When Your Blood Sugar Gets Too Low
In this article
Symptoms
Diabetes Drugs Linked to Hypoglycemia
Diet and Hypoglycemia
Treatment
When You Have Low Blood Sugar
If You Pass Out
Do Not Drive When You Have Low Blood Sugar
Preventing Hypoglycemia
People with diabetes get hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) when their bodies don't have enough sugar to use as fuel.
It can happen for several reasons, including diet, some medications and conditions, and exercise.
If you get hypoglycemia, write down the date and time when it happened and what you did. Share your record with your doctor, so she can look for a pattern and adjust your medications.
Call your doctor if you have more than one unexplained low blood sugar reaction in a week.
Symptoms
Most people feel symptoms of hypoglycemia when their blood sugar is 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or lower.
Each person with diabetes may have different symptoms of hypoglycemia. You'll learn to spot yours.
Early symptoms include:
Confusion
Dizziness
Feeling shaky
Hunger
Headaches
Irritability
Pounding heart; racing pulse
Pale skin
Sweating
Trembling
Weakness
Anxiety
Without treatment, you might get more severe symptoms, including:
Poor coordination
Poor concentration
Numbness in mouth and tongue
Passing out
Nightmares or bad dreams
Coma
Diabetes Drugs Linked to Hypoglycemia
Ask your doctor if any of your medicines can cause low blood sugar.
Insulin treatment can cause low blood sugar, and so can a type of diabetes medications called "sulfonylureas."
Commonly used sulfonylureas include:
Glimepiride (Amaryl)
Glipizide (Glucotrol)
Glibenclamide (Glyburide, Micronase)
Gliclazide
Older, less common sulfonlyureas tend to cause low blood sugar more often than some of the newer ones. Examples of older drugs include:
chlorpropamide (Diabinese)
nateglinide (Starlix)
repaglinide (Prandin)
tolazamide (Tolinase)
tolbutamide (Orinase)
You can also get low blood sugar if you drink alcohol or take allopurinol(Zyloprim), aspirin, Benemid, probenecid (Probalan), or warfarin(Coumadin) with diabetes medications.
You shouldn't get hypoglycemia if you take alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, biguanides (such as metformin), and thiazolidinediones alone, but it can happen when you take them with sulfonylureas orinsulin.
Diet and Hypoglycemia
You can get low blood sugar if you take too much insulin for the amount of carbohydrates you eat or drink.
For instance, it can happen:
After you eat a meal that has a lot of simple sugars
If you miss a snack or don't eat a full meal
If you eat later than usual
If you drink alcohol without eating any food
Don't skip meals if you have diabetes, particularly if you're taking diabetes medications.
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