Take A Correction Dose
For those who take fast or rapid-acting insulin Novolog, Humalog, Apidra, Fiasp, Admelog, Afrezza you can take a correction dose to bring a high blood sugar down.
A correction factor is determined with support from your healthcare team. This number tells you how much 1 unit of fast or rapid-acting insulin will lower your blood sugar. For example, a correction factor of 1:50 means that 1 unit of insulin will lower your blood sugar by 50 points.
Its important to keep in mind how much insulin you may already have on board in your bloodstream before taking an additional dose of insulin.
Most fast and rapid-acting insulin stays in your system for approximately 3 to 4 hours, which means taking an additional dose of insulin to correct a high could lead to a severe low blood sugar if you already have a significant amount of insulin from your most recent dose still in your bloodstream.
Also, remember to give that correction dose of insulin at least two hours to make an impact on your blood sugar before getting frustrated and taking another injection. You wont see a significant improvement in your blood sugar until its been in your system for at least 2 to 3 hours .
How Is It Determined If The Dawn Phenomenon Or Somogyi Effect Is Causing The High Blood Sugar Levels
Your doctor will likely ask you to check your blood sugar levels between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. for several nights in a row. If your blood sugar is consistently low during this time, the Somogyi effect is suspected. If the blood sugar is normal during this time period, the dawn phenomenon is more likely to be the cause.
Some additional clues that the Somogyi effect may be the cause include nightmares, restless sleep and overnight sweating as these are all signs of low blood sugar levels.
Recommended Blood Sugar Targets
For people with type 1 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends that blood sugar targets be based on a person’s needs and goals. Talk to your doctor and diabetes educator about these goals. A general guideline is:
Before meals, your blood sugar should be:
- From 90 to 130 mg/dL for adults
- From 90 to 130 mg/dL for children, 13 to 19 years old
- From 90 to 180 mg/dL for children, 6 to 12 years old
- From 100 to 180 mg/dL for children under 6 years old
After meals , your blood sugar should be:
- Less than 180 mg/dL for adults
At bedtime, your blood sugar should be:
- From 90 to 150 mg/dL for adults
- From 90 to 150 mg/dL for children, 13 to 19 years old
- From 100 to 180 mg/dL for children, 6 to 12 years old
- From 110 to 200 mg/dL for children under 6 years old
For people with type 2 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association also recommends that blood sugar targets be individualized. Talk to your doctor and diabetes educator about your goals.
In general, before meals, your blood sugar should be:
- From 70 to 130 mg/dL for adults
After meals , your blood sugar should be:
- Less than 180 mg/dL for adults
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Does A Random Blood Sugar Level Of 140
Answered by: Dr Smita Gupta | Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Southern Illinois University, USA
Q: I am 30 years old female. My blood sugar is always around 140-150 mg/dl whenever checked randomly. I otherwise feel normal and am healthy. But I want to know whether this is a pre diabetic stage? How can I prevent diabetes?
A random blood sugar of 140-150 mg/dl per se is not considered diabetes or pre-diabetes. Normal fasting blood glucose is 100 mg/dl or less and 2 hours after meals is < 140 mg/dl. Pre-diabetes is considered when fasting blood glucose 100-126 mg/dl or 2 hr after meal blood glucose is 140-199 mg/dl.
What Causes High Blood Sugar
A variety of things can trigger an increase in blood sugar level in people with diabetes, including:
- stress
- missing a dose of your diabetes medicine or taking an incorrect dose
- overtreating an episode of low blood sugar
- taking certain medicines, such as steroids
Occasional episodes of hyperglycaemia can also occur in children and young adults during growth spurts.
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Does Blood Sugar Level Change With Age
Many factors changes with age and even sometimes co-morbidities gets added. To adopt with these certain conditions, optimum levels of different substances in blood also changes. So the same goes for the blood sugar. It has been confirmed by different studies that fasting blood sugar level increases with age considering different factors like obesity.
But, now the question comes, how much increment will be considered as normal? Obviously not random! It has a specific level but the increment varies depending on various conditions.
It is said that the ideal level of blood sugar increases with the passing of decade through your adult years due to benign physiological changes which decrease the glucose tolerance.
Basically, if you are quite healthy then, 2mg per 100 ml rise is considered as normal through the advancing years. But this issue is seen to bewilder both clinicians and investigations alike.
However, this small extent is only for fasting. Besides this, you may notice that your postprandial sugar levels are also escalating. Be conscious! Because it must not increase more than 4mg per 100ml. Again, sugar level may elevate up to 8 to 13mg per 100 ml per decade following a glucose challenge.
The above-mentioned levels are for those who are comparatively healthy and are not suffering from any other disease apart from diabetes.
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
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Can High Levels And Dka Be Prevented
These two problems don’t sound like much fun, so you’re probably wondering how to prevent them. The solution is to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible, which means following your diabetes management plan. Checking your blood sugar levels several times a day will let you and your parents know when your blood sugar level is high. Then you can treat it and help prevent DKA from happening.
What else can you do? Wear a medical identification bracelet that says you have diabetes. Then, if you are not feeling well, whoever’s helping you even if the person doesn’t know you will know to call for medical help. And the doctors will be able to get you better more quickly if they know you have diabetes. These bracelets also can include your doctor’s phone number or a parent’s phone number. The quicker you get the help you need, the sooner you’ll be feeling better!
Take Your Insulin As Prescribed
High blood sugar occurs when your body has too little insulin, or your body cant use insulin properly. Administering insulin can bring your blood sugar levels down.
Talk to your doctor about how much rapid-acting insulin you should administer when your blood sugar is high.
You may want to check your blood sugar about 1530 minutes after taking insulin to make sure your blood sugar is going down and that its not dropping too low.
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Beware Of Low Blood Sugars
Remember, above all else, its very easy to over-treat a high blood sugar and wind up low. Then youll be tempted to binge-eat and wind up high again. This blood sugar roller coaster is exhausting and dangerous, too.
Frequently finding yourself on the blood sugar roller coaster means your approach to taking insulin and/or how you treat low blood sugars isnt working and needs some fine-tuning. Work with your healthcare team to reduce and prevent these wild swings to ensure your overall safety and quality of life!
Is 200 Blood Sugar Normal After Eating
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How To Bring Down The Blood Sugar Level Quickly
When level of blood sugar is dangerous, you need to bring it down quickly, to avoid further complications. When trying to lower down the sugar level quickly, be very careful, as the level can drop down too low, which can also be dangerous. Extremely low blood sugar levels is termed as hypoglycemia, which is equally common in diabetics. Hence, maintaining the blood sugar levels within the normal range is essential.
Few ways to bring down the level of blood sugar quickly include,
- Drink lot of water: Excess water dilutes the blood sugar and help to pass it out through urine. This way the sugar level drops down.
- If suffering from kidney or heart problem avoid this solution and follow medical advice.
- Exercise: Vigorous exercise increases heart rate. Increased heart rate for more than 15 minutes can increase the insulin response. This can help to bring down the level of blood sugar quickly.
- High protein snack: Protein helps in stabilizing the sugar level. Always check the high protein snack is not high in sugar level. Cheese and almond can be a good option.
- Insulin administration: Insulin helps in lowering down the sugar level quickly. Therefore a doctors advised dose can be taken. Never miss checking the sugar level after insulin administration, to prevent hypoglycemia.
All the above solutions prove to be very helpful to quickly bring down the sugar level. Always keep a handy snack when trying these tips to help, in case the sugar level dips too low.
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High Blood Sugar Is An Ongoing Science Experiment
In the end, its all just learning, studying, improving and adjusting! The lifelong science experiment of life with diabetes. You may have recently come out on the other side of a stressful divorce or been managing the diagnosis of something incredibly stressful like breast cancerand those stressors in life had caused you to let your blood sugars run higher for a period of time.
Hey, it happens! To any of us!
But when youre ready to focus on reducing your A1c, make sure that your idea of a normal blood sugar vs. a high blood sugar lines up realistically with your goals.
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List Of Foods That Raise Blood Sugar Levels
High Glycemic index foods
Certain foods will make your blood sugar go up quite rapidly. These foods are known as s high-glycemic foods. See more on glycemic index.
Avoid eating foods that are high on the glycemic index . Eat fresh fruit with skins at the beginning of your meal . At least one meal a day, preferably dinner, avoid grains ) and avoid sugar, especially artificial sugars.
It is recommended to have several meals per day. Having multiple meals per day will help diabetics in maintaining optimal glucose blood levels. Since every meal will affect blood glucose levels it is best to break diet down into lighter meals, which in turn means easier regulation of blood glucose. In diabetes, the pancreas either does not produce enough insulin or it produces enough but it is unable to utilize it efficiently.
There are, of course, other factors that influence blood glucose rise and fall that should be taken into account , meaning that a rise in blood glucose it not always due to ingestion of food.
What Is The Somogyi Effect
A second possible cause of high blood sugar levels in the morning is the Somogyi effect, sometimes also called rebound hyperglycemia. It was named after the doctor who first wrote about it.
If your blood sugar drops too low in the middle of the night while you are sleeping, your body will release hormones in an attempt to rescue you from the dangerously low blood sugar. The hormones do this by prompting your liver to release stored glucose in larger amounts than usual. But this system isnt perfect in a person with diabetes, so the liver releases more sugar than needed which leads to a high blood sugar level in the morning. This is the Somogyi effect.
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Is Blood Sugar Of 164 High
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What Are The Symptoms Of Dangerous Levels Of Blood Sugar
A patient with high blood sugar presents the symptoms such as a dry mouth, fatigue, dry, and itchy skin and an increased appetite. Some people also experience being more thirsty and increased frequency of urination, especially at night.
If not corrected early it can lead to symptoms of dangerous levels of blood sugar like difficulty in breathing, dizziness, rapid weight loss and confusion of mind. Blood sugar level of 300 or above is dangerous and if not treated a condition known as diabetic ketoacidosis or diabetic coma can occur.
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How To Lower Blood Sugar Level
A patient with diabetes is at a 5 times greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease than patient without diabetes. One third of all cardiovascular diseases also affect people with diabetes.
Three quarters of diabetics die from cardiovascular disease. Women with diabetes have a 4 times greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease. People suffering from diabetes usually have high cholesterol levels as well.
Disturbances in the metabolism of blood sugar levels are mainly the consequence of heredity , age , poor diet, excessive body weight and physical inactivity. Disturbances in the metabolism of blood sugar were present in 20% of adult Europeans during 2002-2005 a study showed.
RECOMMENDATIONS to decrease elevated blood sugar:Blood sugar level is determined in the fasting state. In a healthy person, a normal blood glucose level is less than 108 mg/dL or 6 mmol/L on an empty stomach.
Possible values are
- normal blood sugar level ,
- disruption of glycemia ,
- diabetes .
What can you do to lower the chance of developing diabetes:
- lose weight be fit,
- sleep more, be rested.
- have a healthy diet with as many vegetables and fruits, a lot of fiber, consume less calories, less fat, less alcoholic beverages and no simple sugars,
- workout at least 30 minutes per day.
Useful resource: blood sugar levels chart:
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 are not usually a cause for concern and can be treated quite easily or may return to normal on their own.
But 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.
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When To Go To The Er
If you have type 1 diabetes, blood sugar levels over 250 mg/dL accompanied by large ketones and/or symptoms of DKA will likely require a trip to the ER for intravenous fluids.
Lets take a look at the symptoms of ketosis based on how high your ketone levels are.
Small to Moderate ketones :
- Increased thirst
- Blood sugar levels that wont budge
- Craving sugar
- Rotten-fruit smelling breath
If you are puking from a stomach bug, along with high blood sugar levels, you should absolutely go to the ER.
How To Prevent Hyperglycaemia
There are simple ways to reduce your risk of severe or prolonged hyperglycaemia:
- Be careful what you eat be particularly aware of how snacking and eating sugary foods or carbohydrates can affect your blood sugar level.
- Stick to your treatment plan remember to take your insulin or other diabetes medications as recommended by your care team.
- Be as active as possible getting regular exercise can help stop your blood sugar level rising, but you should check with your doctor first if you’re taking diabetes medication, as some medicines can lead to hypoglycaemia if you exercise too much.
- Take extra care when you’re ill your care team can provide you with some “sick day rules” that outline what you can do to keep your blood sugar level under control during an illness.
- Monitor your blood sugar level your care team may suggest using a device to check your level at home so you can spot an increase early and take steps to stop it.
Page last reviewed: 08 August 2018 Next review due: 08 August 2021
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