“Tips about starting insulin and regulating (blood) sugar levels”:

1) Learn the symptoms of hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) / insulin reaction. They can include hunger; sweating; feeling faint, dizzy, light headed; trembling, shaking; slurred speech; agitation; confusion; senses goofed up such as tunnel vision, ringing in the ears tingling feeling on the skin; loss of fine & gross motor coordination; seizures and worst of all loss of consciousness.

2) Have a way to check blood sugar such as a glucose meter, test strips and lancets accessible at all times. When in doubt test! You could be just “hangry” but it is better to test, know for sure and correct if needed than to run the risk of getting into a serious low blood sugar trouble. If you are headed in that direction your judgement could be off. JUST TEST! Better safe than sorry.

3) Always have a source of sugar available to treat a low blood sugar. At home fruit juice is a good option such as orange or grape juice. (Learn to read the nutrition labels.) About 15 grams of carbohydrate is a good place to start. This is about 1/2 - 1 cup of juice (4 - 8 ounces) depending on the juice. I have a particular bottle of juice and specific cup that I know will do the trick so I don’t have to figure it out when the time I need it comes. Learn to read nutrition labels ahead of time before you shop for groceries. You can keep hard candies in your pockets, purse, glove compartment of your car for when you are away from home. When Life Savers candies were first invented it was for the purpose of treating low blood sugar and that is how they got their name.

(DON’T DRIVE UNLESS YOU KNOW YOUR BLOOD SUGAR IS OK!)

In addition to juice and hard candies there are glucose tablets and glucose gel from a pharmacy. It is a consistent amount of carbohydrate which helps prevent over treating the low blood sugar but is more expensive and not really necessary. There are also injections (Glucagon) and a nose spray treatment (Bacsimi sp.?) that require prescriptions. This is for extreme lows when the person isn’t able to swallow.

4) It is helpful to have a family member, friend, roommate, neighbor know your medical condition to assist you as needed. My husband has “saved” me many times. My kids grew up aware of my situation and what to do if necessary. It is good for trusted friends to know these basics also. You should also have a bracelet or necklace with medic alert ID on it. In my community there is something called Smart 911 where you can have your important medical information on file with the paramedics and EMT’s.

5) Last but not least (this is my personal opinion) it is better to treat a diabetic emergency as a low blood sugar rather than a high blood sugar. I say this because if testing is not available for some reason a low can happen quickly and be life threatening if not dealt with. A high blood sugar is bad also but takes longer to become life threatening and also longer to correct. A real life example was in a parking lot going into a restaurant I had a low blood sugar incident. My parents were with us and my mother mentioned to concerned people parked next to us that I was diabetic. Some well meaning woman commented “Oh she needs her insulin!” NOT! that could have killed me. My husband emphatically said “NO” and one of my daughters was already fetching juice from the restaurant. Same thing happened at an apartment complex in my neighborhood. I happened to be taking a walk when I saw one of the tenants down on the lawn. He had a diabetic medical alert tag on him. His friend was heading into the apartment building to get the insulin. I gave the guy some of my trusty hard candies and told his friend to bring his meter instead. The friend didn’t know what a meter was and EMT’s (that someone had called) showed up. They tested the guy, administered some more sugar and thanked me for my action.

All of these recommendations are general things for insulin dependent diabetics. Each person’s provider should set the target blood sugar range, prescribe insulin &/or medication doses, make testing requirements and give referrals to other providers such as diabetes educators, nutritionists, therapists etc. to help meet the needs of a diabetic to live as full and healthy as possible life as possible.