If you have diabetes, you’re extremely likely to suffer from hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, even when you’re carefully managing your diabetes. Hypoglycaemia is what happens when the amount of sugar in your blood drops too low to sustain your body’s normal functions, This can affect your wellness in the short-term, as it can cause confusion and dizziness, but your wellbeing could really be at risk of long-term complications that, if left untreated, could lead to coma or death.
So what should you be looking out for? If you’re suddenly ravenously hungry or you’ve already eaten but still aren’t satisfied, your body is trying to tell you that it needs more glucose, which you should find from carbohydrate-rich food sources like raisins, fruit juice, or non-diet soft drinks. Also, when your glucose levels fall too low, you can experience anxiety as your body tells the adrenal glands to release adrenaline which signals the liver to make more sugar. The excess hormones in your system create an adrenaline rush, which can make you feel anxious.
Are you having restless nights? A number of sleep disturbances can often be caused by nocturnal hypoglycaemia, and include symptoms such as night sweats, nightmares, episodes of waking suddenly and crying out, and feelings of unrest and confusion upon waking. These will occur less severely and frequently if you have a snack before bed. Similarly, when your glucose levels are off balance, this can cause shakes and tremors, as your central nervous system isn’t functioning properly. Your body is releasing catecholamines, chemicals that encourage glucose production and produce these symptoms.
Your emotional wellness can also indicate low blood sugar. One of the neurological symptoms of hypoglycaemia is mood swings and sudden emotional episodes. If you are behaving differently than normal, through irrational outbursts, random or hysterical crying, uncontrollable anger, or a strong desire to be left alone, this could be a sign. Are your thoughts wandering? Your brain is sensitive to a drop in glucose which means you may experience a sense of confusion and an inability to concentrate on one thing at a time.
Finally, sweating is controlled by your autonomic nervous system and if it comes on quickly, regardless of temperature, this is usually one of the first signs of hypoglycaemia. Symptoms like dizziness and light-headedness should be heeded and treated quickly, and you should sit or lie down immediately to avoid injury, especially if you feel like fainting. You could blame sudden blurs of vision, or seeing double on a drop in blood sugar and, last of all, if your brain is starved of sugar you might not be able to detect that you’re slurring your speech, but others might. Be careful because they may think you’ve just had too much to drink, and not realise that you need to take action.
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