What To Do When Blood Sugar Levels Drop

An experienced clinical researcher, Hanid Audish, DO has overseen clinical trials and managed the staff at Encompass Clinical Research since 2010. The owner and principal investigator at the research facility, Dr. Hanid Audish, and his team have completed clinical trials relating to a vast range of medical conditions, including diabetes. In this population of patients, it is very important to understand what happens if their sugars drop too low which is called hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, is used to reference blood sugar levels below 70 mg/dL. People taking insulin, tolazamide, glipizide, or many other diabetes medications are at a particular risk of developing the condition. The same is true of individuals who have previously had issues with hypoglycemia.

While the only way to be sure that blood sugar levels are low is to check blood sugar, it is associated with several possible symptoms. These include blurred or impaired vision, feeling shaky, sweating, and confusion. If it’s determined that someone has hypoglycemia, they must treat the issue right away.

This is best done according to the 15-15 rule. According to this rule, people experiencing a drop in blood sugar should have something with 15 grams of carbohydrates, such as pretzels or granola bars. People can also take glucose tablets, but it’s important that these tablets only contain about 15 to 20 grams of carbs each.

After eating the 15 grams of carbs, people should wait 15 minutes. After this amount of time, they can check their blood sugar levels again. If the levels are still below 70 mg/dL, they should have another serving of something with 15 grams of carbs and repeat the process until blood sugar levels reach 70 mg/dL or more.