What Causes Elevated Blood Sugar

Can I Have Elevated Blood Sugar Without Having Diabetes

Yes, a number of things can cause high blood sugar but most of the time it is due to having diabetes. But it can also be due to other causes. These include medications such as beta blockers, epinephrine, thiazide diuretics, corticosteroids, niacin, pentamidine, protease inhibitors and some antipsychotics. Illegal drug use of amphetamine can produce high blood sugar. Some of the newer, double action anti-depressants like Zyprexa and Cymbalta can also cause significant high blood sugar. Another cause of high blood sugar is when the body is in a state of physical stress associated with critical illness like a stroke or heart attack. An active blood infection, known as sepsis, is often seen with blood sugar levels that are high. During these times of stress, the body releases its own hormones that can raise blood sugar. The level that the blood sugar reaches can change from person to person and should not be used as a diagnosis of diabetes. Further testing, such checking blood sugar levels after not eating for 8 hours or checking a special test of red blood cells can show if there really is a diagnosis of diabetes.Continue reading > >

• Scientists Have Created a Painless Patch That Can Control Diabetes Without Injections

How To Stabilize Your Blood Sugar Overnight

The most important thing you can do to stabilize your blood sugar is monitor your glucose levels at bedtime, during the night, and when you wake up to look for patterns. This will help you determine whats going on in your body and how you can fix it. While there are many strategies people use to stabilize blood sugar at night, every person is different youll have to look for trends in your body, experiment with ways to lower glucose levels over a period of time, and learn what works best for your body.

• Check your blood sugar before bed. If its already high, your blood sugar levels may remain high throughout the night. To address this, youll want to start by adjusting when you eat your evening meal and what it consists of, and how much mealtime insulin you take to cover it.

• Avoid eating lots of food close to bedtime. For diaTribe writer Adam Brown, the key to staying in range overnight is low-carb, early dinners, with no snacking after dinner.

• Consider eating less food at night and taking more basal insulin to cover your evening meal.

How Does Taking Prednisone Affect My Diabetes

Prednisone is used for a variety of conditions such as asthma and other lung problems. It acts like a hormone that your body makes called cortisol. Cortisol and prednisone both cause the body to make glucose when youre not eating . They can worsen diabetes control. Cortisol is called a stress hormone because the body releases it to deal with stresses like accidents, infections, or burns. Thats part of the reason why it takes more insulin to keep blood glucose near normal during an infection. If you have had prednisone prescribed for any reason and you have diabetes, you will need to take more diabetes medication. Prednisones effect on your blood glucose will go away a day or two after you stop taking it. Your health care team can help you alter your diabetes treatment until you can stop taking the prednisone.

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High Blood Sugar Treatment

• Medication change: High blood sugars may be a sign that the person with diabetes needs to take medication, to change medications, or to change the way it is given .
• Other illness: Other illnesses need to be diagnosed and treated if an illness is causing high blood sugar levels. Infection or illness may need to be treated in the hospital, where health professionals can adjust the plan of care.
• Other Medications: A number of medications are available to help control blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes. Insulin is also prescribed for people with diabetes .

Hypoglycaemia Means Low Blood Glucose Levels

• Taking insulin and oral hypoglycaemic medication usually for diabetes. Hypoglycaemia is a common result of treatment for diabetes, especially when the diabetes is well controlled. Occasionally, oral hypoglycaemic tablets are prescribed or given by mistake to people who do not have diabetes this causes hypoglycaemia
• Insulinoma a tumour of the pancreas that triggers the overproduction of insulin
• Liver failure loss of the livers capacity to produce glucose can cause hypoglycaemia.

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How Do Cortisone Shots Work

Doctors give cortisone shots during an office visit directly into the area or joint involved, or sometimes just into a large muscle to get it into the bloodstream. In other parts of the body, the injection often includes a local anesthetic to start easing pain immediately. In these cases, cortisone is typically injected into three areas:

• Joints
• Bursa

Low Potassium From Prednisone

Another lab value changed by prednisone is Potassium. Prednisone causes low potassium, also known as hypokalemia.

Because the sodium is going up, prednisone causes your potassium to go down and potassium is really important all over your whole body, from the heart, to inside cells, to muscle contractions. The normal range of potassium in your blood is 3.5 to 5.

You can see my normal is hovering around 4.0 before I took prednisone. And after I took prednisone, it was up in the fours, but right there in November 2017, while I was in the highest doses of prednisone, thats when the potassium levels were the lowest.

So we need potassium-containing foods while on prednisone. .

How Sodium & Potassium Link Leads to Survival

Sodium and potassium are linked. So whenever sodium goes up, potassium goes down. At least thats whats supposed to happen with our kidneys monitoring each of them, causing the potassium drops.

This makes sense because our bodies normally produce cortisol from the adrenal gland, which is right on top of the kidneys . Prednisone is replacing our bodys normal secretion of cortisol. Cortisol normally directly affects the kidneys, causing high sodium and low potassium.

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All Carbs Are Created Equal

Phipps explains that, despite containing similar amounts of carbohydrates, one serving of pasta could have a hugely different effect on your blood glucose levels than one serving of rice. Likewise, that serving of pasta may have an entirely different effect on your blood glucose levels than your friendsâ or even family membersâ. âWeâre all unique,â Phipps says.

How Steroids Affect Your Blood Sugar

Corticosteroids, or steroids for short, are a common medication prescribed for a multitude of ailments, but can often cause blood sugar issues for people living with diabetes.

If youve ever been prescribed a steroid, you may know that they spike blood sugars easily and quickly, and can lead to stubborn hyperglycemia for days on end.

In this article, I will describe exactly how steroids affect blood sugar and what you can do about it.

At the end of the article, I will also describe the rare situation where steroid therapy may actually cause type 2 diabetes by triggering a complication called steroid-induced diabetes.

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Blood Sugar Spike: What To Do

Its important to know the symptoms of hyperglycemia. If you suspect that you have high blood sugar, perform a finger stick to check your level.

Exercising and drinking water after eating, particularly if youve consumed a lot of starchy carbs, can help lower your blood sugar.

You can also use an insulin injection, but be careful only to use this method while closely following the recommendation of your doctor regarding your dose. If used improperly, insulin can cause hypoglycemia .

How Does High Blood Sugar Affect The Body

Monitoring your blood sugar is essential if you have diabetes. Symptoms will get worse if treatment is not provided, and serious health complications can arise as a result. The signs of high blood sugar to look for include fatigue, blurred vision, and headaches along with:

• Frequent urination and thirst: Excess sugar in the blood is passed through the kidneys and into urine. This draws more water into the urine which means more frequent urination. High glucose levels cause thirst even when you are drinking enough fluids.
• Weight loss: Elevated blood sugar levels over time can lead to unexplained weight loss as a result of cells not getting the glucose they need. As a result, they start burning fat instead.
• Numbness: High blood sugar can cause tingling and numbness in the extremities. It is important to note that this is a complication of long-term diabetes and uncontrolled blood sugar levels.

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When To Seek Medical Care For High Blood Sugar

If hyperglycemia persists for at least two or three days, or if ketones appear in the urine, call a doctor.

Generally, people with diabetes should test their blood sugar levels at least four times a day: before meals and at bedtime . The urine should be checked for ketones any time the blood sugar level is over 250 mg/dL.

When blood sugar stays high despite following a diabetic diet and plan of care, call the nurse, diabetes health educator, or physician for adjustments in the diet.

If blood sugars are high because of illness, check for ketones and contact a health professional.

Seek immediate medical care for these conditions:

• Vomiting
• Blood sugar levels that stay above 160 mg/dL for longer than a week
• Glucose readings higher than 300 mg/dL
• The presence of ketones in the urine

Ketoacidosis or diabetic coma is a medical emergency. Call 911 for emergency transport to a hospital or similar emergency center.

Blood Sugar Levels Chart & Ranges

With the help of modern medicine and newly introduced at home treatments, common medical concerns such as blood sugar levels are now easier to manage than ever. The access to at home treatment and available sources has increased the ability to self-medicate and regularly check in with your health yourself.

There is still heightened concern for blood sugar levels due to the increase and ease of processed food and alcohol access across the world. But, with the right measures and plan, everyone can help avoid their blood sugar level from becoming abnormal.

According to the World Health Organisation , over 1.6 million deaths per year in America are due to diabetes. Fortunately, this figure can be decreased with the help of treatment and easy to manage at home testings.

Today, we will be discussing the top treatment methods, teaching you about blood sugar levels and how to manage them:

Contents

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How Is Dka Treated

DKA is very serious, but it can be treated if you go to the doctor or hospital right away. To feel better, a person with DKA needs to get insulin and fluids through a tube that goes into a vein in the body .

Let your parents or someone on your diabetes health care team know if you have any of these symptoms or are sick and don’t know what to do to take care of your diabetes.

Always wear a medical identification bracelet or necklace that says you have diabetes. Then, if you are not feeling well, whoever’s helping you will know to call for medical help. Medical identification can also include your doctor’s phone number or a parent’s phone number.

What Is High Blood Glucose

To fully understand your blood glucose levels, itâs important to know: a) what values are actually considered high, and b) factors that can cause your elevated reading in the first place.

High blood glucose, also known as hyperglycemia, occurs when there is too much sugar in the bloodstream. Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, is the result of too little glucose in the bloodstream. Hyperglycemia usually occurs because your body doesnât produce enough insulin or canât properly use the available insulin to remove the glucose from the bloodstream.

Using milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood for measurement, high blood glucose readings after a meal indicating prediabetes can fall between 140 and 199 mg/dL. Levels reaching 200 mg/dL two hours after eating indicate you may already be insulin resistant or diabetic, though that diagnosis will need to come from your doctor. By comparison, the typical standard for normal glucose readings is to remain under 140 mg/dL throughout the day and under 100 mg/dL after eight hours of fasting.

A range of lifestyle factors, habits, and health conditions can cause high blood sugar. To debunk common hyperglycemia myths, review causes and symptoms, and discuss the best ways to address them, we spoke with two experts on high blood sugar levels: registered dietitian and For The Love of Diabetes creator Lori Zanini and registered dietitian nutritionist and diabetes management expert .

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Deterrence And Patient Education

Patients diagnosed with diabetes need comprehensive care in the first few months of the diagnosis as management can be overwhelming and time-consuming. Patients and family members need to be educated about testing blood sugar, taking medications especially insulin, going to their medical appointments, and lifestyle modifications which include diet and exercise. Patients need to be given information for diabetes classes.

How Is Steroid Induced Diabetes Treated

The treatment for diabetes you are put on may depend on the extent of insulin resistance and how high your blood glucose levels are. It may be possible to treat your diabetes with diet and physical activity but you may need oral anti-diabetic medication or insulin.

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you will need to attend health screenings at least once annually so your health can be monitored and treated appropriately.

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What Causes High Blood Sugar

A variety of things can trigger an increase in blood sugar level in people with diabetes, including:

• stress
• missing a dose of your diabetes medicine or taking an incorrect dose
• overtreating an episode of low blood sugar
• taking certain medicines, such as steroids

Occasional episodes of hyperglycaemia can also occur in children and young adults during growth spurts.

What Causes Blood Sugar To Rise Without Eating

For the most part, food as you gathered from above, is the main driver for rises in blood sugar. However, life as you know is never a straight line.

There are other factors that can cause blood sugar to rise without eating. Some of that has to do with inter-play of hormones.

Stress hormones like cortisol, catecholamines , mobilize glucose from the stored glucose in the liver. Glycogen is the stored form of glucose in the liver.

These hormones cause a rise in blood sugar without eating both in diabetics and non-diabetics. Any thing that causes stress to your body will cause your blood sugar to rise.

Prescription and some over-the-counter medications like nasal decongestants can also cause your blood sugar to rise without eating.

Below are some of the causes of high blood sugar without eating:

• Steroid medication
• Diuretics pills that make you pee
• Nasal decongestants containing phenylephrine or pseoudoephedrine
• Poor sleep

As you tell from the above list, yes, stress can cause high blood sugar in non-diabetics. Stress from whatever origin has the potential to increase cortisol levels in the blood.

And as I explained earlier anything that causes liver cells to mobilize their glycogen stores unnecessarily will raise your blood sugar. Stress will do just that.

Should non-diabetics check blood sugar?

And Guess what

So, yes, my advice is that non-diabetics can test for blood sugar, if you are looking for some guidance on the matter.

Suggested further reading:

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What Can Cause A High Fasting Blood Sugar

There are many factors that can cause high fasting blood sugar, which is when a person has too much sugar in his blood stream after eight hours of not eating. Some common causes include too much insulin or blood pressure medication taken at night, a bodily process known as the “dawn phenomenon,” and a persons basal secretion processes being damaged. Fasting blood sugar is generally measured after a person wakes up in the morning, before he eats breakfast.

Taking too much blood pressure medication or insulin at night may cause a spike in fasting blood sugar. While the purpose of taking insulin is to reduce a person’s blood glucose level, if he takes too much before he sleeps, the body may actually raise the blood sugar during the night. The same phenomenon can happen if a person takes too much blood pressure medication the body may raise blood pressure during the night. People who experiences these phenomenon may wake up in the middle of the night with their hearts pounding and feeling dizzy or nauseous. If a person experiences this, he should speak to a doctor about adjusting his medications or the dosages thereof.

Consequences Of Blood Sugar Levels

Whilst most symptoms of low and high blood sugar levels are mild, they can worsen if left untreated and sometimes have long term consequences and/or complications. Overtime, a high blood sugar level is what can cause consequences. Lack of treatment can cause severe damage to the blood vessels and lead to complications such as:

• Heart attack

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