To a non-diabetic, a low blood sugar seems like a enjoyable excuse to eat sweet. For these of us with diabetes, low blood sugars are the precise reverse of enjoyable.
Low blood sugars (often known as hypoglycemia) can interrupt enterprise conferences, put you at risk whereas driving, flip a visit to the playground along with your youngsters right into a nightmare, and go away you feeling like a panicky, sweating mess.
On this article, we’ll have a look at the telltale signs of low blood sugar, the causes of low blood sugar, the right way to deal with and handle lows, and the right way to forestall them from occurring as incessantly.
What’s low blood sugar?
In a non-diabetic physique, blood sugar ranges hardly ever dip under 70 mg/dL. Any decrease and the physique will start to battle to carry out even essentially the most primary duties.
Your mind depends on a second-by-second supply of glucose out of your bloodstream with a purpose to operate — bodily and mentally. With out sufficient glucose (a type of sugar) in your bloodstream, your mind and full physique will battle to operate.
Left untreated, low blood sugars can result in seizures and demise.
What are the signs of low blood sugar?
There are a number of telltale indicators that your blood sugar has dropped under a secure degree. The American Diabetes Affiliation (ADA) lists the next as signs of low blood sugar:
- Feeling shaky
- Being nervous or anxious
- Sweating, chills, and clamminess
- Irritability or impatience
- Confusion
- Quick heartbeat
- Feeling lightheaded or dizzy
- Starvation
- Nausea
- Shade draining from the pores and skin (pallor)
- Feeling Sleepy
- Feeling weak or having no power
- Blurred/impaired imaginative and prescient
- Tingling or numbness within the lips, tongue, or cheeks
- Complications
- Coordination issues, clumsiness
- Nightmares or crying out throughout sleep
- Seizures
It’s possible you’ll expertise different signs past this checklist. For instance, in my physique, if I’m strolling on a treadmill and my blood sugar is low, my thighs begin to really feel numb and tingly.
Everybody has their very own traditional signs of low blood sugar — determine which signs you are feeling the soonest so you may catch lows before later!
Hypoglycemia unawareness
For some folks, particularly those that have lived with diabetes for a lot of many years, “hypoglycemia unawareness” can turn out to be an issue.
Which means that your blood sugar could possibly be low however your physique not experiences the frequent signs of a low, placing you in larger hazard of experiencing a seizure.
The ADA says it’s potential to regain signs of low blood sugar, nevertheless it takes time and purposeful adjustments in the way you strategy diabetes administration.
“It’s potential to get your early warning signs again by avoiding any, even gentle, hypoglycemia for a number of weeks,” explains the ADA. “This helps your physique re-learn the right way to react to low blood glucose ranges. This will imply growing your goal blood glucose degree (a brand new goal that must be labored out along with your diabetes care workforce). It could even end in the next A1C degree, however regaining the flexibility to really feel signs of lows is definitely worth the momentary rise in blood glucose ranges.”
Reversing “hypoglycemia unawareness” is feasible for a lot of
Whereas it isn’t remarkably frequent, it is a matter for some folks with diabetes. There are some things somebody with clear “hypoglycemia unawareness” can do to maintain themselves secure.
First, use a steady glucose monitor (CGM). CGMs are perfect for individuals who don’t expertise regular signs of low blood sugar as a result of they will warn you to oncoming lows, serving to you forestall them from occurring or from dropping as severely. CGMs assist you to set “low alerts” to ranges like 90 mg/dL or 110 mg/dL — wherever you are feeling most secure.
Secondly, intention for the next goal vary. If you realize you’ve “hypoglycemia unawareness,” it’s vital that you just elevate your goal blood sugar vary at the least barely. As a substitute of aiming for 90 mg/dL when dosing insulin for meals and correcting highs, speak to your diabetes healthcare workforce about aiming for 100 mg/dL or 110 mg/dL, and many others. This can scale back the danger of low blood sugars by holding your blood sugar barely above that skinny line between “regular” and “low.”
Signs of low blood sugar whenever you aren’t really low…
For folks with diabetes whose blood sugar ranges have been constantly excessive for an prolonged time frame, together with these with A1cs above 8 % and people battling diabulimia, it’s potential to your physique to acclimate to excessive blood sugar ranges.
Which means that when your blood sugar does come down, your physique may present signs of being low even when it’s simply in a more healthy vary.
Reversing this difficulty is feasible.
First, in case you are at present battling diabulimia, please attain out to your healthcare workforce for help and steerage on working in the direction of restoration.
Secondly, clarify to your CDE what’s happening — that you just’re experiencing signs a low whenever you’re not low — and that you just’re totally dedicated to enhancing your blood sugar ranges so you may really feel good at more healthy blood sugar ranges.
However this implies your physique wants time to acclimate, too. You’d work along with your CDE on aiming for a goal blood sugar that’s decrease than the upper vary you’ve been sitting at, however not as little as “regular” blood sugar targets.
This offers your physique an opportunity to regularly — over the course of weeks or months — reacclimate to more healthy blood sugar ranges with out triggering false signs of low blood sugar.
What causes low blood sugar?
In folks with kind 1 and kind 2 diabetes, low blood sugars are typically brought on by an imbalance of meals, exercise, and insulin — or different diabetes medicines that decrease blood sugar.
Exercising with out adjusting insulin doses and carbs
Going for a stroll after lunch, for instance, could cause a extreme low blood sugar in case you took your full dose of insulin to your lunch. The addition of the stroll will increase the speed at which your physique is burning up the glucose from the meal you ate, inflicting a low blood sugar.
Dosing insulin for tough carbohydrate estimates
Taking 3 models of insulin for a medium-sized apple when you could have solely wanted 2 is one other instance of the best approach folks with diabetes can expertise low blood sugars whereas doing our greatest to handle our blood sugars.
TIP: Use CalorieKing.com to doublecheck your carb-counts, and hold slightly pocket book of the insulin doses you used for meals you eat usually!
Weight-loss growing sensitivity to insulin
Dropping 5 kilos can lead to the physique ultimately needing much less insulin, however an individual with diabetes solely is aware of it’s time to cut back their insulin doses after they begin to expertise frequent low blood sugars.
TIP: Chances are high, your physique wants a discount of at the least 1 to three models in your general background insulin wants or extra for these dropping bigger quantities of physique fats. Speak to your CDE about performing some basal testing and carb-ratio testing to make sure your present insulin doses are correct!
Insulin wants altering as a consequence of different elements
Your insulin wants can change all through your total life as a consequence of adjustments in stress, exercise degree, physique weight, development spurts, and many others. For those who by no means fine-tune and regulate your insulin doses, you’re certain to expertise extra excessive or low blood sugars.
Tight blood sugar targets
Aiming for wholesome non-diabetic blood sugar ranges means its way more probably you’ll expertise low blood sugars as a result of the road between “regular” and “low” blood sugars is a really skinny line. Simply the slightest bit an excessive amount of insulin or exercise, and your blood sugar is immediately too low.
TIP: When aiming to enhance your A1c, the primary precedence is to forestall and keep away from recurring low blood sugars. For those who’re consistently going low, it’s time to take a more in-depth have a look at the doses you’re utilizing for meals and corrections. If taking 2 models of insulin when your blood sugar is 200 mg/dL consistently sends you right down to 50 mg/dL, that’s a really clear signal that you just want far much less insulin to your correction doses. Take good notes and pinpoint areas the place you can also make changes.
Particularly in case you’re taking insulin — and in case you take non-insulin medicines that decrease blood sugar — low blood sugars are one thing you can be consistently working to keep away from, deal with, and endure.
Learn extra about adjusting insulin doses, weight reduction, and train:
Suggestions for treating low blood sugars
Whereas we’re usually instructed that each one low blood sugars ought to be handled with the “rule of 15” (eat 15 grams of carbohydrates and test once more after quarter-hour), actual life with diabetes isn’t this straightforward. Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at the right way to deal with low blood sugars.
Ensure you have a glucagon equipment
For the very worst lows — whenever you’re unconscious or whenever you’re sick and you may’t hold meals down — a glucagon equipment can save your life. For those who don’t have one, or the one you’ve is expired, ask your physician for a brand new prescription. Hold it someplace in your own home, at work, or in your health club bag, and ensure others know the place it’s and the right way to use it!
Use fast-acting carbohydrates
For those who deal with your lows with a chocolate sweet bar, the fats and protein within the bar are going to decelerate the digestion of the carbohydrates. This implies it’ll take longer to your blood sugar to return again up! As a substitute, select fast-acting carbohydrates like glucose tabs, gummy sweet, juice, dried fruit, jelly beans, Pixie Stix, honey, syrup, and many others.
Deal with with 5 to fifteen grams of carbs and be affected person
Some lows solely require 5 grams of carbohydrates to deliver you again as much as a secure degree. For those who’re sitting steadily at 65 mg/dL, you probably don’t want a full 15 grams of carbs, as a result of that may deliver you again effectively above your goal blood sugar vary.
However, in case you’re at 55 mg/dL and persevering with to drop, you could want 15 grams of carbohydrate…and then extra relying on the quantity of insulin you’ve onboard and why you’re low.
Then, right here’s the toughest half: sit in your palms and wait earlier than consuming the rest. If you’re nonetheless low then you definitely would deal with with extra carbs. (Do test along with your meter as a result of signs can final even when your blood sugar has come again up).
At all times hold fast-acting carbs close by…in all places!
In your nightstand, in your purse, in your baby’s diaper bag, in your automotive’s glove compartment, within the jacket you put on to stroll the canine, in your workplace desk, in your accomplice’s automotive. All over the place!
Bear in mind to decide on fast-acting carbs. And in the event that they’re going to be in a location that may get actually chilly or actually scorching, it’s worthwhile to take into consideration whether or not that kind of meals will rot or soften or freeze. Fruit snacks and Gummy Life Savers and conventional glucose tabs are nice for warm or chilly places.
Remind your self: I’m in charge of how a lot meals I eat to deal with my lows.
Binge-eating throughout low blood sugars is quite common, however it may be a really harmful behavior. The binge results in an excellent spike in your blood sugar, which ends up in guilt and disgrace and a “rage bolus” of insulin to deliver it again down. After which that may result in one other low!
Is that this a standard difficulty for you? Ask your self: is the way in which I deal with my low blood sugars wholesome or dangerous to my general well-being?
Right here’s a easy have a look at the binge-eating cycle round low blood sugars from my guide, “Emotional Consuming with Diabetes”:
Low blood sugars are an actual ache. For these of us taking insulin and different meds that decrease blood sugar ranges (like Metformin), they’re additionally an inevitable a part of diabetes administration.
The very best we will do is pinpoint areas to make changes to forestall them, and at all times, at all times, at all times have fast-acting carbohydrates close by to deal with lows after they occur.
