Diabetes Info: The Highs and Lows of Blood Sugar

High blood glucose

If you have too much glucose in your blood you can become hyperglycaemic or ‘hyper’. You may feel thirsty, tired, need to use the toilet frequently or have blurred vision.

What can raise blood glucose levels?

• Mismatch of food and medication.
• Illness.
• Stress (although it can lower blood glucose in some people).
• Exercise (if you don’t have enough insulin available).
• Smoking (it makes you less sensitive to insulin).

Low blood glucose

If your blood glucose level is too low you can become hypoglycaemic or 'hypo'. You may feel dizzy, shaky or sweaty.

• Immediately eat or drink something sugary to bring your sugars back up.
• Then eat something with carbohydrates such as a biscuit or sandwich.

What can lower blood glucose levels?

• The insulin you inject.
• Some diabetes tablets.
• Exercise.
• Missed or delayed meals or snacks.
• Alcohol.

Taking control

When you have diabetes you are encouraged to manage your lifestyle to keep your sugar (glucose) levels as smooth as possible, avoiding high peaks and low troughs.

But life is complicated and there are a number of things that make blood glucose levels rise and fall. This booklet is designed to help you to recognise some of the more common reasons and help you decide what to do.

You need to find out what affects your levels, so that you can take appropriate steps to manage them. The only way to get this information is through regular blood glucose testing.

Avoiding hypos:

• Eat on time – missed or late meals are the most common cause of hypos.
• Monitor your blood glucose regularly – your insulin dose or tablets may need to be adjusted.
• Do extra tests if you are concerned. For example:
  
  
  • During the night.
  • Before and after exercise.
• Make sure all your friends and relatives can recognise a hypo and know how to help you.

Driving and hypoglycaemia

• Do not drive unless you have tested your blood glucose. And only drive if your levels are OK. Stop to test again and eat a snack every 2 hours. Keep snacks and glucose tablets in the car with you.

What happens when you are ill?

• Your body needs more energy to fight the illness, particularly if you have a fever and it makes sugar from its stores.
• You must keep drinking fluids and taking your insulin, even if you cannot eat at all.
• Without insulin your body uses fat for energy. This causes a rise in ketones in your blood.
• High levels of ketones can make you very unwell.

If your blood glucose goes above 15mmol/L on successive occasions you should monitor for ketones.

Illness – the essentials

• Don’t stop taking your insulin or your tablets.
• Keep up your carbohydrate intake by snacking little and often. Try soup, or if you really can’t eat, drink milk or fruit juice.
• Drink plenty of water or unsweetened fluids to stop you becoming dehydrated.
• If you are concerned and your levels are climbing, or if you vomit SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE!

Discuss ‘sick day rules’ with your doctor so
you will know what to do.

Monitoring ketones

• There are two ways to monitor your ketones – in your urine or your blood.
• Blood ketone testing has an advantage over urine testing because it tells you your levels right now. Testing your urine tells you your ketone levels in the past.

The Optium Xceed meter has the unique facility to test blood ketones as well as blood glucose levels.

Normal blood ketone levels are slightly different from person to person. This table will help you decide if you need to do anything and what you should do.

PDF Version of The Highs and Lows of Blood Sugar

The Highs and lows of blood sugar