Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, occurs when your blood sugar rises above the range recommended by your healthcare team. Left untreated, high blood sugar can be a serious problem -- in fact, it's a major cause of long-term complications of diabetes.1
Causes of Hyperglycemia
High blood sugar can be the result of a variety of things:2
•eating too much food
•getting too little or no exercise
•skipping diabetes medication or not taking enough
•stress, infection or illness
•bad or spoiled insulin
Symptoms of Hyperglycemia
In general, blood sugar is considered "high" when it's above 160 mg/dL,2 but your doctor will determine the proper healthy blood sugar ranges for you. Warning signs of high blood sugar include:2
•tiredness or fatigue
•increased thirst
•frequent urination
•blurred vision
•dry mouth or skin
•slow healing of cuts and sores
•unexplained weight loss
One or more of these signs may tell you that you have high blood sugar. But checking your blood sugar and treating it as soon as you sense hyperglycemia may help you avoid experiencing some of the other symptoms.1 If you have warning signs of high blood sugar, even very subtle ones, do not ignore them.
Once you've treated high blood sugar, ask yourself a few questions2 to help determine the cause -- maybe you'll be able to avoid high blood sugar next time.
•Did you change your eating habits, try new foods or eat more than usual?
•Did you get too little physical activity?
•Did you forget to take your diabetes pills or insulin, or did you alter your dose?
•If you take insulin, could it be spoiled? Was it exposed to extreme temperatures or does it look different?
•Were you stressed about something?
•Were you ill or did you have an infection?
Treating High Blood Sugar
If you have high blood sugar, it's important to address it right away. If you don't, you could develop ketoacidosis -- the buildup of ketones (acids released when your body breaks down fat) in your blood. This is a life-threatening condition.1
So how do you treat hyperglycemia? You can often lower your blood sugar through exercise. But if your blood sugar is above 240 mg/dL, you should check for ketones in your urine first. If ketones are present, do not exercise.1
Reducing the amount of food you eat can help.1 Or your doctor may want to alter your medication.1 In addition, drinking plenty of water will help eliminate extra blood sugar and ketones from your system. 2 Talk to your doctor about the right hyperglycemia treatment steps for you.
1 American Diabetes Association. "Hyperglycemia." Available at: http://diabetes.org/type-1-diabetes/hyperglycemia.jsp. Accessed August 1, 2007.
2 Joslin Diabetes Center. "High Blood Glucose (Hyperglycemia)." Available at: http://www.joslin.org/Beginners_guide_649.asp. Accessed August 1, 2007.