Love is greater than the highs and lows

One of the scariest things a diabetic can go through is a high or low blood sugar. The fear of going low and the fear of being high. Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, exceeds the normal range of 80-120. Hyperglycemia can be adjusted and lowered by injecting insulin into the body. Many times, high glucose levels can occur from many factors. When a diabetic is sick, stressed, upset, anxious, or has had too many carbs without insulin, the blood sugar may rise. If the blood sugar reaches too high, severe complications occur. The body will go into diabetic ketoacidosis, and the organs will start shutting down if not treated.1

When a patient has low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, they may have too much insulin in their body with not enough carbs to even it out. Many times diabetics will see a low blood sugar after a vigorous workout, from not eating enough or injecting too much insulin into the body. Symptoms of low blood sugar can be slurring of the words, sweaty, cold chills, shaky, pale, and patient might seem out of it. 2 If the blood glucose level bottoms out far enough, the patient could slip into a coma or worse complications could occur. When a diabetic has low blood sugar, they immediately need carbs in order to bring the levels back stable. Glucose tablets, juice, icing, candy and gatorade are all fast acting sugars that will help bring those levels back to normal.

If a patient does not seem like themselves, a blood test needs to be done immediately so further action may be taken. If the blood glucose levels become too high or too low, a patient may become unconscious and lead to further complications. Immediate attention needs to be brought up as soon as a symptoms appears.

References:

1. Klein, R. (1995). Hyperglycemia and microvascular and macrovascular disease in diabetes. Diabetes care, 18(2), 258-268.

2. Cryer, P. E., Davis, S. N., & Shamoon, H. (2003). Hypoglycemia in diabetes. Diabetes care, 26(6), 1902-1912.