Low Blood Sugars

The Diabetes Mall now has Accu-Chek Aviva Test Strips available! You can get 50 strips for $37.50, 100 strips for $68.50, and 150 strips for $111.50. These easy to handle test strips fill quickly with a tiny drop of blood. The Aviva test strips work with the Accu-Chek blood glucose meter.

Timesulin is a cap for insulin pens that shows users how long it's been since their last insulin injection. It is easy to forget when you last took a shot. Was it 10 minutes ago? An hour? 3 hours? Missing the shot can results in blood sugar highs, while taking an extra can result in blood sugar lows. Timesulin helps avoid these mistakes.

by John Walsh, P.A., C.D.E., and Ruth Roberts, M.A.
Copyright © 1997, 2001, 2005 by Diabetes Services, Inc.

One of the more distressing problems in diabetes is hypoglycemia unawareness. Normally, a person will feel warning symptoms when their blood sugar goes low, such as shaking and sweating caused by release of stress hormones. However, those with hypoglycemia unawareness have reduced warning signals and do not recognize they are low. Even if they happen to do a blood sugar test they may not realize what they need to do to treat the low. Luckily, stress hormone release is usually adequate to eventually raise the glucose level, although this may take several hours to work.

Treatment Tips For The Person With Diabetes

Avoid low blood sugars through careful management of insulin doses and carbohydrate intake. This is always the best strategy and is particularly important for people on insulin who live alone. However, even with the best of efforts, hypoglycemia does happen. When a low blood sugar occurs, the following tips can help in treating it quickly and effectively:

Unless you are eating a meal right away, the best treatment for lows is a combination of simple and complex carbohydrates plus some protein. Quickly treating lows lessens stress hormone release and lowers the chance of the blood sugar going high after a reaction. You'll feel better if the body is quickly resupplied with the fuel it needs. Your brain, muscles and other cells will thank you for not prolonging their misery.

For better blood sugars and fewer lows, test often and review your readings once a week for patterns of lows or highs (or both). Identify problems first, then consider their causes and how to correct them. Make one change at a time and correct lows first. If you need any advice at all about how to correct a problem, be sure to call your physician or nurse educator right away. Do not let control problems linger as they usually turn into larger problems.

A low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia or an insulin reaction, is defined as a blood glucose level below 60 to 70 mg/dl. It is usually companied by one or more of the symptoms described below. Low blood sugars or insulin reactions can occur whenever insulin is used. Although less frequent, it can also occur with use of drugs that stimulate insulin production in Type 2 diabetes, such as Diabenese, Glyburide, Glipizide, and Starlix.

A low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia or an insulin reaction, is defined as a blood glucose level below 60 to 70 mg/dl. People on insulin are often concerned that excess insulin may drive their blood sugar too low. Mild lows can be annoying or embarrassing, while severe lows can be dangerous.

Learn to control your diabetes with flexible insulin therapy (FIT). Why flexible insulin therapy? Think for a second and the answer is clear---that's what everyone else's pancreas is doing. Insulin is given in varying amounts depending on the need at that moment.