Blood Sugar Making You Cranky? How to Turn This Around
Did you know your blood sugar level also points to how you feel and how you react to situations?
Like having to ask your husband or kids three times to do something around the house?
If you work from home, do you struggle to get started in the morning and can't tune out the noise. Hard to focus, and trouble getting your work done on time. Stressful, right?
No matter how you happen to feel at any given moment...how you react can even shock you.
This is not the way you used to feel and respond, so what's really going on.
Symptoms of poor blood sugar control have been shown to closely mirror mental health symptoms, such as irritability, anxiety, lack of focus and worry. This should come as no surprise, as the brain runs primarily on glucose.
The symptoms of low blood sugar levels that might contribute to mood swings include:
confusion
hunger
co-ordination and decision-making difficulties
aggression and irritability
personality or behavior changes
concentration difficulties
Not only do the highs and lows affect your physical health and mood, but it also puts a strain on relationships.
First step is to understand what's going on, recognizing how you react when your levels are high or low. Test your blood sugar to validate why you feel off or suddenly more irritable. Discuss this with family, friends, co-workers, to help them to understand too.
Next is to note when and why your levels are not in control. Write down or log your numbers, what you recently ate, insulin/oral meds, exercise, any stress level that you're experiencing. All these factors often tip blood sugar numbers out of a healthy range.
Finally, come up with a plan to make better diet and lifestyle choices around the time of day that you need help to stabilize. For example, start with your morning routine. Track your habits and how you feel from when you wake-up thru lunchtime. Write down, what you are doing, or not doing, be specific. Notice how your mood is tied to your blood sugar levels.
Managing diabetes and reaching optimal levels is tough to do without setting goals. Start by noting what you're currently doing and how you feel. Then create a vision of what you need to improve blood sugar control and to smooth over the cranky moods.
If you're having these issues and not sure where to start, click here and reach out if you want to talk about it.