Most people with diabetes know the typical reactions of hypoglycemia, such as palpitation, trembling hands, hunger, sweating, pale face, dizziness, weakness, etc. However, there are some atypical clinical symptoms of hypoglycemia that people often don’t know enough about. Therefore it is very dangerous.
"Angina pectoris" symptoms
Ms. Yin is a long-time sugar lover. She was hospitalized two years ago due to sudden palpitation and chest tightness. It was found that 90% of the main blood vessels were blocked, and the situation was relieved by the placement of a stent. In the past two weeks, Ms. Yin has been experiencing severe palpitations, especially during daytime activities. She also woke up due to palpitations around 12 o'clock at night. She sat up and rested for most of the day before her symptoms were relieved. Could it be that the heart blood vessels are blocked again? But I went to the hospital several times and had electrocardiograms that showed normal, and myocardial enzymes were also normal. Later, the doctor suggested that she monitor her blood sugar, and found that most of her blood sugar during the day was around 4.5mmol/L, and the lowest at night was only 3.9mmol/L. It turned out that this "angina pectoris" symptom turned out to be a manifestation of hypoglycemia. Under the guidance of a doctor, Ms. Yin’s blood sugar was under control by adjusting her medications and eating a reasonable diet, and her “angina pectoris” did not reoccur.
Symptoms of "stroke"
In recent days, Ms. Liu, a diabetic patient, has caught a cold and her food intake has decreased significantly. Ms. Liu did not take it seriously and continued to take antidiabetic medicine. But the family members were surprised to find that Ms. Liu became quiet and active, ignored people, and often felt sleepy. After being sent to the hospital, the doctor initially suspected that Ms. Liu had suffered an acute stroke. They did a brain MRI and found that there was no abnormality in the brain. They also tested her blood sugar. The result was 3.5mmol/L, which means she is hypoglycemic! After taking glucose orally and adjusting hypoglycemic drugs, Ms. Liu's blood sugar became normal and she returned to her previous appearance.
"Psychiatric" symptoms
Before dinner that day, Mr. Li, a diabetic patient, finished taking his rapid-acting insulin and was preparing to eat. He received a call that something urgent happened, so he hurried out without taking care of his meal. When she returned home two hours later, her wife found that Mr. Li, who was usually gentle and polite, was unusual in his speech, speaking incoherently and swearing randomly. There was no other way, so the family sent Mr. Li to the hospital. Once his blood sugar was found to be only 2.0mmol/L, he was immediately given intravenous glucose infusion. Soon, Mr. Li's "psychiatric" symptoms disappeared.
"cold" symptoms
Teacher Gu is a model patient and his blood sugar has been well controlled. During one follow-up visit, she said that she had been feeling sore all over and weak in her lower limbs for the past few days. She probably had a cold, and asked for some cold medicine. The attending doctor was very experienced and immediately suggested that she check her blood sugar randomly. Sure enough, her blood sugar was low. Through timely extra meals and medication adjustments, Teacher Gu’s blood sugar quickly returned to normal and her “cold” symptoms disappeared.
"Morning high blood sugar" symptoms
Lao Wang has been suffering from diabetes for 10 years. He always felt that he had been ill for a long time. Recently, his fasting blood sugar was a bit high, so he increased the dose of insulin before going to bed. As a result, his fasting blood sugar was even higher. He had no choice but to seek help from a doctor. The doctor suggested that Lao Wang monitor his blood sugar at about 3 o'clock in the morning. He didn't know the result until he checked it. When he checked it, he was shocked. He found that his blood sugar at night was only 2.8mmol/L. The doctor told him that this was Sumujie's phenomenon, because hypoglycemia occurred in the middle of the night, resulting in a rebound in blood sugar the next morning. The correct approach was to reduce the dose of insulin before going to bed. After adjusting according to the doctor's instructions, Lao Wang's fasting blood sugar became normal.
It can be seen that some clinical hypoglycemia is very atypical, highly deceptive, and has various manifestations, making it more terrifying. When we diabetes friends encounter situations similar to the above, we must think about whether hypoglycemia has occurred, or ask our family members to check their blood sugar in time when similar situations occur, and seek medical treatment in time to handle them to avoid accidents.
Expert Tips
1. Patients who use insulin for a long time must try to achieve the "three fixes", that is, fixed time, fixed food amount, and fixed amount of exercise. The three complement each other, especially food amount and exercise amount. If there are changes, the medicine should be adjusted in time under the guidance of a specialist. Quantity, don’t be static.
2. The traditional Chinese medicine Xiaoke Pills contains hypoglycemic. Although the content is small, elderly people aged 70 to 80 years old take it all year round. Due to the slowed metabolism, it is easy to accumulate. In addition, the symptoms are not typical, and it is very easy to be dangerous.
3. Patients taking insulin and oral sulfonylureas (Uglycemic, gliclazide, glibenclamide) should be particularly careful. Under the action of insulin and sulfonylureas. The drop in blood sugar is relatively large, and the speed of blood sugar drop is also relatively fast. If you are a little negligent, when the blood sugar drops to the point where a cerebral cortex reaction occurs, elderly patients will directly develop coma and other neurological symptoms. This situation is very dangerous, so it is very dangerous for elderly patients with diabetes. For example, taking sustained-release tablets with stable hypoglycemic effects is a better choice.
4. Do not misuse medicines and overdosage, especially for elderly people with diabetes who have varying degrees of vision loss and cognitive dysfunction. Go to the pharmacy to buy medicines by yourself. You do not know the drug content of each tablet or capsule, and the same unit may appear. Drug overdose occurs.
5. Not eating or eating very little after taking the medicine, especially the elderly who get up early, eat little after taking the medicine and then go out for morning exercise, are prone to hypoglycemic reactions.
People with diabetes who take medication must beware of hypoglycemia and carry blood sugar candies with them when exercising to avoid life-threatening hypoglycemia.
