Diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar because your body is unable to properly process the glucose created when you consume sugar and carbohydrates. Proper treatment of diabetes means keeping your blood glucose readings close to the normal range with diet and medications. Sometimes, despite your best efforts and tight management, blood sugar lows may occur.
Improper Medication Dose
When you measure mealtime insulin doses, precision is crucial. Each unit of insulin may reduce your blood sugar by 50 points or more. A miscalculation of half a unit of insulin may cause you to drop 20-25 points below your target range, a difference between an ideal 100 or a borderline 75. Measuring a 24-hour or other long-acting insulin improperly may cause your blood sugar to drop to a lower rate than normal over the course of the dosing period, increasing your risk of lows.
Meal Plan and Schedule
If you take a mealtime dose of insulin and fail to eat your meal as scheduled or do not eat all of the carbohydrates accounted for in your insulin dose, you are likely to experience a blood sugar low. Check your blood glucose reading before your meal to avoid compounding insulin on top of an already low number. Adding insulin when your blood sugar is borderline low can cause a significant drop in your blood sugar.
Physical Activity
Exercise and routine physical activity can reduce your blood sugar because it forces your body to burn glucose for energy. If you take your typical doses of insulin and do not include an additional carbohydrate snack before exercising, you may experience a low when your body reacts to the activity. Your blood sugar may be impacted by things as simple as walking to the store, so overlooking an activity as not fitting the standard definition of exercise may result in a low reading.
Weight Loss
If you are battling an insulin resistance issue, losing weight can have a dramatic difference on how your body reacts to insulin. The insulin dose that previously reduced your blood sugar by 50 points may now reduce it by 60 or more. Add that up on a dose of multiple units and you may have an additional 30 points or more impacted by the same dose of insulin. Failing to account for that increase in insulin sensitivity may result in significant blood sugar lows.
Other Medical Issues
Illness, lack of sleep and different injection sites can all impact your blood sugar. When you are tired or sick, your body is working to fight the germs or to keep you awake. This additional stress on your body can result in blood sugar lows. Insulin will absorb differently based on where you inject it. There may be places on your body where the insulin absorbs very quickly, causing it to work faster than other sites. If you do not eat sooner to compensate for this, your blood sugar may drop before you eat.
