Mood Swings

[rebecca owen]

I found myself having a lot of mood swings since I got diagnoses, everyone who I speak to that is either Type 1 or knows someone who is says they get them, I was wondering whether it will stop or maybe get better?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @rebecca owen Just out of interest how are your blood glucose levels ?

I found early on in diagnosis that the more my bg levels swung high and low the more irritable I became, it was after seeing a GP and making the link that I realised that staying as stable as possible also contributed to how I was feeling. Also with being newly diagnosis I was also going through a period of grieving literally for my health, once this phase passed and I became more confident with managing my t1 that things also improved then too.

Try and talk to those around you, take up a hobby or something you enjoy doing, it will get better

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

Getting to grips with things in the early days can be tough and overwhelming. Not sure how long since your diagnosis but if quite recent you will still be trying to adjust both physically but also emotionally with the diagnosis.

Mood swings are fairly common place if sugars are too high or too low but once you get some management and consistency in keeping things in range it should improve.

 

[jlarsson]

It can be directly linked to your blood sugar levels, low blood sugar will often cause a shorter fuse and impatience, at least in me, while high blood sugar usually causes laziness and foggier thinking.

 

[rebecca owen]

They fluctuate between 7 and 12, but I think that’s been down the stress with work.

I spoke to my DN about feeling low, and I had put that down to diagnosis and a work situation and cutting things out because I thought I shouldn’t eat them but then 6 months down the line from diagnosis I still find myself crying at the smallest thing and feeling like everything is going wrong.

It’s calmed a tiny bit so I feel a tiny bit hopeful

 

[rebecca owen]

Getting to grips with things in the early days can be tough and overwhelming. Not sure how long since your diagnosis but if quite recent you will still be trying to adjust both physically but also emotionally with the diagnosis.

Mood swings are fairly common place if sugars are too high or too low but once you get some management and consistency in keeping things in range it should improve.

I got diagnosed 6 months ago

 

[Jenny15]

Hi @rebecca owen,

I have T2 not T1 but I recently had a period of high and swinging BGs, which affected my moods big time. Once my BGs stabilised at a lower level I felt better. I think we are all different in how sensitive we are to BG changes. I learned that I am very sensitive and have noticed that others are not so sensitive, ie they can tolerate swings and high BGs without it affecting their moods as much.

To give you an example, I found that anything over 9 coincided with irritability/short fuse and anything over 12 meant I was quite irritable and upset a lot of the time. While I had a UTI recently, I would go from 7-12 in a few hours and that coincided with a flare up of my mood symptoms. Some days I was anywhere between 5.5 and 13. Other days as high as 15.

Then after a few days of my newly started insulin therapy working, I had a day where I started on 7.7 and never went higher than that or below 6.1 that day. I know that sort of control is hard for most people to achieve and it's the exception more than the rule for me, but it did show me that if I could get a day like that, my moods and irritability were no problem to me that day, and I felt quite energized and optimistic, even.

The last few weeks have been rough, but they have taught me that keeping my BGs from swinging across a wide range of numbers is linked to feeling better physically and mentally.

Fine tuning the management of T1 is something the T1s on the forum can talk about with you. 6 months is not long in terms of adapting to a life-affecting diagnosis like T1.

Stress and grief are normal reactions to an abnormal situation. It's not pleasant at all, but it usually gets better over time. I speak from experience, having been diagnosed with several life-affecting conditions.

With mood issues, my approach is always to rule out or treat any medical causes (diabetic and non-diabetic), then work on processing the feelings and moving forward.

I hope that helps a little.

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

I got diagnosed 6 months ago

Yep 6 months isn't too long.

For me it's when my sugars are low that I become agitated and also non responsive to others. It affects us all differently but technically it can change ones personality and others that are close to you will see this.

Things will improve Rebecca. Try not to get too worried but try to get a little tighter with your management. Stay close there is lots of knowledge on here.