You may think diabetes just affects your pancreas, but living with this condition often affects your mood and mental health too. For one, you may experience mood swings when your blood glucose levels are too high or low. Stress, depression, and anxiety can also crop up.

Managing diabetes on a daily basis can sometimes feel overwhelming, so it’s important to check in on your emotional well-being every once in a while.

One way to regulate your mood is to understand and follow your diabetes management plan. This will help smooth out the highs and lows in your blood glucose, which can cause mood swings.

➖Mood Swings And Diabetes.
Feeling a range of highs and lows is not uncommon if you have diabetes. Your blood sugar impacts how you feel and can contribute to mood swings. Poor management of blood glucose can lead to negative moods and a lower quality of life.
According to the American Diabetes Association, your target range for your blood sugar can vary from person to person. Generally, target ranges are:
• 80 to 130 milligrams per deciliter (ml/dl) before you eat a meal.
• 180 ml/dl or lower a few hours after eating a meal.

You might also see a trend in your emotions when your blood glucose is low or high, so it’s important to test your sugar level when you feel a certain way. For instance, low blood glucose levels may make you feel: confused, nervous, hungry, irritable, shaky, jittery, tired & sweaty, whereas high blood glucose levels may make you feel: tense, angry, sad, foggy, faint, thirsty, tired, nervous & lethargic.

It’s important to keep your blood glucose as stable as possible. If you take insulin or a sulfonylurea, keep a fast-acting source of carbohydrate with you at all times. This way, if you have low blood glucose, you can bring it back up quickly.

If you experience big fluctuations throughout the day, talk with your doctor about a potential change to your treatment regimen.