If low blood sugar occurs while sleeping, you may remember nightmares. You may experience a severe frontal headache upon awakening or your bedclothes may be drenched following profuse sweating during the night. In most instances, your thinking ability is impaired, regardless of whether you recognize symptoms. Errors in judgment and manual dexterity occur. For these reasons, you should not drive an automobile or work with dangerous machinery or electricity when your blood sugar is low.
Low blood sugar is called hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is usually caused by delaying a meal, forgetting a snack, increasing exercise, or taking excessive insulin. To reduce the likelihood of hypoglycemia, eat meals and snacks on time and increase caloric intake prior to and during increased exercise as needed. To treat hypoglycemia caused only by excessive insulin, decrease the insulin dosage to prevent repeated difficulty.
The majority of low blood sugar episodes are temporary and respond well to treatment.
Should you suspect you are having an attack of hypoglycemia, immediately eat foods that provide carbohydrate. Good sources of carbohydrate foods are:
Your symptoms should clear quickly, in approximately 15 minutes. If not, eat another serving of a carbohydrate food. Food used to treat low blood sugar should be in addition to regular meals.
Results of self blood glucose monitoring (SBGM) tests can alert you of lower blood sugar values before hypoglycemia occurs. These tests are typically performed before meals, when blood sugars are lower. SBGM results can also provide documentation to your health care provider of hypoglycemic incidents which aid in future adjustments of insulin dosage. (The maintenance dosage of insulin may be decreased to elevate blood glucose values to within normal range. Insulin requirements and insulin dosages frequently change and an adjustment of insulin and diet may be indicated.) If it isn't possible to test your blood sugar at the time you suspect it may be low, eat a carbohydrate food anyway.
Always contact your physician or healthcare provider when hypoglycemia occurs so that appropriate therapy and dietary changes can be instituted.