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• April 1, 2013 9:47 a.m.

  My husband has been a Type II diabetic for about 20 years now. I'm aware of the emotional ups and downs diabetics go through, but lately it has gotten worse. Over the past 4 months he will say really cruel things or go on a verbal rampage. In the past, he would have been very remorseful about saying such things, but now he doesn't seem to think he's saying anything unusual. He gets really angry and blames me for doing things that I would have to be able to read his mind to know that I've upset him in some way. Then he will go back to acting very normal for a while. I really have to "walk on eggshells" around him for fear of setting him off. He doesn't take very good care of himself, he is very overweight and if I didn't give him his meds, he would completely forget to take them. I do know that his emotions are very up and down whenever he is benging on too many carbs,I am very aware of how he has acted in the past. Then about a year ago he started acting like a woman with PMS but, it has gotten worse than that in the past 4 months. Is this somthing you've ever heard of? We don't have insurance because he is currently self-employed and we just make enough money to get by. Thanks for your help and input!

  - Jan

• March 20, 2013 3:19 p.m.

  Cate: You didn't say whether or not your husband's behavior is due to low blood glucose or high blood glucose. People can act belligerent if their blood glucose is low. However, if this behavior is not due to a blood glucose reading then he should be evaluated for other causes. We recommend that you discuss this with his provider.

  - Nancy and Peggy

• March 15, 2013 9:51 a.m.

  My husband has diabetes. My question is about his emotions. He if a great guy but friends, coworkers, and I all have experienced him having completely unexplainable outbursts over trivial things. He becomes very angry and nasty and completely different than his normal easy going self. Is this typical for someone with diabetes?

  - Cate

• February 5, 2013 12:45 p.m.

  Wow. I stumbled upon this blog in search for how our sugars may affect our emotions. This one, of course, is about the reverse... as are so many of the other things that came up in my search. But as we can see through the comments here, so many of us also battle our sugars making us moody! I'm doing my best to talk more about this. There is not enough information about this and I thing it's extremely important!! How many Diabetics and loved ones of Diabetics would be better off if they knew that our sugars make us moody! Diabetics can learn to identify when it happens and do something about it instead of just continue hurting our loved ones! And our loved ones will understand that it can be our sugar and that it's not part of our personality! We can work on it! Please... let's talk about this more. - I've only recently started a blog myself, so don't have much yet, but if you're interested... please feel free to read and share with your loved ones! http://anothersweetdiabetic.blogspot.com/

  - Mariela

• November 13, 2012 7:07 p.m.

  Frustration with treatment providers. They don't understand that blood glucose levels that are too high or too low contribute and may cause emotional problems for the diabetic. They also fail to understand the immense cravings for carbohydrates that the diabetic must battle....

  - Al

• January 31, 2012 2:20 a.m.

  I AM THE MOTHER OF TWO TYPE ONE DIABETIC TEEN AGE BOYS. THE OLDER ONE WAS DIAGNOSED AT 18 YEARS AND SOON AFTER HEADED OFF TO COLLEGE, THE YOUNGER ONE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED SINCE THE AGE OF 7 AND IS NOW 13. DIABITIS IS AN EVERYDAY CHALLENGE FOR BOTH THE DIABETIC AND THE FAMILY. MY ADVISE, SEEK OUT AN EXCELLENT MEDICAL TEAM. READ EVERYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON, ESPECIALLY INFORMATION RELATED TO HOW THE DIABETIC IS FELLING EMOTIONALLY. I UNDERSTAND THEY GO THROUGH SIMULAR STAGES AS ONE WHO IS GRIEVING. THE BEST ADVISE I CAN GIVE IS CHECK, CHECK, CHECK! KNOW THE NUMBERS AND MAKE INSULIN ADJUSTMENTS AS NECESSARY. CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS, DONT ALWAYS WANT TO DO THIS ON THEIR OWN, ESPECIALLY IF THEIR ROUTINE IS DIFFERNET FOR WHATEVER REASON, BUT BE PERSISTENT...COLLEGE KIDS CAN FACE SPECIAL CHALLENGES, IN THE FACT THAT NOW THEY ARE IN CHARGE OF THIER CHOICES. SEEK OUT THE ASSISTANCE OF THE COLLGE MEDICAL TEAM, THEY CAN DIRECT YOU TO COUNCELORS, DIATICIANS, AND DO WEEKLY CHECKS ON NUMBERS, INSULIN COMPLIANCE AND WATCH WEIGHT LOSSES OR GAINS, WHICH CAN BE A FIRST SIGN THE TEEN MAY NEED HELP AND INCOURAGMENT. ABOVE ALL...PICK YOUR BATTLES!!!! TEEN AND COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE DOING ALOT OF GROWING, AND FINDING THEIR OWN STYLES, BE PATIENT. CHECK IN OFTEN, REAFIRM YOUR LOVE FOR THEM AND THAT LIVING AWAY FROM HOME DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE NOT STILL A VERY IMPORTANT MEMBER OF THE FAMILY. AS WITH ANY HEALTH CONCERN, DIABETICS DONT WANT TO FACE THEIR TREATMENT ALONE.

  - TRACY

• November 26, 2011 4:21 a.m.

  Hi name is Tony. I'm 19 years old and I just found out last year that I'm a type 2 diabetes and didn't even know about it. I played football and basketball for all four years and high school, and my last played football with it. On Fridays I felt fine but I never played good cause I always getting tried fast or something was wrong. Being of my last year of school I wighted in at 250 sold and after football was I wighted in at 205. I never believe that have debates BC I was always. So active. Tell this day I'm still learning how to control it and leaning not to push my mama and aunt and my gf away from me. I read other ppl post and see that they were just like me sad and anger, mad at myself. I need control and accept it before its to late. Thank you for writing this

  - tony

• August 1, 2011 9:45 a.m.

  Here I sit reading this blog and wondering why I have felt so alone for the last 30 years. There are so many of us. I was mis-diagnosed with Type I back when I was 16. As you all know, 16 is a tough enough age already. It was the 4th of July in 1983 when I got out of the hospital after a week of diabetes education and getting my initial blood sugar under control. I am only now, 30 years later, realizing the anger I have felt since then. Only 10 years ago I learned that I am actually a type II diabetic, but am extremely insulin resistant. I am slightly overweight (6'0" tall and weigh 210 lbs.) but I take over 300 units of insulin daily, on top of Metformin and Glipizide. As others have noted, I think my blood sugars effect my emotions more than my emotions effect my blood sugar. I have been taking my anger out most recently on my 9-year-old son. My wife finally managed to get it through my thick skull. I never meant to hurt him (mentally mind you, not physically), but I realize I have been hurting him for some time now. I am seeing a counselor now and hope to work through all of this before it is really too late. Only now am I getting over the "hump" of accepting what I have. I feel like a failure for letting it take this long, but I hope to make everything right now. Anyway, thanks for reading and for writing this blog to begin with! Just try to remember that diabetes is NOT YOUR FAULT!

  - Eric

• May 17, 2011 12:56 p.m.

  I found this site because my dr and I just had this conversation: Do my emotions affect my blood sugar levels (bs). Yes they do. I am a Type I diabetic and have been for 41 years. There are 12 kids in my family and 6 of us were type I diabetics since under 10 years old. And now one thing I have noticed is if I get upset, nervous, anxious my bs is going to go down for sure. It doesn't take much to change my bs. I told him I can count on a low bs if I go shopping. Why? It just doesn't make sense. I am not doing any type of high activity. Just walking around the racks. But it never fails. So I know now to bring along a snack bar and such. It is the same with high bs. It doesn't take much to bring that up either. I can go without eating (I have an insulin pump) which I have to say is the best thing that EVER came along. Us kids use to think the disposable syringes were the best thing to come along. Try using glass syringes and needles that get used for about 8-9 months. Ouch!! We had to boil the syringes every morning and line up and Dad would give us our shots. We each had our own syringe. The pump is GREAT! I hate shots! Can you imagine? I have had approximately more than 30,000 shots in my lifetime. That's only for insulin. The pump is once every 3 days. That is awsome!! Well bs do go up also depending on how I am feeling. Anger, rushing around, that type of activity. So back to your original question: Does emotion affect your bs? Most certainly.

  - Jeannine

• April 10, 2011 3:13 a.m.

  My previous post did not record my name {{I dont mean to make anyone mad but my child did not have a choice about his diabetes. Type 2 is more of a lifestyle factor so boo hoo type 2's. }} I'm an adult male who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes almost 2 years ago. I don't know as much about type 2 diabetes as I know about t1dm, but I would like to point out a few things about people suffering with t2dm that many people with type 1 often don't understand or appreciate. 1) Type 1 comes on fast; whereas a Type 2 diagnosis may not be learned until several after the fact. The significance of this is the person with t2dm will have a greater propensity of having complications at the time a diagnosis is rendered than a person with t1dm. 2) People with type 2 diabetes did not merely "eat themselves" into their disease. Research has shown that genetics play a very strong role in the development of type 2 diabetes. If a parent has type 2, her child has a 1/7 chance of being a diabetic; if both parents have type 2, the child has a 1/2 chance. 3. Clearly both diseases aren't a walk in the park for their sufferers; but I can't see the point in discounting the suffering of others -- even in the slightest.

  - Daniel

• February 23, 2011 7:35 p.m.

  In reading all the information available here, I think it makes sense that emotions would affect glucose levels. Emotions can cause an adrenaline rush, why not a glucose release. It's probably the same mechanism.

  - Cherise

• February 1, 2011 1:14 p.m.

  I am a 18 year old high school student living with Type 1 Diabetes. I have been diabetic for 9 years. Diabetes has effected my emotionally 1st and formost accepting the fact that my whole life was going to change. It has its difficult points but for the most part its been a small simple task if you take care of yourself. I have accepted the fact that I am going to be diabetic for the rest of my life or until God heals me. But my advice is to take care of yourself from the begining and you should be fine for the rest of your years.I know all the new diabetics can accomplish this CONDITIO, diabetes is NOT a DISEASE . <3

  - Alexandra

• January 10, 2011 3:30 p.m.

  I have had Type 1 diab. for over 20 years. Emotions affect my blood sugar in every way possible. I test my blood sugar 6-10 times daily sometimes more because a high or low sugar can determine how i react to something or someone. I have two teenage boys that often ask me if i'm acting angry, "Mom, have you checked your sugars lately?" Then I smile, and check my sugar. : )

  - Connie

• November 11, 2010 1:54 a.m.

  My son was diagnoised 5 years ago when he was 7 with juvenile diabetes. He has done well untill now, he is 12 and his blood sugars are up and down we cant find a happy medium. His attitude is crazy we dont know how much is normal hormones and how much is blood sugars. He feels different from everyone lucky for us we live in a small town and everyone in his grade knows he is a type 1 and know one ever gives him grief about it and when he is acting strange the other kids will tell him to go check his blood sugars. I dont mean to make anyone mad but my child did not have a choice about his diabetes. Type 2 is more of a lifestyle factor so boo hoo type 2's. try being a kid and getting the news that hey your body attacked itself and now you for the rest of your life have to test 8 times a day take atleast 6 shots a day if not more. YOU WILL DIE IF YOU DO NOT TAKE INSULIN. So go cry a river type 2's and try to relize type 2 is totally different from type 1.

  - jenny

• October 26, 2010 1:51 p.m.

  Yelena: Just know that type 2 diabetes is not your fault. Having diabetes does not mean you are a bad person, or a slob, or lazy. It just means your body isn't functioning right. Lifestyle plays a role in the development of type 2 diabetes, but so do genes. Congratulations on your already healthy lifestyle and your 14 pound weight loss. We recommend the book "Diabetes Burnout" by William Polonsky.

  - Nancy and Peggy

• October 23, 2010 3:41 p.m.

  I was recently diagnosed with type II diabetes. I ended up in the hospital with an infection and the doctor alerted me of my condition, which I had no idea of. I am 37 years old, I have not drank soda in over 8 years, I do not go to McDonalds or any of those fast food establishments. I walk daily with my dogs for about 1.5 - 2 hours a day.This diagnosis came as a complete surprise. I am a little over weight but not obese. I knew my grandmother had diabetes and now just recently found out that my aunt is pre - diabetic as well as my mother and father. I have been trying to stay as optimistic as I can under my current circumstances. I managed to drop 14 pounds since my diagnosis and dropped my blood sugar down from 285 to an average of 130 - 170. Yesterday an announcement came out in the news stating that by 2050 1 in 3 americans will have type II. After reading the article...I began to read peoples comments regarding such news. It amazed me how many people have been saying things like type II fatties deserve the disease. Those slobs are lazy and can't control their eating...they get what they deserve...etc etc... This in turn has made me extremely emotional and upset because I am not unhealthy! I am not lazy ! Nor am I a fat slob. Today after tormenting over peoples ignorance,I noticed a spike in my blood sugars where it spiked up to 206. I have not had that result since I first was out of the hospital. I had no idea that an emotional upset can lead to such a rise.

  - Yelena

• September 27, 2010 1:46 p.m.

  Charlotte what you are describing with your husband sounds like hypoglycemia unawareness. Reduced awareness of hypoglycemia is common among patients with long-standing insulin-dependent diabetes. Up to 50% of type 1 diabetics, (15-20 years) post diagnosis, report having lost their ability to perceive autonomic symptoms associated with low blood glucose levels and thus often fail to act to prevent severe hypoglycemia. Severe hypoglycemia is an episode in which the diabetic person is unable to treat him/herself and needs the assistance of another party. Your husband may need a higher goal range for his blood glucoses and a reduction in insulin. See a provider as soon as you can. Good luck. Nancy

  - Nancy and Peggy

• September 24, 2010 9:23 p.m.

  My partner is a type 1 adult onset diabetic. His a1c level is 5.9 and he is very well controlled average blood sugar reading of anywhere between 85 and 105. Not long after he was diagnosed he was prescribed wellbutrin for depression. The doctor has recently taken him off it, it has been about 4 weeks. We have gone through low blood sugar episodes that have caused him to act almost like he is drunk, staggering, unbalanced behavior. Recently although his blood sugar level is testing in the 90's sometimes as high as 115 to 125 these episodes have become worse.Frankly it is really taking its toll on me and I don't know how much longer I can cope with it. This evening he basically passed out on chair flailed around, fell on the floor when he attempted to go the bathroom. I have tested him repeatedly and his sugar is in the normal level. I know he has not been drinking I have been here all day. Please what should I do these emotional and cognitive episodes are making his life and my life with him miserable. What could be causing this. We currently have no health insurance and wont until I can pay for continuation of his COBRA. Any advice appreciated.

  - charlotte

• September 7, 2010 10:30 a.m.

  I guess what I'm looking for is whether or not emotions actually affect blood sugar readings. My dad is 96. He starts worrying several days before a change in his routine is going to happen (going to the doctor). He is convinced he is going to crash that day. He takes many readings throughout the day and is very disclipined in everything he does to manage his diabetes (he was a chemical engineer -- he keeps a daily record of his readings, etc.). So when my sister and I suggest that maybe his emotions have something to do with his low or eradict readings, he doesn't accept. He is a scientist and our reasons are not logical. Any thoughts?

  - Mary

• June 28, 2010 1:32 p.m.

  I am 58. I was diagnosed Friday with Type II. Fortunately, I had plans for going to the ocean for a couple of nights. I was "okay" with the whole thing until about 2:30 in the morning when the flood gates opened. My wife came out that afternoon. She's not a real open, warm and fuzzy person so it made it even more painful for me. I need to be hugged and reassured and wasn't getting it. Later it dawned on me that I probably shouldn't expect her to understand or deal with what I'm going through. I will look for a support group. Intellectually, I can deal with this. Right now the emotions are running high. My dad and uncle both died at 60 years and diabetes played a small part in that. Kind of scary.

  - Greg

• April 27, 2010 2:45 p.m.

  Amy, sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. I am sure the whole family is going through a period of grieving. I checked with one of my fellow CDEs in endo pediatrics and she was able to give me the name of a couple books for teens: (1) "Getting a Grip on Diabetes" by Spike and Bo Nasmyth Loy, (2) ""In Control A Guide for Teens with Diabetes" by Susan Thom and Jean Betchart, (3) "Growing up with Diabetes What Children Want Their Parents To Know" by Alicia McAuliffe, and (4) "Caring For the Diabetic Soul" by Neal Friedman. I would recommend a diabetes support group for your daughter. Check with the local hospitals and community agencies in your area for a support group. Hope all goes well.

  - Nancy and Peggy

• April 22, 2010 8:38 p.m.

  My 15 yr old daughter was just diagnosed with Type II she is devasted. She is a very active athlete. Three to four sports and year. My concern is her kidney she was only born with one. She has always been self conscious about that and now she feels even "more like a weirdo" I dont know how to comfort her. She has a dietician and an endocronoigist. I feel she is getting good medical care but I worry about her emotional side. I feel lost and I cant stand so see her in so much pain. She doesnt want to see a counselor. So I feel like I am her only help on the emotional side but I dont know what to say to her. Feeling so upset myself and dont I feel like I dont have the right words to help her.

  - Amy

• November 12, 2009 3:48 p.m.

  Betty, sorry to hear about your grandson's diagnosis of diabetes. As you know many variable can effect blood glucose contol. Grief is a normal response to a diagnosis of diabetes and depression is also common. I would suggest your grandson see a healthcare provider to address these issues. A good counselor, support group or a diabetes camp that may help him work through these issues.

  - Nancy and Peggy

• November 9, 2009 11:59 a.m.

  My grandson was diagnosed with diabetes in Aug of this year. His grades, which formerly were ones and two's, have dropped to near failing which is not like him at all. He is still in the honeymoon stage, and we were wondering if this rise and falling of his sugars would have anything to do with the poor grades?! He also has not told everyone in his class that he has diabetes. What should we do to support him and try to get his grades back up??

  - Betty

• May 28, 2009 11:39 a.m.

  Angela (March 5), I would definitely look to another medical group or doctor, suicide attempts need to be addressed. The clinic should have your son under critical observation. He needs people to listen to him without a clinical view and please do not allow the doctors/nurses to accuse or try tough love on a suicidal youth. Find people that have experience treating a severely depressed youth. And, listen, listen and when he scares you, do not ignore it. Watch him, tell him how important he is to you, and that Diabetes is not a death sentence. He needs to find how to deal with it in his own way, not hear how wonderfully some other diabetics have dealt with it so well. Let him know you understand how hard it is and you will be there, that he is not alone. Do not think there is nothing you can do, talk to him, he is your baby, your son...

  - Joy