Dealing with low blood sugar in children taking only oral medication for diabetes
What is low blood sugar?
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) means that the level of sugar, or glucose, in your child's blood has dropped below what his or her body needs to function normally. When your child's blood sugar level drops below 70 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), he or she most likely will have symptoms, such as feeling tired, weak, or shaky. A very low blood sugar level (below 20 mg/dL) can develop quickly and is an emergency requiring immediate care.
The sulfonylureas—such as glipizide (Glucotrol), glimepiride (Amaryl), and glyburide (DiaBeta)—and insulin injections can cause low blood sugar levels. Low levels from sulfonylurea medicines usually cause only symptoms of mild low blood sugar, unless a child also takes insulin.
Sometimes people with diabetes develop low blood sugar levels during the night. This is not likely to happen unless your child takes insulin injections. If it does happen, your child may wake up in a cold sweat and feel weak. But your child may sleep through it because his or her body uses stored sugar to raise the blood sugar back to a safe level. If this happens, your child most likely will wake up in the morning with a headache and possibly high blood sugar.
What causes low blood sugar?
Low blood sugar levels can occur if your child:
- Takes too many doses of a sulfonylurea in one day or takes doses too close together.
- Continues to take the full dose of sulfonylurea but does not eat his or her usual amount of food.
- Exercises strenuously without eating enough.
Your child may have symptoms of low blood sugar if his or her blood sugar drops to a level lower than usual. For example, if your child's level has been in the 300s for a week and it drops suddenly to 100, he or she may have symptoms of low blood sugar. After your child has had diabetes for many years, he or she may not have symptoms of hypoglycemia until the blood sugar level is very low. This is called hypoglycemia unawareness.
Very low blood sugar levels usually do not occur in children who take oral medicines other than sulfonylureas. These medicines include metformin (Glucophage), acarbose (Precose), rosiglitazone (Avandia), pioglitazone (Actos). Very low blood sugar more commonly occurs in children who take insulin injections.
Test Your Knowledge
Low blood sugar means that the level of sugar in the blood has dropped below what the body needs to function normally (usually below 70 mg/dL).
A very low blood sugar level (below 20 mg/dL) is an emergency and requires immediate care.
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Why is low blood sugar a problem?
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| Author: | Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS | Last Updated: August 14, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism | |
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