People with diabetes struggle to keep their sugars in a target range recommended by their physicians. When the sugar is out of range on the high side, they recognize the elevated sugar and fear complications. When the sugar is out of range on the low side, they may have symptoms of hypoglycemia or low sugar which can lead to other problems. Do you have problems keeping your sugar in range. If so, have you been advised about hypoglycemia and told what to do about it. Please comment and share the advise that was provided for you. Do you have any other tips for our readers?
Research has proven that good control of Diabetes lowers the incidence of diabetic complications. As a result, the American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists have encouraged physicians to help patients get their sugars as close to the normal range as possible. Many patients believe that this means getting their sugars as low as they can, and will often skip meals or exercise excessively to do so. However, these behaviors can be very dangerous for a patient with diabetes, and may result in hypoglycemia. Complications of hypoglycemia are discussed below.
The April addition of Medscape News cited an online survey presented by Barbara Boughton at the 20th annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in which she mentioned that 55% of adults with diabetes had sugar levels that were too low, and 42% of people with low blood sugar had symptoms of hypoglycemia. Approximately 26% of low sugar reactions occurred while people were working, and 19% occurred when they were driving. About one third of people who experienced the symptoms of hypoglycemia while engaging in these activities did not know that skipping meals and/or engaging in excessive exercise while taking insulin or other medications for diabetes may bring about hypoglycemia. In addition, many of the individuals surveyed did not know that dizziness, “fuzzy” thinking, and/or shakes may be symptoms of hypoglycemia.
As an endocrinologist, I have felt that the danger of diabetic complications from poorly-controlled sugars has been appropriately emphasized in the medical literature and the lay press, but the dangers of hypoglycemia have not received sufficient publicity. It is important to balance the risk of high-sugar complications against the risk of hypoglycemia. As a first step, patients should be advised to take their medications appropriately, monitor their sugars and eat regularly and consistently. In addition, the risk of hypoglycemia may be decreased by following these steps:
1.) Recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia caused by inadequate sugar to the brain. These symptoms include loss of consciousness, dizziness, and impaired ability to think.
2.) Recognize symptoms caused by your body trying to raise the sugar. These symptoms sugar include excessive sweating, rapid heart beat and extreme anxiety.
3.) Do not skip meals.
4.) If you are going to exercise excessively, make sure you have a snack beforehand.
5.) Have food and with you if you are going to go on a car trip.
6.) Learn how to monitor your sugar, and check it at intervals as advised by your health care provider.
7.) If you have any of the aforementioned symptoms, check your sugar level immediately.
8.) Always carry juice or some other source of sugar with you.
9.) Discuss how to recognize and treat hypoglycemia with your health care provider, as the general advice provided here may not apply to your specific needs.
10.) Make sure family members or others close to you understand how to recognize symptoms of hypoglycemia and know how to help you if you are not able to check your sugar level or drink juice on your own.
11.) Family members need to understand that hypoglycemia may cause confusion and even lead to your refusing to eat or drink. If they cannot get you eat or drink something to appropriately raise your sugar level, they will need to get you professional medical attention immediately.
12.) If you have hypoglycemia and are unable to take in sugar by drinking juice or ingesting another appropriate source of sugar, call for help as you will need immediate medical attention requiring a visit to the nearest emergency room.
Above all, follow the advice of your health care provider. If you have hypoglycemia or a low sugar reaction, inform your physician after the fact so (s)he may help you understand why it occurred and help you take active steps to prevent another one.
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Miranda,
Thank you so much for trusting us with your story! Please let us know if you would like us to include any specific recipes in our Tova’s Kitchen series for you. Best of luck, and here’s to a happier and healthier you!
Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance which means the insulin does not work properly. This defect is genetic. If one parent has type 2 diabetes the offspring have a 50% chance of developing it. If both parents have it, the odds are about 90%. Genetic makeup cannot be reversed. The defect is discovered late in its course when the insulin producing cells in the pancreas wear out and the sugar starts to rise. Insulin resistance may be improved and in some people may be brought down to normal by reversing the factors that exacerbate insulin resistance. Weight loss will improve insulin resistance, and in some people the sugars and insulin levels will be normal. People with diabetes have other abnormalities in the way their bodies handle sugar and these are often reversed with weight loss. Many times the complications of diabetes may improve as well. With enough weight loss many people can come off their medication and even have normal glucose tolerance tests. If the person with diabetes does not change his diet, and he continues to take more and more insulin to cover his overzelous eating, the other physiological factors will not be corrected and he will continue to have abnormal glucose tolerance testing and the high cardiovascular risk. We will be posting an article on prediabetes soon which will supply more information on this topic. This is a great question. Does anybody have any other opinions or comments?
Hello,
I would like your opinion on something…
Should people that have diabetes only “control” their condition or is there a way for their body to regain it’s normality so diabetes will be gone?
Thank you.
Thanks so much for sharing your story with us. I hope your endocrinologist will help you get to the bottom of things so that you may get your life back on track. You are not alone. Many people have symptoms which may be hard to diagnose. You took the first step by seeing the doctor and I hope you get an answer from your first set of lab work. If you don’t, work with your doctor as a team; let him or her know your symptoms in as much detail as you can describe. Concentrate on what makes them better and what makes them worse, how long you have had them and how this condition first started. I hope your next comment will be to describe how much better you are doing. Tova and I wish you the best. Sybil
This information is very insightful. I am a 32-year-old woman who is suffering from some condition or another, although I currently do not know what my health condition is. I visited an endocrinologist last week and had lab work so I hope to have answers soon.
Some of my symptoms involve the “fuzzy” thinking/impaired thought process, lack of concentration, dizziness, tremors, and anxiety. I also recognize that these symptoms are most profound when I have not eaten, as I am a chronic faster; therefore it may very well be hypoglycemia. I have a tendency to skip meals due to my hectic home and work environment, and I have never been one to eat breakfast consistently. I know my eating habits are poor, and I am considerably over weight for my height. But instead of dieting I am working on a plan to live a healthier lifestyle. I will be able to do this best when I find out what my medical condition involves.
Initially, I scheduled an appointment with an endo because I thought I was experiencing symptoms of hypothyroidism; and this still may be true, as I do not know the results of my lab. One of the primary symptoms I am dealing with is chronic fatigue. No matter how much sleep I get, I still feel extremely tired; some days it is a struggle to get through a work day. I have even missed work just to stay home and sleep. Other symptoms range from unexplained weight gain, depression, anxiety/panick attacks, constantly feeling cold, hand tremors, dry hair, brittle nails, adult onset acne, and allergies that have worsened in the past year.
I do not have medical insurance so I usually put off seeing a doctor for quite some time, but over the past year my symptoms have become much more extreme, as this is something that has been ongoing–although it seems to come and go–over the past 15 years.
I had no knowledge of hypothyroid or diabetes until as of late; I had always contributed my well-being to “poor genetics”. Ironically, I work in the medical research field as an executive assistant, and I was alerted to the idea that I might be suffering from hypothyroidism by an MD who visits my office on a regular basis and noticed that I always set my thermostat around 10-12 degrees higher than the other offices. This lead me to research the symptoms of hypothyroid. Sure enough, it was like reading the story of my life.
I know that there are many conditions that follow similar symptom patters which I have named, and I could be suffering from something other than the two conditions which I speak of. However, the point is, I am suffering. And I am ready to have control of my life again.
Blogs like yours are very helpful in understanding that I am not alone and that I need to be more vigilant about taking care of my body. I am at the age now where I realize my mortality and how fragile life and the human body really is–in my 20s I think I saw myself as invincible–and I want to be more responsible with my decisions. Thank you for keeping your readers informed. Even if this doesn’t pertain to me, it has helped.