Hypoglycemia or Low Blood Sugar Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Hypoglycemia or Low Blood Sugar Details
Hypoglycemia can cause serious problems, from dizziness and palpitations to seizures and loss of consciousness.
When the amount of glucose or sugar in the blood falls below the normal level, it is called hypoglycemia. Many know it as 'Hypo' for short. Hypoglycemia occurs primarily in patients with diabetes, especially those requiring insulin. On the other hand, increased blood sugar levels are called hyperglycemia.
Hypoglycemia can cause serious problems, from dizziness and palpitations to seizures and loss of consciousness. So it is important to identify the symptoms of 'hypo' and start treatment quickly. It is usually possible to treat it yourself at home.
Today we will know from this post
- Hypoglycemia or Low Blood Sugar Symptoms
- Causes Of Hypoglycemia or Low Blood Sugar
- What to do about low blood sugar
- Ways to prevent low blood sugar
Low Blood Sugar Symptoms
Symptoms of hypoglycemia can vary from person to person. If you have a history of frequent low blood sugar, you may be able to tell if you are experiencing hypoglycemia by observing the symptoms yourself. However, your symptoms may also vary over time.
Some of the early signs of low blood sugar are: If not treated quickly, serious problems such as seizures and loss of consciousness can occur.
Early symptoms are:
- Excessive sweating
- Feeling tired
- Head turning
- Feeling hungry
- Pins and needles around the lips
- Trembling in the body
- Chest palpitations
- Being easily upset, tearful, agitated or cranky
- Turning pale
If treatment is not started on time, some other symptoms may appear. For example –
- Weakness
- Blurred vision
- Difficulty concentrating on work
- Confusion
- Incoherent behavior, slurred speech, and loss of balance (such as when drunk)
- sleepy sleepy
- convulsions
- Fainting or fainting
The patient may become 'hypo' even during sleep. This results in the following symptoms –
Sleeplessness at night
headache
feeling tired
Wetting the bed sheets from excessive sweating throughout the night
In addition to these symptoms, if blood sugar is less than 4 points (mmol/l) when diabetes is measured at home, treatment should be started immediately.
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| Hypoglycemia or Low Blood Sugar Symptoms, Causes And Treatment |
Causes of low blood sugar
The main reasons why the blood sugar level of diabetic patients becomes 'hypo' are-
- Drug effects—especially diabetes medications, insulin in excess, sulfonylureas (eg glibenclamide and gliclazide) and glinides (eg repaglinide and nateglinide) or hepatitis C medications
- Skipping meals or eating late
- Not eating enough sugary foods during meals. For example: rice, bread, potatoes, bread, pasta and fruits
- Exercising—especially strenuous exercise, heavy work, or unplanned exercise
- Excessive alcohol consumption or drinking alcohol on an empty stomach
Sometimes there is no clear cause for low blood sugar. Sometimes even people without diabetes can have low blood sugar.
Apart from diabetes, there are other causes of low blood sugar
People who do not have diabetes do not usually have hypoglycemia. But apart from diabetes, other causes of low blood sugar include—
- Excess insulin release in the body after eating. This condition is caused by various reasons including stomach surgery. In this case, symptoms of hypoglycemia usually appear 4 hours after eating a sugary meal.
- Abstinence or fasting
- Malnutrition
- Pregnancy complications
- Gastric bypass surgery (an operation on the stomach for weight loss)
- Uncontrolled alcohol consumption
- Various physical problems. For example –
- Hormonal problems
- Pancreatic disease
- liver problems
- Kidney disease
- Various health problems such as adrenal gland disease or heart disease
- Some medicine Eg: quinine used to treat malaria
If symptoms of hypoglycemia occur repeatedly, a doctor should be consulted. The doctor will suggest some simple tests to determine if the blood sugar level has actually gone down. Also try to find out what is causing these symptoms.
What to do when sugar drops
If blood sugar drops below 4 points or symptoms of hypoglycemia occur, do the following—
Step 1: Eat sugary foods or drink sugary drinks
Have a small glass of soft drink (eg Coke or Seven Up) or fruit juice. Alternatively, eat a small handful of sweets or three to six glucose or dextrose tablets. If you have a tube of glucose gel at home, take two tubes of gel by mouth.
Step 2: Measure your blood sugar after 10 minutes
If it is 4 points or higher and you feel better than before, go to step 3. If blood sugar is still below 4 points, go back to step 1 and eat a sugary drink or food. Check blood sugar again after 10-15 minutes.
Step 3: If it is already time for you to eat, then eat. In this case, you should choose foods that slowly supply sugar to the body.
The food can be flour bread (red flour bread is better), khichuri cooked with pulses and vegetables, red rice or oats. You can eat cow's milk or curd with them. In this case it is better to choose low-fat milk and curd.
If it's not time to eat, eat a sugary snack. Breakfast can be a piece of bread (wholegrain is best), a few biscuits or a glass of cow's milk.
If you feel better than before or have only a handful of hypoglycemia symptoms, you usually won't need to go to the hospital. But if you have repeated hypoglycemia or you have no symptoms even after your blood sugar has dropped, you should contact your doctor.
How to treat someone who has fainted
First place the patient in a special position called 'recovery position' as described below. Then arrange for the patient to be taken to hospital as soon as possible.
Avoid giving any kind of food in the patient's mouth in order not to get anything stuck in the patient's throat when he is lethargic.
Ways to place the patient in the recovery position
Getting the patient into this position as directed is somewhat challenging. But doing it right can reduce the chances of the patient suffocating. Below are the nine steps for placing the patient in the recovery position—
- Place the patient on his back.
- Kneel to one side of the patient. Bend the patient's arm, which is near you, at right angles to the patient's body. That is, place the patient's arm horizontally along the shoulder. Keep it like this so that the palm of the hand is facing upwards.
- The other hand of the patient should be folded in a special way. For this you place the patient's other hand on the cheek where the patient is sitting. Fold the patient's hand so that the back of the hand rests on the patient's cheek. Now hold the patient's hand on his cheek with one of your hands...
- Now bend the patient's knee away from you. Bend the patient's knee to a 90 degree angle or right angle with your free hand.
- Hold the patient's bent knee and carefully pull the patient to one side. Tilt so that the patient is facing you. The lower leg should be longer.
- It should be ensured that the patient's folded i.e. hand placed on the cheek keeps the head balanced. The patient's other arm i.e. the arm placed horizontally will prevent excessive tilting to one side.
- Ensure that the bent knee remains at right angles even after the patient is tilted.
- Gently tilt the patient's head back and hold the snout up. Open the airway like this. Note if anything is obstructing breathing.
- Keep the patient under constant observation until arrangements are made to take the patient to the hospital.
Note, if you have a glucagon injection at hand and you know how to administer it, place the patient in the recovery position and give this injection. But if the patient has consumed alcohol before becoming 'hypo' then it should be avoided.
If the condition does not improve within 10 minutes after the injection, the patient should be taken to the hospital urgently.
If the patient regains consciousness and feels well within 10 minutes of injection, monitor the patient's condition. If he can eat properly, give him a sugary snack. For snacks, choose a piece of bread or toast (wholegrain is best), a few biscuits or a glass of cow's milk.
Even if the patient regains consciousness, the patient should be admitted to the hospital in the following two cases—
- If vomiting
- If blood sugar drops again
It is important to tell your doctor if you ever lose consciousness due to severe hypoglycemia.
How to treat someone having a seizure
If someone has a seizure due to low blood sugar, follow these steps—
- Stay with the patient. Make sure he doesn't get hurt. Place the patient on something soft. Keep the patient away from all dangerous objects. For example: roads, stoves, heaters, radiators and exposed electrical connections.
- If the seizure lasts longer than five minutes, arrange for the patient to be taken to hospital urgently.
- When the seizure stops, allow the patient to eat sugary foods and follow the usual procedures for treating hypoglycemia.
It is important to tell your doctor if you have ever had a seizure due to severe hypoglycemia.
Home remedies to prevent low blood sugar
Diabetics can reduce the risk of hypoglycemia by following the following six tips—
- Blood sugar levels should be measured regularly. Be aware of the symptoms of low blood sugar. In this way, if the symptoms of hypoglycemia appear, it will be possible to avoid serious complications by starting treatment quickly
- Always have some sugary food or drink with you. For example: glucose or dextrose tablets, fruit juice, some sweets or lozenges. If there is a glucagon injection kit, it should always be carried
- No meal can be skipped. Every meal should be taken at the right time. Breakfast in particular cannot be skipped in any way. Consult your doctor if you follow any special diet.
- Be careful while exercising. Eating sugary snacks before exercise helps reduce the risk of hypo. It may be necessary to reduce the dose of some diabetes medications, including insulin, before or after vigorous exercise. Find out more about this from the doctor
- In particular, patients using insulin may become hypo during sleep. To prevent this from happening, have a sugary snack like a biscuit or a piece of bread before going to bed.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.
If your blood sugar drops frequently, consult your doctor to find out how to prevent it.
Low blood sugar and driving
You may be able to drive if you have low blood sugar due to diabetes or another disease. But in this case it is very important to take some extra precautions to avoid danger.
Diabetic patients may have to drive vehicles (eg: CNG, automobiles, pickups, buses and trucks) for professional reasons or for daily commuting. In this case the following three things should be ensured to avoid the risk of hypoglycemia-
- Measure blood sugar level within 2 hours before driving
- Measure blood sugar level after 2 hours after driving for a long time
- Carry sugary snacks and sugary foods like banana or flour bread when starting the journey
If it seems that the sugar level has reduced to 'hypo' while moving then -
- Stop the car at a safe place
- Remove the key and shut off the car
- Get out of the driver's seat
- Blood sugar level should be measured with the help of glucometer. If hypoglycemia occurs, seek immediate medical attention
- Do not drive until you feel normal for at least 45 minutes
Driving with low blood sugar puts yourself as well as others at serious risk. So if you feel unwell or have symptoms of hypoglycemia, avoid driving and seek medical attention immediately. Discuss this in detail with your doctor and take the right steps.
