What Are The Warning Signs Of Low Blood Sugar

Symptoms Of A Low Blood Sugar Level

A low blood sugar level can affect everyone differently. You’ll learn how it makes you feel, although your symptoms may change over time.

Early signs of a low blood sugar level include:

• a fast or pounding heartbeat
• becoming easily irritated, tearful, anxious or moody

If a low blood sugar level is not treated, you may get other symptoms, such as:

• unusual behaviour, slurred speech or clumsiness
• seizures or fits
• collapsing or passing out

A low blood sugar level, or hypo, can also happen while you’re sleeping. This may cause you to wake up during the night or cause headaches, tiredness or damp sheets in the morning.

How To Check Your Blood Sugar Levels

As Dr. Emanuele says, glucose monitoring can be an important tool to help you get your blood sugar under control. Typically, you would do it yourself using a glucose meter or glucometer, which analyzes a drop of blood that you draw by sticking your finger with a lancet and placing the blood on a disposable test strip that you insert into the meter. Your blood sugar goals are set by you and your doctor, but blood glucose for an adult without diabetes is below 100 mg/dl before meals and at fasting and less than 140 mg/dl two hours after a meal, notes the ADA.

Some people will check their blood sugar daily or multiple times a day, sometimes using a continuous monitor that is worn on the body particularly those who have type 1 diabetes or who have type 2 but take insulin. Yet how frequently a person should monitor their blood sugar is based on a number of factors, including but not limited to whether theyre on insulin, whether theyre taking oral medication, and how well their blood sugar is controlled and how old they are.

Meanwhile, keep an eye out for these nine key warning signs and symptoms that blood sugar is too high and talk to your doctor about whether you need to adjust your management plan.

See Your Doctor If You Experience High Or Low Blood Sugar Symptoms

If your blood sugar drops to severely low levels it can lead to convulsions, coma or death. Prolonged high blood sugar can lead to eye, organ and other complications or diabetic ketoacidosis, which is also life-threatening. Thats why its important to see your doctor, explain which of the blood-sugar symptoms youre feeling, and go from there.

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Signs Of Low Blood Sugar At Night

If your blood sugar drops while you are sleeping, your partner or other family members may notice that you are sweating and behaving differently. Signs of low blood sugar at night include:

• Attempting to get out of bed or accidentally rolling out of bed.

You may wake up with a headache in the morning if your blood sugar was low during the night.

Tingling Numbness Or Pain In The Hands Or Feet

High blood sugar levels can affect blood circulation and damage the bodys nerves. In people with type 2 diabetes, this can lead to pain or a sensation of tingling or numbness in the hands and feet. This condition is known as neuropathy, and it can worsen over time and lead to more serious complications if a person does not get treatment for their diabetes.

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Signs Of Hypoglycemic Unawareness

Some people have no symptoms of low blood sugar. The only symptom you may have is confusion. Or you may become unconscious before anyone realizes you have low blood sugar.

You may have hypoglycemic unawareness if you:

• Cannot tell by your symptoms that your blood sugar is low.
• Have low blood sugar several times a week.
• Have type 1 diabetes, or have had type 2 diabetes for a long time.

If you have hypoglycemic unawareness, test your blood sugar often, especially before activities like driving a car. Keep quick-sugar foods with you. If you take insulin, carry a glucagon emergency kit. You can also give friends and family instructions to treat low blood sugar.

Digestive Endocrine And Circulatory Systems

After you eat, your digestive system breaks down carbohydrates and turns them into glucose. Essentially, glucose is your bodys fuel source.

As your sugar levels rise, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, which helps glucose get taken up and used by cells throughout your body. If you have insulin-dependent diabetes, you must take the right about of insulin to get the job done.

Any excess glucose goes to your liver for storage.

When you go a few hours without eating, blood sugar levels go down. If you have a healthy pancreas, it releases a hormone called glucagon to make up for the absence of food. This hormone tells your liver to process the stored sugars and release them into your bloodstream.

If everything works as it should, your blood sugar levels should remain in the normal range until your next meal.

Insufficient blood sugar levels can cause a rapid heartbeat and heart palpitations. However, even if you have diabetes, you may not always have obvious symptoms of low blood sugar. This is a potentially dangerous condition called hypoglycemia unawareness. It happens when you experience low blood sugar so often that it changes your bodys response to it.

Normally, low blood sugar causes your body to release stress hormones, such as epinephrine. Epinephrine is responsible for those early warning signs, like hunger and shakiness.

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How To Test Your Blood Sugar At Home

To perform a blood sugar test, you will need to prick your finger with a lancet . Youll put a small sample of blood from this onto a strip inserted into the blood glucose meter.

Before you test your blood sugar at home, its important to find out from your doctor what a healthy blood sugar range is for you. Your doctor will determine this range based on factors such as:

• the type of diabetes you have
• how long youve had diabetes
• whether you have any other chronic health conditions

If you dont have a blood sugar testing machine on hand and are experiencing signs or symptoms of low blood sugar with diabetes, your symptoms may be enough to diagnose low blood sugar.

Possible Causes Without Diabetes

Even if you dont have diabetes, you may experience low blood sugar. However, hypoglycemia is much less common in people without diabetes.

Some possible causes of low blood sugar in people who dont have diabetes are:

• certain medications, such as quinine
• some medical conditions, such as hepatitis and kidney disorders
• a tumor that produces excess insulin
• endocrine disorders, such as adrenal gland deficiency

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A Low Blood Sugar Level And Driving

You may still be allowed to drive if you have diabetes or you’re at risk of a low blood sugar level for another reason, but you’ll need to do things to reduce the chance of this happening while you’re driving.

You also need to tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and your car insurance company about your condition.

For more information, see:

Symptoms Of Mild Low Blood Sugar

You may have these symptoms when your blood sugar has dropped below 70 milligrams per deciliter . When you have had diabetes for many years, you may not always develop symptoms of mild low blood sugar.

Some young children with diabetes cannot recognize symptoms of low blood sugar. Others can, but not every time. To be safe, the parents need to do a home blood sugar test whenever they suspect low blood sugar in a child.

Symptoms may include:

• Sweating . Check for sweating on the back of your neck at your hairline.
• Nervousness, shakiness, and weakness.
• Extreme hunger and slight nausea.
• Dizziness and headache.
• A fast heartbeat and feeling anxious.

These symptoms may go away shortly after you eat food that contains sugar.

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What Factors Affect Blood Sugar

You can guess that carbohydrate intake and insulin production are at least partly responsible for your blood sugar levels. But the list is much longer — almost every lifestyle choice you make can affect your blood sugar. Here’s just a partial list.

• Exercise can affect insulin sensitivity, leading to lower blood sugar for up to 48 hours.
• Alcohol intake increases insulin production, causing low blood sugar.
• Stress hormones like cortisol can raise blood sugar, because your body wants access to energy in order to escape what it perceives as a dangerous situation.
• Medications, especially statins and diuretics, can raise blood sugar. Statins are used to treat cholesterol, and diuretics for high blood pressure.
• Diet is a major player in blood sugar. Eating too many simple carbs at once can cause levels to skyrocket, while protein intake leads to a slower increase in blood sugar.
• Dehydration raises blood sugar, because with less water in your body the glucose concentration will be higher.

Other surprising factors can affect your blood sugar, like a sunburn or gum disease, so if you’re dealing with a blood sugar issue and can’t figure out what’s causing your spikes and dips, talk to a health care professional.

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How To Stay Hydrated If Youre Managing Type 2 Diabetes

Even if scientists still have questions about how dehydration affects the body, staying hydrated is clearly important for good health especially if you have type 2 diabetes.

So how can you make sure youre getting enough water to manage diabetes? Rizza and Simos offer the following tips.

Have some salt but not too much. Too much salt can be bad for blood pressure, Rizza says, but you do need some to maintain proper hydration. When you eat salt, notes the U.S. National Library of Medicine, you help stabilize your electrolytes, which are charged substances that regulate essential functions in your body, helping you stay hydrated. If you already have high blood pressure, talk with your doctor about how much salt to consume.

Check your blood glucose levels in extreme heat, and drink water if they are elevated. When its hot, its easier to become dehydrated, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Staying well hydrated can help reduce your blood glucose levels, which helps you manage the hormone insulin, Simos explains. And make sure that your blood glucose test strips and insulin are stored in a cool, dry place, she says, so that they dont lose their potency and accuracy.

Reach for hydrating snacks if youre hungry. For example, choose a cold piece of melon or a few frozen grapes, Simos says. Drinking a glass of water isnt the only way to get your fix.

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A Low Blood Sugar Level Without Diabetes

A low blood sugar level is uncommon in people who do not have diabetes.

Possible causes include:

• a gastric bypass
• other medical conditions, such as problems with your hormone levels, pancreas, liver, kidneys, adrenal glands or heart
• some medicines, including quinine

See a GP if you think you keep getting symptoms of a low blood sugar level. They can arrange some simple tests to check if your blood sugar level is low and try to find out what’s causing it.

Treating Mild To Moderate Hypoglycemia

If you start feeling any of the symptoms listed above, check your blood sugar as soon as possible, then follow the chart below to treat low blood sugar. If you have any concerns, or cant test immediately, its best to treat first and check when possible.

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Your Diabetes Devices And Hypoglycemia

Several insulin pumps are now available that make managing blood sugar levels easier, particularly when connected to a glucose meter or a CGM.

Some of the most important advantages of CGM devices are the improved insulin control and the ability to detect trends and lows early. With improved technology, it is now possible for parents to track blood sugar trends in their kids even when they are hundreds of miles apart .

In addition, automated insulin delivery systems, also known an artificial pancreas or a hybrid closed-loop system, will automatically adjust insulin to match your bodys need to help you spend more time in your target range.

Resources that provide people with T1D and their families with more detailed information about pumps and CGM devices are available through JDRF here. For people looking for a deeper understanding of technology that helps people with T1D better manage their blood sugar, JDRF resources are available here.

It’s Easy To Miss The Signs Of Low Blood Sugar

Dr. Block explains, “Most of the time, people experience symptoms of low sugar, but they may not recognize those symptoms. This can include irritability, anxiety, palpitations, confusion and fatigue. The symptoms are nonspecific, so it is important to have regular meals and snacks with a healthy well-balanced diet. If symptoms do not improve with dietary changes, it is important to check in with your physician to help assess hypoglycemia. They may recommend advanced blood testing, a professional continuous glucose monitor or nutrition counseling.”

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Nighttime Low Blood Sugar

While low blood sugar can happen at any time during the day, some people may experience low blood sugar while they sleep. Reasons this may happen include:

• Having an active day.
• Being physically active close to bedtime.
• Taking too much insulin.
• Drinking alcohol at night.

Eating regular meals and not skipping them can help you avoid nighttime low blood sugar. Eating when you drink alcohol can also help. If you think youre at risk for low blood sugar overnight, have a snack before bed.

You may wake up when you have low blood sugar, but you shouldnt rely on that. A continuous glucose monitor can alert you with an alarm if your blood sugar gets low while youre sleeping.

How Can I Prevent Low Blood Glucose

Your best bet is to practice good diabetes management and learn to detect hypoglycemia so you can treat it earlybefore it gets worse.

Monitoring blood glucose, with either a meter or a CGM, is the tried and true method for preventing hypoglycemia. Studies consistently show that the more a person checks blood glucose, the lower his or her risk of hypoglycemia. This is because you can see when blood glucose levels are dropping and can treat it before it gets too low.

If you can, check often!

• Check before and after meals.
• Check before and after exercise .
• Check before bed.
• After intense exercise, also check in the middle of the night.
• Check more if things around you change such as, a new insulin routine, a different work schedule, an increase in physical activity, or travel across time zones.

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Overdose Of Diabetes Medication

A common cause of hypoglycaemia is taking too much insulin for your current needs. Insulin is a medication that helps control your blood glucose levels. It’s commonly used to treat type 1 diabetes and is also recommended for some people with type 2 diabetes.

A fall in blood glucose levels can also occur after taking too much oral hypoglycaemia medication, such as sulphonylurea, which causes a release of insulin. This medication is often used to lower blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

What Should My Blood Sugar Levels Be

Your blood sugar level changes depending on what you’ve eaten, whether you’ve exercised and other factors but we have some general guidelines to determine what levels are healthy.

For generally healthy individuals who haven’t eaten for eight hours or more, a normal blood sugar level is between 70-99 mg/dL. When you’ve eaten in the past two hours, it should be no higher than 140 mg/dL. To refresh your chemistry knowledge, that unit is milligrams per deciliter and it’s measuring the amount of glucose present in your blood.

Only a medical professional can diagnose diabetes or another issue with your blood sugar, so if you’re concerned about your blood sugar levels, check with a doctor.

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How To Treat A Low Blood Sugar Level Yourself

Follow these steps if your blood sugar level is less than 3.5mmol/L or you have hypo symptoms:

You do not usually need to get medical help once you’re feeling better if you only have a few hypos.

But tell your diabetes team if you keep having hypos or if you stop having symptoms when your blood sugar level is low.