WARNING SIGNS
How can you tell your blood sugar level is high? What signs should you look out for? Don’t rack your head thinking of the answer. We’ve got you covered.
High blood sugar, also known as Hypoglycemia is a common issue for people with diabetes. However, people who are not diabetic can suffer from blood sugar spikes caused by glucose building up in the bloodstream. The warning signs can be so mild that you won’t notice.
Many people don’t realize they have high blood sugar. If you are one of those people, you certainly aren’t alone.
Blood sugar (also called blood glucose) is measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). The average blood sugar level is up to 140 mg/dL after 2 hours of eating. If the value ranges above 200 mg/dL after a glucose tolerance test, that person is considered diabetic.
In this article, I give you 5 signs of high blood sugar, although there are more. Before we move on, let’s understand the process involved.
We get glucose from the food we eat. Our body needs glucose to enter our cells and turn it into energy so that our organs can function properly.
This is where insulin comes in. The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. This hormone allows glucose to enter our cells, and it also prevents glucose from building up in our bloodstream, which can lead to diabetes.
5 signs of high blood sugar you shouldn’t ignore.
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Increased Thirst
This is often the symptom you will notice. High blood sugar levels can lead to excessive and persistent thirst. In an attempt to flush excess sugar from the bladder, the body diverts water into the urine. The reason is that the body tries to get rid of excess sugar from the kidney, whose function is to keep waste from the body. The kidney works overtime trying to get rid of that excess glucose in the bloodstream. Therefore, the kidney would need more water to produce more urine and help your body remove the sugar. You will feel very thirsty as you drink more water, which leads to frequent urination.
The body is eager to get rid of the excess sugar so it could pull water even from your tissues, leading to dehydration. If a person is unaware that they have high blood sugar levels and try to quench their thirst with soda, juice or other sugary beverages, they may worsen their condition. The sugar in these drinks increases the blood sugar level, resulting in more urination without hydration to replace the lost fluids.
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Excessive Urination
Excessive urination is known as “Polyuria”. Our kidneys can’t keep up and adjust blood sugar levels so that it returns to a normal level, the excess sugar is flushed out of your body through urine.
The average person usually has to pee between 4-7 times in 24 hours, but people with high blood sugar levels may go a lot more. So, if you go to the bathroom all the time if you’re losing a lot of fluid that way, then this could be a sign that it is high because people with high blood sugar levels can develop urinary tract infections which may trigger excessive urination. Urinary infections can also cause pain or a burning sensation when urinating and an urge to urinate despite having an empty bladder.
During the day, you might not notice this symptom, but if your sleep is ruined by frequent trips to the bathroom, it should ring an alarm.
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Feeling tired even when rested
Fatigue and extreme tiredness are the symptoms of high blood sugar. The problem is people might attribute this to working too much. However, when your blood glucose goes above 250mg/dL your body fights hard to get rid of it. Your pancreas can not produce enough insulin to turn glucose into energy. You will feel tired all day long. Tiredness is a pretty non-specific symptom and could also be a sign of low blood sugar. But, if you notice fatigue creeping in right after you eat, especially a meal high in carbs, it may have to do with rising blood sugar. Nothing is wrong with you eating sweet foods. If you notice this symptom after eating meals, you should visit a doctor.
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Blurred vision
You may notice your vision isn’t as clear as it used to be, or you are struggling hard to focus your eyes. That’s when you get blurred vision. High blood sugar levels can lead to swollen lenses in your eyes. This changes the shape of the lens, which makes it unable to focus, causing blurred vision.
In a short term, the problem is not dangerous and your vision will improve once the sugar level is normalized. But you should be careful because, as the condition worsens, the damage to the lens will become permanent, causing diabetic retinopathy.
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Numbness and tingling feet
High blood sugar levels can cause nerve damage, also known as diabetic neuropathy, and the symptoms you would notice are numbness and tingling in your hand and feet. Some people experience pain in the hand and feet as well. Neuropathy is common in people who have had diabetes for a long time.
If you have one or more of these symptoms, go see a doctor and have a test done.
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