When blood sugar ranges exceed 400 mg/dL, it’s thought-about extreme hyperglycemia, which requires fast consideration.
This text will inform you what it is best to do in case your blood sugar is over 400 mg/dL.
What is taken into account severely excessive blood sugar?
Most individuals with diabetes will start to really feel symptomatic for top blood sugar between 180-200 mg/dL. If you’re insulin-dependent, any blood sugar over 200 mg/dL must be handled with insulin.
In case your blood sugar is over 250 mg/dL (13.89 mmol/L), it is best to take an at-home urine take a look at for ketones to rule out diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). DKA is a harmful complication of diabetes that may be deadly if not handled rapidly.
Search medical consideration instantly when you’re experiencing a blood sugar larger than 250 mg/dL for a number of hours, together with delicate, reasonable, or excessive ketones, and also you’re struggling to get your blood sugar down.
Folks with diabetes are vulnerable to falling right into a diabetic coma as soon as their blood sugar reaches 600 mg/dL or larger with ketones. Blood sugars which can be this excessive require fast medical consideration, normally in a hospital setting.
What are the causes of excessive blood sugar?
Excessive blood sugar ranges are a direct results of not having sufficient insulin in your physique (cells).
A number of components can contribute to dangerously excessive blood sugar ranges:
- Missed Insulin Doses: Skipping or not taking sufficient insulin can result in elevated blood sugar.
- Malfunctioning tools: An insulin pump or steady glucose monitor (CGM) malfunction can result in you lacking early warning alerts or not getting insulin.
- Sickness or An infection: The physique’s response to sickness can improve blood glucose ranges.
- Dietary Selections: Consuming excessive quantities of carbohydrates with out ample insulin protection.
- Stress: Emotional or bodily stress can set off hormonal adjustments that increase blood sugar.
- Treatment Interactions: Sure medicines and steroids can have an effect on blood glucose management.
What do you have to do in case your blood sugar is over 400 mg/dL?
In case your blood sugar is over 400 mg/dL, there are some fast steps you’ll be able to take to convey your blood sugar down rapidly.
Take a look at your blood sugar once more
Typically, steady glucose monitoring (CGM) programs and blood glucose meter readings may be fallacious.
Earlier than taking any drastic measures, wash your arms and take a look at your blood sugar once more (and in case your CGM was studying excessive, take a look at your blood sugar manually).
Typically you could have sugar or one other substance in your arms that gave a false excessive studying the primary time, so it’s all the time greatest to recheck to ensure that your blood sugar is definitely excessive.
Take a look at for ketones
Ketones are a kind of chemical that your liver produces to interrupt down fat for vitality when there’s a lack of insulin within the physique to make use of glucose for vitality.
Your physique will resort to doing this after extended excessive blood sugar ranges, and having ketones may be extraordinarily harmful.
You may take a look at for ketones with a easy at-home urine or blood take a look at.
In case you have ketones, this normally alerts that you simply’ll have to take additional insulin to convey your blood sugar down (most individuals who develop ketones have kind 1, insulin-dependent diabetes).
Speak together with your physician about how your insulin correction issue could change when you have ketones.
In the event you’re insulin-dependent, take insulin
In the event you’ve retested your blood sugar and have examined for ketones (whether or not or not you will have them) and also you’re insulin-dependent, the following factor to do in case your blood sugar is over 400 mg/dL is to take insulin instantly.
It would be best to take fast-acting insulin, resembling Humalog, Novolog, Fiasp, or Lyumjev, and never long-acting insulin like Lantus or Levemir. This could begin to convey your blood sugar down extra rapidly.
In the event you’re on an insulin pump and also you suppose you might be having an insulin pump malfunction, take a handbook correction injection of insulin after which change your insulin pump web site.
Insulin pump web site malfunctions can rapidly result in excessive blood sugar ranges, particularly in the event that they happen in a single day when you’re sleeping.
It is because insulin pumps solely use short-acting insulins, so in the event that they cease working, your physique rapidly runs out of insulin-on-board, in contrast to when you’re on a number of every day injections with a long-acting dose of insulin.
Drink a glass of water
Excessive blood sugar ranges result in dehydration, which may contribute to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). In case your blood sugar is excessive, you might also be urinating greater than standard, which makes ingesting water much more necessary.
For these causes, you will need to keep hydrated.
Don’t resort to ingesting soda or juice, as that may solely improve your blood sugar ranges. Stick to water or a food regimen drink.
Take a 20-minute stroll
After dosing insulin and hydrating, getting even 20 minutes of sunshine train might help jump-start your blood sugar to come back down.
It isn’t suggested to train when you have ketones, nonetheless, as excessive blood sugar ranges with ketones trigger dehydration, which train can exacerbate. This may increasingly make your blood sugars even larger.
In case your blood sugar doesn’t come down after a number of hours, name your physician
In the event you’ve tried all the methods above however after a number of hours your blood sugar has nonetheless not come down, name your physician (particularly when you even have delicate, reasonable, or excessive ketones and/or are sick).
Your physician can advise extra methods to make use of. They might even advocate going to the hospital for intravenous fluids and insulin to forestall dehydration and the event of DKA.
What’s the quickest solution to convey down excessive blood sugar?
The quickest solution to convey down blood sugar when you’re insulin-dependent is to take insulin.
If you’re not insulin-dependent, staying hydrated with water and exercising are the quickest methods to convey down blood sugar rapidly.
What do you do when you can’t convey your blood sugar down?
In the event you can’t convey your blood sugar down, name your physician or 911 and search emergency medical consideration instantly. Excessive blood sugar ranges are damaging and might rapidly grow to be DKA.
In case your blood sugar has been excessive for a number of hours and you’ve got delicate, reasonable, or excessive ketones, it is best to search medical consideration.
Indicators and signs to look out for embrace:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Confusion
- Shortness of breath
- Physique aches
- Fruity-smelling breath
- Abdomen ache
