August 30, 2011
Behavior
Question from Levering, Michigan, USA:
My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5, about eight months ago. Since being diagnosed, we have noticed a big behavior change in her. She will get very whiny, yell all the time, not listen a lot of times, and doesn’t cooperate a lot of times. In school, she has been doing defiant things like drawing on other students’ work and putting glue on the carpet, just to name a few. She never did this kind of stuff before and her behavior was normal. The school set up a behavior plan, which our doctor said wasn’t necessary. They make it sound like they don’t think the behavior stems from the type 1 diabetes. I have done a lot of reading on this and it sounds like blood sugar extremes, high or low, affect behavior. Is this true? Can your sugar affect your thinking, learning, and behavior? I feel the school needs to get educated on this matter because they don’t know enough about it!
Answer:
While it is true that out of range blood sugars can impact behaviors, they are not typically as goal-driven and oppositional as what you are describing for your daughter. It is more likely that these behaviors are not blood sugar related. However, it is very important to figure that out, by checking her blood sugars more frequently, especially when she engages in behaviors that are of concern. This is important, not to punish her, but to gather the necessary information to determine if she needs medical care (e.g., glucose to bring sugars up or more insulin to bring them down).
JWB
