Step 9: Treat low blood sugar

Return to Index Step 1: What is Diabetes?Step 2: Who Gets Type 2 Diabetes?Step 3: How Do You Know if You Have Diabetes?Step 4: You're in Charge! Designing a Treatment Plan Step 5: Monitor Your Blood Sugar Step 6: Lose Weight and Follow the Right Diet Step 7: Exercise Step 8: Drugs and Insulin Step 9: Treat Low Blood Sugar Step 10: Avoid Long-Term Complications Key Points Glossary

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You've been reading about how to lower your blood sugar levels. It is possible for your blood sugar to go too low, however, especially with insulin or certain diabetes pills.

Low blood sugar, known as hypoglycemia, can occur as a result of treating your diabetes with insulin or certain pilss (those that cause extra insulin to be released). It is very important to avoid low blood sugar, if possible, and to know how to treat it if it occurs. Although you may have symptoms of hypoglycemia at higher sugar levels, treaetment is usually recommended when your blood sugar falls below 70mg/dl.

The most common causes of hypoglycemia are:

Taking too much insulin or diabetes medication
Not eating enough food at your meals or snacks
Missing or delaying your meal
Getting more exercise than usual, without changing your foods or medications.
Drinking alcohol without eating food

Certain symptoms will warn you that your blood sugar is getting dangerously low. Be on the lookout for:

Weakness
Feeling tired
Shaking
Sweating
Headache
Hunger
Nervousness or anxiety
Feeling irritable

What to do

If any of these symptoms occur and you have a blood sugar test kit available, check your blood sugar. (See Step 5: Monitor Your Blood Sugar.) If the level is low (less than 70mg/dl), you need to treat your low blood sugar right away. Eat one of the following sugar-containing foods, which will provide you with about 15 grams of carbohydrate:

3 glucose tablets
Half cup (4 ounces) of fruit juice or regular soda
6 or 7 hard candies
1 tablespoon of sugar

Wait about 15 minutes for the sugar to get into your blood, then check your blood sugar. This wait can be hard because of the uncomfortable symptoms you are feeling, but if you eat too much sugar, you will make your blood sugar go too high.

If you don't feel better in 15 minutes:

Eat something with sugar in it again.
Check your blood sugar. If it has come into a safer range (over 70mg/dl), and your meal is more than an hour away, eat a snack that contains carbohydrate and protein. Examples include either cheese and crackers or a glass of milk.

This combination of steps will almost always bring your blood sugar into the safe range. If it doesn't work, call your doctor right away.

In summary

This method of treating low blood sugars is called the 15:15 rule. Eat 15 grams of carbohydrate and wait 15 minutes.

Remember: Use simple sugar first to get the situation under control. Eating candy with a lot of fat (like chocolate) might seem like a good idea, but it won't bring your blood sugar up fast enough, and it may ultimately make your blood sugar go up too high.

People with diabetes should wear or carry I.D. information that emergency medical staff can find. If you are on medication that can cause hypoglycemia, always carry a sugar-containing snack like glucose tablets, hard candy, or raisins.

Review Date: 7/8/2012
Reviewed By: Nancy J. Rennert, MD, Chief of Endocrinology & Diabetes, Norwalk Hospital, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Previoulsy reviewed by Ari S. Eckman, MD, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. (5/13/2010)

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