Complications Of High And Low Blood Sugar Levels
If you dont get treatment, high blood sugar levels can lead to long-term complications, including:
Before checking your blood glucose levels, make sure that you have:
- a finger-stick device to prick your finger, such as a lancet
- an alcohol swab to sterilize the puncture site
- a blood glucose monitor
- a bandage if bleeding continues beyond a few drops
Also, depending on the type of test youre taking, you may need to adjust your meal schedule or time it around your meal, depending on your doctors instructions.
How To Choose A Blood Glucose Meter
There are many blood sugar meters to choose from, so start by thinking about what’s most important to you. Ask yourself a few questions.
- Are you concerned about accuracy? Make sure you’re using a meter and test strips that provide accurate results. Roche quality control processes ensure consistent accuracy. Find out more about our accuracy commitment.
- Do you use blood glucose results to dose insulin? The Accu-Chek Guide meter sends results directly to a smartphone app that includes an insulin calculator.5
- Do you feel like you’re always short on time? A system that syncs your data wirelessly, without manually entering results, can save time with every test. You may also want to consider a blood glucose meter that gives results quickly, makes it easier to handle test strips, doesn’t require coding, or simplifies lancing or dosing.
- Would you like to reduce the pain of testing? Choose a system with a lancing device specifically designed for comfort, such as the Accu-Chek FastClix lancing device. Precision-guided technology minimizes the lancet’s painful side to side motion and thin-gauge, bevel-cut lancets help ensure smoother entry. Plus, 11 customizable depth settings make it easier to get the right amount of blood the first time.
- Will you track results in the blood sugar meter, with an app or on a computer? Most blood sugar monitors have built-in memories, and many can beam or transfer data directly to your computer or an app on your smartphone, such as the mySugr app.
The Best Time To Check Blood Glucose After A Meal
Q: I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Should I check my blood glucose two hours from when I start eating or after I finish eating my meal? A: Most of the food you consume will be digested and raises blood glucose in one to two hours. To capture the peak level of your blood glucose, it is best to test one to two hours after you start eating. The American Diabetes Association recommends a target of below 180 mg/dl two hours after a meal. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends a lower target: below 140 mg/dl two hours after a meal. Ask your doctor which target is right for you. Postmeal blood glucose monitoring is important because it helps you see how your body responds to carbohydrates in general and particular foods. Managing postmeal blood glucose can help reduce your risk of developing heart and circulation problems. Virginia Zamudio Lange, a member of Diabetic Living’s editorial advisory board, is a founding partner of Alamo Diabetes Team, LLP in San Antonio.Continue reading > >
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What Should I Aim For
Effective management of diabetes is all about aiming for a careful balance between the foods you eat, how active you are and the medication you take for your diabetes. Because this is a delicate balance, it can be quite difficult to achieve the best possible blood glucose management all the time.
The ranges will vary depending on the individual and an individuals circumstances. While it is important to keep your blood glucose levels as close to the target range of target range between 4 to 6 mmol/L as possible to prevent complications, it is equally important to check with your doctor or Credentialled Diabetes Educator for the range of blood glucose levels that are right and safe for you. Therefore the following information should be treated only as a general guide.
Why You Should Check Your Blood Sugar
Testing blood glucose can help you manage diabetes by showing you:
- How well your diabetes treatment plan is working
- How exercise and food affect your blood sugar levels
- How things like stress and illness affect your levels
- How well your diabetes medication is working
- When your blood sugar levels are too high or too low
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Healthhow Diet Shakes And Dropping Sodas Reversed Diabetes
Half of the patients taking unnecessary blood sugar tests at home took these tests at least twice a day, and half of them had testing supply costs of at least $325 a year, the study said.
The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how home testing directly affected blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
And some patients might still need to test at home, even if they don’t need to do this multiple times daily, said Sheri Colberg, a professor emerita at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, who has studied and treated people with diabetes.
“Even if checking routinely may not change outcomes like overall blood glucose management, the benefit of having glucose testing strips available is that individuals â even non-insulin users â are then able to check their blood glucose when their usual routines vary, during times of illness, or whenever other events may negatively impact their blood glucose,” Colberg, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.
If You’re Diagnosed With Diabetes
What the GP will discuss with you during your appointment depends on the diagnosis and the treatment they recommend.
Generally, they’ll talk to you about:
- what diabetes is
- what high blood sugar means for your health
- whether you need to take medicine
- your diet and exercise
- your lifestyle for example, alcohol and smoking
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How Do I Stop Diabetic Itching
It is not uncommon for people with diabetes to complain about itching, or often termed diabetic itching. This issue can be incredibly uncomfortable and lead to excessive scratching, or itching, which can further lead to infection, discomfort, and pain.
Thankfully, there are methods in treating diabetic itching! You are not alone in this discomfort. Individuals with diabetes should not ignore itchy skin as they may not be able to fight off infection as well as someone who does not have diabetes.
Continue reading this article to find the answers to stopping diabetic itching below!
What Is A Fasting Blood Glucose Test
Your body converts the carbohydrates, which you eat into glucose.
Glucose testing is primarily done for people with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. Diabetes is a condition that causes your blood glucose levels to rise.
The amount of sugar in your blood is usually controlled by a hormone called insulin. However, if you have diabetes, your body either doesnt make enough insulin or the insulin produced doesnt work properly. This causes sugar to build up in your blood. Increased levels of blood sugar can lead to severe organ damage if left untreated.
In some cases, blood glucose testing may also be used to test for hypoglycemia. This condition occurs when the levels of glucose in your blood are too low.
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Checking Your Blood Glucose Levels Will Help You To:
- Develop confidence in looking after your diabetes.
- Better understand the relationship between your blood glucose levels and the exercise you do, the food you eat and other lifestyle influences such as travel, stress and illness.
- Know how your lifestyle choices and medication, if used, are making a difference.
- Find out immediately if your blood glucose levels are too high or too low , helping you to make important decisions such as eating before exercise, treating a hypo or seeking medical advice if sick.
- Know when to seek the advice of your diabetes health team about adjusting your insulin, tablets, meal or snack planning when blood glucose goals are not being met.
When Testing My Blood Sugar What Should I Be Aware Of
- Always follow the manufacturers instructions for your blood glucose metre. Not every blood glucose metres are the same.
- Check the expiry date on all diabetes testing supplies.
- Wash and dry hands to get rid of any contaminants before glucose testing.
- Use the sides of your fingers, as these are less sensitive than the fingertips. Avoid the thumb and index finger, and vary the testing points on your fingers to avoid the risk of infection or callus build up.
- If you struggle to obtain enough blood, place your hand facing downwards to allow gravity help the blood flow to the fingers.
- Change the lancet in the finger-pricking testing device each time you perform a blood glucose test. This will reduce discomfort, the risk of infection and ensure that enough blood is obtained.
- Do NOT share needles with anyone else to eliminate the risk of HIV.
- Record the results, click here to get access to .
Achieve noticeable reductions in blood sugar levels with food. Download our diabetes diet guide below !
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Questions To Ask Your Doctor
When visiting your doctor, you might keep these questions in mind to ask during your appointment.
- What is my target blood sugar range?
- How often should I check my blood sugar?
- What do these numbers mean?
- Are there patterns that show I need to change my diabetes treatment?
- What changes need to be made to my diabetes care plan?
If you have other questions about your numbers or your ability to manage your diabetes, make sure to work closely with your doctor or health care team.
Can I Stop Taking Your Blood Sugars If They Are Consistently Normal
Some people do that and they stopped checking their blood sugars. And the next thing they know that theyre in the 200s again. You dont want to do that either. So dont be too obsessed, but also dont be too loose. Just find a middle ground. Yet I would suggest that break the habit if youre checking it every morning and if it is every morning 120 just stop it. Because its not changing. Youre not really discovering anything new. Then your diet is not changing. When you check it at different times a couple of times a week will give you a general idea overall.
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Tools And Supplies Needed To Check Blood Sugar
There are a few different supplies needed to safely and accurately test blood sugar.
Your blood sugar testing kit probably came with control solution as well. This is not needed for actual testing, but rather for ensuring glucose meter accuracy. By checking your glucose meter with control solution, you can be sure that your results are reliable. Using control solution to check the first test strip in every new bottle of strips will provide you with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can trust your supplies to be accurate!
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.
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Do Your Blood Sugar Levels Drop When You Sleep
Yes, people with diabetes may experience a blood sugar level that drops when they sleep. This is largely due to a phenomenon called the dawn effect.
This doesn’t always happen and it’s not something that everyone experiences but as time goes on, our bodies will tell us which pattern is best for it: whether we should eat before bed or not. It’s important to experiment with what works best for our individual needs – if eating before bed causes our blood sugar to drop too low, then we’ll know that it’s best to avoid eating for the hours leading up to bed to keep your blood sugar under control.
If we do experience a drop in blood sugar levels, there are some strategies that may help us either prevent or treat it. Some people will take insulin before going to bed if they know their blood sugar is too high others might drink juice or eat cereal with milk before bedtime when they know they have low blood sugar during the night.
Avoid Excessive Exercise Late At Night
Try to avoid any exercise late at night before going to bed. If your blood sugar is less than 5.6 mmol/L or 100 mg/DL before sleeping and you do want to exercise make sure you double your food portion. If you do excessive exercise late at night this can lead to increased blood sugar during the next day.
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Is Blood Sugar Monitoring Without Diabetes Worthwhile
- By Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
Heres an ad you havent seen, but it could be coming soon: A man jogs along a dirt path meandering through idyllic countryside. He pauses at an overlook and glances down at his cellphone. The phone screen flashes a number, telling him his blood sugar is normal. He smiles and resumes his run.
Whats different about this ad, you wonder? The jogger doesnt have diabetes. So, how does his phone know his blood sugar? And why, in the middle of a run, does he want to know the result? Read on.
What Happens When You Are Sick
When you are sick, your body reacts by releasing hormones to fight infection. But these hormones raise blood sugar levels and at the same time make it more difficult for insulin to lower blood sugar. When you have diabetes, even a minor illness can lead to dangerously high blood sugar. This may cause life-threatening complications, such as diabetic ketoacidosis or a hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state .
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Why Are My Blood Sugars Up And Down All The Time
If your blood sugars are all over the place, then maybe you need to pay attention to your diet a little bit more to try to fix your consistency or carbohydrate counting. If youre taking lets say ten units of insulin for every breakfast. Your blood sugar one day drops down to 90 by lunchtime and another day goes to 190. That means that what youre eating probably is very different which is giving different results although you take the same amount of insulin. So, you have to understand the consistency of your eating.
In my practice what I really love about is those cellular meters. Because every time patients check their blood sugar it comes to me. So I dont have to really beg for the numbers. Excuses just used to drive me crazy but now we make lives of patients with diabetes easy.
What Can Cause Low Blood Sugar Levels
Some things that can make low blood sugar levels more likely are:
- skipping meals and snacks
- not eating enough food during a meal or snack
- exercising longer or harder than usual without eating some extra food
- getting too much insulin
- not timing the insulin doses properly with meals, snacks, and exercise
Also, some things may increase how quickly insulin gets absorbed into the bloodstream and can make hypoglycemia more likely. These include:
- taking a hot shower or bath right after having an insulin injection increases blood flow through the blood vessels in the skin, which can make the insulin be absorbed more quickly than usual
- injecting the shot into a muscle instead of the fatty layer under the skin
- injecting the insulin into a part of the body used a lot in a particular sport .
All of these situations increase the chances that a person may get hypoglycemia.
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How To Use Blood Glucose Testing Results
It’s not unusual for your blood glucose results to be out of range now and then. But if you see a pattern of highs or lows outside your target range, you may want to ask yourself:
- Did I eat at an unusual time, have a larger or smaller portion, or try a new food?
- Did I have more or less physical activity than usual?
- Did I forget to take my medication, take it at the wrong time, take too little or too much?
- Am I taking a new medication?
- Am I stressed about something?
- Do I have an infection or an illness?
- Did I drink alcohol?
Any of these can have an impact on your blood glucose numbers. If you’re making changes to your lifestyle, or if you can’t figure out why you’ve been out of range, talk to your doctor, nurse or diabetes educator.
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1American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care in diabetes2016 Abridged for primary care providers . Diabetes Care. 2016 34: 3-21. Available at: . Accessed April 26, 2019.
2Polonsky WH, et al. Structured self-monitoring of blood glucose significantly reduces A1C levels in poorly controlled, noninsulin-treated type 2 diabetes: results from the Structured Testing Program study. Diabetes Care. 2011 34:262-267. Accessed April 26, 2019.
4Talk with your healthcare professional before deciding if alternate site testing is right for you.