Highs and Lows

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I am wondering if anyone else experiences emotional highs and lows? I notice this generally occurs when my blood sugars are generally higher... Can anyone offer any insight?

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  • B1gH0g
    B1gH0g Posts: 361
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    Not that I have noticed. I do notice I have emotional highs when in traffic, here in Northern VA ;)
  • poodlelaise
    poodlelaise Posts: 149 Member
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    I am generally a very positive, easy to get along with person. Once in a while I'll start getting aggrevated at everything. I've learned to test when that happens, and almost every single time it turns out that I am low. (50 - 60 range.) I have also noticed that when I am high, I get very tired.
  • travisseger
    travisseger Posts: 271 Member
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    I was having a problem with emotional lows over the last year or so, which was strange for me, because I've always had a generally positive outlook on life and had never been one to get down in the dumps. I was wondering whether it had something to do with my diabetes, because I started to notice it around the time I was diagnosed. In discussing this with my doctor my last visit, he decided to test my testosterone levels, saying many guys around our age start experiencing this and that it is often the first signs of low testosterone, which is not uncommon in male diabetics. We tested, and even though I had no other symptoms, my testosterone was very low. I've been self-injecting shots once a week for the past six weeks and the emotional roller coaster is gone.

    I'm not saying that is the problem, but it might be worth looking into. I've never known a diabetic whose emotions were dictated by blood glucose levels, except for the occasional crankiness caused by a low. Physical ups and downs, yes. But not emotional.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    For me...not saying this as a rule for everyone...but lower carbs cause me to have lows. I suffer from depression and anxiety issues. If my carbs go TOO low, I can get very anxious. It is believed that high carbs contribute to seratonin levels. But given the choice between raising my sugar and the depression, I'll pick the depression. I can get through that. The diabetes can cause other problems I want to avoid at all costs.
  • Cyngen
    Cyngen Posts: 557 Member
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    If my BG drops below 65, I get short on patience. I've learned to read the signs and take care of it better now. Sometimes it sneaks up on me when I'm not paying close attention.
  • Sharonks
    Sharonks Posts: 884 Member
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    Low BG can make me agitated just because I'm getting confused and physically not feeling right. I think that is very common. When I am high I tend to get cranky and sometimes a bit irrational. I don't know if it is because I often get more tired or what. A friend of mine said his dad did the same thing.
  • clogwog65
    clogwog65 Posts: 6 Member
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    Also it might be worth getting your Vitamin D levels checked. I had been feeling very down and not looking after myself, eating all the wrong foods and then I had a blood test and they found that I extremely low Vitamin D levels. Since I've started taking a supplement daily I feel terrific! I'm exercising, eating right and loss 5 kgs.

    Apparently If you have a desk type job and are indoors all the time, particularly through winter (I am in the southern hemisphere) you are at a higher risk of this deficiency.
  • mareekaleta
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    Thanks for that tip...will have my levels checked.
  • Bevkus
    Bevkus Posts: 274 Member
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    I have read that many diabetics experience a bit of a roller coaster, especiallly when they are actively lowering their BG levels from unacceptably high levels to normal levels. For instance, a newly dianosed person may have an A1c of 14.6 or even higher. In three months if all goes well, this person may be able to attain a new a1c of say 6.5. This is a sustantail percentage drop. Irratibility can arise..much like a drug addict coming off drugs...we are clearing glucose from our systems.

    I just gave numerical examples, but I think you get the picture. That made sense to me anyway..but so does some of the other ideas!
  • poodlelaise
    poodlelaise Posts: 149 Member
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    Bevkus, I think that's a great point. Sometimes its not that the bg reading is truly that low, its that it is lower than what my body is used to.
  • bobbierogers
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    when my BS is over 180, I get very irritable, sweaty and impatient. My dau. definitely notices a difference in my voice,... I talk too fast and I sound confused.

    when they are low, under 80-I get teary eyed, or giggle at nothing, my upper thighs get weak and the back of my neck breaks out in a sweat, I have a hard time talking and get shaky.
  • blueimp
    blueimp Posts: 230 Member
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    Not that I have noticed. I do notice I have emotional highs when in traffic, here in Northern VA ;)
    HA HA -- I hear that in NOVA and into DC and back again!
    Seriously though although my BG has been consisistent since I've been testing (high in the morning and lowering through the day) on extremely stressful days my BG will stay at higher levels during the day.