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How To Know If You Have High Blood Sugar


Symptoms Of Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes Tips : How to Prevent High Blood Sugar

You might notice:

  • Unplanned weight loss. If your body can’t get energy from your food, it will start burning muscle and fat for energy instead. You may lose weight even though you haven’t changed how you eat.
  • Nausea and vomiting. When your body resorts to burning fat, it makes ketones. These can build up in your blood to dangerous levels, a possibly life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketones can make you feel sick to your stomach.

Your Vision Is Blurry

Another sign of high blood sugar is blurry vision, since the high level of glucose in your body can make the lens of your eye swell up and make focusing on one point difficult. If left untreated, blurred vision from high blood sugar can lead to vision loss, according to the Mayo Clinic.

To treat this symptom, work with a doctor to get your blood sugar in a normal range. That range is usually considered 70 milligrams of sugar per deciliter of blood to 130 mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after the start of a meal, according to WebMD.

This range can still vary among people, however, so consulting a doctor is the best way to determine what’s right for your body.


If Your Blood Sugar Levels Are Too Low Or Too High What Should You Do

If you find yourself in a situation where your blood sugar level is too high, insulin will assist in bringing it down. For those who have diabetes, blood sugar levels that are too high means that they may need to use synthetic insulin. However, in situations that arent as serious, doing a little bit of physical activity can help to lower your blood sugar level.

If you blood sugar level is under 70 mg/dL, it is way too low. If you have diabetes and you miss a dose of your medication, it can result in levels of blood sugar that are too low. This is potentially dangerous. It can also happen if you are eating less than normal and you are doing a lot more exercise than usual.

Read Also: What Happens If You Stop Taking Diabetes Medication

Support Your Feet With Diabetes

Shoe shopping for people with diabetes requires a little more attention to detail than you may be used to. Tillett advises looking for shoes with more depth in the toe box, good coverage of both top and bottom, and without seams inside the shoe that can rub on your foot. Likewise, seek socks without seams, preferably socks that are padded and made from cotton or another material that controls moisture.

What If It Goes Untreated

How To Recognize High Blood Sugar

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 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

Talk to your doctor about how to handle this condition.

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What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels

Managing diabetes is like a three-way balancing act because you have to watch:


  • the medicines you take (
  • the food that you eat
  • the amount of exercise you get
  • All three need to be balanced. If any one of these is off, blood sugar levels can be too. In general, higher than normal blood glucose levels can be caused by:

    • not taking your diabetes medicine when you’re supposed to or not taking the right amounts
    • not following the meal plan
    • not getting enough exercise
    • having an illness, like the flu
    • stress
    • taking other kinds of medicines that affect how your diabetes medicines work

    A single high blood sugar reading usually isn’t cause for alarm it happens to everyone with diabetes from time to time. But if you have high blood sugar levels a lot, let your parents and your diabetes health care team know. Insulin or meal plans may need adjusting, or you may have an equipment issue, like an insulin pump that isn’t working right. Whatever the case, make sure you get help so you can get your blood sugar levels back under control.

    Control Your Blood Sugar To Help Avoid Diabetic Neuropathy

    Theres a direct relationship between blood sugar level and damage to the nerve cells, says Tillett. Out-of-control blood sugar leads to neuropathy, and the better you are at controlling your blood sugar, the healthier your feet will be over the long term. Remember, if you already have an infection, high blood sugar levels can make it hard for your body to fight it.

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    How To Lower High Blood Sugar

    With careful monitoring and control of your blood sugar levels, you can live a healthy life. There are a number of ways you can lower and prevent high blood sugar.


    Learn to count carbohydrates: When you count carbs or keep track of what you are eating, you can control your blood sugar more efficiently. Set a maximum amount you can have each day for your meal,s and keep track to make sure you do not go past the limit. This helps to stabilize blood sugar and prevent dangerous spikes. Portion control is important too, so make sure your meals are not too large, as these can cause temporary spikes.

    Try meal planning: To help keep track of your carbohydrate intake, start planning your meals. Based on the amount of carbohydrates you can have, plan meals accordingly, so you do not risk going above the set limit. When your meals are planned, you also avoid eating out or getting convenience food, which contains more sugar and fat, and will negatively affect your blood sugar.

    Start a weight loss program: Obesity contributes to diabetes and impairs your bodys ability to process energy efficiently. Losing weight helps your body to use insulin more efficiently, and it reduces fat storage, which can trigger inflammation in the body.

    Tingling Hands And Feet

    14 Signs You Have High Blood Sugar Levels That You Should Know About

    Over the years, hyperglycemia can begin to impact nerve function and eventually cause nerve damage, called neuropathy, Dr. Hatipoglu says. The most common kind of neuropathy is peripheral, according to the NIDDK, which affects the extremities. You might start noticing feelings of tingling, numbness, or burning in your hands, feet, arms, and legs, per the Mayo Clinic.

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    What Are The Signs Of High And Low Blood Sugar

    The symptoms vary depending on whether you have hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Find out how to spot the warning signs and stabilize your glucose.

    Alamy

    One of the challenges of managing diabetes is maintaining consistent blood sugar levels. Even with diligence, some situations can cause high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, while others can bring on low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia.

    After all, its not just carbohydrate intake that influences the amount of glucose coursing through your bloodstream when you have type 2 diabetes. Emotional stress and certain medications can increase your blood sugar levels, and a boost in activity can cause it to drop, says Megan ONeill, CDCES, a medical science liaison for diabetes care at Abbott healthcare company in Monterey, California. Sometimes people experience a spike in their blood sugar early in the morning due to the dawn effect, a temporary surge of hormones that occurs as the body prepares to wake, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

    For people with diabetes, managing blood glucose levels is especially important, ONeill says. Levels that are too low or high can result in complications that affect your kidneys, heart, and vision, reduce your quality of life, require expensive interventions, or even be fatal.


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    • Between 80 and 130 milligrams per deciliter before meals
    • Less than 180 mg/dL two hours after meals

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    What To Think About When Your Blood Sugar Is High

    High blood sugar can harm you. If your blood sugar is high, you need to know how to bring it down. If you have diabetes, here are some questions to ask yourself when your blood sugar is high:

    • Are you eating right?
    • Are you eating too much?
    • Have you been following your diabetes meal plan?
    • Did you have a meal or a snack with a lot of carbohydrates, starches, or simple sugars?

    Are you taking your diabetes medicines correctly?

    • Has your doctor changed your medicines?
    • If you take insulin, have you been taking the correct dose? Is the insulin expired? Or has it been stored in a hot or cold place?
    • Are you afraid of having low blood sugar? Is that causing you to eat too much or take too little insulin or other diabetes medicine?
    • Have you injected insulin into a scar or overused area? Have you been rotating sites? Was the injection into a lump or numb spot under the skin?

    What else has changed?


    To prevent high blood sugar, you will need to:

    • Follow your meal plan
    • Take your diabetes medicines as instructed

    You and your doctor will:

    • Set a target goal for your blood sugar levels for different times during the day. This helps you manage your blood sugar.

    If your blood sugar is higher than your goals over 3 days and you don’t know why, check your urine for ketones. Then call your health care provider.

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    Early Signs And Symptoms Of Diabetes

    1. Frequent urination

    When your blood sugar is high, your kidneys expel the excess blood sugar, causing you to urinate more frequently. One of the early warning signs of diabetes is frequent urination that is urgent enough to wake you up to go to the bathroom during sleep.


    2. Increased thirst

    While your kidneys are working overtime and youre urinating more frequently, valuable fluids will be pulled from your tissues. Frequent urination will make you feel constantly thirsty.

    3. Fatigue

    When your blood sugar is high, your body works hard to get rid of the excess sugar. Not only does this process take a toll on your body, but it also alters the way that your body uses glucose for energy. Excessively high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, has fatiguing effects among other symptoms. Additionally, the dehydration that accompanies more frequent urination is a common cause of fatigue in diabetics.

    4. Blurred vision

    High blood sugar can cause damage to the small blood vessels of the eye, resulting in a swollen lens that can cause blurred vision. As blood sugar levels rise and lower, your vision may return to normal or worsen, respectively.

    5. Increased hunger

    When you have high blood sugar, your body is actively looking to get rid of it. Because your body expels so much of the glucose you’re getting from your food, you may have increased feelings of hunger.

    6. Unexplained weight loss

    7. Slow healing cuts and wounds

    8. Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet

    9. Skin discoloration

    What Are Target Blood Sugar Levels For People With Diabetes

    10 Most Common Signs of High Blood Sugar

    A target is something that you aim for or try to reach. Your health care team may also use the term goal. People with diabetes have blood sugar targets that they try to reach at different times of the day. These targets are:


    • Right before your meal: 80 to 130
    • Two hours after the start of the meal: Below 180

    Talk with your health care team about what blood sugar numbers are right for you.

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    Keep Your Feet Dry To Reduce The Risk Of Infection

    Make sure that drying your feet is part of your hygiene routine. The space between the toes is very airtight, says Tillett. Skin gets moist and breaks down, leading to infection. Prevent this by toweling off thoroughly after washing your feet and by removing wet or sweaty socks or shoes immediately. As mentioned previously, you can still use moisturizer to prevent dry, cracked skin just avoid putting it between your toes.

    How Do I Prevent Hyperglycemia

    • Exercise to help lower blood sugar. Work with your healthcare provider to make a daily activity plan.
    • Follow your meal plan if you have one. Learn how carbohydrates impact your blood sugar, and work with your diabetes care team to find the best meal plan for you.
    • Maintain a healthy weight.
    • Dont smoke.
    • Limit drinking alcohol. Alcohol can raise blood sugar levels, but can also cause dangerously low blood sugar levels. Work with your provider to determine how much is safe to drink.

    Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 02/12/2020.

    References

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    Easy Ways To Lower Blood Sugar Levels Naturally

    High blood sugar occurs when your body doesnt make enough or effectively use insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose and helps it enter your cells for energy.

    High blood sugar is associated with diabetes.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 13% of U.S. adults live with diabetes, and 34.5% have prediabetes (

    This means close to 50% of all U.S. adults have diabetes or prediabetes.

    Here are 15 easy ways to lower blood sugar levels naturally:


    How Do I Check My Blood Sugar

    HOW DO YOU FEEL IF YOUR BLOOD SUGAR IS HIGH OR LOW?

    You use a blood glucose meter to check your blood sugar. This device uses a small drop of blood from your finger to measure your blood sugar level. You can get the meter and supplies in a drug store or by mail.

    Read the directions that come with your meter to learn how to check your blood sugar. Your health care team also can show you how to use your meter. Write the date, time, and result of the test in your blood sugar record. Take your blood sugar record and meter to each visit and talk about your results with your health care team.

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    A Few Final Notes On Keeping Blood Sugar Stable

    Taking an active, intentional approach to your blood sugar levels is crucial to your quality of life and overall health, ONeill says. Avoiding too-high or too-low blood sugar levels will help you avoid adverse symptoms and health complications, and staying within your target range can enable you to feel your best and do whatever you want to do in life, she says.

    Test your blood sugar regularly, listen to your body, and dont ever hesitate to reach out to your doctor.


    Additional reporting by Karen Appold.

    Reflect On The Amount Of Sugar In Your Diet

    Hyperglycemia occurs when there is too much glucose in the blood.

    Therefore, one way of reducing your blood glucose levels is reflecting on where sugar may be consumed in the diet. Think about any refined and processed foods that may be in your diet as these are often high in sugar. This can be achieved through a low carbohydrate diet.

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    Why Do These Symptoms Matter For Diabetics

    These symptoms are essential for diabetics to understand, because they may encounter high or low blood sugar levels from time to time.

    A cold or virus can cause sudden high blood sugar levels, and understand the symptoms means knowing how to deal with hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia.

    People with diabetes who can recognise the symptoms can avoid levels that lead to medical emergencies such as diabetic ketoacidosis

    Can Drinking A Lot Of Water Lower Your Blood Sugar Levels

    How Do I Quickly Bring Down My Blood Glucose (Lower High ...

    Although feeling very thirsty is a symptom of a hyper, drinking a lot of water will not bring your blood sugar levels down. It will only help to reduce your risk of dehydration.

    Its important that you take your diabetes medication to bring your blood sugar levels down. If you have consistently high blood sugar levels, you will need to follow the advice below and speak to your diabetes healthcare team.

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    How Do I Test My Blood Sugar Levels

    How to test blood sugar levels

    This is actually quite important, especially if you have diabetes. If you have diabetes, you are more than likely used to testing your blood sugar levels as part of your day-to-day routine.

    The most common, and probably the easiest way to check your blood sugar level is by doing a very simple blood test. A small needle called a lancelet is used to prick your finger. This produces a drop of blood which you then place on a test strip. The strip is then inserted into a meter and this reads the glucose level. This typically takes about 20 seconds or so.

    When To Get Urgent Medical Attention

    Contact your diabetes care team immediately if you have a high blood sugar level and experience the following symptoms:

    • feeling or being sick
    • a fever for more than 24 hours
    • signs of dehydration, such as a headache, dry skin and a weak, rapid heartbeat
    • difficulty staying awake

    These symptoms could be a sign of a more serious complication of hyperglycaemia, such as diabetic ketoacidosis or a hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state, and you may need to be looked after in hospital.

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