LYD1A KERR

Type 1 Diabetes loves providing a fun rollercoaster of blood sugar levels. You may hear T1D’s talk about “highs” and “lows”, but may not be clear on what that means exactly.

This post explains the fundamental highs and lows, literally:

Hyperglycaemia – HIGH blood sugar/glucose

Hyperglycaemia, also known as high blood sugar, is classed as being above 10 mmol/L.

This is generally caused by not enough insulin in the blood stream.

Symptoms include tiredness, thirst, going to the toilet, irritability (even more than usual).

The treatment for high blood sugar is injecting insulin, which annoyingly does NOT work immediately and can take 15-30 minutes to lower blood sugar.

Hypoglycaemia- LOW blood sugar/glucose

Hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, occurs when blood sugar levels are lower than 4mmol/L.

This generally occurs due to too much insulin in the blood stream.

Symptoms vary but can include shaking, sweating, confusion, intense hunger.

Hypo’s are life threatening because all the cells in the body, including the brain, don’t have enough energy to function.

Thankfully the treatment is consuming sugar! But only if you’re still conscious, otherwise it’s an emergency glucagon injection and 999.

Sweets, fruit juice, glucose tabs etc are all super fast acting and will bring blood sugars back into range.

In a nutshell

You guessed it, type 1 diabetes is the constant 24/7 management of blood sugar levels to try and avoid highs and lows.

Except blood sugar fluctuations are super common and can happen for literally any reason, even if you are the most routined and well controlled diabetic (if they exist).

Thank you for reading ❤

Love, Lydia x

This is from my own experience and not medical advice, please consult a medical professional if you are concerned.

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