Knowing what to do if you’re prone to dips in your blood sugar can help keep you safe. You may try fast-acting juice or glucose, or adjust your insulin dose to help quickly raise your blood sugar levels.
The energy you need to work, play, or even just think straight comes from blood sugar or blood glucose. It circulates throughout your body constantly.
Blood sugar comes from the foods you eat. A hormone called insulin helps move the sugar from your bloodstream into cells in your body, where it’s used for energy.
But if your blood sugar levels drop too low, you can experience a wide range of symptoms, some of which can be serious. If you’re prone to dips in your blood sugar levels, knowing what to do can help keep you safe.
Because your blood sugar comes from the foods and beverages you consume, one of the easiest ways to quickly raise your blood sugar is to grab a quick snack.
Among the foods you can try for a quick blood sugar boost are:
- a piece of fruit, like a banana, apple, or orange
- 2 tablespoons of raisins
- 15 grapes
- 1/2 cup apple, orange, pineapple, or grapefruit juice
- 1/2 cup regular soda (not sugar-free)
- 1 cup fat-free milk
- 1 tablespoon honey or jelly
- 15 Skittles
- 4 Starbursts
- 1 tablespoon of sugar in water
Foods that contain protein or fat, such as peanut butter, ice cream, and chocolate, may be helpful if your blood sugar is lower, but you don’t need to raise it immediately.
These higher fat foods, whole grain bread, and other high fiber foods
Use the Rule of 15
The American Diabetes Association recommends the 15-15 rule. If your blood sugar dips below 70 mg/dL:
- Eat at least 15 grams of carbohydrates.
- Wait 15 minutes to recheck your blood sugar.
- If you’re still 70 mg/dL or lower, have another 15 grams of carbs.
- Wait 15 minutes, and check your levels again.
You can raise your blood sugar quickly without eating food or drinking any beverages.
This may involve fast-acting products, from chewable glucose tablets or injectable glucagon products that require a prescription.
You can typically find glucose tablets in pharmacies and stores without a prescription.
Glucagon is a hormone that triggers your liver to release glucose into the bloodstream. Several prescription options exist, available in a needle and syringe kit or an injectable prefilled pen version. You can also find an inhalable version that you puff up into your nose.
You can discuss this option with your healthcare team, and whether glucagon might be helpful to treat severe low blood sugar levels.
Your blood sugar tends to fluctuate throughout the day. It’ll be lower when you first wake up, especially if you haven’t eaten for the past 8 to 10 hours.
Your blood sugar will go up once you eat. Depending on when you last ate, here’s what’s considered to be a normal blood sugar range:
| Fasting | 2 hours after a meal |
|---|---|
| 70 to 99 mg/dL | Less than 180 mg/dL |
Low blood sugar, also known as hypoglycemia, is when your blood sugar levels fall below 70 mg/dL.
The point at which low blood sugar symptoms become noticeable is different from one person to the next.
Some people may feel jittery, irritable, or lightheaded when their blood sugar level falls to 70 mg/dL, while others may not feel any symptoms until well below that mark.
A quick, simple blood test can measure your blood sugar level. If you have diabetes or another medical condition that sometimes causes episodes of low blood sugar, it’s important to regularly check your blood sugar with a home test.
If a test shows that your blood sugar is below normal, you can take steps to adjust it quickly.
Symptoms of low blood sugar vary from person to person and can even be different from one episode to the next. You may experience specific symptoms the first time your blood sugar dips, and different symptoms the next time.
Some of the
- jitters or shaking
- dizziness or lightheadedness
- chills
- sweating
- confusion
- sudden sleepiness
- trouble concentrating
- unexplained irritability
- sudden hunger
- racing or irregular heartbeat
More
- inability to eat or drink
- seizures
- unconsciousness
Some people may experience what’s known as hypoglycemia unawareness, in which they can’t detect low blood sugar to treat it. This may happen over time as the body gets used to low blood sugar or as nerve damage from diabetes makes symptoms more difficult to pinpoint.
Hypoglycemia unawareness can become dangerous, as it makes it more difficult to recognize symptoms in time to start treating that low blood sugar before it becomes more severe.
There are many different factors that can cause a dip in your blood sugar levels.
People with diabetes may experience hypoglycemia as a result of many factors, including:
- too much insulin
- your body responding differently to insulin, whether because it doesn’t absorb in your body effectively or another factor skews the medication’s effects
- skipping meals or going too long without eating, or possibly taking too much diabetes medication that lowers glucose levels
- physical activity can lead to a low blood sugar
People without diabetes
When to seek medical care
You may need immediate medical attention if your blood sugar drops too low or you have more severe symptoms, including seizures or unconsciousness.
This happens more commonly in people with diabetes and those who may take too much long-acting insulin or sulfonylurea diabetes pills.
You may consider medical care if you don’t have diabetes but have symptoms of hypoglycemia that don’t go away or get worse after you’ve eaten at least 15 grams of carbohydrates.
Low blood sugar can be a temporary issue caused by skipping a meal or not eating enough food. It can be harmless, especially if you can quickly raise your blood sugar by eating a snack.
However, it can also quickly become a medical emergency. A blood sugar drop can be related to diabetes or other underlying health conditions. If your symptoms are severe, or if eating a snack doesn’t help or makes you feel worse, you may need immediate medical attention.
Your healthcare team can help you understand blood sugar levels and how to manage them as part of your diabetes management plan or overall healthcare strategy if you don’t have the condition.