Contents:
- Medical Video: Treating Low Blood Sugar | Hypoglycemia | Nucleus Health
- What causes nighttime hypoglycemia?
- What are the dangers of low blood sugar at night?
- How to treat this condition, if it has already happened?
- How to prevent blood sugar from falling at night?
Medical Video: Treating Low Blood Sugar | Hypoglycemia | Nucleus Health
If you or your close relatives have diabetes, hypoglycemia is a complication to watch out for. Diabetic hypoglycemia is defined as a condition of blood sugar that is too low, to below 70 mg / dL. Hypoglycemia can cause serious problems, especially if it drops dramatically at night. Although this condition is rare, low blood sugar levels at night can be deadly if not detected and quickly handled.
Find out how to prevent it in this article.
What causes nighttime hypoglycemia?
The body does not get food intake during sleep tonight. As a result, blood sugar can drop dramatically throughout the night. The adrenal gland will respond to this by releasing stress hormones to restore blood sugar levels like normal.
Low blood sugar at night can also be caused by many other factors, such as:
- Dosage of insulin injections before sleeping too much
- Adequate insulin injection, but at the wrong time
- Less consumption of carbohydrates
- Too much activity during the day
- No dinner
- Unadjusted insulin dose after illness. In users of insulin, if they fall ill, the dose of insulin that the body needs will increase. After recovering, the insulin dose should be lowered again.
- After consumption of alcohol
- Excess doses of basal insulin (during fasting or before eating)
Night hypoglycemia is common in people who have diabetes 1. This complication can also occur in type 2 diabetes, but it is less common because there is a combination treatment of insulin and oral diabetes medications.
What are the dangers of low blood sugar at night?
According to the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), 55% of all hypoglycemia events occur at night.
Low blood sugar at night will cause a series of symptoms such as:
- Wake up with a headache
- Feel very tired when you wake up
- Sweating profusely all night
- Wake up at midnight
- Trembling
- Heart beat
- Worry
- Difficult to concentrate
- Hunger immediately wakes up
- Limp body
If hypoglycemia occurs repeatedly and persists, this can cause brain damage which leads to seizures, coma, and even death.
How to treat this condition, if it has already happened?
If you wake up at night, sweat profusely, and feel your body very weak, this is a sign that you have hypoglycemia. Immediately consume carbohydrate foods, such as drinking sweet tea, sugar water, or candy. Avoid eating fatty foods, because it can inhibit the absorption of sugar.
After that, check your blood sugar level within 15 minutes. If it is still below 70 mg / dL, repeat eating carbohydrate foods as above. After blood sugar levels above 70 mg / dL, if breakfast time is still long enough, you may consume snacks that contain carbohydrates and proteins such as peanut biscuits.
Don't forget to consult with your doctor for more specific treatment regarding the treatment of nocturnal hypoglycemia according to your condition.
How to prevent blood sugar from falling at night?
To prevent low blood sugar levels at night, always routinely check blood sugar levels before going to bed. Put an alarm every 3 o'clock in the morning to recheck your blood sugar levels, also in the morning immediately after waking up.
If after regular monitoring, your blood sugar levels always go down at night, you should ask for an adjusted insulin dose and reset it by your doctor.
Other ways to prevent low blood sugar levels at night include:
- Decrease the afternoon insulin dose after aggravating physical activity during the day
- Eat carbohydrates before going to bed
- Make sure dinner or evening snacks are not missed
- Consult a doctor to make sure the basal insulin dose is sufficient
- Routinely check blood sugar continuously, both alone and at the doctor.