Tools for Detecting Low Blood Sugars

This week one of my patients was feeling a bit lethargic, but thought that she was just tired because she didn't sleep well the night before. The first thought that came to my mind was that her blood sugar was low. I asked her to take out her meter and test her blood sugar. Sure enough, it was low - 60. She was shocked. I gave her a 4oz juice box and we re-tested 15 minutes later.  Her blood sugar had risen to a safe level - 85. After some talking, we pinpointed the reason her sugar dropped - she took her diabetes medicine without eating. The medication she takes sends a signal to her pancreas to make insulin, therefore I explained to her that she cannot take her diabetes medication without food. And if she is not going to eat, she shouldn't take it. Being that she doesn't seem to recognize or feel her low blood sugars, we also discussed the possibility of getting her a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). A CGM could alert her when her blood sugar is dropping. In the event that she is out and her blood sugar drops, she would avoid a dangerous situation by being notified as to where her blood sugar was trending.  We are going to talk to her doctor this week about getting a prescription for a CGM. I am really happy about this because she is an older woman who lives alone. Our goal is to prevent low blood sugars and a CGM can help to do that.Tools for Detecting Low Blood Sugars originally appeared on About.com Diabetes on Sunday, March 30th, 2014 at 18:57:27.Permalink | Comment...
Source: About Diabetes - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news