Treatment for diabetic hypoglycemia depends on how serious your low blood sugar becomes.
If you think your blood sugar may be too low, check your blood sugar level with a blood glucose meter. Be extra careful if you have symptoms of low blood sugar but can't check your blood sugar level right away. Assume your blood sugar is low and treat for hypoglycemia.
Managing hypoglycemia
- Eat or drink carbohydrates
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Eat or drink something that's mostly sugar or carbohydrates to raise your blood sugar level quickly. Pure glucose is the preferred treatment. It comes in tablets, gels and other forms.
Foods with more fat, such as chocolate, don't raise blood sugar as quickly. And diet soft drinks cannot be used to treat hypoglycemia because they don't have any sugar.
Examples of foods that raise your blood sugar level quickly include:
- Glucose tablets. Read the package label for the right amount to take. Glucose tables are sold at most pharmacies without a prescription.
- Glucose gel. Read the package label for the right amount to take.
- Hard candy or jelly beans. A serving usually is about 5 to 6 pieces, but check the food label for the exact serving size.
- Four ounces, or 1/2 cup, of fruit juice.
- A half a can, or about 4 to 6 ounces, of regular soda. Do not use diet soda.
- One tablespoon, or 15 milliliters, of sugar, corn syrup or honey.
In general, aim to have food or drink with 15 to 20 grams of carbohydrates. Often, that is enough to raise blood sugar levels back into a safe range.
- Recheck your blood sugar level
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Check your blood sugar 15 minutes after eating or drinking something to treat hypoglycemia. If your blood sugar is still low, eat or drink another 15 to 20 grams of carbohydrates. Repeat this pattern until your blood sugar is above 70 mg/dL, or 3.9 mmol/L.
- Have a snack or meal
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Have a snack or a meal to keep your blood sugar from dropping again. If you usually take insulin with food, keep the following advice in mind. In general, you don't need more insulin if you eat a snack after you have a low blood sugar level. But if you're going to eat a meal, you may need a lower dose of insulin. This helps ensure that your blood sugar doesn't rise too quickly.
It's important to try not to overtreat your low blood sugar. If you do, you may cause your blood sugar level to rise too high. That's likely to make you feel thirsty and tired.
If you have a young child who gets diabetic hypoglycemia, talk with your child's healthcare team. Young children often need less than 15 grams of carbohydrates to treat low blood sugar. Ask your child's healthcare professional what amount your child needs.
Emergency treatment
The treatment for severe hypoglycemia, glucagon, is a hormone that raises blood sugar quickly. It can be lifesaving if someone isn't alert enough to eat or drink something to raise low blood sugar. Glucagon is available only by prescription.
Glucagon comes in an emergency syringe kit, an auto-injector pen or a pre-mixed injection that's ready to use. Glucagon also is available as a powdered nasal spray given in one nostril. Store glucagon as directed on the packaging. Be aware of the expiration date. When given to someone who is not conscious, the person should be turned on the side. This helps prevent choking in case of vomiting.
About 15 minutes after getting glucagon, the person should be alert and able to eat. If someone doesn't respond within 15 minutes, call emergency medical care. If someone quickly responds to glucagon, it's still recommended that you contact the person's diabetes care team promptly.
Talk with your healthcare professional if you needed help from others to treat a bout of low blood sugar. Your healthcare professional likely will want to figure out if your insulin or other diabetes medicine needs to be adjusted. An adjustment might be needed to prevent another serious episode.
Hard-to-manage hypoglycemia
Some people have frequent and severe hypoglycemia despite medicine adjustments. If that happens, your healthcare professional may suggest that you keep your blood sugar in a higher than usual range.
Your healthcare professional also might suggest that you use a device that measures your blood sugar every few minutes. It's called a continuous glucose monitor. It uses a sensor placed under the skin to measure blood sugar. Your healthcare professional likely will recommend that you have glucagon with you at all times too. Teach people you trust, such as family, friends and close co-workers, how to use it.
Hypoglycemia unawareness
Some people don't have or don't feel early symptoms of hypoglycemia. This is called hypoglycemia unawareness. If you have hypoglycemia unawareness, your healthcare professional may recommend a higher glucose target range.
It's very important to regularly check your blood sugar before you go to bed. Have a snack that contains carbohydrates before going to sleep if your blood sugar is lower than your bedtime target range. Your healthcare professional also may recommend a continuous glucose monitor that can sound an alarm when your blood sugar is dropping.