If you want to learn the symptoms of high blood sugar levels, you’ve come to the right place.
High blood sugar is a major problem. It could increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and kidney damage. Hyperglycemia increases glycation. This leads to the production of harmful particles. These particles impair the functions of glycated substances.
A chain of reactions takes place. It leads to problems with blood flow, inflammation, slow wound healing. Therefore, knowing the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar and keeping blood glucose levels in check is vital for good health and diabetes prevention.
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What Are High Blood Sugar Levels?
It is essential to address glucose levels in general. In persons without type 1 or type 2 diabetes, blood sugar levels generally range between 70 to 130 mg/dl.
It depends on the last time they ate a meal and the time of day. Normal blood glucose ranges in persons without any type of diabetes are:
- Fasting blood sugar in the morning before eating – 70 to 90 mg/dl
- One hour after a meal – 90 to 130 mg/dl
- Two hours after a meal – 90 to 110 mg/dl
- Five or more hours after eating – 70 to 90 mg/dl
In pregnant women, blood sugar levels tend to be lower. Harvard Health also confirms that a normal blood sugar level is less than 100 mg/dl after an eight-hour fast. Also, a person has diabetes if their blood sugar is 126 mg/dl or higher.
When it comes to hyperglycemia or high blood sugar, there are two kinds of problems. The first kind is fasting hyperglycemia, which is blood sugar higher than 130 mg/dl after not eating or drinking for eight hours.
The other kind is postprandial or after-meal hyperglycemia, which happens when your blood sugar is higher than 180 mg/dl two hours after a meal. People without diabetes rarely have blood sugar higher than 140 mg/dl after a meal unless it’s a big one.
What Happens When Your Blood Sugar Is Too High?
Mild high blood sugar
If your blood glucose levels are consistently higher than your target range you may have mild symptoms of high blood sugar. Symptoms experienced may include:
- Increased thirst
- Increased urination
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Increased appetite
It is important to drink enough water to prevent dehydration. Symptoms of dehydration can include:
- A dry mouth and increased thirst
- Warm, dry skin
Moderate to severe high blood sugar
If your blood sugar levels are consistently high (usually above 350 mg/dL in adults and above 240 mg/dL in children), you may have moderate to severe symptoms of high blood sugar, which can be very serious. The symptoms to look out for include:
- Blurred vision
- Extreme thirst
- Lightheadedness
- Flushed, hot, dry skin
- Restlessness, drowsiness, or difficulty waking up
If your body produces little or no insulin you also could also experience:
- Rapid breathing
- A fast heart rate
- Fruity breath odor
- Loss of appetite
If your blood sugar levels continue to increase, symptoms can become worse and you may become confused and lethargic. You also may become unconscious if your blood sugar levels are very high.
What Does High Blood Sugar Feels Like?
- You may be wondering what having high blood sugar feels like. You may find the following:
- You feel thirstier than usual
- You may need to urinate more frequently
- You have an increased appetite and feel hungrier
- Your vision becomes blurrier
- Your hands and feet may start to tingle
- You might also feel more tired than usual, get infections on your skin, or notice that cuts and sores take a long time to heal.
Why Is High Blood Sugar So Dangerous?
We know that hyperglycemia can cause cardiovascular problems and many others, but have you ever wondered why? Studies point to inflammation and other mechanisms of action mentioned above, but we also need to address glycation.
Glycation is defined as a natural process wherein the sugar in a person’s bloodstream attaches to proteins and forms harmful new molecules named advanced glycation end products.
Higher glycation occurs with elevated blood sugar concentration, which can explain why hyperglycemia can cause problems such as heart attack and stroke. At the same time, glycated particles such as LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or bad type of cholesterol are more susceptible to oxidation. As a result, oxidized LDL induces the atherosclerosis process.
What makes excess glycation so harmful? Well, glycated particles aren’t able to perform their functions adequately anymore. This also leads to apoptosis or cell death eventually.
In other words, high blood sugar leads to an increase in the process of glycation and leads to the production of potentially harmful particles. These particles affect blood flow and impair LDL functionality, HDL, and other proteins and lipids in our bodies. This causes a chain of reactions that lead to cardiovascular diseases, heart attack, stroke, but also induces nerve damage and slows down wound healing.
Your heart and all organs in your body need proper blood flow to function properly. The same goes for wounds. When glycation takes place and impairs functions of LDL, HDL, insulin, and other particles, they are unable to do their job and keep you healthy.
Glycated plasma proteins also trigger pro-inflammatory responses and prosclerotic cytokines, which lead to the development and progression of diabetic complications.
Early signs include:
- Thirst
- Headaches and blurred vision
- Frequent urination
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Blood sugar higher than 180 mg/dL
Ongoing high blood sugar may cause:
- Skin infections
- Slow-healing wounds
- Nerve damage causing painful cold or insensitive feet
- Erectile dysfunction
- Damage to your eyes, blood vessels, or kidneys
Causes of high blood sugar
Your blood sugar may rise if you:
- Skip or forget your insulin or oral glucose-lowering medicine
- Eat too many grams of carbohydrates for the amount of insulin you took, or eat too many carbs in general
- Have an infection
- Are ill
- Are under stress
- Become inactive or exercise less than usual
- Take part in strenuous physical activity, especially when your blood sugar levels are high and insulin levels are low
11 Symptoms Of High Blood Sugar
It’s natural for blood sugar levels to go up and down, but when excessive levels occur frequently, they can lead to various problems that could jeopardize a person’s quality of life.
Below we break down some of the most serious complications associated with excess blood sugar.
1) Increased risk of cardiovascular events
Cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke are common and affect millions of people around the globe. According to the CDC, every year, about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. Of the total number of heart attacks, about 525,000 are a first cardiovascular event of this kind while 210,000 occur in people who have already had a heart attack.
On the other hand, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US. About 140,000 die each year due to stroke. Every year, around 795,000 people suffer a stroke, and nearly three-quarters happen in people older than 65.
Risk factors that lead to cardiovascular problems are numerous, and high blood sugar is one of them. Although evidence on this subject is still relatively scarce, preliminary findings do show that hyperglycemia is an important prognostic factor in acute heart failure.
Studies show that hyperglycemia could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke due to the fact that glucose fluctuations are triggers for inflammatory responses through enhanced mitochondrial superoxide production.
The biggest problem here is that an inflammatory response induced by one short-term episode of hyperglycemia may last for several days. As if the problem isn’t severe enough, inflammation leads to insulin resistance, which only worsens hyperglycemia. Basically, a vicious circle is created.
Studies reveal that hyperglycemia can increase stroke occurrence and exacerbate the outcome through various mechanisms of action, including the generation of free radicals, inflammation, mitochondrial function, modulating acidosis, and others.
2) Microvascular damage of eyes, kidneys, toes, etc.
Microvascular damage is defined as damage to small blood vessels, and it’s a common consequence of high blood sugar. Evidence confirms that acute hyperglycemia causes microvascular damage and leads to poor functional recovery, especially in patients who have sustained myocardial infarction.
For example, numbers show that more than 661,000 Americans have kidney failure, but high blood pressure and diabetes are the most common risk factors for this serious health problem. Almost half of the patients with chronic kidney disease have diabetes. This isn’t such a surprise if we bear in mind that poor glycemic control is associated with microvascular disease development.
High blood sugar damages nerves and interferes with their ability to send signals, which causes diabetic neuropathy. Damage of this kind usually affects eyes, kidneys, toes, and other parts of a patient’s body.
3) Slow wound healing
Getting injured is nothing uncommon. Wounds heal quite quickly, and everything’s fine. But that’s not the case with hyperglycemia. Persons with high blood sugar may experience wound healing difficulties, i.e., the process tends to be slow. That happens because an increased amount of blood sugar in the blood makes cell walls rigid and stiff, which impairs blood flow in the small vessels. Wounds need adequate blood flow to heal properly.
4) Fatigue
Fatigue is a prevalent symptom. Insulin resistance makes it harder for cells in the body to utilize glucose. This is why blood glucose levels rise. The cells cannot effectively take the glucose out of the blood and convert it into energy. The result is fatigue and a feeling of weakness. A lack of energy will also develop. This is due to a reduced conversion of glucose into energy.
5) Frequent Urination
Another symptom is an increase in urination frequency. As glucose starts to build up in the bloodstream, it puts pressure on the kidneys. The kidneys focus on getting the extra glucose out of the bloodstream. A high level of glucose means the kidneys may not be able to effectively adjust the patient’s blood sugar levels. In turn, these organs will turn to flush out the excess glucose. This effect causes an increase in urination.
6) Blurred Vision
A high blood glucose level can also cause the lenses of the eyes to become swollen. The swelling happens when fluid leaks into the eye. In some patients, the shape of the lens can even be changed. When this happens, there may be blurry vision.
7) Nausea and Vomiting
Some patients also complain about nausea. There are cases where uncontrolled blood sugar levels also lead to vomiting in some patients.
8) Recurrent Infections
Yeast infections in the genital area are also more common in patients with high blood sugar levels. The high blood sugar creates an environment for Candida albicans to overgrow. This leads to a yeast infection. It causes soreness, pain, itching, and other symptoms in the genital area.
9) Dental Issues
Glucose is naturally found in saliva. With high blood sugar, there is excess glucose in the patient’s saliva. This leads to an overgrowth of bacteria. The result is generally inflammation in the gums, as well as redness. Dental infection can develop, leading to ulcers, tooth loss, and more.
10) Tingling Hands and Feet
Nerve damage is typical in people with high blood sugar. This can lead to a tingling sensation in both the hands and the feet. Pain is sometimes also experienced in these extremities.
11) Diabetic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome
Diabetic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome, or HHS, is a complication from very high blood sugars in people with type 2 diabetes.
It doesn’t occur in people with type 1 diabetes, who experience a different complication called diabetic ketoacidosis when blood sugar levels are dangerously high.
HHS is a condition of:
- Extremely high blood sugar (glucose) level
- Extreme lack of water (dehydration)
- In many cases, decreased alertness or consciousness
Normally, the kidneys help to filter out extra blood glucose by increasing the amount of urine removed from the body. This is why one of the symptoms of diabetes is increased urination.
When excess urine is removed from the body, it can lead to dehydration. When the body is dehydrated, it can’t make enough urine to flush out the extra sugar.
This leads to hyperosmolality, where the blood has higher concentrations of glucose (sugar), salt, and other substances. This can cause water to be drawn away from other sources of fluid, such as the brain, which is why it can cause an altered level of consciousness.
Other complications
While cardiovascular events, problems with eyes, kidneys, and slow wound healing are severe complications of hyperglycemia, they’re not the only ones. Below, you can see some other consequences of high blood sugar:
- Stomach pain
- Weight loss
- Headache
- Vaginal and skin infections
- Loss of hair in lower extremities
- Erectile dysfunction
How To Effectively Manage High Blood Sugar
While diabetes is a dangerous disease, it is often possible to manage it and control blood sugar levels.
Recognizing the symptoms of high blood sugar is critical. When blood glucose levels are high, a person must take appropriate action. This is the case with both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
The patient should start by discussing the high blood sugar level with their doctor. The doctor will be able to perform a few tests to give them a better view of the patient’s diabetes.
It also helps the doctor determine what type of diabetes the patient has. This may be type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or gestational diabetes in some cases. Patients also need to be aware that insulin resistance can develop into diabetes. Thus, if the patient is insulin resistant, they need to take action.
There are medications that can help. Some drugs help to ensure there is enough insulin in the body. Others rather have a direct effect on blood sugar levels. This can help to reduce the risk of a blood sugar spike. Failure to manage high blood sugar levels can lead to dangerous problems, such as diabetic coma.
A healthy diet is also critical for a person with diabetes. Carbohydrate counting is important, and you should learn what an appropriate portion size is for you. Meals should be balanced to avoid low blood sugar levels and a spike in blood glucose. It is also important that you take your medication with food.
Exercise should also form part of your management plan. It ensures carbohydrates obtained from food are converted into energy and not stored as excess sugar.
It is vital that a person does not use too much alcohol if they are diabetic. Avoiding sugary drinks can also be a helpful strategy.
Conclusion
Blood sugar is our source of energy, and we need it to function properly, but in some people, it can reach excessive levels.
High blood sugar is a major problem that could potentially increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, kidney damage, and many other health problems.
These things happen because hyperglycemia increases glycation, leading to the production of harmful particles that impair glycated substances’ functions. As a result, a chain of reactions occurs, that leads to problems with blood flow, inflammation, and slow wound healing.
So, being able to recognize the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar and keeping blood glucose levels in check is vital for good health and diabetes prevention.
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