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Keeping It Real: Talking With Your Doctor About Diabetes

Do you take a list of questions with you when you visit your doctor for diabetes? Many people do and find that it helps them remember all the questions that come up as they care for themselves each day. Living with diabetes goes beyond just the numbers and the facts of diabetes. It affects and is affected by many other things in your life.

For most people, diabetes creates many feelings—sadness, anger, fear, and frustration, to name just a few. Although these feelings can affect your diabetes and how you care for it, you may not know how to talk with your doctor about these feelings. Or, you may have other pressures or priorities in your life that affect your diabetes but hesitate to bring them up because there is no time to talk about them.

It is true that doctors are busy, and your visit may seem short, so you want to use the time to your best advantage. The questions in the box on this page can be used to help you think about your concerns and the major issues in your life. It can also be used to guide your visit with your doctor and other diabetes care providers. Take it with you to your visit, and give it to your doctor, nurse, or dietitian at the start of your visit. This helps them plan their time with you to make sure there is time to discuss your concerns and questions.

Although talking about your feelings and concerns may be hard at first, keep in mind that the more your doctor and other care providers know about the issues in your life, the more they can help you live well with diabetes.

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This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                What's this?