What Happens When Your Blood Sugar Is Too High

Test Before You Eat And Two Hours After

This will tell you how well your medication is controlling your blood sugar. It will also shed light on what food is boosting your sugar too highand thus should be avoided. “You should consult your health-care provider to develop a plan that works for you,” says Donna Rice, immediate past president of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, who notes that the frequency and time of day you test will depend on how controlled your blood glucose is.

Hyperglycemia: What Happens If Your Blood Sugar Is Too High For Too Long

Hyperglycemia means high blood sugar, and is one of the defining characteristics of diabetes, and means that the body does not make or use insulin properly. The body needs glucose to function properly, as the cells rely on it for energy. Glucose comes from the foods that are eaten. Fruit, milk, potatoes, bread, and rice are all carbohydrates and the biggest sources of glucose in a normal diet. The carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and then transported to the cells through the bloodstream.

How Do I Treat Hyperglycemia

You can often lower your;blood sugar level;by exercising. However, if your blood sugar is above 240;mg/dl, check your urine for ketones.;If you have ketones, do not exercise.

Exercising when ketones are present may make your blood sugar level go even higher. You’ll need to work with your doctor to find the safest way for you to lower your blood sugar level.

Cutting down on the amount of food you eat might also help. Work with your;dietitian;to make changes in your meal plan. If exercise and changes in your diet don’t work, your doctor may change the amount of your medication or insulin or possibly the timing of when you take it.

Also Check: What Should Be Fasting Blood Sugar Level

Ask Your Doctor How Often You Should Be Checking Your Blood Sugar

Blood sugar control is crucial when youre living with type 2 diabetes. Dips and spikes can not only make you feel cranky and sluggish, but they can also wreak havoc on your personal health.

The most serious effects of blood sugar swings are a higher risk for diabetes-related health complications such as stroke, heart disease, and nerve damage .

For the record, the;American Diabetes Association notes that you have diabetes if one of the following applies to you:

• Your blood glucose after fasting is 126 milligrams per deciliter or higher.
• Your blood glucose two hours after eating a meal is 200 mg/dl or higher.
• Your hemoglobin A1C is 6.5 or higher.

The tricky part is that with type 2 diabetes you may not feel it when blood sugar levels are too high, according to the ADA. It feels different for everyone. Not everyone will have the same symptoms, and some individuals will have no symptoms at all, says;Lori Zanini, RD, CDE, a Los Angelesbased former spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

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Because blood sugar management is so important to your overall health with type 2 diabetes, you need to take action if you think your levels may be out of control, even if youre feeling totally fine.

Blood Sugar Spike Causes

Blood sugar levels fluctuate all day long. When you eat food, particularly those foods that are high in carbohydrates like bread, potatoes, or pasta, your blood sugar will immediately begin to rise.

If your blood sugar is consistently high, you need to talk to your doctor about improving your diabetes management. Blood sugar rises when:

• youre not taking enough insulin
• your insulin isnt lasting as long as you think it is
• youre not taking your oral diabetes medication
• your medication dosage needs adjusting
• youre using expired insulin
• youre not following your nutritional plan
• you have an illness or infection
• youre using certain medications, like steroids
• youre under physical stress, such as an injury or surgery
• youre under emotional stress, such as trouble at work or home or with money problems

If your blood sugar is usually well-controlled, but youre experiencing unexplained blood sugar spikes, there might be a more acute cause.

Try keeping a record of all the food and drinks you consume. Check your blood sugar levels according to your doctors recommendations.

Its common to record your blood sugar reading first thing in the morning, before youve eaten, and then again two hours after eating. Even a few days of recorded information can help you and your doctor discover whats causing your blood sugar spikes.

Common culprits include:

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Normal Blood Sugar Levels In Children

Younger than 6 years old mg/dL

Adults who are 20 years or older will have blood sugar levels that range between less than 100-180 mg/dL over the course of a day. When you wake up in the morning, your fasting blood sugar should be at its lowest because you havent consumed food for about eight hours. If youre an adult and struggling with glucose control, your healthcare provider can help you develop a treatment plan to manage your blood sugar better.;;;

Blood glucose levels outside the ranges listed above are categorized as either high or low blood sugar. Blood sugar levels are considered high if theyre over 130 mg/dL before a meal or 180 mg/dL within one to two hours after a meal. Many people wont start to experience symptoms from high blood sugar until their levels are at 250 mg/dL or higher. The highest blood sugar level thats considered safe will depend on the person and whether they have diabetes, but will typically be between 160 to 240 mg/dL.;

What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of High Blood Sugar Levels

Signs of high blood sugar levels include:

• Peeing a lot: The kidneys respond by flushing out the extra glucose in urine. People with high blood sugar need to pee more often and in larger amounts.
• Drinking a lot: Someone losing so much fluid from peeing that often can get very thirsty.
• Losing weight even though your appetite has stayed the same: If there isn’t enough insulin to help the body use glucose, the body breaks down muscle and stored fat instead in an attempt to provide fuel to hungry cells.
• Feeling tired: Because the body can’t use glucose for energy properly, a person may feel unusually tired.

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Headaches And Difficulty Concentrating

Acute hyperglycemia can cause headaches and difficulty concentrating in a fashion similar to polyphagia in which starving cells send out hunger signals because they cant access the glucose circulating in the blood.

Your brain is the biggest glucose hog around. If you dont believe it, consider that while the brain represents about 2 percent of your body weight, it devours fully 25 percent of the glucose you consume. And when brain cells have difficulty getting the fuel they need, they function poorly. This can cause problems with thinking, reasoning, and remembering, difficulty staying focused on tasks, and headaches.

Chronic high blood glucose can also lead to headaches, but by a different route. These headaches are often related to various types of nerve damage. Examples include occipital neuropathy, or damage to the optic nerve from elevated glucose levels, and a variety of diabetic mononeuropathies, which can affect specific cranial nerves, peripheral nerves, or nerve roots all of which can lead to headaches of varying intensities.

Signs Of High Blood Sugar

Someone who has been diagnosed with diabetes will be familiar with how it feels to have hyperglycemia. But for the millions of people who have diabetes or prediabetes and are unaware of it, knowing the signs of high blood sugar could prompt them to seek care and get a diagnosis as soon as possible.

While type 1 diabetes symptoms can come on suddenly and severely, its important to note that type 2 diabetes symptoms can creep up gradually and be so mild that theyre not noticeable, the NIDDK explains. And most people with prediabetes actually have no symptoms, per the NIDDK. So its extremely important to get screened if you have risk factors, like having a family history, being overweight, or being over age 45, the NIDDK says.

Still, there are many potential signs of high blood sugar in the short and long term that it doesnt hurt to be conscious of, especially if you are at elevated risk.

Early on, hyperglycemia can make you feel off in a variety of ways:

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How Are High Blood Sugar Levels Treated

Treating high blood sugar levels involves fixing what caused them in the first place. Your diabetes health care team will give you specific advice on how to keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range. But here are some ways to manage the common causes of high blood sugar levels:

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High Blood Sugar Symptoms

Hyperglycemia is the medical term for high blood sugar. Hyperglycemia happens when the body doesnt have enough insulin or when it cant use insulin correctly. Many things can cause high blood glucose levels like Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, stress, illness, or the dawn phenomenon. If you have hyperglycemia or suspect you may have it, talking with a healthcare provider is always a good idea. A doctor can help you determine whats causing your high blood sugar levels and lower it to a healthy range.;;;;

Here are some of the most common symptoms that may indicate hyperglycemia:;

• Fatigue

• Vision loss ;;

You should seek immediate medical attention if your blood sugar reaches 400 mg/dL or higher.;;;;;

When patients experience any of these accompanied by elevated blood sugar levels, diabetic patients are advised to go directly to the ER to avoid diabetes-induced coma, says Vikram Tarugu, MD, a gastroenterologist and the CEO of Detox of South Florida. Patients who have elevated blood sugar may also present with frothy, ketone-like smelling breath.

Here are some lifestyle changes and medical treatments that can help treat hyperglycemia:;;;;

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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

What Happens When Blood Sugar Drops Too Fast

Having too high or low of a level of blood sugar or blood glucoseblood sugar imbalance avoid excessive drops or increases in your blood sugar.. what can a person do when you dont get warning signs until blood sugar half or fourths-too fast and too much of a my blood sugar drops alot to.my.. Hypoglycemia is the bodys inability to properly regulate blood sugar levels, causing the level of sugar in the blood to be too low or to fall too rapidly. blood sugar, in the form of glucose, is the basic fuel for all brain operation and physical activity, including muscular.. Another way to consider normal and abnormal blood sugar levels is to look at a blood test blood sugar levels from rising too the drop in blood sugar. heres what happens in your body when you assault it with a coke: within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit within 20 minutes, your blood sugar..

Low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, can be a dangerous condition. low blood sugar can happen in people with diabetes who take medications that increase insulin levels in the body.. taking.

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What Causes High Blood Sugar Levels

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

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.

What Happens If Your Blood Sugar Gets Too High With Diabetes

If you have diabetes and your blood sugar is too high, your cells cant function correctly, and youll start to feel uncomfortably sick.

The cells in your body need glucose, more commonly known as sugar, to survive and function. Our diets contain many sources of glucose, but it cant reach our bodies cells without the help of insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas.

Insulin is responsible for transporting glucose to your cells. When your body doesnt have enough insulin or it is not active enough, both symptoms of diabetes, the sugar remains in the blood without reaching cells. Thats why;diabetes;and high blood sugar often go hand in hand.

What Causes High Blood Sugar?

Sugar accumulates in the blood either when there is not enough insulin to transport it or when the insulin that is available is not active.

Type 1 diabetes;patients are incapable of making the insulin necessary to transport glucose to the cells.

Type 2 diabetes;patients are insulin resistant. They often, but not always, have the insulin required by the body, but the insulin is ineffective.

Patients with diabetes are more prone to high blood sugar levels if they:

• Miss taking diabetes medication or insulin
• Eat too much food

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Treating And Managing Hyperglycaemia

If your blood sugar level is slightly high for a short time, emergency treatment wont be necessary. But if it continues to rise you may need to act fast to avoid developing diabetic ketoacidosis .

If your blood sugar level is 15 mmol/l or more, you should check your blood or urine for ketones. If ketones are present, it is likely that you do not have enough insulin in your body. This means you may need to increase your dose or give yourself an extra dose. Talk to your diabetes team about how to do this if you are unsure.

You should also try to drink plenty of sugar-free fluids to prevent dehydration. And if you are feeling unwell, especially if you are vomiting, you should follow any sick day rules you have been given and contact your diabetes healthcare team for advice.

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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Can Drinking A Lot Of Water Lower Your Blood Sugar Levels

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.