Treating Low Blood Glucose If You Take Medicines That Slow Down Digestion
Some diabetes medicines slow down the digestion of carbohydrates to keep blood glucose levels from rising too high after you eat. If you develop low blood glucose while taking these medicines, you will need to take glucose tablets or glucose gel right away. Eating or drinking other sources of carbohydrates wont raise your blood glucose level quickly enough.
Stick To Your Medication And Insulin Regimen
Skipping a dose of medication or insulin can be harmful to your body and increase your blood sugar levels.
Its important to stick to your treatment plan and follow your doctors instructions for taking your medication.
Summary
Healthful lifestyle habits can help people manage their blood sugar levels over the long term, such as eating a balanced diet, getting regular exercise, staying hydrated, and getting good sleep.
What Is Considered High Blood Sugar During Pregnancy
A blood sugar level of 190 milligrams per deciliter , or 10.6 millimoles per liter , indicates gestational diabetes. A blood sugar level below 140 mg/dL is usually considered within the standard range on a glucose challenge test, although this may vary by clinic or lab.
How do I lower my glucose level while pregnant?
Sweets and desserts should be avoided as they may lead to high blood sugar levels.
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Low Blood Glucose: Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia can occur when blood glucose drops below normal levels or drops too quickly. Your blood glucose level is too low if it is under 70 mg/dL.
Hypoglycemia can be caused by:
- A combination of these factors
- Being more active than usual
- Drinking alcohol
- Eating at the wrong time for the medications you take
- Skipping or not finishing meals or snacks
- Taking too much diabetes medication
You can have hypoglycemia without any symptoms. That makes it important to check your blood glucose levels regularly. When hypoglycemia does cause symptoms, they can include:
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 you’re supposed to or not taking the right amounts
- not following the meal plan
- not getting enough exercise
- 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 isn’t 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 isn’t 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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What Happens If Your Blood Sugar Gets Too High With Diabetes
If you have diabetes and your blood sugar is too high, your cells cant function correctly, and youll start to feel uncomfortably sick.
The cells in your body need glucose, more commonly known as sugar, to survive and function. Our diets contain many sources of glucose, but it cant reach our bodies cells without the help of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas.
Insulin is responsible for transporting glucose to your cells. When your body doesnt have enough insulin or it is not active enough, both symptoms of diabetes, the sugar remains in the blood without reaching cells. Thats why diabetes and high blood sugar often go hand in hand.
What Causes High Blood Sugar?
Sugar accumulates in the blood either when there is not enough insulin to transport it or when the insulin that is available is not active.
Type 1 diabetes patients are incapable of making the insulin necessary to transport glucose to the cells.
Type 2 diabetes patients are insulin resistant. They often, but not always, have the insulin required by the body, but the insulin is ineffective.
Patients with diabetes are more prone to high blood sugar levels if they:
- Miss taking diabetes medication or insulin
- Eat too much food
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How Early Do You Deliver With Gestational Diabetes
Giving birth
The ideal time to give birth if you have gestational diabetes is usually around weeks 38 to 40. If your blood sugar is within normal levels and there are no concerns about your or your babys health, you may be able to wait for labour to start naturally.
At what week do most stillbirths occur?
An early stillbirth is a fetal death occurring between 20 and 27 completed weeks of pregnancy. A late stillbirth occurs between 28 and 36 completed pregnancy weeks. A term stillbirth occurs between 37 or more completed pregnancy weeks..
How can I lower my blood sugar during pregnancy?
Sweets and desserts should be avoided as they may lead to high blood sugar levels.
What food washes out sugar from blood?
Eggs, peanut butter, beans, legumes, protein smoothies, fatty fish, and nuts are all high in protein. An increase in healthy fat intake also helps in sugar detox.
Can I have a healthy baby with gestational diabetes?
Pregnant people who have gestational diabetes can and do have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. Most pregnant people get a test for gestational diabetes at 24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy. If untreated, gestational diabetes can cause problems for your baby, such as premature birth and stillbirth.
Are there warning signs of stillbirth?
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Signs That Your Blood Sugar Levels Are Too High
Written by
26 May, 2022
Blood sugar, or glucose, is the main source of energy for the cells in the body. This type of sugar is found in flours, honey, carrots, and rice, amongst other foods. While we use need it for daily living, its not good when your blood sugar levels are too high.
The specific purpose of this energy is to help you perform important bodily functions, such as digestion. It keeps the heart functioning, the synapses going, and fuels a host of other processes.
The sugar found in your blood must be kept between 70 and 110 mg/dL to make the most of its benefits. If it gets too high or low, you may suffer negative health consequences.
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When your blood sugar levels are too high, this condition is called hyperglycemia. It can cause damage to various organs. Even further, when these levels are above 180 mg/dL its diagnosed as diabetes mellitus. Its important to keep this condition under strict medical observation, since it can cause many complications.
Symptoms Of Low Blood Sugar
How you react to low blood sugar may not be the same as how someone else with low blood sugar reacts. Its important to know your signs. Common symptoms may include:
If youve had low blood sugar without feeling or noticing symptoms , you may need to check your blood sugar more often to see if its low and treat it. Driving with low blood sugar can be dangerous, so be sure to check your blood sugar before you get behind the wheel.
You may not have any symptoms when your blood sugar is low . If you dont have symptoms, it will be harder to treat your low blood sugar early. This increases your risk of having severe lows and can be dangerous. This is more likely to happen if you:
- Have had diabetes for more than 5-10 years.
- Frequently have low blood sugar.
- Take certain medicines, such as beta blockers for high blood pressure.
If you meet one or more of the above and you have hypoglycemia unawareness, you may need to check your blood sugar more often to see if its low. This is very important to do before driving or being physically active.
Read Also: How Often Should I Test My Blood Sugar
Do Eggs Lower Blood Sugar
Protein-rich foods like eggs can play an important role in regulating blood sugar levels for people with diabetes. Plus, eggs contain many essential vitamins and minerals, and have just 80 calories each.
What week do most stillbirths occur?
Can sleeping on back cause stillbirth?
A recent British study suggests women who sleep on their back during the third trimester are at higher risk of stillbirth. But, collectively as a department, specialists in high-risk obstetrics at University of Utah Health does not agree with the study.
What week is most common for stillbirth?
Ways To Lower Blood Sugar Immediately
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually start mild and gradually get worse or more intense, which can happen over days, weeks or months. If you or your child experiences these symptoms, contact your doctor as soon as possible.
Insulin is an important hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. Under normal conditions, insulin works as follows:
If you dont have enough insulin, too much sugar builds up in your blood, causing hyperglycemia , and your body cant use the food you eat for energy. It can lead to serious health problems or even death if left untreated. People with type 1 diabetes need synthetic insulin every day to live and be healthy.
While type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are forms of diabetes mellitus that
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How To Prevent It
If you work to keep your blood sugar under control — follow your meal plan, exercise program, and medicine schedule — you shouldnât have to worry about hyperglycemia. You can also:
- Know your diet — count the total amounts of carbs in each meal and snack.
- Test your blood sugar regularly.
- Tell your doctor if you have repeated abnormal blood sugar readings.
- Wear medical identification to let people know you have diabetes in case of an emergency.
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Getting High Blood Glucose Into Control
While the causes that lie behind the symptoms of high blood glucose are fascinating, the real value of symptoms is in the message they carry: Blood glucose is too high. The symptoms are warning signs, and we ignore them at our peril. High blood sugar does more than trigger biological and chemical processes that make you feel crummy over time, high blood glucose causes permanent damage to the body.
But you have it in your power to make the symptoms go away, and to keep them from coming back, by keeping your high blood sugar in control. And youre not alone in this task. Talk to your doctor. Make time to see a diabetes educator. Ask your family members for their support in helping you to eat right and keep active. Use the tools available to you, such as your blood glucose meter, to see whether your numbers are in target range most of the time. If they are not, talk to your medical team about adjusting your therapy. And keep reading Diabetes Self-Management!
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How To Lower Morning Blood Sugar
Whether a morning high is caused by the dawn phenomenon or something else, here are a few things you can try to lower your blood sugar levels:
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Physical activity when you wake up can help bring your glucose level down. Even going for a walk can be helpful.
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To learn about exercise guidelines and glucose management strategies, click here.
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Read Adam Browns take on walking the most underrated diabetes exercise strategy.
Eating a light breakfast can help keep a morning high from increasing even more. Taking your mealtime insulin will help lower your blood sugar.
Adam Brown suggests eating a breakfast that is low in carbs, and notes that sometimes mealtime insulin has to be adjusted in the morning. One of his favorite breakfasts is chia pudding, since it has little impact on glucose levels see what else he eats for breakfast here.
Catherine Newman has six popular, low-carb, delicious recipes in The Morning Meal.
Intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding approaches to meal timing can also help people keep morning blood sugar levels in range. Read Justine Szafrans Intermittent Fasting: Stabilizing My Morning Blood Sugars to learn more.
For additional ways to navigate mornings, read seven strategies from Adam Brown in A Home Run Breakfast with Diabetes.
This article is part of a series on time in range.
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Surprising Things That Can Spike Your Blood Sugar
When you first found out you had diabetes, you tested your blood sugar often. Doing so helped you understand how food, activity, stress, and illness could affect your blood sugar levels. By now, youve got it figured out for the most part. But thenbam! Something makes your blood sugar zoom up. You try to adjust it with food or activity or insulin, and it dips really low. Youre on a roller coaster no one with diabetes wants to ride.
Do you know all these blood sugar triggers?
Knowledge is power! Look out for these surprising triggers that can send your blood sugar soaring:
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High Blood Sugar And The Brain
People with high blood sugar can get confused, weak, and dizzyjust like people experiencing low blood sugarbut for a completely different reason. Its not the lack of fuel for the brain its the pollution that comes from burning fat. When the rest of the body is burning fat, byproducts known as ketones are released into the bloodstream. Ketones are very acidic and the brain is finicky it cant work in an environment with too much acid and begins to malfunction. Its a dangerous condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis .
Note that diabetic ketoacidosis differs from nutritional ketosis, which is the aim of the ketogenic or keto diet. In the keto diet, levels of ketones are much lower than in DKA.
It takes an excessive amount of ketones in the blood to affect the brain, so high blood sugar levels dont often affect the brain for dayssometimes weeks. In that time, the actual sugar levels can go up or down. Its the lack of insulin and the burning of fat rather than the presence of extra sugar that causes the problem.
So, giving sugar to people with high blood sugar isnt going to helpthey already have too much. But its not going to hurt, either.
Ketoacidosis: When Hyperglycemia Becomes Severe For People With Type 1 Diabetes
If you have type 1 diabetes, it is important to recognize and treat hyperglycemia because if left untreated it can lead to a dangerous condition called .
This happens because without glucose, the body’s cells must use ketones as a source of energy. Ketoacidosis develops when ketones build up in the blood. It can become serious and lead to diabetic coma or even death.
According to the American Diabetes Association, ketoacidosis affects people with type 1 diabetes, but it rarely affects people with type 2 diabetes.
Many symptoms of ketoacidosis are similar to hyperglycemia. The hallmarks of ketoacidosis are:
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High level of ketones in the urine
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Shortness of breath
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Fruit-smelling breath
Additionally, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and confusion may accompany ketoacidosis. Immediate medical attention is highly recommended if you have any of these symptoms.
Some people with diabetes are instructed by their doctor to regularly test ketone levels. Ketone testing is performed two ways: using urine or using blood.
For a urine test, you dip a special type of test strip into your urine. For testing blood ketones, a special meter and test strips are used. The test is performed exactly like a blood glucose test.
If ketone testing is part of your self-monitoring of diabetes, your health care professional will provide you with other information including prevention.
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Will One High Blood Sugar Hurt My Baby
High blood glucose, also called blood sugar, can harm your baby during the first weeks of pregnancy, even before you know you are pregnant. If you have diabetes and are already pregnant, see your doctor as soon as possible to make a plan to manage your diabetes.
What happens if your blood sugar is high during pregnancy?
What Is Gestational Diabetes? Gestational diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels become high during pregnancy. It affects up to 10% of women who are pregnant in the U.S. each year. It affects pregnant women who havent ever been diagnosed with diabetes.
What happens if you have gestational diabetes during pregnancy?
Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy . Like other types of diabetes, gestational diabetes affects how your cells use sugar . Gestational diabetes causes high blood sugar that can affect your pregnancy and your babys health. Any pregnancy complication is concerning, but theres good news.