What to do when having signs of low blood sugar levels


You should eat only fifteen grams of fast-acting carbohydrate and then check your blood sugar levels. Years ago when I experienced hypoglycemia, I'd stand in front of my open refrigerator and proceed to eat everything in sight. My ravenous hunger and rapid heartbeat and, to tell the truth, the excuse that now I possibly could eat sweets, prompted me to devour anything sweet I could get my hands on: a number of cookies, an item or two of cake, a banana, raspberry preserves on toast. I'd eat all of this while awaiting my blood sugar to increase.

After i got a blood sugar levels meter some years later and started testing, I saw that my "eat-everything- sweet-in-sight" treatment provided, an hour or so later, a blood sugar levels of about 350 mg/dl (19.4 mmol/l)! Today I know both from experience and from teaching others that the best way to treat low blood sugar levels would be to (1) raise your blood sugar levels as quickly as possible and (2) do it in such a manner that your blood sugar levels doesn't go above target range. That means following a Rule of 15.

The Rule of 15 is used as a guideline among diabetes medical service providers; it's simple, is easy to follow, and will raise your blood sugar level quickly while keeping it within normal range. If you think you're experiencing hypoglycemia - symptoms include rapid heartbeat, weakness, headache, a cold sweat or clammy feeling, shakiness, irritability, dizziness, and hunger - check your blood sugar level.

If your blood sugar is under 70 mg/dl (4 mmol/l), eat fifteen grams of fast-acting, simple, rapidly digested carbohydrate and wait fifteen minutes. Then recheck your blood sugar level. If your reading continues to be below 70 mg/dl (4 mmol/l), eat another fifteen grams of carbohydrate and test your blood sugar levels again in fifteen minutes. You want your blood sugar levels to be approximately 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l).

If your blood sugar does not rise above 70 mg/dl (4 mmol/l) within thirty minutes after treating, get help. If your friend or family member is not nearby or easy to reach, call 911. Hypoglycemia ought to always be treated quickly to prevent an emergency situation, because an extremely low blood sugar level (below 30 mg/dl or 1.7 mmol/l) can cause loss of consciousness. Each of the following items contains about fifteen grams of fast-acting, simple, rapidly digested carbohydrate.

If you're likely to possess a meal or snack inside an hour, you don't have to do anything more. However, if your next meal is more than an hour or so away, have breakfast or of some carbohydrates with protein, like a few crackers with cheese or peanut butter, to maintain your blood sugar levels gain levels until your next meal.

It's very present with overtreat hypoglycemia when i i did so; low blood sugar levels causes stress hormones to be sold that both stimulate hunger and make you are feeling jittery. To satisfy your appetite and calm increasing panic, the majority of us reach for food - too much of it and also the wrong kinds.

Candy bars, cake, cookies, pie, ice cream, and chocolate really are a wholly ineffective method to treat low blood sugar levels, since the fat in these sweets slows down the digestion and absorption from the carbohydrates they contain. By the time your symptoms subside, your blood sugar levels is going to be far beyond normal range. "When patients let me know angrily that they're putting on the weight and do not know why," said my pal Betsy, a diabetes educator, "I question them if they're having a lot of lows. It's easy to forget all the calories on your table if you are treating lows with cake and candy." Hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar level drops too low to provide enough energy for your body's normal functioning. Typical causes include

Legal Disclaimer

Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Articleinput.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.

Note: This article was sent to us by: Allene Cunningham at 02152011

Related Articles

1. How can water regulate body temperature
Water regulates body temperature Exercise generates heat. This occurs because the efficiency of converting the chemical energy in ATP into the mechanical energy...

2. How to maintain a healthy water and electrolyte balance
Water and Electrolyte Balance To maintain water and electrolyte balance, intake and excretion must balance. Water intake is stimulated by thirst, but is not fin...

3. One of the problems with fluid and electrolyte balance is dehydration
Problems with Fluid and Electrolyte Balance During exercise, most people only drink enough to keep them from being thirsty. By the time they finish exercising...

4. A low sodium level points to Hyponatremia
Sweat is important for cooling the body. Sweat is mostly water. For most activities, sweat losses can be replaced with ordinary water. However, sweat also contains some...

5. The fact that eating sweets causes diabetes is just a myth
Really, it does not - at least not in the way you think. Diabetes is caused by a genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors, or by an autoimmune reaction. Nevertheless, i...

6. One does not have to be obese to suffer from diabetes
About 20 % of people who get type 2 diabetes are not overweight, nor are most individuals who get type 1 diabetes. Most people associate type 2 diabetes with being overweig...

7. Borderline means you probably have pre diabetes
If your doctor tells you that you have "a touch of sugar" or "you're borderline," you most likely have pre-diabetes. This puts you at greater threat for developing type 2 d...

8. Diabetes can have complications right after diagnosis
More than 25 % of all newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients have complications, as do some patients with type 1 diabetes. At the time of diagnosis, as many as 25...

9. Diabetes affects all age groups especially obese children
Type 2 diabetes is occurring in children at an alarming rate, and you can get kind 1 at any age. The rise of obesity in kids now makes them the newest at-risk popul...