What Happens When Your Blood Sugar Gets Too High?

Overview

High blood sugar levels are typically caused by another underlying condition. Quite often it is a sign of diabetes. Or if you have already been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood glucose levels may indicate that your diabetes is poorly controlled. If you think you have hyperglycemia, you should contact your physician for further guidance about how best to lower your blood sugar levels.

Definition

The technical term for when your blood sugar or blood glucose levels get too high is "hyperglycemia." Healthy people may experience hyperglycemia briefly after eating sugary foods or drinking sugary beverages, but this brief spike in blood sugar level quickly subsides. In a diabetic, however, whose body either doesn't produce enough insulin or doesn't use it properly, high blood glucose levels can accumulate in the blood. Some medications, like steroids, and some conditions, such as inflammation of the pancreas, can also provoke hyperglycemia in non-diabetics.

Symptoms

If your blood sugar is too high, you may experience symptoms like tiredness, dry mouth, blurry vision, increased thirst or frequent urination. If you test your blood glucose levels often--an important part of managing diabetes--then you may also detect abnormally high blood glucose levels. Consult with your doctor if you're not sure what your blood sugar levels are supposed to be.

Treatment

If you're diagnosed with hyperglycemia, how you treat it depends on whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetics may treat hyperglycemia with diet and exercise, under the care of a qualified health professional. Medication may be used if the condition cannot be controlled through diet and exercise. For type 1 diabetics, the only treatment option is insulin. If you're not diabetic, your doctor will want to examine you or run tests to determine why your blood sugar levels are so high. Patient compliance in eating and exercises as recommended, taking medicine as recommended and checking blood sugar as directed is critical for successfully treating high blood glucose.

Emergency

Severe hyperglycemia is a medical emergency and requires immediate treatment, which includes insulin and IV fluids. You may be hospitalized until your blood sugar levels are stabilized, and you might also be kept in the hospital for observation to enable physicians to try to determine the cause of your hyperglycemia.

Untreated

If left untreated, severe hyperglycemia can cause you to fall into a diabetic coma because your body doesn't have enough insulin to break glucose down for use as fuel. Your body is forced to break fats down for fuel instead, which creates waste products known as ketones. When the ketones build up in your blood they trigger the diabetic coma, also known as ketoacidosis. Symptoms that you're in ketoacidosis include shortness of breath, fruity-smelling breath, a very dry mouth and nausea and vomiting. If ketones have built up in your blood, exercising may actually worsen your condition; always seek immediate medical attention if you experience the symptoms of ketoacidosis or suspect you may have it.