What Happens With Low Blood Sugar Levels

How Do I Treat An Episode Of Hypoglycemia

The American Diabetes Association recommends the 15-15 rule for an episode of hypoglycemia:

• Eat or drink 15 grams of carbs to raise your blood sugar.
• After 15 minutes, check your blood sugar.
• If its still below 70 mg/dL, have another 15 grams of carbs.
• Repeat until your blood sugar is at least 70 mg/dL.

If you have symptoms of hypoglycemia but cant test your blood sugar, use the 15-15 rule until you feel better.

Note: Children need fewer grams of carbs. Check with your healthcare provider.

Diabetes: Here’s What To Do When You Have Low Blood Sugar Levels

• Medication or insulin treatment is used to control spikes in blood glucose levels but at times, people with diabetes may suffer from hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels. Here’s how to tackle the condition.

People with diabetes take every measure to prevent spikes in their blood glucose levels from medication to right nutrition. When you have diabetes your body either cannot make enough insulin or it is not able to use it effectively .

Medication or insulin treatment is used to control spikes in blood glucose levels but at times, people with diabetes may suffer from hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels. Diabetics are prone to this condition when they skip meals, drink alcohol without any food or eat meals that have simple sugars. That’s why it is advised for people with diabetes to eat frequent but small meals throughout the day.

“When your blood sugar goes lower than 60 mg/dL it is termed as low blood sugar or hypoglycemia,” says Shilpa Joshi – Head Metabolic Nutrition, Fitterfly.

The symptoms of low blood sugar are confusion, headaches, feeling shaky, dizziness, hunger, irritability, pounding heart, pale skin, sweating, weakness etc. One may also pass out, have seizure or slip into coma if low blood is not addressed on time.

Here are other things that you can try:

* Eat 15 gm of fast-acting carbohydrate such as 4 glucose tablets or 1/2 cup fruit juice

* ORS solution mixed in water.

How To Treat Low Blood Sugar

If you think you have low blood sugar, be sure to check it.

Keeping your blood sugar levels on target as much as possible can help prevent or delay long-term, serious health problems. While this is important, closely managing your blood sugar levels also increases your chance for low blood sugar . Blood sugar below 70 mg/dL is considered low. If you think you have low blood sugar, check it. If you arent able to check it, go ahead and treat it.

Untreated low blood sugar can be dangerous, so its important to know what to do about it and to treat it immediately.

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High Blood Sugar Level Causes

Several types of diabetes and medical conditions are the primary cause of high blood sugar levels. Most of which are unpreventable issues but are the reason for a spike in high blood sugar. The causes for high blood sugar levels are as follows:

Causes of low blood sugar levels are very different and are as important to be aware of, as they are in fact easier to control.

Act Quickly To Treat The Situation

If you suspect you have low blood sugar, Dr. Fruge recommends quickly treating the situation, which she says should include “eating healthy foods such as complex carbohydrates, beans or fruit.”

“At the Pritikin Longevity Center we serve a cup of fruit with a cup of veggies to prevent a spike in insulin, which can sometimes lead to a later drop in blood sugar again,” she explains. “Adjusting your diabetes medication as prescribed by your physician may also be necessary. It’s important to retest your blood sugar 20 minutes after eating to confirm it has improved.”

Keep a fast-acting carbohydrate snack or two on hand in case your blood sugar dips below healthy levels.

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How Can I Prevent Low Blood Sugar

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 sugar, 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 sugar, the lower his or her risk of hypoglycemia. This is because you can see when blood sugar 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.

How To Recognize Hypoglycemia

The first signs of hypoglycemia include feeling sweaty, shaky, and hungry. However, not everyone has these symptoms or notices them in time to prevent low blood sugar from getting worse. Its also important to know that your symptoms of hypoglycemia will change the longer you have T1D.

As hypoglycemia gets worse, symptoms can include:

• Feeling weak
• Having difficulty walking or seeing clearly
• Acting strange or getting disoriented
• Having seizures

Severe hypoglycemia may make you faint or pass out. This is dangerous if you are driving, climbing stairs, or doing other activities where you need to stay aware of things around you.

Hypoglycemia can happen at night. If it does, you are likely to wake up, but its important not to rely on your body to wake you up. A continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, can alert you and those around you with an alarm to let you know if your blood sugar starts getting low while you are sleeping.

Its a good idea to check your blood sugar often when lows are likely, such as in hot weather or when you travel. Your CGM can also let you know when your blood sugar is getting lower.

Watch out for hypoglycemia unawareness.

You might not have early warning signs of low blood sugar. This is called hypoglycemia unawareness, and it raises the risk of having severe lows. It is more likely if:

• You have had diabetes longer than 5 or 10 years
• You have frequent episodes of hypoglycemia
• You take certain medicines, such as beta blockers for high blood pressure

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What Are Target Blood Sugar Levels

While your target blood sugar levels may be different from another person’s, the ADA tells most adults with diabetes to shoot for a blood glucose level of 80 to 130 milligrams per deciliter before a meal and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after a meal.

Doctors can also measure your average blood sugar levels with an A1C test, which can give you an idea of how high or low your glucose levels have been over the past few months. Most people with diabetes will want to keep their A1C levels to less than 7 percent, according to the ADA.

Read more:What Are Normal Blood Sugar Levels and What Happens If They’re High?

Low Blood Sugar Levels In Diabetes

People with diabetes can have low blood sugar levels because of the medicines they have to take to manage their diabetes. They may need a hormone called or diabetes pills to help their bodies use the sugar in their blood.

These medicines help take the sugar out of the blood and get it into the body’s cells, which makes the blood sugar level go down. But sometimes it’s a tricky balancing act and blood sugar levels can get too low.

People with diabetes need to keep their blood sugars from getting too highor too low. Keeping blood sugar levels in a healthy range means balancing when and what they eat, and when they exercise with when they take medicines.

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What Causes A Low Blood Sugar Level

In people with diabetes, the main causes of a low blood sugar level are:

• the effects of medicine especially taking too much insulin, medicines called sulfonylureas , medicines called glinides , or some antiviral medicines to treat hepatitis C
• skipping or delaying a meal
• not eating enough carbohydrate foods in your last meal, such as bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes and fruit
• exercise, especially if it’s intense or unplanned
• drinking alcohol

Sometimes there’s no obvious reason why a low blood sugar level happens.

Very occasionally, it can happen in people who do not have diabetes.

When Your Blood Sugar Gets Low

Check your blood sugar whenever you have symptoms of low blood sugar. If your blood sugar is below 70 mg/dL, treat yourself right away.

1. Eat something that has about 15 grams of carbohydrates. Examples are:

• 3 glucose tablets
• One half cup of fruit juice or regular, non-diet soda
• 5 or 6 hard candies
• 1 tablespoon or 15 mL of sugar, plain or dissolved in water
• 1 tbsp of honey or syrup

2. Wait about 15 minutes before eating any more. Be careful not to eat too much. This can cause high blood sugar and weight gain.

3. Check your blood sugar again.

4. If you do not feel better in 15 minutes and your blood sugar is still lower than 70 mg/dL , eat another snack with 15 g of carbohydrates.

You may need to eat a snack with carbohydrates and protein if your blood sugar is in a safer range — over 70 mg/dL — and your next meal is more than an hour away.

Ask your provider how to manage this situation. If these steps for raising your blood sugar do not work, call your doctor right away.

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What Causes Low Blood Glucose In People With Diabetes

Low blood glucose levels can be a side effect of insulin or some other medicines that help your pancreas release insulin into your blood. Taking these can lower your blood glucose level.

Two types of diabetes pills can cause low blood glucose

• sulfonylureas, usually taken once or twice per day, which increase insulin over several hours
• meglitinides, taken before meals to promote a short-term increase in insulin

The following may also lower your blood glucose level

Does Everyone Have Symptoms From Hypoglycemia

Some people dont have symptoms or dont notice them. Healthcare providers call that situation hypoglycemia unawareness. People with such a challenge arent aware when they need to do something about their blood sugar. Theyre then more likely to have severe episodes and need medical help. People with hypoglycemia unawareness should check their blood sugar more often.

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What To Do If You Have Symptoms

Very low blood sugar is a medical emergency. If someone you know has diabetes and theyre experiencing mild to moderate symptoms, have them eat or drink 15 grams of easily digestible carbohydrates, such as:

• half a cup of juice or regular soda
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 4 or 5 saltine crackers
• 3 or 4 pieces of hard candy or glucose tablets
• 1 tablespoon of sugar

If someone is having a severe reaction, such as unconsciousness, its important to administer a medication called glucagon and contact emergency services immediately.

People who are at risk for low blood sugar should talk with their doctor about getting a prescription for glucagon. You should never give an unconscious person anything by mouth, as it could cause them to choke.

Low blood sugar can occur for a number of reasons. Its usually a side effect of diabetes treatment.

Symptoms Of Blood Blood Sugar Levels

Symptoms of blood sugar levels differ depending on if it is high or low. To determine which way the blood sugar have moved, the symptoms for each are typically:

If symptoms are left untreated, more extreme circumstances can happen such as fainting, weakness, disorientation, vomiting and dehydration. When you notice symptoms, usually more than one at one time, it is advised to see a doctor right away.

It is important to get the right treatment so that you can return to a healthy normal blood sugar level and inhibit it from occurring again.

Treatment methods vary from the severity of the blood sugar level, whether it is high or low and if the patient has existing medical conditions, such as diabetes. Here are ways in which blood sugar levels can be treated:

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What Is The Most Efficient Thing To Eat When Your Blood Sugar Is Low

Fruits that give you the appropriate amount of carbohydrates come with half a banana, 15 grapes, two tablespoons of raisins or a small apple or orange. Fruit juice can also boost blood sugar levels. Norton suggests half a cup of your favourite fruit juice, akin to apple, orange, pineapple or cranberry juice.

What Are Clinical Trials For Low Blood Glucose

Clinical trialsand other types of clinical studiesare part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help doctors and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.

Researchers are studying many aspects of low blood glucose levels in diabetes, such as

• how to diagnose and treat low blood glucose among people with diabetes
• medicines that can treat symptoms of low blood glucose in people with hypoglycemia unawareness
• educational approaches to reduce fear of low blood glucose, which can make it harder for you to control your diabetes

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What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Low Blood Sugar

Different people may feel low blood sugar levels differently. People with low blood sugar may:

• feel hungry or have “hunger pains” in their stomach
• feel shaky or like they’re trembling
• have a rapid heart rate
• feel sweaty or have cold, clammy skin
• have pale, gray skin color
• have a headache
• have seizures or convulsions
• lose consciousness

If you have diabetes, try to remember how your body reacts when your blood sugar levels are low. It may help you figure out when you’re having a low blood sugar level more quickly the next time.

What Drinks And Foods Raise Blood Sugar Fast

• 4 teaspoons of sugar
• 1/2 can of regular soda or juice

Many people like the idea of treating low blood sugar with dietary treats such as cake, cookies, and brownies. However, sugar in the form of complex carbohydrates or sugar combined with fat and protein are much too slowly absorbed to be useful in acute treatment.

Once the acute episode has been treated, a healthy, long-acting carbohydrate to maintain blood sugars in the appropriate range should be consumed. Half a sandwich is a reasonable option.

If the hypoglycemic episode has progressed to the point at which the patient cannot or will not take anything by mouth, more drastic measures will be needed. In many cases, a family member or roommate can be trained in the use of glucagon. Glucagon is a hormone that causes a rapid release of glucose stores from the liver. It is an injection given intramuscularly to an individual who cannot take glucose by mouth. A response is usually seen in minutes and lasts for about 90 minutes. Again, a long-acting source of glucose should thereafter be consumed to maintain blood sugar levels in the safe range. If glucagon is not available and the patient is not able to take anything by mouth, emergency services should be called immediately. An intravenous route of glucose administration should be established as soon as possible.

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How Is Hypoglycemia Treated

When your blood sugar levels are too low, eating something made of carbohydrates is key. If you have diabetes, try to keep high-carbohydrate snacks on hand.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that your snack have at least 15 grams of carbohydrates. Some good snacks to keep on hand include:

• glucose tablets
• honey or table sugar
• jelly beans or gum drops

You also can take glucose tablets to rapidly raise your blood sugar if its low. These are available without a prescription. Its important to check how many grams are in each tablet before taking them. Aim to get 15 to 20 grams of carbohydrates.

Wait 15 minutes after eating or taking a glucose tablet, and test your blood sugar again. If your blood sugar is not going up, eat another 15 grams of carbohydrates or take another dose of glucose tablets. Repeat this until your blood sugar level starts to rise.

If your regularly scheduled meal is not for a while, eat a small snack after the low blood sugar episode.

Be sure not to overeat! This could lead to blood sugar levels that are too high.

How To Treat Someone Who’s Unconscious Or Very Sleepy

Follow these steps:

They may need to go to hospital if they’re being sick , or their blood sugar level drops again.

Tell your diabetes care team if you ever have a severe hypo that caused you to lose consciousness.

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