How High Must That Number On The Glucose Meter Be In Order For It To Warrant A Trip To The Emergency Room Stat
Should you zip to the emergency room if your blood sugar is over 300 no matter how you feel?
First of all, if you’re fearing that your body is in urgent need of medical care due to a very high blood sugar, don’t drive; have someone drive you.
Blood Sugar Numbers and Emergency Room Visits
“It’s not a number; it’s how you feel,” says Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, and Diplomate American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
“Some diabetics walk around with a sugar in the 400’s and really don’t have many symptoms, whereas others go into a coma at a sugar in the upper 200’s,” continues Dr. Besser.
“Don’t just look at the number. Look at the person. And if you aren’t sure, call your PCP first. He or she knows you best and can advise you what to do.”
Nevertheless, if you learn that your blood sugar is in the 400’s simply because it was time to take a scheduled glucose reading, but you feel perfectly fine, it’s not necessary to go to the emergency room.
Patient’s Case: Non Diabetic With Blood Glucose 330 Mg/dl After Eating An Apple&drank Orange Juice
Question:Husband non diabetic went to hospital; measure blood glucose – 330 mg/dL; before he ate an apple and drank a glass of homemade orange juice. Send home with pills to lower blood sugar. Is this a cause for concern?
Answer: Before I say my opinion I would like to know the reason why your husband was sent to the hospital. What were the main symptoms that made him a hospitalized patient? Can you send me a complete glucose levels profile done in the hospital?
The doctors in the hospital have performed an oral glucose tolerance test on your husband. What they did is correct. There are other ways to perform this test too. The idea is to give the patient to take 75-100grams of sugar and monitor the blood sugar levels after then.
This test may last till to four hours as it may become necessary to monitor the blood glucose level several times if the first result is not clear. Performing HbA1C test will reveal the average glucose levels the last 3 months to evaluate what’s really happening with his bsl.
One thing is sure though: Your husband is diabetic and starting insulin medication and frequent check of blood glucose level is very important for his health.
Hope this is helpful for you.
Patient’s Case: Dizzy/tired Diabetic With Flunctuating 266 Mg/dl Blood Glucose After Eating
Question: Diabetic feeling tired and dizzy. Blood sugar fluctuating:
– fasting glucose level = 112 mg/dL
– random blood sugar = 251 mg/dL
– after eating glucose = 266 mg/dL
– 5 hours after meal = 168 mg/dL
– 8 hours after having lunch = 133 mg/dL
What to do?
Answer: Fluctuating blood glucose levels can be dangerous as they are the cause of the future complications of diabetes. You can treat prediabetes with diet and exercise but not diabetes.
Hypoglycemia causes dizziness and tiredness and must be avoided as it can progress to lower levels and make you faint. In your condition, you can not control your blood glucose levels only by diet and exercise. You need proper medical attention as you tend to have more hypoglycemic episodes and you need to start medication to keep diabetes under control.
You need to repeat the glucose level test and HbA1c test as well. Make sure you do not miss any meals and that you are eating normally. Maybe you are experiencing hypoglycemic episodes because you do not eat properly or because any other underlying condition or medication you have been taking recently for other purposes.
Hope this is helpful for you.
Q: How Do I Lower My Blood Sugar When It Goes Over 200 Mg/dl I Have Type 2 Diabetes
A: An excellent question, but a complicated one to answer. Your doctor or nurse educator should be contacted any time your blood sugar runs consistently higher than 250 mg/dl for more than two days. When a person with Type 2 diabetes encounters a high blood sugar, the strategy used in bringing it down will vary from individual to individual. This is because of the differences in treatment concerning diet, exercise, and medication. It will also depend upon the guidelines for glucose control that you and your doctor have mutually agreed upon.
When high blood sugars do occur, there are a number of strategies that can be employed to adjust the glucose level back down to a normal range. These might include:
1) Eating less food at the next meal, eliminating a snack and/or eating foods with a lower glycemic index.
A general rule of thumb to follow is decreasing 15 grams of carbohydrate will lower blood glucose by 30 mg/dl. If you test your blood sugar at 182 mg/dl before a meal or snack, then eliminate one starch and one cup milk at the next meal to bring the glucose value as close to 120 mg/dl as a baseline. Although people with diabetes will respond differently to this adjustment, it provides a basic guideline to start with.
2) Increasing activity or incorporating more exercise.
3) Increasing, changing medications, and/or administering them more frequently.
4) Relaxation techniques and behavioral management.
5) Treating identified illness and/or infections.
Help full links:
My Patient Case: Epileptic Patient With Blood Sugar 288 Mg/dl After Eating
Patient’s Case: Hello,I am 30 years old, with weight around 123 kgs. My blood sugar levels were detected high recently up to 288 mg/dL. My left heel is very swollen and tendered and stiffed. Is this due to high bsl? I take Phenytoin 300 and sodium valproate 500 for epilepsy since 15 years now. Can they cause high bsl?
Answer: Hi,
A blood sugar level of 288 mg/dL after eating is indicating that you are diabetic.
Having your left heel inflammed is not related to high bsl. It is indicating inflammation of soft tissue of sole. Apply cold compresses and take anti-inflammatory meds orally and apply locally.
Anti-epileptic drugs like Phenytoin 300 can cause blood sugar to raise up to spike levels. You have been taking anti-epileptic drugs for 15 years. There are some studies that suggest that long use of these drugs causes adverse effects in bone mineralization and calcium metabolism. Troubles with bones may rise as the time passes.
On the other hand, some epileptic drugs affect the insulin production thus increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Fluctuating blood sugar increases the episodes of seizures as well. Hyperglycemia tends to trigger focal or local seizures and hypoglycemia tonic-clonic seizures.
Your diabetes may be induced by the drugs but this is not for sure as there is not too much evidence. I think you must see your doctor as soon as possible to examine your foot and to evaluate other health problems you have.
Hope this is helpful for you.
The Best Foods To Eat To Help Avoid Or Lower Your High Blood Sugar
While there’s no such thing as a hyperglycemia diet per se, your eating choices still play an important role in regulating your blood sugar levels.
First, know you can’t just cut all carbs or avoid foods with sugar to prevent blood sugar spikes. After all, healthy foods such as fruits and veggies also contain carbs and sugar. The value of carbs differs according to their complexity, and sugar in food is different from blood sugar.
- White bread, pasta, and rice
- Packaged and processed snacks, such as chips, pretzels, cookies, and candy
- Soda or juice
- Foods high in saturated fat, such as hot dogs, bacon, and sausage
- Foods high in trans fats, like margarine and certain packaged baked goods
- Foods that can raise your cholesterol, like liver, red meat, and full-fat dairy
Tracking your carb intake, especially if you have diabetes, is also critical for avoiding blood sugar spikes.
fiber-rich foodsDiabetes Spectrum
Diabetes Medication That Can Help You Control Your Blood Sugar
If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor will likely discuss medication options to help bring your blood sugar down. If you have prediabetes, on the other hand, you’ll probably rely on diet and lifestyle changes to help stabilize your numbers, though in some cases, you may need medication, Dodell says.
Diabetic ketoacidosis is treated with emergency insulin and fluids administered intravenously. But the goal with blood sugar control is to prevent this type of medical emergency from happening in the first place. If your blood glucose readings are consistently higher than usual, you may not be getting enough insulin. Talk to your doctor about adjusting your dosage. You should also tell them about any other prescription or over-the-counter medication you take, as these could affect your blood sugar, too. Corticosteroids for inflammation are just one example.
What Are The Causes Of Hyperglycemia Or High Blood Sugar Level
In case you are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it’s possible to keep the level low by a series of treatment. There could be many reasons that account the blood sugar to go high.
- If you miss the prescribed medicines or might take medications in amounts not mentioned y doctor.
- Your consumption of carbohydrate could be more than the prescribed amount.
- You might experience lack of sleep
- You may suffer from emotional stress
- You may have done the intense form of exercise which will result from the blood sugar level to falter.
- Any disease or infection may result from your body to release stress hormone which might lead to raising the level of blood sugar in the body.
How Must You Act When Your Blood Sugar Level Rises Above 300
- Postprandial blood sugar level should not be more than 140 mg/dl. In case if it’s more than 300 mg/dl than you are at high risk. There can be some immediate measures to be taken when you observe that the sugar level is not coming down.
- Immediately drink water. It will dilute your blood level and soot down the blood sugar level.
- Exercise on a regular basis. It will help you to control sugar level. In fact, you may take the steps and perform an up-down basis activity. It will lower your abnormal level of blood sugar.
- You must keep a check on what you eat. In fact, hyperglycemia level will prompt you to have a full test on the carbohydrate level. Control your crab’s intake and replace it with protein.
- You may take insulin, in case your doctor advises you to do so. In fact, insulin will lower the level of blood sugar.
- Always have a check for ketones in urine. If it’s above 50 mg/ DL, then you are advised not to exercise.
- If you have crossed 7 hours and still feel that diabetes is not under control, then you must give a call to your doctor or get yourself hospitalized.
- Keep monitor your blood sugar level with the help of glucometer or blood sugar testing machine.
How Lifestyle Changes Can Also Help You Avoid Hyperglycemia
Exercise is one of the best ways to get rid of high blood sugar. But if you have ketoacidosis, you should not exercise but rather go to the emergency room. You’ll want to check your urine for ketones to be safe, especially if your glucose reading is 240 mg/dL or higher.
When you exercise, your body uses glucose as its primary energy source. This, in effect, will help bring down your blood sugar levels. Working out regularly will lower your A1C.
The positive effects of regular exercise are unmistakable. According to the American Diabetes Association, working out can lead to blood sugar-reducing effects for up to 24 hours.
My Patient’s Case: Random Blood Sugar 400 And As Low As 157
Hi,
Three weeks before, my husband random blood sugar level is 400 but now 157. Is this good or bad?
Aimee, Maldives
Answer: Hello Aimee,
Random glucose testing is important to distinguish how effective the treatment is. In diabetic people, the numbers for random glucose levels may vary widely.
The comparison between days is not the right one. Take the random glucose test multiple times during a day and compare the numbers.
In a diabetic person, they may vary more than in normal people but they must not vary too widely. If they do vary a lot this means that the treatment is not effective or your husband is not following it.
The glucose levels must stay relatively stable as much as possible. Also, stress, diet and the time of the time may influence the results.
It is important to control diabetes in order to prevent serious complications in the future and current symptoms.
Hope this is helpful for your husband.
Other Steps For How To Reduce Blood Sugar Level Immediately
While insulin is what will mainly help, there are other methods that can be used in both severe and less so severe cases of hyperglycemia. Alternative methods are especially helpful for those with non-insulin-dependent diabetes.
In severe cases , it’s advisable for healthcare professionals to take care of you.
First, they will likely inject insulin to your veins . In addition to this, they will rehydrate you with fluids, usually directly to your veins too. They will also give you nutrients at the same time, in the same manner.
This treatment gives some clues as to how to reduce blood sugar level immediately in less severe cases:
1) Stay hydrated; drink water. Since being thirsty is a symptom of hyperglycemia/high blood glucose, you’ll probably want to be drinking plenty of water anyway. This helps with flushing out excess glucose.
2) Stay nourished. This is less straightforward, since eating food can often lead to even higher levels of blood glucose. But because you’ll be drinking a great deal of water , you’ll also be flushing out nutrients at the same time.
So, it’s worth considering eating something nourishing after you’ve lowered your blood sugar. Or, if you want to keep up your nutrients during hyperglycemia, consider drinking fluids without carbs and with electrolytes.
Find out more nutritional info on specific food items with our food database. Meanwhile, get advice from our Nutrition Consultant with Food and Diabetes!
When Is It Necessary To Call A Doctor If You Have Diabetes
- If you have diabetes and your blood sugar is 300 mg/dL or higher two times in a row for an unknown reason.
- If you have a low blood sugar that has not come up after three treatments, call your healthcare provider or 911.
- If you see a person with diabetes who appears confused, they may be having a low blood sugar episode. Left untreated, the low blood sugar could lead to a diabetic coma. If the person is still able to follow instructions, give him or her something to drink or eat and call for an ambulance or 911.
- If you see someone with diabetes become unresponsive, call 911.
If you do call 911, let the responders know that the person has diabetes if they’re not able to communicate. If you do have diabetes, you may want to wear a medical identification item like a bracelet or necklace.
When you are taken to a healthcare facility, providers will do a physical examination and take blood to determine levels of glucose, ketones and other substances.
High And Low: How To Reduce Blood Sugar Level Immediately
Is insulin enough to reduce blood sugar immediately? Insulin’s main function is to lower blood sugar levels, but does your insulin dosage do the job?
The simple answer is: yes, insulin does the job, especially for those with insulin-dependent diabetes. There are certainly alternative ways to lower blood sugar immediately, but that’s not exactly the goal when it comes to diabetes.
You don’t want to lower blood sugar rapidly, just for the sake of being rapid. If you reduce blood sugar too quickly, then you’ll end up having to deal with low blood sugar instead.
Diabetes management is more about finding balance and treating yourself in a controlled manner. So, while you might need to reduce blood sugar immediately in some situations, you can do it in a way where you’re still in control.
Find out how to stay in control, lower blood sugar, and get back to your normal lockdown routine of bread-baking and Tiger King-viewing!
What To Do After You Overcome A High Blood Sugar Reading
Make it a priority to understand what caused your high reading in the first place, so you can focus on how to prevent it from occurring again.
Was it something that you ate? A food with lots of simple sugars? Or did you drink a soda? If it was a food or drink, you know to avoid it in future and start making better choices.
Is it that you have been ignoring your diabetes and not taking care of yourself? And it may be that you have high blood sugar all the time? What can you do to rectify this? Eat better? Exercise more?
Was it a stressful event that caused this?
Was it an illness?
Is It Safe To Exercise If My Blood Glucose Level Is High
Being able to exercise with high blood glucose depends on how high and how much insulin you have on board. If your blood glucose is higher than 300 mg/dl, you should not exercise until you have taken some fast-acting insulin and your blood glucose level is below 250 mg/dl. The problem is this: If your glucose is high and you don’t have enough insulin in your body to use the glucose, your cells will continue to signal they need glucose for fuel, and your liver will continue to put out that glucose. Without insulin to let the glucose into the cells, the glucose keeps building up in your blood, pushing your blood glucose levels higher and higher. If you have enough insulin available, exercise may actually help lower your glucose. In fact, many athletes raise their blood glucose before exercise on purpose to create a bit of a buffer so they won’t go low during their activity. Continue Learning about Living with Diabetes Videos Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.Continue reading >>
What Foods Should You Eat To Reduce Blood Sugar Level
Some good sources of quercetin, a plant polyphenol from flavonoid group, used for reducing blood sugar level are- cinnamon, citrus fruit, cold water fish, fiber-rich foods, legumes, green tea, nuts, spinach, kale and collard greens.
There could be severe consequences of a high blood sugar level and can cause permanent damage to liver, pancreas and a rise in triglycerides which has chances of increasing cardiovascular damage and a probable heart attack.
You must keep in mind that whenever your blood sugar level gets treated, you will be at a lower risk of health.
Should You Skip A Meal If Your Blood Glucose Is High
Related Articles
High blood glucose levels can damage the small arteries and nerves in your eyes, kidneys, heart, brain and feet over time. If you have diabetes, high blood sugar is defined as higher than 130 mg/dL when fasting and above 180 mg/dL two hours after eating, unless your doctor has specified a different target for you. Managing your blood glucose levels closely is the key to healthy living with diabetes.
Tip
If your blood glucose levels are high, don’t skip a meal; rather, try to understand the causes behind your high reading and do some damage control by eating healthy and exercising.
How To Reduce Blood Sugar Level Immediately: Insulin
The severity of the hyperglycemia determines how to act. In cases of insulin-dependent diabetes, most people will probably use rapid-acting insulin. The name is a giveaway: this is how to reduce blood sugar level immediately.
Hopefully, using insulin will allow you to get back to normal blood sugar levels before it gets too severe. This will also be the best way to be in control; you can lower your blood sugar with more accurate numbers.
This is where Hedia comes into play. Getting those numbers isn’t always so easy to figure out by yourself, especially not when dealing with the hassle of high blood sugar. Hedia can deal with that instead.
When using Hedia’s insulin calculator, all Hedia needs is: your blood sugar reading – this can even be added wirelessly and automatically with certain NFC or Blueetooth glucose meters; what you’ve eaten recently – this can be added swiftly with Hedia’s food database; whether you’ve exercised recently or are about to exercise; and if you’ve taken insulin in the last 4 hours. Have a go at the or !
After taking insulin, keep testing blood sugar levels to see how your blood sugar decreases. Then, just continue with your day!
How Do You Feel When Diabetes Level Rises Above 300
When the diabetes level rises above 300, it’s an abnormal condition. In fact, you may feel dizzy and dehydrated. You will feel nausea and might faint in that case. Unusual sugar level might be fatal and result in death even. You may diagnose the symptoms like- feeling thirsty, drying of mouth, blurry vision and feeling fatigue might occur. The bloodstream begins to flow in the cortisol which is in a continuous state of emergency in the body. When the final breakdown starts in the body, the downward spiral series of events stops. The adrenal system may be swollen, the immune system could be depressed, and there could be shrinkage of the thymus, shrinkage in spleen and lymph nodes. Thereby there could be a series of problems and recovery could be delayed.
How To Know If You Are At Risk For High Blood Sugar
Usually, people with type 1 diabetes will experience high blood sugar if they have not taken enough insulin or if they have type 2 diabetes; the recommended dosage of insulin is not working as it should.
Apart from this, your chances of hyperglycemia increase if you:
- Eat too many processed and junk food
- Do not have any exercise routine
- Have a habit of eating large meals or binge eating
- Take too much stress about anything
- Suffer from any recurring illness
- Have a family history of diabetes
Let’s find out how to lower blood sugar quickly in an emergency.
Are You At Risk For High Blood Sugar How To Know
- Eat too many processed or fast foods
- Don’t exercise regularly
- Eat large meals, or engage in binge eating
- Are under a lot of stress on a regular basis, either from work, dating, or another factor
- Have recurring illnesses
People with type 1 diabetesfamily history of diabetespancreaspancreatic cancerpancreatitispolycystic ovary syndrome
Prevention Of Having High Blood Sugar Levels 250
If left untreated, it will cause serious health issues. The most common long-term complications of these levels of blood glucose can cause kidney failure, heart problems such as heart attacks, brain problems such as strokes, can damage the nerves of inferior limbs, can damage the eyes and may even cause total blindness.
If prediabetic, prevention can be done by making thelifestyle changes as described above.
If you know you have diabetes, continue with the lifestylechanges and with the correct and punctual intake of your drugs. Be sure tomeasure your glucose level three times a day.
In case the increased blood glucose was caused by certain medications, then should not use these drugs again.
If you must use these drugs, consult with your doctor first, and tell your previous history with spikes in blood sugar.
He might come up with a plan to avoid your glucose levels to rise while using this drug.