My son's attitude and mood is horrible. He gets agitated, frustrated, and cries over minor things. This started about a month before his type 1 diagnosis. I wonder is he depressed? But he is still happy and having fun till something does not go his way. Will it take awhile for me to have my old son back? Will his moods get better? Has anyone had their child's personality change? And how soon till he comes around? Also, when the numbers are high or low is anyone more lax with their child. Going on our 3rd week of diagnosis,here.
Hi Tylee,
Christopher was also 8 when he was dx with type 1. It's a huge adjustment for everybody in the family. Are your sons blood sugars stll out of whack? It took a couple of months for us to find a good pattern with everything for Christopher and get everythiing settled out. He was also an emotional wreck. He did get back to his old self after everything settled out. He still has times though when he seems bothered by this condition. It usually doesn't last long. I'm willing to bet after things settle down and your son starts to feel better he be back to normal. You have found a great site. I wish I had found it as soon as our son was diagnosed. Good luck and hang in there. Things will improve.
Shannon
Hi Tylee,
This is a big adjustment, and when our daughter Cassie was first diagnosed, EVERYONE in our family developed a horrible mood. Here's the thing: he doesn't have the maturity yet to fully understand what he's feeling and can't find appropriate , more mature ways to express his sadness, disappointment and anger. He's bound to act out. It's our job as parents to guide them and teach them the proper ways to express their feelings and lend them unequivocal support. With time and with continued assurance from you, he will be able to develop the "emotional tools" needed to cope with his diabetes. This is hard right now, because you're going through similar feelings yourself. But I have no doubt that with the support you'll find here, and with the inner strength that you will discover, you will be able to ride this hard transition period out.
Good luck and best wishes.
~ Red Maxwell
My son is 6 years old now and was dx at 4.5. He gets really cranky and agitated when his blood sugar is really high--but most of the time his blood sugar
is ok--but gets really high when he is sick or coming down with a cold or flu--so is it the high blood sugar that puts him in a bad mood, or the fact that he
is feeling sick? I still have yet to figure that one out--anyone else with the same issue?
I think my son has big moods when his BGs are changing fast or are high. It kind of sucks because you need to check which can be difficult when he is screaming/crying. If he is high, I give him his correction (which is easier now that he is on a pump), before I tried to resolve his emotions before I'd tell him that he'd need a shot too. I am definitely more lax if his number is high or low. We are working on talking about emotions instead of yelling, slamming doors, etc. This requires all of my patience. I also try to hold him on my lap and just not talk for a few minutes. He often says he doesn't want this, but quickly calms down and tells me what the problem is.
We noticed big mood changes in our son (HUGE tantrums) in the months before dx. I am certain these were related to BGs that were too high. They mostly went away once he started on insulin but it took a while. It is a big adjustment for him (like Red said) and talking about the feelings does seem to help.
It is very hard for me to distinguish between normal adolescent behavior and diabetes. Add to this about seven different food allergies including celiac, gastroparesis, sprouting pubic hair and a lot of crying, it's real fun. My daughter also gets like this, but she' s always been moody, and her father was too. It's very tough. All of it, very tough. She's been out of school two weeks now for what I now think, ON MY OWN, because nobody ever told me, is gastroparesis. She also has OCD (since all this happened) and is trying out fluvoxamine. She's said before she doesn't want to live. IT's just so exhausting. I can tell that you guys understand. Wow. somebody that's been there.
I did catch her acting up once recently and then she blamed it on blood sugars, I'm diabetic, turned out she was within range. What do you do then?
Tonight, I had checked my sons bs before dinner it was 113. So, when he had his meltdown over whatever it was. I said your BS was good so right now you are choosing to behave like this and you need to change it b/c you can. As for your daughter blaming bs for her reason I am waiting for that moment one day from my son and most likely many more similar excuses. But I will accept his challenge and check his bs. If it is high or low I will cross that bridge then depending on how I feel at that particular time. I was told by a mother today to not discipline the child for the diabetic behavior. I agree. I suppose when he is acting out I will suggest checking his bs then reflect based on the numbers.
Your son is going to be dealing with some pretty intense emotions from this diagnosis, and it's going to take some time before he's got his feet back under him. It is acknowledged that processing and recovering from the "three D's" (death, divorce, desertion) takes at least one year. I think they need to add to that list "disease". I figure it will take our son, and the rest of our family, at least a year to "recover" from his diagnosis, to fully integrate, and to get past the most intense of the emotional stuff. I personally suffered from the most intense and debilitating depression of my life for a solid four months after William's diagnosis, and I consider myself to be a very well-adjusted, strong person. I can't begin to imagine the intensity of emotions my son was dealing with, and still continues to deal with, looking forward to a lifetime living with this disease, with no end in sight. So, I try to work toward long-term emotional support, deal with the crises when they arise, while being as firm as possible in not tolerating out-of-control behavior. He can be upset, angry, frustrated, sad, or whatever because he has to test AGAIN, and I'm understanding about the emotions, but I don't let him off the hook. He HAS to test and dose when it's time to test and dose, no matter how he feels emotionally. He has to develope the fortitude to do what needs to be done to care for himself, even when he doesn't feel like it. Support short-term emotional needs, while building long-term coping and self-care skills.
This is still very new for you and your family. Give everyone, including yourself, some time to adjust and figure it all out. It's going to be a little hairly for a while, so just settle in for the long term. Take care of yourself, and help your son to learn to care for himself in small steps. Give all the love and support he needs, without compromising his health. That's my two cents :)
Blessings,
Mo
Hi:
Well, i agree to some extent. The things to keep in mind is that children can feel low even when they are high, and that's because 1) they are dropping quickly, something only a sensor or CGM will show you; 2) they can feel low when they are high because they've been running extremely high for a long period of time. So keeping in mind that your son probably had an outrageous A1C, he probably does feel low and crappy at 113. After a year or two and improved A1C's, then you can do the bargaining business, just check your numbers and tell me what they are, then we'll talk. Usually mu daughter will now apologize for bad behavior related to diabetes, when she honestly couldn't help it. The other stuff, well, I just have to figure out on my own that it's just adolescence.