I have been a diabetic for 12 years and I have had extremely high blood sugars for the past 6 years. A diabetes educator told me that if my blood sugars were more “normal” then my mood would be better. Im asking because I have found that no matter what my blood sugars read, I still tend to be very irritated and sad about my struggle with diabetes. Advice?
I definitely think you are in the line of a double whammy, Annette. Yes, extremely high blood sugars can(physically) affect mood, but you also, as you say, are “very irritated and sad about your struggle with diabetes”. You don’t say too much about what your efforts to control your blood sugar are like but you have not been doing well for awhile and that has got to be depressing and frightening especially for a young woman who has her whole life spread before her and wonders what it will be like.
My suggestion? Put all your effort into seeing what you can do to get your blood sugars down. That will make you feel better physically (including the mood changes from highs) and emotionally, because even if it takes awhile to see the results, just "doing something"can make us feel more in control and more hopeful. Do tell us what you need and talk more about your challenges so we can help. I recommend if you don’t already have it that you get Using Insulin and Pumping Insulin by John Walsh. The first one helps with things like basals, I:C ratios, Correction Factors, carb counting, etc. The second one helps you use your pump to the best advantage. Many people believe a pump helps lower blood sugar, but if it isn’t programmed right and you don’t utilize the basic skills of adjusting doses and numbers, it can’t do it for you. You’ve taken the first step by posting here. I think many people who were diagnosed as children tend to go through a period of not dealing well with their Diabetes but you CAN get back on track!
Hell once I start posting past 100 the irritability sets in. I’d love to be able to go up to 200 and not feel a thing. Mood swings are an understatement in my world.
I have found that it’s useful to have hobbies to distract me from diabetes. When I was younger it was playing in rock bands (along with all of the debauchery that went along with that…heh heh heh. Not recommended by the ADA or the AMA but I didn’t want to get my BG too out of control and miss the party…). Then I settled down for a while, (this is over like 15 years…) and had a kid (a large hobby, that’s for sure!) and then realized I was not in the best shape and started working out. Slowly @ first, kind of easing into it but then I got into martial arts a lot. It was frustrating a lot of the time, constantly being pushed but, in the long run, I didn’t blow up, made some good choices to get an insulin pump, etc. and, lo and behold, got a black belt and was very briefly employed at the school. Nothing to buy cars with but those checks meant a lot to me, along with positive feedback from students. I felt really great about it but had to move, a huge chore, and then was sort of drifting for a while and started running, both to get into a flow activity, have time to listen to music, and help stay in decent shape. That has also been a lot of work but it has also served as an activity I don’t want to miss that keeps me motivated to keep my BG sort of in line most of the time.
My son and I are both type 1’s. I don’t notice any change when my blood sugar gets high, but when his gets high he gets very angry. He’s normally a calm, rational person but I can tell when I’m talking to him on the phone when his blood sugar is high.
Do high blood sugars really affect your mood? and why?
I get cranky when my BG is high like Sue’s son. Probably mostly because I feel like I screwed up somehow, plus sort of sluggishness. I am sort of a habitual muncher too and, when my BG is high, no munchies for a while? These days, I usually do a CB and walk the dog so the dog is probably being trained to like it when my BG is high. She has not quite turned into a furry BG meter just yet…
I have found that if I’m high or over 250 I tend to not be the nicest person. Very short and irratable. The higher I get the worse I get. I got the same advice as u got and now when I’m lower I’m nicer.