Hyperglycemia is primary reason behind long-term complications of diabetes

Hyperglycemia occurs when blood glucose levels rise beyond normal levels. Unlike hypoglycemia there are typically no immediate negative side-effects, however it is hyperglycemia that tends to be the long-term battle of most people with diabetes.

Because those with Type 1 diabetes are not able to produce insulin, there is the constant danger of rising blood glucose levels, especially after meals. Over the long run (years) if you suffer consistently from hyperglycemia you are at more danger of nerve and organ damage. All of those nasty side-effects of diabetes (blindness, heart disease, amputation of limbs, etc) are all a result of long term hyperglycemia.

On a more immediate front, if someone is suffering from extreme hyperglycemia over the course of days, they are very likely to contract ketoacidosis, which can have very serious complications.

Hyperglycemia in people with Type 1 diabetes is almost always a result of either missing a dose of insulin or miscalculating the number of carbohydrates they just consumed and thus taking an insufficient dosage of insulin.

How can you identify Hyperglycemia in your child?

Everyone will be slightly different in their symptoms. However, hyperglycemia is typically associated with either headaches or stomach aches. What we’ve found in our son is that if he starts to complain of an upset stomach, it is likely a case where we’ve mis-calculated our recent insulin injection. He’ll come to us and say that he feels like he wants to throw-up, but in all other aspects is feeling fine – no headache, no aches or pains, no fever.

If you recognize these kind of symptoms it is best to test their blood glucose levels and get a reading on where they are at that moment.

How to manage Hyperglycemia

Because there are no immediate negative impacts, you need to first determine how high your child really is. With all the different insulins you’ll find that there are different potency curves and at times after a meal your child will just naturally have a high blood glucose reading. This is due to the fact that their glucose has risen quicker than the potency of the insulin. If you think the insulin has not yet kicked in and they are not extremely high, it is probably best to wait things out and look at how you need to adjust your insulin dosage calculation for the next meal.

On the other hand, if you feel your insulin should have already balanced out their carb intake, and they are significantly higher than what you would expect (e.g. over 200 on a blood glucose level), you may want to provide them with another small dose of insulin to bring them back down. If you do this make sure you keep this in mind when they next consume food. Should you adjust your insulin dosage down?

Overall, hyperglycemia is not as immediately dangerous as hypoglycemia, however, over the long run it is the primary reason why those with diabetes contract more serious health issues. As such, it is critically important that you manage blood glucose levels so that your hyperglycemia episodes are subtle and infrequent.

Hypoglycemia occurs when the body does not have enough glucose to produce energy.  In people with diabetes, it is typically a result of having too much insulin relative to the amount of carbohydrates you have eaten.  As insulin helps glucose be absorbed by your body’s cells, having too much causes your body to seek out sugars when nothing is there.  People with diabetes typically experience this excess insulin either by not eating enough or calculating the wrong dosage for their injections or pump. The opposite of this, having too much glucose in the body is termed hyperglycemia.

You can also experience hypoglycemia after strenuous exercise.  With exercise, your body is seeking out more energy than normal and so it requires greater levels of glucose.  Often times, with exercise, it is not during the exercise that people first experience hypoglycemia.  Instead it can be minutes or even hours after the exercise has stopped and your body is recovering.

It is not uncommon for people with diabetes to experience mild hypoglycemia.  It is very difficult to accurately measure carbohydrate intake.  Also, sometimes the duration of your last insulin injection is shorter than anticipated or you don’t have a chance to eat right in time, or you’re taking part in a busy lifestyle.  However, the consequences can be severe and so always having some form of quick acting glucose (sugar) around is important.