What Could Happen If Your Blood Sugar Is Over 300
Mild high blood sugar is described as a blood sugar level between 200 and 350 milligrams per deciliter, explains WebMD. A blood sugar level higher than 350 milligrams per deciliter is a more serious problem that can lead to more severe symptoms such as blurry vision, drowsiness, lightheadedness, vomiting, rapid breathing and a weak pulse. Patients with high blood sugar that continues to rise may lose consciousness, become confused or act extremely lethargic. Diabetics can avoid high blood sugar levels by taking their insulin or diabetes pills exactly as recommended. When high blood sugar occurs in spite of proper medication use, a patient should contact his doctor immediately. A change in medication or meal plans may be required. Even though diabetics may not show any obvious symptoms, a sustained high blood sugar level has a number of long-lasting effects on the body, explains Mayo Clinic. Blood sugar coats the red blood cells, making them sticky and allowing cholesterol to build up on the insides of blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. High blood sugar also leads to eye problems, kidney damage, gum disease and nerve damage in many patients. Learn more about Medical Ranges & LevelsContinue reading > >
How Common Is Low Blood Glucose
Low blood glucose is common among people with type 1 diabetes and among people with type 2 diabetes who take insulin or some other diabetes medicines. In a large global study of people with diabetes who take insulin, 4 in 5 people with type 1 diabetes and nearly half of those with type 2 diabetes reported a low blood sugar event at least once over a 4-week period.2
Severely low blood glucose, defined as when your blood glucose level drops so low you cant treat it yourself, is less common. Among U.S. adults with diabetes who take insulin or some diabetes medicines that help the pancreas release insulin into the blood, 2 in 100 may develop severely low blood glucose each year.3
Microvascular Damage Of Eyes Kidneys Toes Etc
Microvascular damage is defined as damage to small blood vessels, and its a common consequence of high blood sugar. Evidence confirms that acute hyperglycemia causes microvascular damage and leads to poor functional recovery, especially in patients who have sustained myocardial infarction.
For example, numbers show that more than 661,000 Americans have kidney failure, but high blood pressure and diabetes are the most common risk factors for this serious health problem. Almost half of the patients with chronic kidney disease have diabetes. This isnt such a surprise if we bear in mind that poor glycemic control is associated with microvascular disease development.
High blood sugar damages nerves and interferes with their ability to send signals, which causes diabetic neuropathy. Damage of this kind usually affects eyes, kidneys, toes, and other parts of a patients body.
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Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic Syndrome
This mostly affects elderly people. As glucose builds up in your blood, your body tries to get rid of it through your urine.
At first, you pee a lot. Over time, you pee less, but when you do, itâs very dark. This condition can lead to dehydration, coma, and death.
Get medical help right away if you have any of these warning signs:
- Blood sugar level over 600 mg/dL
- Extreme thirst that may later go away
- Warm, dry skin that doesnât sweat
- Fever over 101 F
- Weakness on one side of your body
- Vision loss
- Hallucinations
You can avoid many of these problems by keeping your blood sugar under control. Follow your doctorâs advice about diet and exercise, take your medicine, keep up with your doctor visits, and check your levels often.
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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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Signs And Symptoms Of High Blood Sugar To Be Aware Of
If you want to learn the symptoms of high blood sugar levels, youve come to the right place.
High blood sugar is a major problem. It could increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and kidney damage. Hyperglycemia increases glycation. This leads to the production of harmful particles. These particles impair the functions of glycated substances.
A chain of reactions takes place. It leads to problems with blood flow, inflammation, slow wound healing. Therefore, knowing the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar and keeping blood glucose levels in check is vital for good health and diabetes prevention.
What Causes High Morning Blood Sugars
Two main culprits prompt morning highs: the dawn phenomenon and waning insulin. A third, much rarer cause, known as the Somogyi effect, may also be to blame.
The occasional morning high will have little impact on your A1C, a measure of your average blood sugar levels over time that indicates how well managed your diabetes is. But if those highs become consistent, they could push your A1C up into dangerous territory.
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What Is The Best Thing To Eat When Your Blood Sugar Is Low
To avoid overtreating lows with too much simple carbohydrate or food and then facing a rebound high blood sugar, its best to have go-to automatic corrections for hypoglycemia that are quantity limited and unappealing to overeat. Glucose tablets and gels, and candies like Smarties, are predictable, relieve low symptoms quickly, and are hard to overeat. Some people with diabetes count out jelly beans, mini-Swedish Fish, gummies, or hard candy and eat the exact amount that will help their blood sugar. Others take a specific amount of juice or another sugar-containing drink.
How do you know how much of your correction to consume? Similar to the 15-15 rule, the only way to discover exactly how much of your go-to correction your body needs is by checking your glucose levels, eating a source of sugar that has been measured out, and then checking again in roughly 15 minutes. This can help you adjust the amount of your source of sugar to raise your blood sugar to your target , but not overshoot. This is a precision dose of carbs. To learn more, read Adam Browns Defeating the Hypoglycemia Binge.
Do not use a low as a reason to eat treats this can cause your blood sugar to spike later. Plus, it connects a food reward with something you want to avoid , which is an easy way to develop a bad habit.
How To Test For Ketones
You can use a urine test strip or blood ketone meter and ketone test strip to test for ketones at home. Testing either urine or blood is important, but when possible, a blood test is preferred because it gives you and your care team more precise information about your ketone levels. Because urine may have been in the bladder for some time, the results from these tests may show levels that are either higher or lower than the ketone levels that are actually circulating in your body. It is also very important to know that urine test trips degrade over time, so if you are using this method, you need to look at expiration dates carefully.
Your diabetes care team can give you specific directions about when you should check for ketones, but in general, you should check for them when your blood glucose is 240 mg/dL or higher. You should also check for ketones if you notice any of the DKA symptoms listed above or if you are sick it is possible to have ketones while your blood glucose levels are within range .
At-home urine test strips will change color to show the level of ketones in the urine. They typically report results as negative, trace, small, moderate or large. Blood ketone meters will provide a number that indicates the ketone levels. The following ranges are generally used:
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You Cant Get A Good Nights Rest
Eating a cookie or cupcake with loads of added sugar too close to bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep, at least in the short-term. It will give you a boost of energy by spiking your blood sugar, which always makes going to bed harder when youre trying to wind down, says Zeitlin. It might have the opposite effect shortly thereafter because sugar triggers the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which makes you feel relaxed and even sleepy, Ansel adds. But even if it is easier to nod off, the sleep you get probably wont be as satisfying. You might not wake up feeling as good, because your blood sugar dips during the night, says Ansel.
A good rule of thumb, says Zeitlin: Stop eating entirelyâespecially sugary foodsâtwo hours before bedtime, so you dont get indigestion and sugar has time to make its way through your systemâand you can relax and get into sleep mode.
What Can Happen If Blood Sugar Exceeds 300mg/dl
If you have consistent blood sugar levels above 300mg/dL, this can put you at significantly increased risk of developing complications such as: neuropathy, retinopathy , kidney failure, and heart issues.
The most immediate and severe symptom of high blood sugar is a diabetic coma. Diabetic coma can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention.
Even if you don’t ever experience something as acute and severe as a diabetic coma, the consequences of consistently high blood sugar levels can cause significant damage to your body over time.
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Eat The Right Carbohydrates
The two main kinds of carbohydrates simple and complex affect blood sugar levels differently.
Simple carbohydrates are mainly made up of one kind of sugar. They are found in foods, such as white bread, pasta, and candy. The body breaks these carbohydrates down into sugar very quickly, which causes blood sugar levels to rise rapidly.
Complex carbohydrates are made up of three or more sugars that are linked together. Because the chemical makeup of these kinds of carbohydrates is complicated, it takes the body longer to break them down.
As a result, sugar is released into the body more gradually, meaning that blood sugar levels do not rapidly rise after eating them. Examples of complex carbohydrates include whole grain oats and sweet potatoes.
What Is High Blood Sugar
Elevated blood sugar levels are known as hyperglycemia. Blood sugar levels are measured using a small sample of blood that is tested in a lab. Blood sugar can also be tested using at home devices such as a handheld glucometer. Levels that indicate hyperglycemia are indicative of prediabetes and both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Normal ranges of blood sugar will vary depending on the test being done. In general, a normal fasting glucose level will be between 70-100 mg/dL. After a meal, these levels are expected to rise slightly around 1 to 2 hours after the beginning of a meal, but should be less than 180 ml/dL.
Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is important not only for metabolic health, but heart health too. Over time, high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart. People with diabetes are also more likely to have other conditions that raise the risk for heart disease:
- High blood pressure increases the force of blood through your arteries and can damage artery walls. Having both high blood pressure and diabetes can greatly increase your risk for heart disease.
- Too much LDL cholesterol in your bloodstream can form plaque on damaged artery walls.
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What You Can Do Now
Your doctor will provide you with clear steps to follow aimed at lowering your blood sugar levels. Its important that you take their recommendations to heart and make any necessary lifestyle changes to improve your health. If left untreated, hyperglycemia can lead to serious, and sometimes life-threatening, complications.
Your doctor may recommend that you buy a blood glucose meter to use at home. This is a simple and effective way to monitor your blood sugar and act quickly if your levels have spiked to an unsafe level. Being aware of your levels can empower you to take charge of your condition and live a healthy lifestyle.
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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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I Have Fasted For A Say And My Morning Sugar Reading Was
Hello, Iâm Dr. Phil and have over 10 years of experience as a licensed medical doctor.I am happy to assist you with this question.I will be responding shortly.
Thank you for this question and for the opportunity to help.
So I assume you are diagnosed with type2 diabetes?
Okay what medicine do you take?
Okay do you have a CGM?
Also what is your A1c?
Okay that is very good. Thank you.
I suspect you are having something called the somogyi effect.
What happens here is the sugar is going low in the middle of the night and the body responds by releasing stress hormones that raise the sugar.
You will be able to tell if you have a CGM that monitors sugar 24/7.
Continuous glucose monitor.
Like a dexcom or libre.
Agreed ð
That might be the effect as well.
The stress hormones raising BP as well.
The key thing to do is to stop that low blood sugar in the middle of the night.
Adjusting the insulin will solve this.
You are very welcome ð
Please let me know if you have more questions.
Iâm so happy to hear that I was able to answer your question and thank you for the opportunity to help you today.If you would like to ask me another question in the future, you can add me as a favorite Expert.You will have the opportunity to do that on your âMy Questionsâ page if you choose to rate our interaction or you can request me by name if you wish.
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Dka
The symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis usually don’t develop all at once they usually come on slowly over several hours. People who have DKA may:
- feel really tired
- feel really thirsty or pee way more than usual
- have a dry mouth and signs of dehydration
These symptoms are caused by the high blood sugar levels that usually happen before someone develops DKA. If the person doesn’t get treatment, these signs of DKA can happen:
- abdominal pain
- unconsciousness
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What Are The Causes Of High Blood Sugar
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. It helps in moving glucose from the digested food to the cells to be used as energy. High blood sugar can occur if the body does not have enough insulin. There are various conditions that affect the insulin function, thus resulting in high blood sugar. Some of the causes that contribute to high and even dangerous levels of blood sugar include the following,
- If a diabetic person misses taking the diabetes medication.
- Overeating, especially the food rich in carbohydrates.
- Lack of exercise or physical activity
- Infection or certain illnesses that cause the blood sugar to rise quickly.
- Intake of Certain medications such as steroids that affect sugar levels.
- Excessive and prolonged stress
Low Blood Glucose During Sleep
Your blood glucose level can drop while you sleep and stay low for several hours, causing serious problems.7 Symptoms of low blood glucose while you sleep can include
- crying out or having nightmares
- sweating enough to make your pajamas or sheets damp
- feeling tired, irritable, or confused after waking up
Although you may not wake up or notice any symptoms, low blood glucose can interfere with your sleep, which may affect your quality of life, mood, and ability to work. Having low blood glucose during sleep can also make you less likely to notice and respond to symptoms of low blood glucose during the day.
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Is Hyperglycaemia Serious
The aim of diabetes treatment is to keep blood sugar levels as near to normal as possible. But if you have diabetes, no matter how careful you are, you’re likely to experience hyperglycaemia at some point.
It’s important to be able to recognise and treat hyperglycaemia, as it can lead to serious health problems if left untreated.
Occasional mild episodes aren’t usually a cause for concern and can be treated quite easily or may return to normal on their own. However, hyperglycaemia can be potentially dangerous if blood sugar levels become very high or stay high for long periods.
Very high blood sugar levels can cause life-threatening complications, such as:
- diabetic ketoacidosis a condition caused by the body needing to break down fat as a source of energy, which can lead to a diabetic coma this tends to affect people with type 1 diabetes
- hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state severe dehydration caused by the body trying to get rid of excess sugar this tends to affect people with type 2 diabetes
Regularly having high blood sugar levels for long periods of time can result in permanent damage to parts of the body such as the eyes, nerves, kidneys and blood vessels.
If you experience hyperglycaemia regularly, speak to your doctor or diabetes care team. You may need to change your treatment or lifestyle to keep your blood sugar levels within a healthy range.