug use they will get you endo at University of Chicago or RUSH to be involved in case). It it was wonderful place that really helps woman.
They take insurance and also have some scholarships, I reccomend looking into what they have to offer since they can help on a variety of different levels.
Oh, she is courageous for seeking help in such a bold way! As a cognitive coach, the line that resonated with me the most was “I told the doctors I need to start slow” —> that is KEY to big life changes whether you’re overcoming an addition or even just trying to make exercise a regular part of your life. And it’s great she knows that about herself.
While I am no doctor, my methods of helping people through a patient process of change might be the kind of thing this woman is looking for. Either way, it’s clear that her doctors are exactly what she needs right now. I hope she continues to be persistent and advocates for herself.
Ginger
http://www.living-in-progress.com
In response to the Meth Addiction and Diabetes, a great resource for help is Narcotics Anonymous. They can be found near the reader’s home by looking through the internet. They are a great source for help physically, spiritually and emotionally.
This is really sad. Dealing with diabetes is hard enough. Then to add a drug addiction on top of it can make it unbearable!