High Blood Sugar Symptoms
The typical blood sugar target for someone with diabetes who has not yet eaten is 80 to 130 milligrams per deciliter . Within two hours of starting a meal, the level should be less than 180mg/dL. Blood sugar is typically considered high when the levels are over these thresholds.
Keep in mind that your blood sugar targets may be different based on factors like age and other health conditions you may have. The targets are also different for people without diabetes.
Testing your blood sugar levels, such as with a glucometer, is the main way to tell if your blood sugar is too high. However, even before you check your levels, you may experience symptoms of high blood sugar.
Signs Of Diabetic Vision Loss
If you have diabetes and your vision worsens, theres a decent chance the two conditions are linked. Nevertheless, you may not notice the signs of diabetic retinopathy right away. Here are some symptoms to keep in mind:
- Dark spots or shapes that stay in your line of sight, sometimes known as floaters
- Progressive vision impairment
You Feel Tiredness And Fatigue Constantly
Fatigue and extreme tiredness are symptoms of uncontrolled blood sugar, the ADA says. Simply put, when your body is not processing insulin properly or it doesnt have sufficient amounts of insulin, the sugar is staying in our blood rather than getting into our cells to be used for energy, Zanini says. Also, frequent urination can lead to dehydration, which Bandukwala identifies as another contributing factor to fatigue.
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You Have Noticeably Blurry Vision And Frequent Headaches
You may notice that your vision isnt as clear as it used to be and that things may appear a bit blurry. High blood sugar levels can lead to swollen lenses in your eye from fluid leaking in, according to the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. This changes the shape of the lens, which makes it unable to properly focus, causing blurred vision. You may also find yourself struggling at work, having difficulty driving, and suffering from frequent headaches, Emanuele notes.
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Checking For Low Blood Sugar Levels
The warning signs of hypoglycemia are the bodys natural response to low blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels fall too low, the body releases the hormone adrenaline, which helps get stored glucose into the bloodstream quickly. This can make someone:
- have an increased heart rate
If the hypoglycemia isnt treated, more serious symptoms may happen, such as drowsiness, confusion, seizures, and loss of consciousness.
The only way to know for sure if youre having a low blood sugar level is to test. Blood sugar levels can be tested with a . This computerized device measures and displays the amount of glucose in a blood sample. But if you cant quickly check your blood sugar level, its important to treat yourself for hypoglycemia immediately to prevent symptoms from getting worse.
Sometimes a person with diabetes may have symptoms of low blood sugar levels, but blood sugar levels are not actually low. This is a called a false reaction. The hormone adrenaline is not just released when blood sugar drops too low its also released when blood sugar levels fall quickly when theyre too high. If youre having a false reaction, you might actually have blood sugar levels in a healthy range but feel as if you have low blood sugar. Testing blood sugar levels before treating yourself for hypoglycemia can help you figure out if youre having a false reaction.
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What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Dka
The symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis usually don’t develop all at once they usually come on slowly over several hours. People who have DKA may:
- feel really tired
- feel really thirsty or pee way more than usual
- have a dry mouth and signs of dehydration
These symptoms are caused by the high blood sugar levels that usually happen before someone develops DKA. If the person doesn’t get treatment, these signs of DKA can happen:
- unconsciousness
What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels
Managing diabetes is like a three-way balancing act because you have to watch:
All three need to be balanced. If any one of these is off, blood sugar levels can be too. In general, higher than normal blood glucose levels can be caused by:
- not taking your diabetes medicine when youre supposed to or not taking the right amounts
- having an illness, like the flu
- taking other kinds of medicines that affect how your diabetes medicines work
A single high blood sugar reading usually isnt cause for alarm it happens to everyone with diabetes from time to time. But if you have high blood sugar levels a lot, let your parents and your diabetes health care team know. Insulin or meal plans may need adjusting, or you may have an equipment issue, like an insulin pump that isnt working right. Whatever the case, make sure you get help so you can get your blood sugar levels back under control.
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Ways To Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
Its possible to prevent Type 2 diabetes. Most of it comes down to managing your weight and exercising regularly. Losing just 5% of your current weight can help reverse prediabetes, which is when you have higher blood sugar levels but theyre not high enough for you to be diagnosed with diabetes. It also helps to cut back on processed foods, alcohol, sugary drinks and trans fat. Go for whole grains, lean protein, fruit, non-starchy vegetables, water and unsweetened drinks instead.
Do You Have Insulin Resistance
How do you find out if youre insulin resistant? No one test will tell you, but if you have high blood sugar levels, high triglycerides , high LDL cholesterol, and low HDL cholesterol, your health care provider may determine you have insulin resistance.
Important note: Type 1 diabetes is different its thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction . People with type 1 diabetes dont make enough insulin and need to take it to survive.
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Check Your Blood Sugar Often
Talk with your provider about when you should check your blood sugar every day. People who have low blood sugar need to check their blood sugar more often.
The most common causes of low blood sugar are:
- Taking your insulin or diabetes medicine at the wrong time
- Taking too much insulin or diabetes medicine
- Taking insulin to correct high blood sugar without eating any food
- Not eating enough during meals or snacks after you have taken insulin or diabetes medicine
- Waiting too long after taking your medicine to eat your meals
- Exercising a lot or at a time that is unusual for you
- Not checking your blood sugar or not adjusting your insulin dose before exercising
- Drinking alcohol
When To See A Healthcare Provider
If you have diabetes and experience a randomly high blood sugar from time to time, there is usually no need to panic. Try to understand what changes could have triggered a blood sugar spike, whether by looking at your diet or activity levels. Knowing the reason behind high blood sugar helps you figure out how to prevent it from happening again.
On the other hand, if you have been experiencing high blood sugars regularly, you may need a change in your treatment plan. This doesn’t mean you havent been managing your diabetes well. Rather, diabetes is a progressive disease that can change how it affects you over time. That means changes to things like medications, meal plans, and exercise regimens might be needed to help you achieve better control over your blood sugar levels.
If you do not have diabetes and suspect that you are experiencing high blood sugar, consider making an appointment with a healthcare provider.
Regardless of whether you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you should also seek care if you are experiencing any symptoms of DKA or HHS. For both conditions, quick treatment is crucial.
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Causes Of Low Blood Sugar
There are many reasons why you may have low blood sugar, including:
- Taking too much insulin.
- Not eating enough carbs for how much insulin you take.
- Timing of when you take your insulin.
- The amount and timing of physical activity.
- Drinking alcohol.
- How much fat, protein, and fiber are in your meal.
- Hot and humid weather.
- Unexpected changes in your schedule.
- Spending time at a high altitude.
- Going through puberty.
Importance Of Early Diagnosis
Recognizing the early signs of type 2 diabetes can allow a person to get a diagnosis and treatment sooner.
Getting appropriate treatment, making lifestyle changes, and controlling blood sugar levels can greatly improve a persons health and quality of life and of complications.
Without treatment, persistently high blood sugar levels can lead to severe and sometimes life threatening complications, including:
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What Are The Common Symptoms Of Neuropathy
The result of this damage includes everything from chronic pain to impaired digestive system, urinary tract, and cardiovascular function. But the most common signs of neuropathy include pain, tingling, and numbness in the extremities.
When such symptoms set in, the idea of exercising can become a bit scary. After all, sense of touch is your bodys built-in protective system, says Jason Machowsky, RD, CSCS, a sports dietitian and exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. So if that protective system isnt running at top speed, and your hands and feet are tingling or even numb, how safe is your workout?
What Are The Treatment Options For Hypoglycemia
Children with hypoglycemia have different symptoms, and these vary from one child to another. But no matter what your childs symptoms, the overriding goal is the same to bring the blood sugar back up to normal as rapidly as possible and return your child to good health.
Most often, your childs blood sugar can be brought back up to normal by eating or drinking something that has sugar in it, such as fruit juice, regular soda, table sugar, maple syrup, candy, glucose tablets, glucose gel, or cake frosting. Consider encouraging your child to:
- eat regular meals throughout the day
- eat frequent snacks
For children with diabetes, the goal is to consistently maintain a blood sugar level that is in a healthy range. This involves testing blood sugar often, learning to recognize the earliest symptoms of low blood sugar, and treating the condition quickly, based on instructions given by your childâs healthcare providers.
If your child has recurrent or severe hypoglycemia, the first thing is to determine the cause, because different causes have different treatments. While the cause is determined, some children will receive glucose intravenously in the hospital to make sure their blood-sugar level stays normal.
Some causes of hypoglycemia can be treated with changes in your childs diet or medication. For some rare cases of severe hypoglycemia that dont respond to medical treatment, the doctor may recommend surgery to remove most of the pancreas.
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Talk To Your Doctor Or Nurse
If you use insulin and your blood sugar is frequently or consistently low, ask your doctor or nurse if you:
- Are injecting your insulin the right way
- Need a different type of needle
- Should change how much insulin you take
- Should change the kind of insulin you take
Do not make any changes without talking to your doctor or nurse first.
Sometimes hypoglycemia can be due to accidently taking the wrong medicines. Check your medicines with your pharmacist.
What Should I Do If My Blood Sugar Gets Too Low
Low blood sugar is also called hypoglycemia . It means your blood sugar level drops below 70. Having low blood sugar is dangerous and needs to be treated right away. Anyone with diabetes can have low blood sugar. You have a greater chance of having low blood sugar if you take insulin or certain pills for diabetes.
Carry supplies for treating low blood sugar with you. If you feel shaky, sweaty, or very hungry, check your blood sugar. Even if you feel none of these things, but think you may have low blood sugar, check it.
If your meter shows that your blood sugar is lower than 70, do one of the following things right away:
- chew 4 glucose tablets
- drink 4 ounces of fruit juice
- drink 4 ounces of regular soda, not diet soda or
- chew 4 pieces of hard candy
After taking one of these treatments, wait for 15 minutes, then check your blood sugar again. Repeat these steps until your blood sugar is 70 or above. After your blood sugar gets back up to 70 or more, eat a snack if your next meal is 1 hour or more away.
If you often have low blood sugar, check your blood sugar before driving and treat it if it is low.
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Managing Your Diabetes Devices
If you are using an insulin pump, talk to your diabetes team about how to best manage hyperglycemia. In general, be sure to check your pump first. Make sure all parts are connected and working correctly. Check your bolus history and temporary basal rate. Also check your insulin to make sure it has not expired or gotten too warm.
If you use a CGM, try not to react to it too often. You might be tempted to give another dose of insulin too soon, before the first one finishes working, which is known as stacking insulin this can cause low blood sugar .
Diabetic Alert Dogs Can Help
Not only can dogs deal with low blood sugar like people, but they are also known to help their human companions detect hypoglycemia.
In a July 2016 study published in Diabetes Care, researchers studied eight women ages 41 to 51 with type 1 diabetes and found that dogs could detect isoprene chemicals, a marker of low blood sugar, on participants breath. These results suggest dogs may be able to warn their owners of impending hypoglycemic attacks. Dogs can be trained to detect such episodes.
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Why Am I Having Lows
If you are experiencing low blood glucose and youre not sure why, bring a record of blood glucose, insulin, exercise, and food data to a health care provider. Together, you can review all your data to figure out the cause of the lows.
The more information you can give your health care provider, the better they can work with you to understand what’s causing the lows. Your provider may be able to help prevent low blood glucose by adjusting the timing of insulin dosing, exercise, and meals or snacks. Changing insulin doses or the types of food you eat may also do the trick.
Do You Know How Much Sugar Is In Your Ketchup
Of course, it was burger night when we ran out of the lower-sugar ketchup I usually buy. So I handed my boys some money, and they ran off to the neighborhood grocery store. They returned with a value-size, 64-ounce vat of Heinz ketchup.
They grinned as they walked in the door, knowing that this almost-too-big-for-our-refrigerator tub would last them a good long while and that I probably wouldnt toss money down the drain by throwing it in the garbage.
Then they drenched their burgers in the red stuff and rejoiced at how much sweeter it tasted compared with our customary variety.
Well, boys, no wonder it tastes sweet. A tablespoon-size serving has four grams of sugar, which is more sugar than a typical chocolate chip cookie. And how many kids actually limit their serving size to one tablespoon? My boys manage to squeeze two or three tablespoons onto their burgers before I even sit down, which means they are consuming up to 12 grams of sugar an entire days worth for a child through their condiment alone.
And what if they were eating fries with their dinner, or some other side dish that also begs for ketchup? Their two or three tablespoons of ketchup would surely climb up to four or even five. Would I ever serve six chocolate chip cookies as a topping to their meal? Not a chance, yet the amounts of sugar in that serving of ketchup and those cookies are pretty similar.
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What Is Diabetes
Diabetes is an illness that occurs when blood sugar is too high, and this can be due to insulin resistance or the inability to create insulin .
Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed during childhood. In contrast, type 2 diabetes can develop at any age but is more common in older populations.
Prediabetes occurs when your blood sugar is identified as higher than normal but is not high enough to be type 2 diabetes. There are changes that can be made to lessen the likelihood of progressing the disease to type 2 diabetes.
Who Is At Risk
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition and as yet the triggers for this condition are unknown. However, type 2 diabetes has a number of risk factors, including being overweight or obese, living a sedentary lifestyle, or eating an unhealthy, high-calorie diet. With type 2 diabetes your bodys still producing at least some insulin but you cant respond to it youve lost that sensitivity.
If the system gets overworked eating the wrong things, eating too frequently, too much the system gets worn out and we lose the sensitivity to it, explains Dr Jenna Macciochi, Doctor of Immunology at the University of Sussex.
With Ilana Halperin MD and Elena Christofides MD
Type 1 diabetes is a permanent condition. That means youll likely have to deal with symptoms at least a few times in your life, no matter how diligently you monitor your blood sugar. Were here to empower you with clear answers to all your pressing Qs.
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