If you live with diabetes, experiencing hyperglycemia from time to time is a part of life.
However, many people don’t know how hyperglycemia actually feels until glucose levels are dangerously high.
In this article, we explore the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar, what you feel like when it’s high, and what you can do to defeat it right away.
What are hyperglycemic levels?
What is considered hyperglycemia varies from person to person, but fasting glucose above 125 mg/dL is generally considered diabetes.
Most people with diabetes begin to experience symptoms of hyperglycemia of 180-200 mg/dL.
Blood glucose levels above 200 mg/dL should be treated with insulin.
Blood glucose above 250 mg/dL requires a ketone urine test to rule out diabetic ketosidosis (DKA).
DKA is a dangerous acute complication of diabetes and can be fatal if not treated immediately.
What are the symptoms of hyperglycemia?
Symptoms may also vary from person to person.
The early symptoms of hyperglycemia include:
- Extreme thirst
- Frequent urination
- Dry the mouth
- Fatigue
- headache
- Painful muscles
- Small changes in vision
Symptoms of long-term hyperglycemia include:
- nausea
- vomiting
- A blurred vision/transformation into visual
- Fruity scented breath
- confusion
- Weight loss
- I washed my face
- Panel
Leaving long-term hyperglycemia without treatment can lead to dehydration of the body, causing electrolyte imbalance, and DKA that makes the blood acidic.
In this state, it is extremely difficult to lower your blood sugar levels.
Emergency medical assistance is needed to slow and safely lower blood sugar levels to avoid complications and death.
What are the signs you may have chronic hyperglycemia?
Otherwise, people with diabetes can suffer from chronic hyperglycemia levels.
You may have blood glucose levels that are outside your normal range, but they are not high enough to be considered a medical emergency.
Sometimes chronic moderately high blood glucose levels may not have detectable symptoms.
This is the case of diabetes and ladha (potential autoimmune diabetes in adults), which is slow to onset.
Additionally, many people with type 2 diabetes may struggle for years with higher than normal blood sugar levels, which are not yet on insulin.
If you are not testing your blood glucose levels frequently, this may not be detected.
Long-term, moderately hyperglycemia levels can lead to diabetic complications such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
It may even lead to amputation of low legs and early death.
Keep these signs of chronic moderate hyperglycemia levels in mind.
- Swelling/bleeding gum
- Slowly healing wounds
- Yeast infection
- Dry skin/blisters
- Throbbing and numbness in the hands and feet
If you are at high risk for prediabetes or diabetes, contact your doctor if you are unable to tolerate any of the aforementioned symptoms for more than two weeks.
You can take a diabetes test or buy over-the-counter glucometers at your local pharmacy to test your blood sugar levels at home.
What is high blood sugar like?
High blood sugar can be described as splitting pain throughout the body, bare thirst and headaches.
Other symptoms may take longer to develop, but symptoms can be hit quickly.
Some people develop dry eyes and feel like they just squeeze them.
People feel the need to urinate frequently, which dehydrates them and repeats the cycle of thirst and polyuria.
If this is left unprocessed for several weeks, people will start to lose weight rapidly and their vision will become blurry.
Some people become extremely tired, lethargic and develop flu-like symptoms.
Once blood sugar levels return to normal range, many symptoms begin to resolve.
Although your blood sugar levels are high, take insulin (if prescribed) and drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and stay hydrated.
If your blood glucose level does not fall below 250 mg/dL, or if you have moderate to high levels of ketones for more than a few hours despite treatment, contact your doctor.
How can I quickly reduce my hyperglycemia?
If you are diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes, taking insulin is the fastest way to lower your blood sugar levels. If it’s not prescribed to you, don’t take insulin.
Additionally, if you are experiencing insulin resistance and hyperglycemia (due to hormonal changes and fatty diets you’ve eaten recently), drink plenty of water.
Finally, a little exercise can help lower your blood sugar levels faster. Just walking or riding a bike is also useful.
Read more: How to quickly lower your hyperglycemia
Do all people experience high blood sugar levels?
no. Not everyone experiences hypoglycemia (hypothermia).
Your body will become accustomed to the range of blood sugar levels.
When blood glucose levels are usually high, you may not be able to feel a blood glucose level of 200 mg/dL, like people who regularly maintain their glucose level at 80 mg/dL.
This is why it is very important to test your blood glucose levels regularly with either a glucometer or a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).
Try tracking and treating hyperglycemia before it becomes dangerous due to insulin resistance.
Furthermore, more than 80% of people with prediabetics don’t even know they have a condition.
This is because blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not as high as it constitutes a diagnosis of diabetes.
In many cases, it is difficult to detect moderately hyperglycemia levels.
What are the signs that my blood sugar level is dangerously high?
If you think you have dangerously high blood sugar, always test your blood sugar on a glucometer.
If your blood sugar level is above 250 mg/dL, test your ketones.
If you have both hyperglycemia and ketones, you should be especially careful about lowering your blood sugar levels to avoid developing DKA.
If you are vomiting, experiencing blurred vision or changes in vision, breathing with a fruity scent, or feeling confused or confused, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
How long does it take for me to feel better after high blood sugar?
Most people feel better from acute hyperglycemia within a few hours.
Sometimes people can have side effects from hyperglycemia for the majority of the day.
However, symptoms usually disappear immediately after blood sugar levels return to normal range.
If your blood sugar levels are high for a long time (for days or weeks) and you are experiencing ketones, especially if you are hospitalized, it can take a long time to feel better.
During your hospitalization, your doctor will rehydrate you and help you rebalance the electrolyte.
It may take several weeks to recover from hyperglycemia levels that have been hospitalized or DKA.
Can drinking a lot of water reduce blood sugar levels?
Drinking water alone won’t lower your blood sugar levels.
Taking insulin alone can collapse.
However, if you are taking insulin, maintaining hydration with drinking water can help you reduce your blood sugar levels faster than if you are dehydrated.
Dehydration can also lead to insulin resistance, which can lead to slow, stubborn processes in blood sugar levels.
Water helps lower blood sugar levels by: When blood glucose levels are high, the body tries to flush excess glucose out of the blood through the urine.
That’s why frequent urination is a common symptom of hyperglycemia.
Drinking excess water can help the kidneys flush out some of the excess glucose from the blood into the urine.
