How To Raise Blood Sugar Levels During Hypoglycemia?

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

How to raise blood sugar levels during hypoglycemia?

The word "hypoglycemia" is well known to every diabetic. Among their own people they call her simply "gipa" and they are very afraid, because if you do not cope with this condition in time, the consequences can be very sad.

But a sharp drop in blood sugar threatens not only patients with an official diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. There are reasons why a hypoglycemic attack can occur in a nominally healthy person. Therefore, our today's conversation will be of interest not only to old patients of endocrinologists, but also to all people with problematic health and severe endocrine heredity.

If the concentration of glucose in the blood falls below 3.3 mmol / L, the person develops hypoglycemic syndrome. This dangerous condition can result in a convulsive seizure, loss of consciousness, clinical death, and, finally, death.

Hypoglycemic syndrome develops with lightning speed, but in its course it is customary to distinguish three main stages:

• Mild - primary hypoglycemia, which is observed in the first 5-10 minutes and is quickly stopped by taking a small dose of "fast" carbohydrates;
• Medium - occurs if glucose has not entered the body in a timely manner, and can last up to half an hour. Blood sugar levels have to be increased in stages;
• Final - critical hypoglycemia, characterized by convulsions, fainting and, in severe cases, hypoglycemic coma. A way out of this state can only be provided by an ambulance and a hospital. Without treatment, brain death occurs within an hour.

On the subject: causes, symptoms and consequences of hypoglycemia

How to diagnose hypoglycemic syndrome in time? Any experienced diabetic will tell you that he begins to anticipate this trouble even before the first symptoms appear. By the way, the signs of a sharp decrease in blood sugar levels are individual for everyone.

We list all the warning signs of hypoglycemia:

• An agonizing feeling of hunger;
• Lethargy and muscle weakness;
• Nausea, sometimes up to vomiting;
• Rapid and / or uneven heartbeat (tachycardia, arrhythmia);
• Intense sweating;
• Small shaking hands;
• Dizziness and loss of orientation in space;
• Hot temper, up to violent outbursts of anger;
• Visual impairment (red or dark circles before the eyes, double vision);
• Unreasonable anxiety, fear, panic attack;
• Great drowsiness, desire to lie down immediately;
• Slurred, confused speech with swallowed word endings;

• Rarely - hallucinations and inadequate perception of reality.

Experienced diabetics have no problems with the timely diagnosis of hypoglycemia - they have studied their body well, know all the symptoms and are able to quickly take action. But beginners are often frightened and mistake the usual anxiety for an approaching attack. Fear has big eyes, but you need to try to control yourself. A high-quality glucometer will always help out - it certainly knows if your sugar level is lowered or not. The most difficult thing is for those people who are unaware of the true reasons for their painful condition. Here you can give only one piece of advice: treat yourself carefully and carefully, get examined regularly, especially if you have a history of diabetes mellitus.

If you suspect you have a hypoglycemic attack, resist the urge to sleep. In no case let your friends and relatives fall asleep with the above symptoms (especially if they are diagnosed with diabetes).

The sharp drop in blood sugar must be compensated for immediately. The patient will not get better if he just lies down and takes a nap. Let's not scare you with details as to how it might end. Hypoglycemia sometimes occurs right in a dream - then a person has nightmares, and he wakes up all wet with sweat.

How to raise blood sugar levels?

Let's start with a mild form of hypoglycemia, which is characterized by a blood glucose level of 2.7 to 3.3 mmol / L. These readings, ideally, should be given by a glucometer, and not speculation and foreboding. Although, diabetics who have repeatedly experienced attacks of hypoglycemia, determine it by their feelings unmistakably.

So, what to do for an emergency increase in blood sugar:

• Eat one candy, a quarter of a chocolate bar, or three wedges of a standard 100 g chocolate bar;
• Drink a cup of warm tea with two tablespoons of sugar or honey;
• Eat one banana or several pieces of dried fruit (dried apricots, prunes);
• Drink half a cup of sweetened pulp fruit juice.

Listed here are the most affordable ways to get fast carbs. Obviously, a slice of ripe melon and overseas figs can help you, but you are unlikely to have time to find them, and it is inconvenient to always carry such delicacies with you. There may well be a sandwich or instant porridge at hand, but at the first stage of hypoglycemic syndrome they will not suit you - these are “long” carbohydrates that will not soon enrich the blood with glucose.

At the first symptoms of hypoglycemia, do not pounce on food, no matter how strong your hunger and fear for your health may be. An excess of carbohydrates will turn into a new misfortune, and sharp jumps in blood sugar levels have a destructive effect on small vessels and capillaries.

Treatment of moderate hypoglycemia

If you missed the primary manifestations of hypoglycemia and did not manage to compensate for the drop in glucose levels in time, you will have to supplement the strategy. When sugar is below 2.7 mmol / l, you need to consume 15-20 g of "fast" carbohydrates as soon as possible (see the list above), and then twenty minutes later, the same amount of "long" carbohydrates. It is highly desirable that all these actions be accompanied by measurements of blood sugar levels using a glucometer.

The described tactics are not always effective. It is best to take control measurements every fifteen minutes, and if the results are still below normal, eat 12 g of "fast" carbohydrates, and so on until the bitter end. It may take 4-5 laps until blood sugar finally returns to normal.

Help with hypoglycemic coma

If a patient with diabetes mellitus with hypoglycemic syndrome did not receive help in time and lost consciousness, in any case he will no longer be able to eat carbohydrates on his own. There is no need to shake him up and try to give him sweet water or tea - this can result in asphyxiation (an attack of suffocation).

A person with the final stage of hypoglycemia should be immediately taken to the emergency room, or an ambulance should be called to him. The only thing you can do before the doctor arrives is to inject him with glucagon, if the drug is fortunately available.

As a rule, patients with severe diabetes mellitus keep a dose of 1 g of glucagon with them. This substance acts on the liver and makes it urgently throw all available starch reserves into the bloodstream, which, we repeat, may not be enough to stop an attack. In the hospital, the patient will most likely be injected with a forty percent glucose solution - this is guaranteed to bring him to consciousness.

10 diabetic golden rules that will save your life

Let's summarize the interim results and voice ten rules, the observance of which will surely save you from a sharp decrease in blood sugar levels and the unpleasant consequences associated with this:

1. Read the qualified medical literature to clearly understand what insulin is, what are the principles of its action and the consequences of inappropriate dosage. The doctor has no time (and no desire) to hammer these facts and figures into your head - you yourself must be interested in your health. You need not just follow the prescriptions, but understand why you are shown exactly this dosage of insulin, and what exactly will happen if you change it.
2. Inform the people around you in your daily life (relatives, close friends, work colleagues) about your illness. There is no need to be ashamed of the disease. Think about how stressed people will be if you suddenly feel sick in their presence. They will be in a panic and will not be able to help you competently.
3. Make sure that your mobile phone is always with you and charged. Buy a spare battery if needed and carry it with you. Such advice can be confusing or even frightening, and, believe me, we sincerely wish that you never in your life have to frantically search for your phone in order to call relatives or an ambulance. But let it be at hand - so it is calmer in your soul.
4. Record the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes. If they happen twice a week or more, you need to get tested and adjust your insulin dosage. Tell your endocrinologist what has changed in your well-being and lifestyle: perhaps you started to eat differently, or do more physical work?
5. Carefully read the instructions for use of absolutely any medications before taking them. Harmless cough syrups and throat lozenges may contain sugar. And some pills enhance the effect of insulin. All this can be found in the attached annotation.
6. Carry something sweet with you (sugar cube, candy, bar). Of course, it is more beneficial to increase blood sugar levels with fruits, but this is inconvenient - they quickly deteriorate. Be sure to double-check if you have brought a sweet with you if you plan to leave home for a long time or go on a trip.
7. Measure your sugar level 4-8 times a day at the hours indicated by your doctor. Be prepared to urgently use the meter in the event of a drop or increase in blood glucose - have test strips in reserve!
8. If you plan on exercising or working in your garden, lower your usual insulin dosage a little, or allow yourself a little more carbs that day. Talk to your doctor about how to deal with these situations.
9. Avoid alcohol or keep it to a minimum. Remember that different types of strong drinks have different effects on blood sugar: beer increases, vodka lowers. If you are going to have a drink in honor of the holiday, be sure to have a snack.
10. Always keep your presence of mind and try to look at things positively. Diabetes mellitus is a serious medical condition, but you can keep it under control and live a full, happy life!

How to insure against hypoglycemia?

This section is devoted not to diabetics, but to relatively healthy people who are at risk for glycemic balance. It so happens that a person systematically feels weakness, dizziness and sweating, but cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship between this state and the way of his nutrition. They attribute the malaise to stress and fatigue from hard work, or it may turn out that the wrong diet is to blame.

There are also people who deliberately lower their blood sugar levels. More precisely, half consciously. These are fans of "losing weight on the Internet." After reading articles about revolutionary ways to lose weight, they do monstrous things with their bodies. They completely abandon fats, and then suffer with brittle nails, hair falling out, lack of oxygen and hormonal disorders. They malnourish proteins and turn into feeble, shriveled creatures with no muscles. They curse carbohydrates, and pass out from a sharp drop in blood sugar.

All these manipulations with strict diets do not hold water. Only people with severe diabetes mellitus consume 40-60 g of carbohydrates per day, because otherwise they will not survive. And for a person with a healthy endocrine system, such nutrition will do nothing but harm. And by the way, it will not bring weight loss with a lasting result either.

It is the fascination with "miraculous" methods of losing weight that is the most common cause of disorders of the glycemic balance in relatively healthy people. Without knowing what your blood sugar level is, you can't go on a rigid mono-diet!

We need proteins, fats and carbohydrates alike, and each of these nutrients has a very important role to play.

On the subject: Protein deficiency as the main cause of cancer

Any deviations from the principles of a balanced diet should be made on the recommendation of a doctor, and only when required by the state of health. Someone has to limit fat intake due to liver problems, someone cannot eat a lot of protein due to kidney dysfunction, and only those people whose body does not produce enough insulin refuse the lion's share of carbohydrates.

The desire to lose weight is very commendable, because obesity itself can lead to diabetes and many other serious diseases. But if a person has a large excess weight, with poor health and middle age, weight loss should begin with a comprehensive examination. And the endocrinologist must be visited. Your doctor will determine for sure if your blood sugar is high or low and will give you nutritional advice.

If you already have low blood sugar, try to follow a few simple rules:

• Eat balanced and fractional meals 4-5 times a day. Long breaks between meals cause glucose dips;
• Don't starve! There are foods with a low glycemic index that can gently keep you feeling full throughout the day, such as sea fish, olive oil, nuts, etc. The omega 3 fatty acids they contain are also very beneficial to health;
• Make sure you are not deficient in chromium and replenish if necessary. Chromium acts as a natural regulator of glycemic balance, which is why this trace element must be present in the body in sufficient quantities, especially if you have low blood sugar. Cravings for sweets are also suppressed by glutamic acid, which is abundant in cottage cheese;
• 10 minutes before an intense workout or physical activity, provide yourself with "fast" carbohydrates - drink fruit juice, for example. This will help avoid hypoglycemia, when your body throws all the glucose from the blood and liver into the furnace;
• Avoid high doses of carbohydrates - do not overeat chocolates and cakes with lemonade. At first, blood sugar levels will rise sharply, but then a precipitous drop will follow. And the brain, like a drug addict who liked to bathe in glucose, will again begin to demand a holiday;
• Do not overuse alcohol and strong coffee, and try to quit smoking if you have such a habit. Alcohol, caffeine and nicotine interfere with adequate production of the hormone insulin because they destroy the pancreas, the organ that produces it.

In conclusion, I would like to say that it is very important to diagnose a low blood sugar level in time, as well as an increased one. This will allow you to make dietary changes and move the risk of diabetes as far as possible. Treat yourself carefully, and be healthy!

Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".