What Is The Outlook For People With Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia can be managed when you and your healthcare provider understand what causes your blood sugar to go down. Give your healthcare provider as much information as possible about any hypoglycemic episodes. Fixing the problem may be as simple as changing the times you take medication, eat and exercise. Minor changes to the types of food you eat may also help.
What Are The Signs Of Hypoglycemia
An individual may frequently wake up in the middle of the night as a result of nighttime hypoglycemia. In other instances, though, people may know if they experienced hypoglycemia during their sleep if they notice the following symptoms:
- Waking up with a headache
- Waking up in a sweat
- Getting unusual feelings of tiredness throughout the day
- Experiencing anxiety or heart palpitations
- Feeling confused, dizzy or weak
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Hypoglycemia
Mild hypoglycemia can cause such symptoms as:
Severe hypoglycemia can also cause these symptoms:
- not responding or waking up
Teach your child about the symptoms of low blood sugar and what to do. Even young kids who can’t describe their symptoms can learn to tell an adult when they don’t feel well. Help your child understand that they need treatment when they dont feel well. And explain how to find an adult who can help them.
Some people with diabetes can’t sense the early warning signs of low blood sugar. They may not recognize they need quick treatment. This can lead to more serious symptoms as blood sugar levels continue to fall. If you think your child cant sense what low blood sugar feels like, tell the diabetes care team.
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Meal And Alcohol Timing And Glucose Levels
When you wake up after a long nights sleep, your body has been in a fasting state for quite a few hours. During this fasting period, your body expends circulating and stored glucose to perform all the usual physiologic processes. If you tend to stop eating earlier in the evening and do not snack at night, this fasting window will be greater, leading to lower glucose levels during that night.
Additionally, drinking alcohol in the evening could lead to low glucose values overnight. Its thought that drinking alcohol the livers ability to make new glucose via gluconeogenesis, leading to lower circulating glucose levels. To counter this decrease, alcohol stimulates the breakdown and release of stored glucose . This balance between impaired gluconeogenesis and increased glycogenolysis means that alcohol shouldnt significantly affect glucose levels for normal, healthy individuals eating a standard diet.
However, the situation is different for those whove been fasting or are in a ketogenic state because these individuals already have much less glucose stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. Normally this state prompts the liver to produce new glucose via gluconeogenesis, but, as noted above, alcohol inhibits this process. The result is that glucose levels can fall to dangerously low levels, and in extreme cases, this hypoglycemic state can lead to seizures, coma, or death.
What Is Low Blood Glucose
Low blood glucose, also called low blood sugar or hypoglycemia, occurs when the level of glucose in your blood drops below what is healthy for you. For many people with diabetes, this means a blood glucose reading lower than 70 milligrams per deciliter .1 Your number might be different, so check with your doctor or health care team to find out what blood glucose level is low for you.
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Causes Of High Blood Sugar At Night
There are many causes of high blood sugar at night, including:
- A dinner or bedtime snack high in carbohydrates: Eating starchy or high-sugar foods late in the day can lead to high blood sugar at night, as well as high blood sugar in the morning.
- Illness or injury: Trauma can trigger a hypermetabolic response , leading to high blood sugar.
- Too little exercise: Exercise helps the body more effectively use insulin, so lack of exercise could contribute to high blood sugar.
- Too little insulin or diabetes medicine: When the body does not produce insulin or does not use insulin effectively and you dont properly take your injectable insulin or diabetes medicine, glucose can accumulate in the bloodstream.
- Menstruation:Progesterone is a hormone linked to a decreased production of insulin, which affects glucose metabolism and can potentially lead to high blood sugar.
- Pregnancy: Hormone levels fluctuate during pregnancy. Diabetes that occurs during pregnancy is known as gestational diabetes.
- Stress: Stress, as measured by levels of a hormone called cortisol, is linked to decreased insulin sensitivity. With this, glucose cannot get into your cells and be used for energy. As a result, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, leading to high blood sugar. When people are stressed, they may also overeat sugary foods or adopt other unhealthy eating habits.
Why Does Blood Sugar Spike In The Morning
Our diabetes expert has the answer.
Joan Bardsley, RN, CDE, is an assistant vice president at MedStar Health Research Institute.
Q. Why does my blood sugar spike in the morning?
A. There are many reasons for a high reading.
First, look at food. What you ate the night before may be behind the blood sugar spike for example, if you ate much more than you usually eat, or if the amount of food was more than your medications are made to handle.
A second cause could be your medicine. Perhaps the medications you take arent lasting through the night, or the dose isnt high enough to keep your blood sugar in check.
Another possibility is one that happens naturally in the body in response to low blood sugar. When your blood sugar drops, your body releases stored sugar mainly from the liver and overcompensates. If your blood sugar level drops in the middle of the night, this overproduction of sugar can cause a high level in the morning. This is called the Somogyi effect. When your blood sugar is low, its best to eat about 15 grams of carbohydrates, and then wait 15 minutes before repeating the process.
Or, the spike could be due to the release of hormones between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. that raise blood sugar. Your body needs to balance these high hormone levels by making more insulin. When it cant make enough insulin to compensate, your blood sugar will be high. You may need to manage the timing or amount of your medicine.
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What Should Blood Sugar Be At : 00 Am And How To Maintain It
It is important to maintain a 3:00 am blood sugar level between 100180 mg/ dL and prevent it from dropping. Make sure that you are following these guidelines:
How to manage low blood sugar? Know it all from our expert Dr Arpit.
Now that you know why you are waking up in the middle of the night with low blood sugar, lets discuss another phenomenon that diabetics experiences, called high fasting blood sugar.
How Is Hypoglycemia Treated
When blood sugar levels are low, the goal is to get them back up into the healthy range quickly. Here are the basic steps to follow if your child is alert and awake:
- Check blood sugar levels if you can to find out if symptoms are from hypoglycemia. If you cant, dont delay treating your childs symptoms. You can always test after treating your child.
- Give sugar. Offer your child a sugary food or drink that will raise their blood sugar quickly. Regular soda, orange juice, or cake frosting are good choices. Or, give your child a glucose tablet or gel. Follow your childs care plan for the right amount of sugar to give your child. If you are unsure, give 15 grams of simple carbs, such as 4 ozs. of juice. Symptoms usually stop about 10 minutes after your child takes sugar.
- Check blood sugar level again 15 minutes after giving sugar to make sure the level is no longer low.
You can repeat these steps until the blood sugar level is in the healthy range.
If your child cannot keep down juice or food, cant wake up or is having a seizure, give glucagon right away. Then call 911. Do not give anything by mouth until they are awake and alert. After getting glucagon, your child will be more alert and feel better within 15 minutes. When your child is alert enough to eat, give sugary food or drink to help prevent their blood sugar from falling again.
Their diabetes plan may need to be adjusted to help prevent future episodes.
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Treating Low Blood Glucose If You Take Medicines That Slow Down Digestion
Some diabetes medicines slow down the digestion of carbohydrates to keep blood glucose levels from rising too high after you eat. If you develop low blood glucose while taking these medicines, you will need to take glucose tablets or glucose gel right away. Eating or drinking other sources of carbohydrates wont raise your blood glucose level quickly enough.
What Are Considered Normal Blood Sugar Levels
You might not have diabetes now, but do you know the risk factors?
In 2015, 22% of Canadian adults were pre-diabetic and the number of Canadians suffering from diabetes has increased by 44% in the last 10 years. As the leading cause of blindness, kidney problems, and non-trauma amputations, it is important to protect ourselves against diabetes.
But its not all bad news, diabetes is often a preventable disease. Knowing whether you have normal blood sugar levels is one of the best indicators of risk. If your blood sugar levels are high, mindful eating and lifestyle changes can reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
Read on for all the hottest tips on how to manage your blood sugar levels and prevent diabetes.
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Causes Of Low Blood Sugar
There are many reasons why you may have low blood sugar, including:
- Taking too much insulin.
- Not eating enough carbs for how much insulin you take.
- Timing of when you take your insulin.
- The amount and timing of physical activity.
- Drinking alcohol.
- How much fat, protein, and fiber are in your meal.
- Hot and humid weather.
- Unexpected changes in your schedule.
- Spending time at a high altitude.
- Going through puberty.
Exercise Food And Alcohol
For people with type 1 diabetes, maintaining the correct blood glucose level involves balancing how much insulin you inject, the amount of food you eat, and how much energy you burn during exercise.
Hypoglycaemia may occur if youve taken your dose of insulin as usual, but your carbohydrate intake is lower than normal or has been used up more quickly. This may happen if you delay or miss a meal or snack, dont eat enough carbohydrate, or exercise more than usual.
People with diabetes whove drunk too much alcohol, or drank alcohol on an empty stomach, can also get hypoglycaemia.
However, its not always possible to identify why a particular episode of hypoglycaemia has occurred, and sometimes it happens for no obvious reason.
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Check Your Blood Sugar Before Bed
For everybody with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, its absolutely critical that they check their blood sugar before going to bed to make sure theyre not going to have an episode of low blood sugar during the night, says Helena W. Rodbard, MD, medical director of Endocrine and Metabolic Consultants, a private practice in Rockville, Maryland, and past president of the American College of Endocrinology.
If your blood sugar levels are low at bedtime, eat a healthy snack before going to sleep. The size of the snack should be in proportion to the dip in blood sugar. For instance, a small drop in blood sugar requires only a small snack. If you use an insulin pump, consider temporarily reducing the active dose of insulin.
How Can I Prevent Hypoglycemic Episodes
The key to preventing hypoglycemic events is managing diabetes:
- Follow your healthcare providers instructions about food and exercise.
- Track your blood sugar regularly, including before and after meals, before and after exercise and before bed.
- Take all your medications exactly as prescribed.
- When you do have a hypoglycemic event, write it down. Include details such as the time, what you ate recently, whether you exercised, the symptoms and your glucose level.
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How To Treat Low Blood Sugar At Night
Having a low blood sugar at night is the worst. THE WORST! If you are treating your diabetes with insulin, you know what Im talking about. That feeling when you wake up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat and shaking due to low blood sugar.
Your whole body goes into stress mode, and all you can think about is EATING! I absolutely hate it, so I wanted to share my approach on how to treat low blood sugar at night with you guys.
What Should My Blood Sugar Be When I Wake Up
Checking your blood sugar first thing in the morning is important. In fact, fasting blood sugar readings really help you determine how to approach the rest of your day. You have to take steps considering how low or high your fasting blood sugar is, and understand how to set your morning target and what to do to achieve it. Let’s find out more about it.
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How Can You Tell The Difference
The Somogyi effect can occur any time you or your child has extra insulin in the body. To sort out whether an early morning high blood sugar level is caused by the dawn phenomenon or Somogyi effect, check blood sugar levels at bedtime, around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., and at your normal wake-up time for several nights. A continuous glucose monitor could also be used throughout the night.
- If the blood sugar level is low at 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., suspect the Somogyi effect.
- If the blood sugar level is normal or high at 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., it’s likely the dawn phenomenon.
How To Treat Someone Who’s Having A Seizure Or Fit
Follow these steps if someone has a seizure or fit caused by a low blood sugar level:
Tell your diabetes care team if you ever have a severe hypo that caused you to have a seizure or fit.
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How Does Your Body Manage Blood Sugar At Night
âYour body uses different types of energy in different ways at different times of day,â says Paul.
At night, your body uses less glucose because you are inactive. Instead, it burns more fat for energy, but it still needs glucose for vital bodily functions.
âYour brain relies almost exclusively on glucose for energy and still needs plenty of it even when youâre asleep,â explains Paul. âSo itâs very important to have a constant supply of glucose overnight.â
To ensure this happens, the body uses various biological feedback mechanisms, including hormones like insulin, which encourage your cells to remove sugar from your blood after you eat.
There is also glucagon, which tells your liver to produce more glucose from fat and other sources if your blood sugar is dipping.
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Low Blood Glucose During Sleep
Your blood glucose level can drop while you sleep and stay low for several hours, causing serious problems.7 Symptoms of low blood glucose while you sleep can include
- crying out or having nightmares
- sweating enough to make your pajamas or sheets damp
- feeling tired, irritable, or confused after waking up
Although you may not wake up or notice any symptoms, low blood glucose can interfere with your sleep, which may affect your quality of life, mood, and ability to work. Having low blood glucose during sleep can also make you less likely to notice and respond to symptoms of low blood glucose during the day.
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Surprising Reasons You Might Feel Sick In The Morning Even If You’re Not Pregnant
If you’re a woman, feeling sick in the morning is known as one of the first signs you’re pregnant. But it’s not the only reason you might feel queasy when you wake up.
- Nausea is sometimes a symptom of pregnancy, but people feel sick in the morning for many reasons.
- For instance, it could be down to diet, lack of sleep, or anxiety.
- Mild nausea can be treated with small changes, but if the problem persists, you should see a doctor.
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“When we hear about morning sickness, most people’s first thought is pregnancy,” said Dr. Janice Johnston, the chief medical officer and cofounder of healthcare provider Redirect Health. “This is because morning sickness is a very common side effect in pregnancy, specifically in the first trimester, affecting about 7 in 10 pregnant women.”
The reason morning sickness is so common is due to a particular hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG. The body starts producing HCG as soon as the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine lining, which results in a feeling of queasiness, nausea, and can cause vomiting.
According to medical professionals, morning sickness, or a general feeling of nausea can be caused by a wide variety of things, including diet, lifestyle, and mental wellbeing.