Living With Type 1 Diabetes
Site HYPOGLYCEMIA, HYPERGLYCEMIA, & DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS
A friend of mine once described managing type 1 as being like living in a log cabin with no central heating in the middle of a blizzard and trying to keep a log fire burning consistently at the exact same temperature. That sounds pretty difficult, right? As a diabetic, you’re constantly managing various factors – diet, exercise, and insulin - to try and maintain a blood glucose level of between 4.0 mmol/L and 10.0 mmol/L. While you may succeed most of the time, invariably, you will experience glucose lows (hypoglycemia) and glucose highs (hyperglycemia).
​Hypoglycemia
Source: https://nothingmentionednothinggained.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/treating-panic-hypoglycaemia/
It’s common for type 1 diabetics to experience an average of two hypoglycemic episodes per week.
If your blood glucose level falls below 4 mmol/L, it’s important to treat immediately using 15 grams of a quick sugar. That could be:
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8 jelly beans
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2 packets of rockets
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¾ cup of juice or regular soft drink
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3 packets of sugar dissolved in water
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1 tbsp honey
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3 – 7 glucose tablets
Wait for 15 minutes before retesting and if you’re blood glucose level is still below 4mmol/L, take another 15g of quick sugar. If your next meal is more than an hour away, follow up with a snack.
It’s always a good idea to carry a quick sugar with you at all times. I always carry a little pack of 8 jelly beans with me wherever I go.
Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia occurs when you haven’t taken enough insulin and so you have a higher than normal amount of glucose in your blood stream. You often won’t feel the impact of hyperglycemia as immediately as you would hypoglycemia as the onset is much slower, and it can often go unnoticed until you check your blood glucose level and the reading indicates it is high. Hyperglycemia should be treated using extra insulin and drinking plenty of fluids
Diabetic Ketoacidosis
SYMPTOMS:
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Dry skin
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Rapid Deep Breathing
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Drowsiness
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Abdominal pain
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Vomiting
DKA occurs when your body has been unable to use gluclose for energy and so begins to burn fat stores. Burning fat stores release keytones into the blood, which results in acidity and can make you sick very quickly. DKA is the product of severe hyperglycemia and can occur when the body is not getting enough insulin or insulin isn’t working well due to sickness, infection, pregnancy, stress, and/or high blood glucose.
Determining that you are in a state of DKA requires using keytone strips, which are available at any pharmacy. Keytone strips test urine for the presence of keytones and can indicate the severity of potential ketoacidosis. If you find you are in a state of DKA, seek medical intervention immediately.