Why do I need to deal with low blood sugar emergencies?
If your blood sugar drops below 40 mg/dL, your brain may receive
too little sugar to work properly and your judgment and muscle coordination
will be affected. These are symptoms of moderate low blood sugar. You may not
realize that your blood sugar is too low, and you may not be aware that you
need to eat food to raise the level. Someone else may have to help you eat or
drink something to raise your blood sugar level. If you do not get help, your
brain may not work properly. This can cause an accident if you are driving a
car or operating other machinery.
If your blood sugar level drops below 20 mg/dL, which is considered
severe low blood sugar, you can lose consciousness. If you do not receive
prompt emergency care, you may go into a coma, have a stroke, and possibly
die.
Test Your Knowledge
If my blood sugar level drops very low (below 20
mg/dL):
- I can fall into a coma and possibly die.
- I will act like I am okay.
- I will be able to eat or drink something to raise
it.
- I can still function if I need to.
Continue to
How to deal with low blood sugar emergencies
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Dealing with low blood sugar from medications for type 2 diabetes