What are the symptoms of high blood sugar?

Table of Contents Show

What is hyperglycaemia?
Is hyperglycaemia dangerous?
What are the symptoms of hyperglycaemia?
Later signs and symptoms of hyperglycaemia
What causes hyperglycaemia?
What can you do to manage hyperglycaemia?
When should you seek medical assistance?
What can you do to reduce the likelihood of hyperglycaemia developing?
What causes hyperglycemia?
What are the symptoms of hyperglycemia?
How do I treat hyperglycemia?
What if it goes untreated?
Medical IDs
How can I prevent hyperglycemia?

By Kate Battocchio Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Exercise Physiologist

What is hyperglycaemia?

Hyperglycaemia is the medical term for high blood glucose levels (blood sugar levels) and it affects people with diabetes. Several factors can contribute to hyperglycaemia, including food choices, physical activity, illness, non-diabetes medications, skipping or not taking enough glucose-lowering medication or insulin.

Is hyperglycaemia dangerous?

It is important to manage hyperglycaemia because, left untreated it can lead to short term complications that require emergency medical care like diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in type 1 diabetes and hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state (HHS) in type 2 diabetes. In the long term, persistent high blood glucose levels causes damage to blood vessels leading to complications that affect the nerves, eyes, kidneys and heart.

What are the symptoms of hyperglycaemia?

Hyperglycaemia may not cause symptoms until blood glucose levels are consistently over 10mmol/L. The higher and more consistently elevated blood glucose levels are, the more obvious the symptoms. This is why many people may not know they have diabetes, as despite their blood glucose level being above 10mmol/L some of the time, it may not be elevated consistently or high enough to cause symptoms.

Early signs and symptoms of hyperglycaemia include:

Frequent urination
Increased thirst
Fatigue
Weight loss
Blurred vision
Infections

Later signs and symptoms of hyperglycaemia

If hyperglycaemia goes untreated, it can cause toxic acids (ketones) to build up in your blood and urine (ketoacidosis). Signs and symptoms include:

Fruity-smelling breath
Nausea and vomiting
Abdominal pain
Shortness of breath
Dry mouth
Weakness
Confusion

What causes hyperglycaemia?

Many factors can contribute to hyperglycaemia, including:

Not enough insulin or oral diabetes medication
Not injecting insulin properly or using expired insulin
Making unsuitable food choices and/or eating too much food
Inactivity
Illness or infection
Using certain medications, such as steroids
Being injured or having surgery
Experiencing emotional stress, such as family conflict or workplace challenges

What can you do to manage hyperglycaemia?

In the short term, if you are experiencing blood glucose levels over 10-12mmol/L you need to determine what is causing the hyperglycaemia. Are you unwell, do you have an infection? Have you recently been treated with steroids or has there been an increase in stress in your life?

During this time of elevated blood glucose levels you might consider the following:

Follow your sick day plan
If unwell, manage the illness or seek medical review and/or treatment
Monitor your glucose levels more regularly
Keep hydrated
Seek medical attention if not improving or you are unable to look after yourself
Consider a medical review for advice on any changes to management

If you live with type 1 diabetes you could also consider:

Monitoring ketone levels
Administering correction insulin

If you have been experiencing elevated bloods glucose levels for some time, you need to consider your current management and what changes may be needed to bring your glucose levels back into target

Consider a review with your medical practitioner or diabetes educator
Look at lifestyle factors – healthy eating and physical activity
Have you been missing your medications?
Managing stress

When should you seek medical assistance?

Call 000 or emergency medical assistance if:

You are sick and can’t keep any food or fluids down
Your blood glucose levels are persistently above 15 mmol/L and you have ketones
Your health is deteriorating
You are unable to continue to care for yourself/ manage your diabetes

Make an appointment with your doctor if:

You experience ongoing diarrhoea or vomiting, but you’re able to eat and maintain fluid intake
You have a fever that lasts more than 24 hours
Your blood glucose is more than 15 mmol/L even though you’ve taken your diabetes medication
You have trouble keeping your blood glucose within the desired range

What can you do to reduce the likelihood of hyperglycaemia developing?

Hyperglycaemia cannot be avoided completely when you live with diabetes. The following tips may help you to keep your blood glucose levels in range:

Follow a healthy meal plan for diabetes. An Accredited Practising Dietitian can help you to understand what to eat, and how much to eat for your body and lifestyle.
Take your medication as prescribed by your doctor.
Monitor your blood glucose regularly if it is outside of range, and have your doctor review it. Your doctor may need to modify the dose or change medications if hyperglycaemia persists.
Move more. Regular, consistent physical activity will help your body to use glucose as well as making your body more sensitive to insulin. An Accredited Exercise Physiologist can help you to formulate a personal physical activity plan.
Prevent weight gain.
Have a current sick day plan to follow when you are well
Manage stress

Keywords: Living with diabetes

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Hyperglycemia is the technical term for high blood glucose (blood sugar). High blood glucose happens when the body has too little insulin or when the body can't use insulin properly.

What causes hyperglycemia?

A number of things can cause hyperglycemia:

If you have type 1, you may not have given yourself enough insulin.
If you have type 2, your body may have enough insulin, but it is not as effective as it should be.
You ate more than planned or exercised less than planned.
You have stress from an illness, such as a cold or flu.
You have other stress, such as family conflicts or school or dating problems.
You may have experienced the dawn phenomenon (a surge of hormones that the body produces daily around 4:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.).

What are the symptoms of hyperglycemia?

The signs and symptoms include the following:

High blood glucose
High levels of glucose in the urine
Frequent urination
Increased thirst

Part of managing your diabetes is checking your blood glucose often. Ask your doctor how often you should check and what your glucose sugar levels should be. Checking your blood and then treating high blood glucose early will help you avoid problems associated with hyperglycemia.

How do I treat hyperglycemia?

You can often lower your blood glucose level by exercising. However, if your blood glucose is above 240 mg/dl, check your urine for ketones. If you have ketones, do not exercise.

Exercising when ketones are present may make your blood glucose level go even higher. You'll need to work with your doctor to find the safest way for you to lower your blood glucose level.

Cutting down on the amount of food you eat might also help. Work with your dietitian to make changes in your meal plan. If exercise and changes in your diet don't work, your doctor may change the amount of your medication or insulin or possibly the timing of when you take it.

What if it goes untreated?

Hyperglycemia can be a serious problem if you don't treat it, so it's important to treat as soon as you detect it. If you fail to treat hyperglycemia, a condition called ketoacidosis (diabetic coma) could occur. Ketoacidosis develops when your body doesn't have enough insulin. Without insulin, your body can't use glucose for fuel, so your body breaks down fats to use for energy.

When your body breaks down fats, waste products called ketones are produced. Your body cannot tolerate large amounts of ketones and will try to get rid of them through the urine. Unfortunately, the body cannot release all the ketones and they build up in your blood, which can lead to ketoacidosis.

Ketoacidosis is life-threatening and needs immediate treatment. Symptoms include:

Shortness of breath
Breath that smells fruity
Nausea and vomiting
Very dry mouth

Talk to your doctor about how to handle this condition.

Medical IDs

Many people with diabetes, particularly those who use insulin, should have a medical ID with them at all times.

In the event of a severe hypoglycemic episode, a car accident, or other emergency, the medical ID can provide critical information about the person's health status, such as the fact that they have diabetes, whether or not they use insulin, whether they have any allergies, etc. Emergency medical personnel are trained to look for a medical ID when they are caring for someone who can't speak for themselves.

Medical IDs are usually worn as a bracelet or a necklace. Traditional IDs are etched with basic, key health information about the person, and some IDs now include compact USB drives that can carry a person's full medical record for use in an emergency.