What Is Normal Blood Sugar For Type 2 Diabetes

Remedies For Low Blood Sugar Levels

If you experience any of the low sugar symptoms, immediately test your blood glucose levels. For levels between 60 to 80 mg/dL, consume 15 grams of fast-acting carbs. Repeat the test after 15 minutes and eat till sugar levels settle to normal.

But if the levels are below 50 mg/dL and if the patient is conscious and able to eat, give 15 gm. of fast-acting carbs. But if the patient is unable to speak, dont give anything to eat. Call emergency services immediately. If possible, administer glucagon via injection.

Are Some Canadians At Higher Risk For Elevated Blood Sugar Levels Than Others

You may have a higher risk for elevated blood sugars and type 2 diabetes if you:

• Are 40 or years of age or older
• Have a close relative with diabetes
• Are of African, Arab, Asian, Hispanic, Indigenous or South Asian descent
• Are overweight
• Have been diagnosed with prediabetes

Some medical conditions can also increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, such as:

• High blood pressure or cholesterol levels
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• Psychiatric disorders
• Sleep apnea

A Few More Things Related To Blood Sugars

Remember that there is no healthy number, per se. You are shooting for your blood sugars to be in a target range, so you have a little leeway. It is important to get your blood sugars into your target range. This is due to the target ranges for blood sugars coincide with the blood sugar target range that prevents the long-term complications of diabetes.

For blood sugar, over 250 mg/dl for two readings, or for low blood sugar that is not over 80 mg/dl after several attempts to correct the low blood sugar with quick acting carbohydrates, assistance may be needed. For the high blood sugar, a patient should call their primary care provider, or the provider on call if it is on the weekend. If a low blood sugar will not come up after two attempts, a 911 call may be warranted. Remember to post your comments down below.

TheDiabetesCouncil Article | Reviewed by Dr. Christine Traxler MD on May 21, 2020

References

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How Can I Check My Blood Sugar

Use a blood sugar meter or a continuous glucose monitor to check your blood sugar. A blood sugar meter measures the amount of sugar in a small sample of blood, usually from your fingertip. A CGM uses a sensor inserted under the skin to measure your blood sugar every few minutes. If you use a CGM, youll still need to test daily with a blood sugar meter to make sure your CGM readings are accurate.

How To Measure Blood Sugar Levels

There are two main ways to check your blood sugar levels:

Type 1 diabetics, along with some type 2 diabetics, who require insulin medication, must check their blood sugar at least four times per day, says Mathioudakis. Typically, this should be done before a meal, one to two hours after a meal, and at bedtime.

The timing of these measurements can help determine how much insulin to use. For example, it can be important to use more insulin after a high-sugar meal, or to avoid falling into hypoglycemia while you’re sleeping.

To check your blood sugar at home, you should use blood glucose tests, such as a glucose meter or continuous glucose monitor . Both devices measure blood sugar with the unit mg/dL, which means a milligram of sugar per deciliter of blood.

If you don’t have diabetes, but you may be at risk, your doctor might have you take an A1C test during a yearly check-up. This test reports results as a percentage the higher the percentage, the higher your blood sugar has been in the past three months. Those with diabetes should get an A1C test at least twice a year and sometimes every three months.

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What If I Have Trouble Getting To My Blood Sugar Goals

There may be times when you have trouble reaching your blood sugar goals. This does not mean that you have failed. It means that you and your health care team should see if changes are needed. Call your health care team if your blood sugar is often too high or too low. Taking action will help you be healthy today and in the future.

Metformin But Normal Blood Sugar

Ive been taking a break from TTC for a couple of months beacuse I was just becoming a little obsessive with the whole thing Anyway, I recently saw my OB again and after running all my hormone blood work again and doing another ultrasound, she said all my blood work was normal and my Ultrasoud also looked fine. But, why the long/irregular/annovulatory cycles?? Recently theyve been anywhere from 40-70 days! Ive been temping and my temps are so erratic and dont indicate ovulation, even though I gear up to ovualte many times. Soooo, my OB wanted me to start 500mg of metformin 2x/day for some time then possibly start on clomid. She said even though my bloodowork and U/s was normal she wants to treat it as PCOS..? Now, my question is, my bloodwork for blood sugar was done and was completely normal. Has anyone else taken metformin for irregular cycles? Did it work? How about metformin + clomid? Im just looking for anyone thats been though the same and has more experience! Theres no reason for the irregular cycles and Im not sure about just taking metformin with no high blood sugar levels. Obviously, something is causing the cycles to be crazy, just dont know what it is: and difficult conceiving. It has other symptoms such as issues with weight, mood swings, craving for sweets and carbs, unusual hair growth or hair loss, along with many other things. It is a very difficult disease, especially if you want a famContinue reading > >

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Normal Blood Sugar Levels After Eating For Diabetics

The American Diabetes Association recommends that the blood sugar 1 to 2 hours after the beginning of a meal be less than 180 mg/dl for most nonpregnant adults with diabetes. This is typically the peak, or highest, blood sugar level in someone with diabetes. Again, this target may need to be individualized for certain people based on such factors as duration of diabetes, age and life expectancy, cognitive status, other health conditions, cardiovascular complications, and hypoglycemia unawareness. Its important that people with diabetes discuss their target blood sugar goals with their healthcare provider.

Diagnosing Type 2 Diabetes In Adults

NYU Langone doctors are experts at identifying people with type 2 diabetes, a condition in which a person has chronically high levels of blood sugar. It occurs when the body lacks or is resistant to insulin, a hormone that helps the body use glucose, or sugar. As a result, the body is unable to convert glucose into energy.

In prediabetes, a person has higher-than-normal levels of blood sugar, which increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. To help the body use some of the excess blood sugar levels, the pancreas produces more insulin. Over time, prediabetes may progress into type 2 diabetes.

In most people, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes develop gradually. If you have prediabetes and take steps to prevent type 2 diabetes, you may be able to avoid it altogether.

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What Are Target Blood Sugar Levels For People With Diabetes

A target is something that you aim for or try to reach. Your health care team may also use the term goal. People with diabetes have blood sugar targets that they try to reach at different times of the day. These targets are:

• Right before your meal: 80 to 130
• Two hours after the start of the meal: Below 180

Talk with your health care team about what blood sugar numbers are right for you.

Can I Check My Own Blood Sugar

You can do blood sugar level check by doing a finger-prick test, by using a blood sugar monitor called a flash glucose monitor or with a continuous glucose monitor . You can do this several times a day helping you keep an eye on your levels as you go about your life and help you work out what to eat and how much medication to take. Find out your ideal target range.

Not everyone with diabetes needs to check their levels like this. Youll need to if you take certain diabetes medication. Always talk to your healthcare team if youre not sure whether thats you theyll give you advice on whether to check them yourself and how often.

And theres also something called an HbA1c, which is a blood test to measure your average blood sugar level over the last three months. Everyone with diabetes is entitled to this check.

High blood sugar levels increase your risk of developing serious complications. However you manage your diabetes, stay in the know about your blood sugar levels

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When Is Blood Sugar Considered To Be Too High Or Too Low

Slight fluctuations in blood sugar levels are completely normal, and also happen every day in people who dont have diabetes, in response to the food they eat. Between around 60 and 140 milligrams of sugar per deciliter of blood is considered to be healthy. This is equivalent to a blood sugar concentration of between 3.3 and 7.8 mmol/l. Millimoles per liter is the unit that blood sugar is measured in. It describes the amount of a certain substance per liter.

If someone has readings over 7.8 mmol/l , they are considered to have hyperglycemia. These high blood sugar levels mainly occur if there isn’t enough insulin or the insulin doesn’t work properly. Without the effect of insulin, the organs can’t make good use of the sugar in the blood, so the sugar builds up. If type 1 diabetes is left untreated, blood sugar levels can increase to over 27.8 mmol/l . Such high levels tend to be uncommon in type 2 diabetes.

Blood sugar levels below 3.3 mmol/l are considered to be too low. But, as you can see in the illustration below, there are no clear-cut borders between normal blood sugar levels and too high or too low blood sugar levels.

Blood sugar: Normal range between hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia

Controlling Blood Glucose Levels

Uncontrolled blood sugar can result in regular episodes of hyperglycemia . This can cause a variety of symptoms including:

• Dry mouth
• Nausea
• Fatigue

These symptoms are uncomfortable to experience but there are things you can do at home to reduce your blood sugar. In terms of drinks, water is the best as it will help to maintain hydration and dilute excess sugar in the blood. Also, try to add more fiber to your diet to reduce your blood sugar apples, bananas, oranges, and strawberries are all fibrous fruits.

However, uncontrolled blood sugar levels can also lead to more severe, long term disease. Poorly managed diabetes leads to vision loss, kidney problems, nerve damage, heart attack, and stroke. Therefore, if your blood sugar level reaches 16.7mmol/L, this could be dangerous and you need to seek immediate medical attention.

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What Should I Do If My Blood Sugar Gets Too Low

Low blood sugar is also called hypoglycemia . It means your blood sugar level drops below 70. Having low blood sugar is dangerous and needs to be treated right away. Anyone with diabetes can have low blood sugar. You have a greater chance of having low blood sugar if you take insulin or certain pills for diabetes.

Carry supplies for treating low blood sugar with you. If you feel shaky, sweaty, or very hungry, check your blood sugar. Even if you feel none of these things, but think you may have low blood sugar, check it.

If your meter shows that your blood sugar is lower than 70, do one of the following things right away:

• chew 4 glucose tablets
• drink 4 ounces of fruit juice
• drink 4 ounces of regular soda, not diet soda or
• chew 4 pieces of hard candy

After taking one of these treatments, wait for 15 minutes, then check your blood sugar again. Repeat these steps until your blood sugar is 70 or above. After your blood sugar gets back up to 70 or more, eat a snack if your next meal is 1 hour or more away.

If you often have low blood sugar, check your blood sugar before driving and treat it if it is low.

How Can I Treat High Blood Sugar

Talk to your doctor about how to keep your blood sugar levels within your target range. Your doctor may suggest the following:

• Be more active. Regular exercise can help keep your blood sugar levels on track. Important: dont exercise if ketones are present in your urine. This can make your blood sugar go even higher.
• Take medicine as instructed. If your blood sugar is often high, your doctor may change how much medicine you take or when you take it.
• Follow your diabetes meal plan. Ask your doctor or dietitian for help if youre having trouble sticking to it.
• Check your blood sugar as directed by your doctor. Check more often if youre sick or if youre concerned about high or low blood sugar.
• Talk to your doctor about adjusting how much insulin you take and what types of insulin to use.

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Are There Different Recommendations For Blood Sugar Levels In Other Countries

The recommended blood sugar level ranges in countries around the world are very similar. However, there are two different units of measurement that are used when referring to blood sugars, depending on where you live: millimoles per litre and milligrams per decilitre .

The mmol/L measurement is used here in Canada, as well as England, Australia and China, while mg/dL is used in such countries as the United States, France, Japan, Israel and India.

To convert mmol/L to mg/dl, simply multiply by 18. For example, a blood sugar level of 5.0 mmol/L would mean a level of 90 mg/dL .

Here are blood sugar recommendations from some countries other than Canada:

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• Managing Type 2 Diabetes

Remember, the normal fasting blood glucose level is between 70 and 110 mg/dL.

Frequent Measurements of Blood Glucose. The goal in this part of diabetes management is to strive to keep fasting blood sugars under 140 mg/dL and preferably closer to the 70 to 120 mg/dL range.

Ideally, one could monitor blood sugars 4 times per day to follow how well the sugars are controlled. This information could be used to adjust your diet and medications to achieve this goal. Usually blood glucose measurements are done before each meal and at bedtime.

Occasionally a doctor may want a patient with diabetes to test their blood sugar at 2:00 am to assess what the blood sugar is doing overnight. Generally, it is desirable to have blood sugars at 2:00 am run greater than 65 mg/dL to avoid overnight hypoglycemia .

It is very desirable for patients to keep a diary of these blood sugar measurements since this information will be a great help to the treating physician as he/she makes decisions regarding how best to treat the diabetes.

Bring this diary with you when you go to your doctor as s/he will be quite pleased but don’t alter or fudge your results in an attempt to please your doctor this will prevent the appropriate changes to be made in your management.

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Tests For Gestational Diabetes

Gestational diabetes is diagnosed using blood tests. Youll probably be tested between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. If your risk is higher for getting gestational diabetes , your doctor may test you earlier. Blood sugar thats higher than normal early in your pregnancy may indicate you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes rather than gestational diabetes.

Is Hyperglycaemia Serious

The aim of diabetes treatment is to keep blood sugar levels as near to normal as possible.

But if you have diabetes, no matter how careful you are, you’re likely to experience hyperglycaemia at some point.

It’s important to be able to recognise and treat hyperglycaemia, as it can lead to serious health problems if left untreated.

Occasional mild episodes are not usually a cause for concern and can be treated quite easily or may return to normal on their own.

But hyperglycaemia can be potentially dangerous if blood sugar levels become very high or stay high for long periods.

Very high blood sugar levels can cause life-threatening complications, such as:

• diabetic ketoacidosis a condition caused by the body needing to break down fat as a source of energy, which can lead to a diabetic coma this tends to affect people with type 1 diabetes
• hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state severe dehydration caused by the body trying to get rid of excess sugar this tends to affect people with type 2 diabetes

Regularly having high blood sugar levels for long periods of time can result in permanent damage to parts of the body such as the eyes, nerves, kidneys and blood vessels.

If you experience hyperglycaemia regularly, speak to your doctor or diabetes care team.

You may need to change your treatment or lifestyle to keep your blood sugar levels within a healthy range.

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