Hyperglycemia (High Blood Glucose)

Hyperglycemia (High Blood 

Glucose)

Hyperglycemia is the technical term for high blood glucose (blood sugar). High blood glucose happens when the body has too little insulin or when the body can't use insulin properly.

What Causes Hyperglycemia?

A number of things can cause hyperglycemia:

• If you have type 1, you may not have given yourself enough insulin.
• If you have type 2, your body may have enough insulin, but it is not as effective as it should be.
• You ate more than planned or exercised less than planned.
• You have stress from an illness, such as a cold or flu.
• You have other stress, such as family conflicts or school or dating problems.
• You may have experienced the dawn phenomenon (a surge of hormones that the body produces daily around 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.).

What are the Symptoms of Hyperglycemia?

The signs and symptoms include the following:

• High blood glucose
• High levels of sugar in the urine
• Frequent urination
• increased thirst

Part of managing your diabetes is checking your blood glucose often. Ask your doctor how often you should check and what your blood glucose levels should be. Checking your blood and then treating high blood glucose early will help you avoid problems associated with hyperglycemia.

How Do I Treat Hyperglycemia?

You can often lower your blood glucose level by exercising. However, if your blood glucose is above 240 mg/dl, check your urine for ketones. If you have ketones, do not exercise.

Exercising when ketones are present may make your blood glucose level go even higher. You'll need to work with your doctor to find the safest way for you to lower your blood glucose level.

Cutting down on the amount of food you eat might also help. Work with your dietitian to make changes in your meal plan. If exercise and changes in your diet don't work, your doctor may change the amount of your medication or insulin or possibly the timing of when you take it.

What if it Goes Untreated?

Hyperglycemia can be a serious problem if you don't treat it, so it's important to treat as soon as you detect it. If you fail to treat hyperglycemia, a condition called ketoacidosis (diabetic coma) could occur. Ketoacidosis develops when your body doesn't have enough insulin. Without insulin, your body can't use glucose for fuel, so your body breaks down fats to use for energy.

When your body breaks down fats, waste products called ketones are produced. Your body cannot tolerate large amounts of ketones and will try to get rid of them through the urine. Unfortunately, the body cannot release all the ketones and they build up in your blood, which can lead to ketoacidosis.

Ketoacidosis is life-threatening and needs immediate treatment. Symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath
• Breath that smells fruity
• Nausea and vomiting
• Very dry mouth

Talk to your doctor about how to handle this condition.

Medical IDs

Many people with diabetes, particularly those who use insulin, should have a medical ID with them at all times.

In the event of a severe hypoglycemic episode, a car accident, or other emergency, the medical ID can provide critical information about the person's health status, such as the fact that they have diabetes, whether or not they use insulin, whether they have any allergies, etc. Emergency medical personnel are trained to look for a medical ID when they are caring for someone who can't speak for themselves.

Medical IDs are usually worn as a bracelet or a necklace. Traditional IDs are etched with basic, key health information about the person, and some IDs now include compact USB drives that can carry a person's full medical record for use in an emergency.

How Can I Prevent Hyperglycemia?

Your best bet is to practice good diabetes management and learn to detect hyperglycemia so you can treat it early — before it gets worse.

If you're new to type 2 diabetes, join our free Living With Type 2 Diabetes program to get help and support during your first year.

- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/hyperglycemia.html?referrer=https://www.google.jo/#sthash.fyTnyCTT.dpuf

Read More

Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar) in People Without Diabetes

You may have briefly felt the effects of low blood sugar when you've gotten really hungry or exercised hard without eating enough. This happens to nearly everyone from time to time. It's easy to correct and usually nothing to worry about.

But low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can also be an ongoing problem. It occurs when the level of sugar in your blood drops too low to give your body energy.

What causes hypoglycemia in people who don't have diabetes?

Ongoing problems with low blood sugar can be caused by:

Medicines.

Diseases of the liver, kidneys, or pancreas.

Metabolic problems.

Alcohol use.

Stomach surgery.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms can be different depending on how low your blood sugar level drops.

Mild hypoglycemia can make you feel hungry or like you want to vomit. You could also feel jittery or nervous. Your heart may beat fast. You may sweat. Or your skin might turn cold and clammy.

Moderate hypoglycemia often makes people feel short-tempered, nervous, afraid, or confused. Your vision may blur. You could also feel unsteady or have trouble walking.

Severe hypoglycemia can cause you to pass out. You could have seizures. It could even cause a coma or death.

If you've had hypoglycemia during the night, you may wake up tired or with a headache. And you may have nightmares. Or you may sweat so much during the night that your pajamas or sheets are damp when you wake up.

How is hypoglycemia diagnosed?

To diagnose hypoglycemia, your doctor will do a physical exam and ask you questions about your health and any medicines you take. You will need blood tests to check your blood sugar levels. Some tests might include not eating (fasting) and watching for symptoms. Other tests might involve eating a meal that could cause symptoms of low blood sugar several hours later. The results of these types of tests can help diagnose the cause.

You may also need tests to look for or rule out health problems that could be affecting your blood sugar levels.

How is it treated?

You can treat a sudden episode of low blood sugar by eating or drinking something with sugar in it. Some examples of "quick-sugar foods" are fruit juice, soda, milk, raisins, and hard candy. You may also take glucose tablets. This is usually all that's needed to get your blood sugar level back up in the short term.

If your hypoglycemia is caused by a health condition, you may need treatment for that condition. There also may be steps you can take to avoid low blood sugar. For example, talk to your doctor about whether changes in your diet, medicines, or exercise habits might help.

What should you do in an emergency?

If mild or moderate hypoglycemia isn't treated right away, it can turn into severe hypoglycemia. People with severe hypoglycemia usually pass out. If you pass out, someone should callright away.

If you have a health problem that tends to cause low blood sugar, it's a good idea to teach your family, friends, and coworkers about what symptoms to watch for and what to do. You may also want to wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace.

Read More

Low Blood Sugar (Hypoglycemia)

People with diabetes get hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) when their bodies don't have enough sugar to use as fuel.

It can happen for several reasons, including diet, some medications and conditions, and exercise.

If you get hypoglycemia, write down the date and time when it happened and what you did. Share 

your record with your doctor, so she can look for a pattern and adjust your medications.

Call your doctor if you have more than one unexplained low blood sugar reaction in a week.

Symptoms

Most people feel symptoms of hypoglycemia when their blood sugar is 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or lower.

Each person with diabetes may have different symptoms of hypoglycemia. You'll learn to spot yours.

Early symptoms include:

Confusion

Dizziness

Feeling shaky

Hunger

Headaches

Irritability

Pounding heart; racing pulse

Pale skin

Sweating

Trembling

Weakness

Anxiety

Without treatment, you might get more severe symptoms, including:

Poor coordination

Poor concentration

Numbness in mouth and tongue

Passing out

Nightmares or bad dreams

Coma

Diabetes Drugs Linked to Hypoglycemia

Ask your doctor if any of your medicines can cause low blood sugar.

Insulin treatment can cause low blood sugar, and so can a type of diabetes medications called "sulfonylureas."

Commonly used sulfonylureas include:

Glimepiride (Amaryl)

Glipizide (Glucotrol)

Glibenclamide (Glyburide, Micronase)

Gliclazide

Older, less common sulfonlyureas tend to cause low blood sugar more often than some of the newer ones. Examples of older drugs include:

chlorpropamide (Diabinese)

nateglinide (Starlix)

repaglinide (Prandin)

tolazamide (Tolinase)

tolbutamide (Orinase)

You can also get low blood sugar if you drink alcohol or take allopurinol (Zyloprim), aspirin, Benemid, probenecid (Probalan), or warfarin (Coumadin) with diabetes medications.

You shouldn't get hypoglycemia if you take alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, biguanides (such as metformin), and thiazolidinediones alone, but it can happen when you take them with sulfonylureas or insulin.

Diet and Hypoglycemia

You can get low blood sugar if you take too much insulin for the amount of carbohydrates you eat or drink.

For instance, it can happen:

After you eat a meal that has a lot of simple sugars

If you miss a snack or don't eat a full meal

If you eat later than usual

If you drink alcohol without eating any food

Don't skip meals if you have diabetes, particularly if you're taking diabetes medications

When Your Blood Sugar Gets Too Low

In this article

Symptoms

Diabetes Drugs Linked to Hypoglycemia

Diet and Hypoglycemia

Treatment

When You Have Low Blood Sugar

If You Pass Out

Do Not Drive When You Have Low Blood Sugar

Preventing Hypoglycemia

Treatment

If you have diabetes and think you have hypoglycemia, check your blood sugar level.

Do your levels often drop after meals that include a lot of sugars? Change your diet. Avoid sugary foods, and eat frequent small meals during the day.

If you get low blood sugar when you haven't eaten, have a snack before bedtime, such as a protein or a more complex carbohydrate.

Your doctor may find that you take too much insulin that peaks toward the evening-to-morning hours. In that case, she may lower your insulin dose or change the time when you get your last dose of it.

When You Have Low Blood Sugar

First, eat or drink 15 grams of a fast-acting carbohydrate, such as:

Three to four glucose tablets

One tube of glucose gel

Four to six pieces of hard candy (not sugar-free)

1/2 cup fruit juice

1 cup skim milk

1/2 cup soft drink (not sugar-free)

1 tablespoon honey (put it under your tongue so it gets absorbed into your bloodstream faster)

Fifteen minutes after you've eaten a food with sugar in it, check your blood sugar again. If your blood sugar is still less than 70 mg/dL, eat another serving of one of the foods listed above. Repeat these steps until your sugar becomes normal.

If You Pass Out

Hypoglycemia may make you pass out. If so, you'll need someone to give you a glucagon injection.

Glucagon is a prescription medicine that raises blood sugar, and you may need it if you have severe hypoglycemia. It's important that your family members and friends know how to give the injection in case you have a low blood sugar reaction.

If you see someone having a severe hypoglycemic reaction, call 911 or take him or her to the nearest hospital for treatment. Do not try to give an unconscious person food, fluids, or insulin, as they may choke.

Do Not Drive When You Have Low Blood Sugar

It's very dangerous. If you're driving and you have hypoglycemia symptoms, pull off the road, check your blood sugar, and eat a sugary food. Wait at least 15 minutes, check your blood sugar, and repeat these steps if necessary. Eat a protein and carbohydrate source (such as peanut butter crackers or cheese and crackers) before you drive on.

Be prepared. Keep a sugar source in your car at all times for emergencies.

When Your Blood Sugar Gets Too Low

In this article

Symptoms

Diabetes Drugs Linked to Hypoglycemia

Diet and Hypoglycemia

Treatment

When You Have Low Blood Sugar

If You Pass Out

Do Not Drive When You Have Low Blood Sugar

Preventing Hypoglycemia

Preventing Hypoglycemia

If you have diabetes, ways you can prevent hypoglycemia include:

Follow your meal plan.

Eat at least three evenly spaced meals each day with between-meal snacks as prescribed.

Plan your meals no more than 4 to 5 hours apart.

Exercise 30 minutes to 1 hour after meals. Check your sugars before and after exercise, and discuss with your doctor what types of changes can be made.

Double-check your insulin and dose of diabetes medicine before taking it.

Know when your medicine is at its peak level.

Test your blood sugar as often as directed by your doctor.

Carry an identification bracelet that says you have diabetes.

Read More