Diabetics have high blood sugar, that is why they need treatment in the first place, right? However, there are times when your blood sugar drops too low for many reasons. Sometimes, it may be not adjusting your insulin doses accordingly, forgetting a meal, or just too busy rushing around that particular day. To keep your blood sugars in the normal range, the body needs insulin, the hormone that takes blood sugar and delivers it to the cells.
High: Hyperglycemia
If the cells cannot access the blood sugar for energy, you may frequently feel tired, hungry and exhausted. The high sugar in the blood then goes into the kidneys and is excreted through urination. This attracts more water to the kidneys and causes the frequent need for urination. Since your body is ridding itself of more water, it leads to increased thirst.
High blood sugar can cause sudden or unexplained weight loss as the cells are not getting the glucose they need. In turn, the body burns muscle for energy instead. After many years of high blood sugar levels, numbness, burning, and tingling can occur in the hands, legs, and feet. This is called diabetic neuropathy. As it progresses, blood vessels can become damaged and lead to cardiovascular events and stroke, damage to the eye or vision, and kidney disease.
In emergencies, expect patients to have:
- Warm and dry skin
- Rapid pulse and breathing
- Fruity, sweet breath
- Thirst
- Drowsiness leading to unresponsiveness if untreated
What you need to do:
- Call emergency services and say you suspect hyperglycemia.
- While waiting, check their breath, pulse, and level of response.
- If they lose responsiveness, open airway, check their breathing, and prepare to treat.
Low: Hypoglycemia
Low blood sugar can happen due to multiple reasons such as taking too much insulin, side-effects of diabetes medication, skipping meals or having a day where the patient is more active than usual. Symptoms of low blood sugar include: feeling weak or shaky, feeling nervous, anxious or irritable, sweating and chills, feeling extremely hungry, feeling confused and having a fast heart rate or palpitations.
Low blood sugar can be corrected by drinking a beverage that contains carbohydrates. If you have frequent episodes of low blood sugar, you should discuss this with your physician. Adjustments to your diabetic medications may be needed.
In emergencies, expect patients to have:
- Weakness, faintness, hunger
- Confusion and irrational behavior
- Cold clammy skin
- Rapid pulse
- Trembling
- Deteriorating response
What you need to do:
- Help them sit, give them something sugary (fruit juice/sugar/sweets)
- If they improve quickly, give them more and let them rest.
- If no improvement, call emergency services
- While waiting, check response, breathing, and pulse
If you are not sure if it is high or low blood sugar, give them something sugary as it will relieve low blood sugar and is unlikely to cause harm in high blood sugar. Call emergency services.
[expand title=”References“]
Diabetic emergency. St John Ambulance. Accessed 2/6/2017.
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