How Do You Prevent An Insulin Overdose
Insulin Overdose can be avoided by following the below instructions:
- Keep a stable schedule.
- Be sure to eat something during every mealtime. Even when you are not hungry, have a light snack, a glass of skim milk, or a small serving of fruit. You must never skip meals when you have taken insulin.
- You must be ready to accept that you might have insulin complications at some point of your life. Always carry hard candies in both yours and your spouses bag. Also keep hard candies in your car and the travel bag as well.
- Make sure your near and dear ones are aware of your usual signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia. They can act quickly if your blood sugar levels drop and make you confused.
Symptoms Of Insulin Overdose
Excess insulin in the bloodstream causes cells in your body to absorb too much glucose from your blood. It also causes the liver to release less glucose. These two effects together create dangerously low glucose levels in your blood. This condition is called hypoglycemia.
Your blood needs the right amount of glucose for your body to operate properly. Glucose is the bodys fuel. Without it, your body is like a car running out of gas. The severity of the situation depends on how low the blood sugar level goes. It also depends on the person, because everyone reacts differently.
When You Take Too Much Insulin This Is What Happens
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that makes it possible for the body to turn glucose into energy. It also helps keep blood glucose levels in balance. When the body cannot use insulin properly or make enough of it, it is called diabetes. With Type 1 diabetes, the body does not properly make insulin. In people with Type 2 diabetes, the body needs more insulin to keep blood glucose levels normal, but the pancreas becomes overworked over time and cannot do its job properly .
People with Type 1 diabetes must use insulin injections. For those with Type 2 diabetes, a change in lifestyle and diet can help control glucose levels. However, when those changes do not work for Type 2 patients, insulin supplements can help. Different types of insulin are prescribed, according to several factors including age, activity level, and how long it takes the body to absorb and metabolize insulin. Insulin is usually administered with a syringe or a pump, per Healthline.
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For Moderate To Severe Insulin Overdoses: Blood Sugars Below 50 Mg/dl
There are two things you can and should do if you feel youve taken a significant overdose of insulin or youre suffering from severe hypoglycemia:
Use a glucagon kit
Aglucagon kit can save your life and is prescribed by your doctor. Be sure to keep it in an easy-to-reach location that others in your household or office know about. A glucagon kit works by giving you an injection of glucagon which is a hormone that tells your liver to release stored glucose . This large dump of glucose from your liver can save your life, or at least prevent seizures in someone who is already unconscious.
or get someone to drive you to the ER immediately
If youve taken a serious overdose of insulin or your blood sugar is crashing and you do not have a glucagon kit, call 911 immediately. If youre caring for someone else who has taken an overdose of insulin and they are unresponsive and unable to chew or swallow, you absolutely need to call 911. The emergency medics will give dextrose intravenous to hopefully revive the person suffering from a severe insulin overdose.
If you take insulin, you are at risk of experiencing an insulin overdose nearly every day of the week because juggling insulin doses with the many other variables that affect blood sugar levels is a complicated game. The more you observe how much insulin you need with certain meals and with meals that occur right before exercise, the more you can prevent overdosing.
How Do You Know If You Suffer From Insulin Resistance
Most people with insulin resistance have extra fat around the middle.
You may be tall, thin, short, fat, or any combination of these and still have insulin resistance. The only way to know for sure is to take an insulin response test, which measures blood sugar and insulin while you are fasting and one and two hours after you consume a 75-gram sugar drink. Just measuring blood sugar alone isnt enough. You have to measure insulin this is something that many doctors miss.
Fortunately, balancing blood sugar and correcting insulin resistance are well within our reach. Scientific advances of the last few decades show us how. While some medications can help with insulin resistance, such as Glucophage, Avandia and Actos, they have side effects and are only a Band-aid unless they are used along with a comprehensive nutrition, exercise and stress management plan like the one described below.
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Too Much Insulin Can Lead To A Drop In Glucose Levels
Too much administered insulin, however, can be a bad thing. According to Medical News Today, when you take more than is necessary, it causes your blood cells to absorb more glucose than they need, resulting in hypoglycemia or low sugar amounts in the blood. Mild symptoms of hypoglycemia include anxiety, blurred or double vision, irritability, confusion, dizziness, and a rapid heart rate. To get more glucose into the blood, you can drink fruit juice, eat a piece of candy, or take a tablespoon of honey. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to loss of consciousness, seizures, and death.
It is important to treat severe hypoglycemia immediately. You can rub honey on the inside of the cheek of someone who is experiencing severe hypoglycemia to help them. However, if they are unconscious, do not try to put anything in their mouth and instead call for emergency help. When in the hospital, a person with severe hypoglycemia will most likely receive an intravenous solution that will help normalize their blood sugar levels .
Where Do I Inject The Insulin
Insulin is injected just under the skin. Your doctor or his or her office staff will show you how and where to give an insulin injection. The usual places to inject insulin are the upper arm, the front and side parts of the thighs, and the abdomen. Dont inject insulin closer than 2 inches from your belly button.
To keep your skin from thickening, try not to inject the insulin in the same place over and over. Instead, rotate injection places.
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Make Sure Youve Actually Missed A Dose
Theres nothing worse than being halfway through a dinner out with friends, thinking youve forgotten to bolus for your food, and taking twice as much insulin as you need as a result .
Its helpful to always announce, or at least tell one other person when youre bolusing for a meal or taking nighttime long-acting insulin , as two minds are better than one at remembering! Sometimes insulin injections all blur together, so having an extra set of eyes and eyes on your dosing can help.
This risk is slightly lower if youre on an insulin pump, as you can simply go into the settings and check your bolus history to see if you in fact have missed a dose.
Technology such as smartpens that send data to an accompanying app can also help you track both insulin on board and doses already given. You can watch this review of the InPen to learn more.
If you have indeed missed a dose, proceed, if not, definitely do not double dose!
What Happens If You Inject Too Much Insulin
Health Medications & Vitamins Side Effects WebMD explains that it is appropriate to treat most insulin overdoses at home. The patient must first check her blood sugar. It is recommended that the patient drink four ounces of regular soda or juice and eat a piece of hard candy or a glucose tablet. If the patient has not eaten a meal, this should be done immediately. Consuming 15 to 20 grams of carbohydrates usually raises the blood sugar level. The patient is advised to rest and recheck the blood sugar level after 15 to 20 minutes. If it is still low, recommendations include consuming another 15 to 20 grams of fast-acting sugar. According to WebMD, it is important for the patient to watch out for any symptoms of low blood sugar for several hours after the insulin injection. If further symptoms arise, the patient should check her blood sugar level and continue to snack if it remains low. Persistent or severe hypoglycemia symptoms or a blood sugar level that remains low for two hours or more requires prompt medical attention. Learn more about Side EffectsContinue reading > >
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Why Is Too Much Insulin Bad
Insulin is a hormone that helps control the supply of nutrients to cells throughout your body 2. Though it is commonly known that lack of insulin leads to type 1 diabetes, an excess of insulin also leads to potentially severe health problems. A large amount of exogenous insulin can lead to excessive lowering of blood sugar levels 2. Chronic overeating can lead to chronic elevation of insulin levels, causing cells to stop responding to insulin 2.
What Causes A Low Blood Sugar Level
In people with diabetes, the main causes of a low blood sugar level are:
- the effects of medicine especially taking too much insulin, medicines called sulfonylureas , medicines called glinides , or some antiviral medicines to treat hepatitis C
- skipping or delaying a meal
- not eating enough carbohydrate foods in your last meal, such as bread, cereals, pasta, potatoes and fruit
- exercise, especially if it’s intense or unplanned
- drinking alcohol
Sometimes there’s no obvious reason why a low blood sugar level happens.
Very occasionally, it can happen in people who do not have diabetes.
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Does Everyone Have Symptoms From Hypoglycemia
Some people dont have symptoms or dont notice them. Healthcare providers call that situation hypoglycemia unawareness. People with such a challenge arent aware when they need to do something about their blood sugar. Theyre then more likely to have severe episodes and need medical help. People with hypoglycemia unawareness should check their blood sugar more often.
How To Avoid An Insulin Overdose
There are many steps you can take to avoid an accidental insulin overdose. Most of them revolve around avoiding mistakes when you take your insulin and remembering when you took your insulin and how much you took
- Keep an insulin log. If you log every insulin injection, you are much less likely to mistakenly inject the wrong amount of insulin or inject twice. There are many phone apps that will help you calculate your insulin needs and log your injections. Most insulin pumps and smartpens can also do this automatically.
- Always double-check that you are using the right type of insulin. Accidentally using fast-acting insulin when you were supposed to use long-acting insulin can lead to an insulin overdose.
- Dont forget to eat. If you take fast-acting insulin for a meal, you also need to actually eat the meal. Dont take your insulin until you know the meal is on its way and that you have time to eat it.
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Symptoms Of A Low Blood Sugar Level
A low blood sugar level can affect everyone differently. You’ll learn how it makes you feel, although your symptoms may change over time.
Early signs of a low blood sugar level include:
- sweating
- a fast or pounding heartbeat
- becoming easily irritated, tearful, anxious or moody
- turning pale
If a low blood sugar level is not treated, you may get other symptoms, such as:
- weakness
- unusual behaviour, slurred speech or clumsiness
- feeling sleepy
- seizures or fits
- collapsing or passing out
A low blood sugar level, or hypo, can also happen while you’re sleeping. This may cause you to wake up during the night or cause headaches, tiredness or damp sheets in the morning.
Intentional Overdose As A Method Of Suicide
Overdosing insulin has been used as a method of attempted suicide by both people with diabetes and non-diabetics. Because people with diabetes face an increased risk of depression, its important to note that overdosing insulin is not a smooth or guaranteed death.
Instead, in many cases, your liver saves you by releasing a large dose of glycogen which is converted into glucose .
However, that doesnt mean a full recovery is guaranteed either. Many patients who attempt suicide by insulin overdose suffer longterm neurological damage that can affect your speech and motor skills.
If you are contemplating or planning suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline immediately: 1-800-273-8255, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Treating An Overdose Of Rapid
How you treat an overdose will depend on how quickly you realise the error.
If the insulin was administered more than 20 minutes ago, act quickly and take a good source of fast-acting carbohydrate immediately, such as glucose tablets or a very sugary drink. Follow this up with sufficient slower-absorbed carbohydrate, such as bread, to prevent hypoglycemia occurring later.
If you realise an error has been made within 20 minutes of injecting, you may not need to take sugar but you should have carbohydrate that will get absorbed relatively quickly. Avoid having fatty foods, if possible, as fat tends to slow down how quickly the carbohydrate acts.
It is common to need 10g of carbohydrate to counteract each unit of insulin. Its generally safer to have too much than too little carbohydrate when treating an overdose of insulin.
Test your blood glucose levels regularly and be on the lookout for symptoms of a hypo. If you feel hypo symptoms, or think you feel them, perform a blood test.
If the overdose is a large overdose, take carbohydrate first and then call your health team or out- of-hours service for advice.
What Is The Outlook For People With Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia can be managed when you and your healthcare provider understand what causes your blood sugar to go down. Give your healthcare provider as much information as possible about any hypoglycemic episodes. Fixing the problem may be as simple as changing the times you take medication, eat and exercise. Minor changes to the types of food you eat may also help.
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What Should I Know About Storage And Disposal Of This Medication
Store unopened vials of human insulin, unopened disposable dosing devices and unopened human insulin pens in the refrigerator. Do not freeze human insulin and do not use human insulin that has been frozen. Opened vials of human insulin should be stored in the refrigerator but may also be stored at room temperature, in a cool place that is away from heat and direct sunlight. Store opened human insulin pens and opened dosing devices at room temperature. Check the manufacturer’s information to find out how long you may keep your pen or dosing device after the first use.
Unneeded medications should be disposed of in special ways to ensure that pets, children, and other people cannot consume them. However, you should not flush this medication down the toilet. Instead, the best way to dispose of your medication is through a medicine take-back program. Talk to your pharmacist or contact your local garbage/recycling department to learn about take-back programs in your community. See the FDA’s Safe Disposal of Medicines website for more information if you do not have access to a take-back program.
It is important to keep all medication out of sight and reach of children as many containers are not child-resistant and young children can open them easily. To protect young children from poisoning, always lock safety caps and immediately place the medication in a safe location â one that is up and away and out of their sight and reach.
Producing Too Much Insulin
Excess insulin production occurs when your cells become insensitive to insulin. Think of it this way: insulin knocks on the door of your cells to tell them to let glucose in, but the cells dont answer the door in a timely manner. The pancreas releases more insulin in an effort to get glucose into cells and out of the bloodstream, where too much sugar floating around can damage nerves. A vicious cycle ensues where the pancreas produces more insulin to keep blood sugar balanced. After a while the pancreas can have trouble keeping up with the extra insulin production. Then blood sugar levels rise, increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
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Insulin Overdose: Symptoms Of Insulin Overdose And Tips To Manage The Condition
If at any point in time you overdose insulin, you must consume a fast-acting carbohydrate to control the effects.
People with severe diabetes often take insulin to manage blood sugar levels. It becomes a part of their lives as they cannot do without insulin. Sometimes, by mistake, if someone overdoses on insulin, they need to find an immediate solution to get respite from the ill-effects. Overdose can lead to hypoglycemia, a condition that can turn fatal for the person. Heres all you need to know about insulin overdose and how to manage this condition.