Does anybody know? new, confused and now worried!

Hi, I was in the Dr. office for my son's check-up and started feeling really sick, dizzy and my heart was pounding. They knew I have been having some problems with my blood sugar so they pricked my finger and it was 234. The nurse told me that it's impossible to have symptoms with it being that low, so they checked it again and it was 231. She said that something else must be wrong and that I needed to get in to see my Dr. in the morning. She said that it's not possible to be feeling any symptoms of high blood sugar if it's below 700. What else can cause blood sugar to get really low at times and then jump around to normal and then high all in one day? They have pricked my finger so many times and the results are always drasticaly different then the time before. I have been really low, normal and really high. The nurse told me that anything related to diabetes doesn't act that way. Does anybody know what else can cause this?

That nurse was terribly and grossly wrong! You certainly can have symptoms of a high far below 700. I start to have symptoms of a high at about 200, but that is a little low to show symptoms. Also getting shaky, sweating etc. can be a symptom of a low. What you eat, your exercise, your stress levels, illness, injury, hormones can all affect your blood sugar readings. What medication are you on? Do you follow a structured eating schedule? Are you following a diet? All people with diabetes are different. What level you feel bad at is going to be different than anybody else. I am a type 1 and need insulin so how I react might be a little different than a type 2 on oral medication. It sounds like your doctor didn't give you very much information. Here are some symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Shakiness


Nervousness


Sweating


Irritability, sadness, or anger


Impatience


Chills and cold sweats


Fast heartbeat


Light-headedness or dizziness


Drowsiness


Hunger


Stubbornness or combativeness


Lack of coordination


Blurred vision


Nausea


Tingling or numbness of lips or tongue


Nightmares or crying out during sleep


Headaches


Strange behavior


Confusion


Personality change


Passing out


You do not have to have all of them to be experiencing a low. If you feel this way check your blood sugar. If it is below 70 take a little juice and a few crackers with peanut butter.
Here are some ideas of fast acting carbs to treat a low. Check your blood sugar 15 minutes after treating and if it is still low treat again.
2 glucose tablets or 2 doses of glucose gel


2-4 pieces hard candy


1/2 to 3/4 cup of orange or grape juice (a juice box is good when you're away from home)


5 gumdrops


1-2 tablespoons of honey


6 oz. regular (not diet) soda (about half a can)


2 tablespoons of cake icing (the kind that comes in a tube is handy)

The symptoms of a high are usually extreme thirst, extreme hunger, blurry vision, fatigue, weakness, excessive urination. You can also feel nausea. If your sugars have been extremely high for a long time even high blood sugars can feel like low blood sugars. That is because your body will think something that is still high is too low if it is much lower than the levels you are usually at.

I hope I didn't make a big confusing mess out of that. It's early here and my daughter has been pestering me the entire way through.