Having high blood sugar levels can be discomforting and many people wish to know what they can do to help to bring down high blood glucose levels.
We look at some of the options for lowering blood glucose in the short term.
High blood sugar is commonly known as hyperglycemia.
What are the signs of high blood sugar?
The classic symptoms of high blood glucose levels are:
- Feeling very thirsty
- Needing to go the toilet often
- Having a dry mouth
- Feeling tired/lethargic
- Feeling uncomfortable and irritable
Check your blood sugar
If you take medication that may cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), it’s highly advisable to check your blood sugar levels before you try to bring your sugar levels down.
This is just in case your blood sugar is normal or low, which can be the case in some situations.
- What should my blood glucose levels be?
Testing of blood sugar before bringing your levels down is particularly important if you take insulin.
When to call for medical advice
It is important to note that very high blood glucose levels can be dangerous and it is important to be aware of the symptoms and risk factors of the following conditions:
- Diabetic ketoacidosis – a short term complication most commonly associated with type 1 diabetes
- Hyperosmolar Hyperglycaemic State – a short term complication most commonly associated with type 2 diabetes
If you are struggling to keep your blood glucose levels under control, speak to your GP or consultant who can advise you or refer you onto a diabetes education course.
Correcting high blood sugar levels with insulin
If you take insulin, one way to reduce blood sugar is to inject insulin.
However, be careful as insulin can take 4 hours or longer to be fully absorbed, so you need to make sure you take into account how much insulin you may already have in your body that is yet to be absorbed by the blood. Insulin that is yet to be absorbed by the blood is called ‘active insulin’.
If you decide to correct with insulin, watch you don’t over correct as this can lead to hypoglycemia and can be dangerous, particularly so before bed.
Walking
Exercise can help to lower blood sugar and walking is a good way of achieving this.
It might make sense that exercising harder would have a better effect on lowering blood sugar therefore but this is not always the case as strenuous exercise can produce a stress response which causes the body to raise blood glucose levels. This response does tend to vary from person.
Drinking more water
When your blood sugar levels are running high, your body will try to flush excess sugar out of your blood through the urine. As a result, your body will need more fluids to rehydrate itself. Drinking water can help the body with flushing out some of the glucose in the blood.
Just a word of caution to be sensible with drinking water; water intoxication (which can result in death) is possible if a number of litres water are drunk in a short space of time. This is rare and quite difficult to manage but it pays to be aware of this.
Reflect on the amount of sugar in your diet
Hyperglycemia occurs when there is too much glucose in the blood.
- Low-carb diet for 12 weeks put type 2 diabetes into remission
- Low carb in type 1 diabetes improves glucose level variability, new study shows
Therefore, one way of reducing your blood glucose levels is reflecting on where sugar may be consumed in the diet. Think about any refined and processed foods that may be in your diet as these are often high in sugar. This can be achieved through a low carbohydrate diet.
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Anyone living with diabetes knows how fickle the blood sugar level can get. You might be having a regular day at work but sudden emotional stress can trigger a spike in your blood sugar level hyperglycemia and send you off-tangent.
You may experience nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath in the body. A sudden spike in blood sugar level is a medical emergency and needs immediate attention.
What Causes Sudden Fluctuation in Blood Glucose Levels?
As mentioned above, emotional stress is a frontrunner when it comes to any fluctuation in blood glucose levels. Apart from that, the following may also trigger a sudden spike in hyperglycemia:
How Much Sugar Level is Dangerous?
According to research, Sugar level over 300 mg/dL is considered high if your urine tests positive for ketones. If your sugar level is this high, you should immediately contact your doctor or rush yourself to an ER.
Especially if you have nausea, dizziness, or mental confusion. As sugar levels as high as this puts you at risk for slipping into a coma.
Why Are Ketone Levels Important?
When there is a lack of appropriate amount of insulin in the bloodstream, the liver starts breaking down the stored fat to generate energy.
When that happens, too many ketones are produced which may then lead to Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) which is a medical emergency.
You may experience shortness of breath, fruity-smelling breath, nausea, vomiting, and extreme dryness of the mouth.
While some foods consumed over a long span of time help reduce or normalize your blood sugar. In case of hyperglycemia at such a level, no foods will help instantly lower blood sugar.
But we are listing down othher measures that you can take. Keep reading.
If you have type 2 diabetes, keeping your blood sugar levels under check is quite imperative. But at times, lowering blood sugar becomes immediately necessary to avoid potentially life-threatening complications.
Some of the ways you can handle this situation are discussed below:
1. By taking insulin
The quickest way to address the sudden spike in glucose levels in the blood is to take fast-acting or rapid-acting insulin. It works real quick – within 15 minutes of taking the dose – to minimize the blood sugar level.
They replace the normally produced insulin in the body and control the movement of sugar from the blood into other body tissues where it is used for energy.
Via subcutaneous injection: Injecting the insulin dose under the skin is the quickest way to administer help. Injecting it to the abdomen or arm, instead of the thighs or buttocks, is a much better option as there is an increased blood flow in these areas than in the latter.
2. By doing exercise
Physical exercise is the quickest and most natural way to bring down your blood glucose level. It reduces insulin resistance and improves the process of converting glucose into energy.
The cells deliver glucose to the muscles and blood sugar levels usually drop. For this option to work, you need to get your heart pumping faster and quicker. This means you can either go for a brisk walk or a light jog, just to get your heart bells ringing.
However, please do keep in mind the ketone level in your urine. If your ketone levels are high, avoid any form of strenuous exercise.
3. By drinking more water
Drinking water ensures regular excretion of excess glucose from your system. In case of hyperglycemia, you need to drink more water than usual to make life easier for your kidneys.
Not drinking enough water leads to severe dehydration which then forces your system to leech water from other organs, resulting in a severe concentration of sugar in your blood and furthering your dehydrated condition.
This may give rise to another medical emergency known as Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar Syndrome (HHS).
Fittertake:
It is absolutely imperative that we keep a regular check on our blood glucose levels in order to be ready for any kind of medical emergency. But as we always say prevention is better than cure.
So, make sure to control your blood sugar levels by making sustainable changes in your lifestyle. If you need expert guidance and dedicated support from coaches who will help you throughout your journey, checkout Fitterfly’s programs – Diabefly Pro, Diabefly SMBG, or Diabedly Reverse.
You can reach out to us on this number to know more about our programs, trusted by 15000+ Indians to manage and reverse their diabetes.