Every person living with diabetes sometimes experiences hyperglycemia. There are too many variables from our controls to prevent hyperglycemia from occurring so far.
However, the best thing you can do when blood sugar spikes occur is to help you get down to normal range as quickly as possible.
Below are four things you can do to quickly lower your high blood sugar levels:
If you are taking insulin…
For people with diabetes who are taking insulin, insulin always plays a major role in how to correct hyperglycemia. There are a few things to keep in mind when using insulin to correct hyperglycemia.
First, check the ketones
If you live with insulin-dependent diabetes, hyperglycemia can be at risk for developing ketones. Blood glucose levels above 250 mg/dL, where insulin is too low, can quickly turn into diabetic ketosidosis (DKA) as soon as it continues to rise.
Test ketone urine and contact your doctor or visit an emergency care facility if you want to measure it with “medium to large” ketones.
In the presence of large ketones, correcting hyperglycemia with insulin via pumps or injections is not effective. Instead, intravenous fluid may be required for several hours.
If you have only moderate ketones or less, you may be able to fix it with insulin at home, but you may need a larger dose than usual. If you test positive for ketones and don’t know how to safely manage your situation, contact your healthcare team.
You can learn more in our guide: Which blood sugar levels are dangerous
Take corrective insulin dosage
People taking fast or rapid insulin – Novolog, Fumalog, Apidora, Fiasp, Admelog, Afezza – can take “corrected” doses to defeat hyperglycemia.
“Modification factors” are determined with the support of the healthcare team. This number tells you how fast or fast insulin by one unit lowers blood glucose levels. For example, a 1:50 correction factor means that one unit of insulin lowers blood glucose levels by 50 points.
Before taking additional doses, it is important to remember how much insulin you are loading into your bloodstream.
The fastest and fastest working insulin stays in the system for about 3-4 hours. This means that if you take additional insulin to add more, and you still have a significant amount of insulin from the latest doses, it can lead to severe hypoglycemia.
Also, don’t forget to give them a corrected dose of insulin for at least 2 hours to affect blood sugar before getting annoyed or receiving another injection. Blood glucose levels will not improve significantly for at least 1-2 hours (unless you use ultrafast insulin like Afrezza).
You will receive an intramuscular injection
Insulin was designed to inject into body fat, but if you have high blood sugar levels it can be helpful to inject “correction amount” of insulin into your muscles.
Insulin is injected into the muscles and absorbed faster. This is do not have What you should do every day – it will likely leave a bruise, and again, not how insulin should be taken due to your daily insulin needs. However, for those severely high levels (reading blood glucose levels above 250 mg/dL), it could be a useful option.
Discuss “intramuscular” injections with your healthcare team before adding them to your diabetes management regimen.
Consider using inhaled insulin
Afrezza is quick Inhalation Insulin can be very useful in treating hyperglycemia levels in some people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
Inhaled insulin is as effective at lowering blood sugar levels as regular insulin, but it works much faster.
While it probably doesn’t replace all insulin needs, many people use it in addition to regular insulin via syringes, pens, or insulin pumps, to help them work in the bloodstream.
It’s easy to use, but the results and experience of using it may vary from person to person.
For more information about Afrezza, contact our healthcare team.
Beware of hypoglycemia
Above all, remember that overtreatment of hyperglycemia with insulin and rolling it low is very easy. After that, you are seduced with devouring and rise again. This blood sugar roller coaster is exhausting – and dangerous.
Finding yourself on a blood sugar roller coaster often requires tweaking approaches to taking insulin and treatment for hypoglycemia. Work with your healthcare team to reduce and prevent these wild variability and ensure overall safety and quality of life!
Take the medicine you missed
Your doctor may have prescribed other medications to keep your blood sugar in a normal range. Make sure you haven’t missed the dose.
If you miss the dose, take it as soon as possible, unless you “double” the medication. This is not to take both doses that are too close if the missed dose is several hours ago and the next scheduled dose is 1 hour.
Taking two doses on top of each other can cause side effects with some medications. Instead, get your next scheduled dose now.
If you are in doubt, consult your medication packaging guide or contact your medical team.
Other things you can do
There are a few things you can do to reduce your hyperglycemia to a more rapid, healthier range without taking insulin. Let’s take a look.
Exercise (just 10 or 15 minutes)
Physical activity is a very effective way to reduce hyperglycemia.
If you are not taking insulin, Exercise can be a very simple approach to lowering hyperglycemia levels. Even a 15-minute walk can have a major impact on your blood sugar levels.
If you are taking insulin, It is important to know that even if your blood glucose is above 250 mg/dL and you don’t have enough insulin in your system, your blood glucose can actually rise further and put you at risk of developing ketones.
If you already use urine strips to test positive for ketones, do not have Try exercising and lowering your blood sugar levels. This increases ketone levels and puts stress on the body.
First, you will need a corrected dose of insulin, but if you are planning on exercise, your healthcare team may advise you to reduce the corrected dose by 50-75% to prevent subsequent hypoglycemia.
Drink water!
Dehydration can cause hyperglycemia Hydration It helps prevent and reduce high blood sugar.
Your blood is partially made up of water. If you don’t drink enough water all day, other things in your blood (like glucose) will be more concentrated! Therefore, higher blood sugar levels.
Do you know the unpleasant thirst you feel when your blood sugar levels are high? Give it to it. This is how your body can help wash away excess sugar through your urine, and how to replenish the liquid balance you need for your blood flow.
Do oral medications help to cure hyperglycemia?
All oral medications you take to help manage your diabetes (like metformin) will improve your blood sugar levels, but they do not take away the “extra dose” to fix your hyperglycemic levels from time to time.
But if you notice you Forgot it To take daily medications, this should be part of the process of defeating your high blood sugar.
Some medications can be taken late, and some medications may require you to wait until the next normal scheduled dose. Contact your healthcare team to determine if you can take diabetic medications to slow you down after missing your regular dose.
If you’re skipping this medication completely, it’s very likely that it’s a key contributor to why your blood sugar is high. These drugs are designed to improve blood sugar levels in a variety of ways.
Consult with your medical team to better understand the medications you have prescribed and the problems you are experiencing while taking them as directed.
When will I go to the ER?
If you have type 1 diabetes, glucose levels above 250 mg/dL with symptoms of large ketones and/or DKA are medical emergency and may require a trip to the ER due to intravenous fluid.
Let’s look at the symptoms of ketosis based on high ketone levels.
Small to medium ketones (ketone levels of 10-20 mg/dl):
- I increased my thirst
- Frequent urination
- Energy shortage
- I’m craving sugar
Large Ketones/DKA (ketone levels above 20 mg/dl):
- Serious nausea and vomiting
- Severe thirst
- Frequent urination
- Severe fatigue
- My blood sugar levels don’t get upset
- I’m craving sugar
- The smell of rotten fruit
If you are vomiting from a stomach bug, along with high blood sugar levels, you should absolutely Go to ER.
Preventing hyperglycemia
Anyone with diabetes can experience high blood sugar. To completely prevent them, there are too many variables from your control to the human body.
That being said, there are several glucose control guidelines that we can all follow to minimize the frequency of hyperglycemia.
- Avoid full sugar drinks such as soda, juice, coffee drinks, and iced tea.
- Choose your carbs carefully – starchy carbs like pasta, candies, breads, and desserts will make your blood sugar levels the most spike
- Take the medication as prescribed – and contact your medical team if you missed the dose to determine if you can slow it down
- Exercise Everyday – Even a 20-minute walk makes a huge difference every day
- Drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration
And of course, if hyperglycemia is a daily occurrence and you don’t know the cause, talk to your healthcare team about adjusting your diabetes management regimen. A slight increase in your medication can have a big impact!
FAQ
It depends on what you are doing to defeat it. Rapidly activated insulins such as Afezza start to lower blood sugar levels in just 15 minutes, but it takes about an hour for regular insulin to begin to lower blood sugar levels.
With oral diabetes medications, it takes several hours or more to get started. Therefore, there are insufficient options to treat emergency hyperglycemia.
There are no foods that lower your blood sugar levels. If you have to eat while your blood sugar levels are high, choose a small amount of protein or fat. Avoid carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, or fruit.
