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Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on August 1, 2007 at 6:41am

EVERYTHING!! Well, not everything... but quite a bit. I cannot stress enough (no pun intended) how much impact stress has on BG levels. In recent months, twice I've found myself under HIGH pressure moments and the day leading up to the situation that caused the pressure (typically an important meeting) as well as the entire day of the meeting (until early evening), I've not been able to get my levels down through conventional means. I've ended having to run BG's down, literally.

So, when/if you can: don't stress! ;)

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Permalink Reply by Scarlett5 on April 2, 2013 at 5:15pm

Really? You can excersize your blood sugars down? When I work out and am already high mine go even higher, like from 200 to 300! I think its adrenaline. Just thought I'd mention that. It could just be me, for instance my friend who is also a type one is strongly effectedby coffee, she hast to take almost five units to cover a cup of black whereas I have no effect from plain coffee. (folks, a latte does have carbs and callories)

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Permalink Reply by patclancy on August 1, 2007 at 8:41am

Well believe me it affects me in a big way. When I have family problems (and I do have them) stress levels rise and so does my BG and BP. I tell myself that I will not let it and will not worry about grown children, but it doesn't work that way. It definitely plays a big part and I keep telling my kids this (and my hubby) so they get the message.

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Permalink Reply by Doris D on August 5, 2007 at 3:39pm

Yes Pat it's funny how we tell ourselves we won't worry about our grown kids and I for 1 seem to worry more and stress more the older they get! I once went to the Dr right after having a severe "disagreement" with my oldest and like you said my bg and bp was over the roof! He put me on bp meds then a week later it was down to like 78/54 and instead of taking 2 whole pills aday he had me start taking 1/2 pill a day and to take it only at night! HA! I thought to myself "i learned a lesson the hard way and so did my DR" HA! Won't do that again! My hubby seems to have the same problem and when he finally goes to far he will give me A LOT of room when I start telling everybody what I think! HA! It works wonders for me!

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Stokes on August 1, 2007 at 8:51am

Oh God yes. I'm dealing with a huge amount of stress right now and my levels are awful. Part of my problem is I have ibs which is also triggered by stress and then the pain causes my levels to rise but they are going into the 300s and that's hard for me because normally my levels are excellent. I wish I knew of a way to cope with the stress but for me I am just trying to get out of the situation. I think there are some pretty good things you can do to relieve stress like walking, painting, writing, listening/creating music, yoga (they have it specifically for stress relief) and things like that.

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Permalink Reply by Karen on August 1, 2007 at 6:59pm

If is a stress of an emotional sad nature, my bgs rises bigtime. Anytime I have a medical test or a MD exam my bgs raises, because I get so freaked out by going to the doctor.

If is a stress because of a lot of work, my bgs tends to go down. Because stress created by a lot of work is almost like exercise for me and lowers my bgs.

Hope that makes sense.

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Permalink Reply by Sharon Stokes on August 2, 2007 at 6:14am

That makes perfect sense. When I get angry my blood sugar actually goes down and that's because I tend to be really active when I am angry. But when I am anxious/sad I am hardly active at all, which is probably why it goes high.

I get freaked out by going to the doctor too. In fact, I have to go soon here and I'm anxious. I'm trying to be productive and not think about it because if my blood sugar goes too high I cant drive and that would be pointless. :)

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Permalink Reply by itsnotabeeper on August 2, 2007 at 6:46pm

I definitely feel that stress and anxiety cause my BGs to rise. A little bit of anxiety doesn't seem to bring it on, but anxiety that lasts say for 20 or more minutes certainly does. It can be anything from being nervous for a job interview to something a bit more extreme. I typically see it rise until after the stressor has passed. At that point, I typically would have needed some insulin to bring it down, though. An extreme example of this would be skydiving. The nervousness I felt was so great that my BG went from 120 to 458 in approximately 1.5 hrs. During that 1.5 hours, I had not eaten and no changes had been made to my regular insulin regimen. I took correction boluses via the pump, but could not bring it down. Ultimately, the only thing that worked was finishing the job. Once I was on the ground, I honestly began dropping steadly in BG. I always suspected that stress at work or in relationships caused this spike in BG, but it wasn't until I experienced an extreme example of anxiety that I truly was convinced.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa on August 3, 2007 at 7:11am

Stress definitely triggers my daughters BG to rise. We were checking into diabetes day camp a few weeks ago and her numbers were running in the low 100s, which is normal for her. During check-in, terrible storms blew in and we ended up being herded into a cellar because a tornado watch was in effect. After about an hour in the cellar she didn't feel good and her BG had shot up to 405 !!!! Those also seem to be the more insulin-resistant highs in her case, it took double the normal insulin to get her back down.

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Permalink Reply by joanie on December 23, 2011 at 6:29pm

thank you so much for sharing your unique experience. I just learned something valuable. I will look at my emotions and my BG and make adjustments if I can. At least now you showed me an important connection.

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Permalink Reply by Ashley on August 5, 2007 at 5:02pm

Well, stress always raises my bg levels. My mom figured this out b/c whenever I had temper tantrums I would have mysteriously high bg readings. I've realized as an adult that I need to keep my cool in high stress situations not only for my mental health but for my diabetes. I meditate, pray, read, scream by myself, or sing at the top of my lungs ;) Hope that helps!

Ash~

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Permalink Reply by Stuart on June 7, 2008 at 8:12pm

Hello Meadowlark:

The things that effect our supposedly "uncontrollable" bodily systems (heart, lungs, etc) with absolute certainty increase the BG. Its all a part of the fight or flight system we're hard-wired with.

I know there have been small studies re: the adrenal systems of diabetics concerned with the question WHY people loose their symptoms (eg asymptomatic). I don't know if any "large studies" have been done to prove by the ~western approach~ that mental stress must be set aside, reduced removed for the diabetic to achieve excellent control.

Simple breathing exercises, meditation techniques, active involvement (with mental detachment) all kinds of things would become as common as insulin injections. Where would that lead????

Stuart

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