What Are the Signs of Too High Blood Sugar?

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are often associated with very high levels of blood glucose or blood sugar. Hyperglycemia or high levels of blood glucose is known to cause a host of complications in the body. Hence, it is imperative that you are aware of the various signs and symptoms that are specific to high blood glucose so that appropriate steps can be taken to deal with the situation effectively. In this article, we shall discuss some of the warning signs of high blood glucose levels.

Table of Contents

What Does High Blood Sugar Mean?

High blood sugar, as the name suggests, means when the glucose level in the blood becomes too high. It is also known as hyperglycemia. When you have high levels of blood glucose, you actually know that either the body is not producing enough insulin or the insulin so produced is not being utilized by the body in an efficient manner. If you are a person who suffers from diabetes and is not keeping your blood glucose levels constant and stable, you might become hyperglycemic really soon.

There are two main types of hyperglycemia:

Fasting Hyperglycemia

This is the level of blood glucose that you have when you have not eaten for at least eight hours or so. If the blood glucose falls within the range of somewhere around 70 milligrams per deciliter to 130 milligrams per deciliter, you have normal blood glucose. Anything beyond 130 milligrams per deciliter qualifies as a fasting hyperglycemia.

Postprandial Hyperglycemia

This is the measurement of blood glucose levels in your body after you have eaten your meals. You usually should take the measurement after a couple of hours of eating. If your blood glucose levels are beyond 180 milligrams per deciliter, then you have postprandial hyperglycemia which is also known as the reactive hyperglycemia.

Signs of Too High Blood Sugar

Following are some of the warning signs of too high levels of blood glucose:

Excessive Urination or Polyuria

When the blood glucose levels are too high in your body, the body tries to get rid of the same through urine. This results in the increasing need of using the washroom more frequently to urinate. When you have a urine output which is more than around 2.5 liters per day, you are said to have the problem of excessive urination. When you have extremely high levels of blood glucose, you can even urinate as much as 15 liters of urine in one day. This problem of polyuria, in turn, gives rise to a host of other complications in the human body.

Excessive Thirst or Polydipsia

As seen above, when you have too high blood glucose levels, you urinate a lot. This results in the loss of essential fluids from your body, leading to the problem of dehydration. Hence, you have the problem of polydipsia where there is a growing need to rehydrate your body. When you have this condition, you should avoid fluids that are high in the sugar content as that will further increase the blood glucose levels in your body.

Loss of Weight or Polyphagia

Normally, when the blood glucose levels are high and your body is unable to use insulin in an appropriate manner, you usually eat a lot. In spite of that, there is a tendency for you to put on weight.

When you lose all the essential fluids from your body due to high blood glucose levels, your weight is prone to get reduced. When insulin is not present in enough quantities in your body, the fat is burnt down in order to perform the process of metabolism in the body. This, in turn, can cause you to lose weight. When you urinate during high blood glucose levels, you try to get rid of glucose which is also a storehouse of a number of calories. This will further cause the much common weight loss in the hyperglycemic individuals.

Slow Healing of Wounds

When you have high levels of blood glucose in your body, you tend to suffer from the damage to the nerves present in the different parts of the body. This can limit the supply of oxygen in the essential body parts, causing a delay in the healing of sores and cuts

Loss of Vision

Another common symptom of high levels of blood glucose is the damage caused to the blood vessels of the eyes. There can be damage caused to the back of the eye due to high levels of blood glucose, that can cause the problem of blurred vision. When the high blood glucose levels are not controlled for a prolonged period of time, it might even lead to blindness in the patients.

Exposure to Infections

High blood glucose levels weaken the immunity system of the body. Yeast and several other types of bacteria are known to feed on glucose. Thus, infections are quite common in all those who have high levels of blood glucose. Another reason why a number of infections might be a common warning sign in people with high blood glucose levels is that the white blood cells, which are typically responsible for fighting the infections, lose their efficiency when your body has high blood glucose levels.

Fatigue and Tiredness

In high blood glucose levels, the glucose which the food is known to be broken down into, is not able to reach the cells in an appropriate manner and produce enough energy. Thus, the body feels too tired at all times.

Digestive Disorders

Another warning sign to know that you might be suffering from the problem of high levels of glucose is that you might suffer from constipation as well as diarrhea. Experts say that when due to high levels of blood glucose, your large intestine is affected, you might suffer from constipation and when the condition affects your small intestine, diarrhea may be a constant problem for you.

Dry Skin

Another important warning sign of high blood glucose levels is the dryness which affects the skin. Large amounts of fluid that the body excretes as a result of high blood glucose make the skin extremely dry and patchy. Dry skin might also be the result of the inappropriate circulation of blood in the body and nerve damage to various body tissues and nerves.

Headaches

The human brain is known to utilize around 25 percent of the total glucose that your body has. When you have high blood glucose, the brain is unable to get the much- needed glucose to feed on. As a result, the most important organ of the body fails to function in an appropriate manner causing headaches, loss of memory, amongst a host of other problems and concerns.

Erectile Dysfunction

Most of the men who suffer from the problem of high blood glucose levels also suffer from a problem where they find it difficult to maintain an erection. The main reasons for this come from the poor circulation of blood and nerve damage which are common symptoms of high blood glucose.

Irritability

When you have high levels of blood glucose in your body, it has been well observed that you suffer from a lot of mood swings. One of the reasons for the same might stem from the fact that since you have so many complications in your body owing to the problem of high blood glucose levels, it sometimes becomes difficult to cope with the same, causing irritation and stress.

The above are some of the warning signs which when experienced should not be ignored. You need to get yourself checked for high blood sugar levels.

How to Treat Hyperglycemia

Once you know that you have high blood glucose levels, you should take appropriate steps to control the same. The following steps will help you achieve your goal:

Drinking plenty of water and devising an appropriate meal plan plays a very important role in treating the condition. You need to be careful about what you eat and what you do not eat.
Exercise is the main way of dealing with the problem of high blood glucose levels. Frequent physical activity goes a long way in helping you treat the condition in a better way. 20 to 30 minutes of exercise at least five days a week is enough.
If you are already taking some or the other type of medicines, you might as well need to adjust the same in order to stabilize your blood glucose levels.

We hope that the above article has improved your understanding of some of the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar in your body. Understand these signs and taking appropriate measures is of vital importance as otherwise, you will have to deal with a lot of bodily complications and it will become difficult to lead a healthy life!!

Share17

Pin2

19 Shares

Diabetes Self Caring