Early warning signs and symptoms

Early signs and symptoms of diabetic hypoglycemia include:

• Shakiness
• Dizziness
• Sweating
• Hunger
• Irritability or moodiness
• Anxiety or nervousness
• Headache

Nighttime symptoms

Diabetic hypoglycemia can also occur while you sleep. Signs and symptoms, which can awaken you, include:

• Damp sheets or bedclothes due to perspiration
• Nightmares
• Tiredness, irritability or confusion upon waking

Severe symptoms

If diabetic hypoglycemia goes untreated, signs and symptoms of severe hypoglycemia can occur. These include:

• Clumsiness or jerky movements
• Muscle weakness
• Difficulty speaking or slurred speech
• Blurry or double vision
• Drowsiness
• Confusion
• Convulsions or seizures
• Unconsciousness
• Death

Take your symptoms seriously. Diabetic hypoglycemia can increase the risk of serious — even deadly — accidents. Identifying and correcting the factors contributing to hypoglycemia, such as medications you take or irregular mealtimes, can prevent serious complications.

Informing people you trust, such as family, friends and co-workers, about hypoglycemia is important. Their knowing what symptoms to look for and what to do in case you're not able to help yourself can make a potentially difficult situation easier to manage. It's also important that they know how to give you a glucagon injection, in case it becomes necessary.

Symptoms can differ from person to person or from time to time, so it's important to monitor your blood sugar levels regularly and keep track of how you're feeling when your blood sugar is low. Some people don't have or don't recognize early symptoms (hypoglycemia unawareness). If you have hypoglycemia unawareness, you may require a higher glucose goal range.

Hypoglycemia is most common among people who take insulin, but it can also occur if you're taking certain oral diabetes medications.

Common causes of diabetic hypoglycemia include:

• Taking too much insulin or diabetes medication
• Not eating enough
• Postponing or skipping a meal or snack
• Increasing exercise or physical activity without eating more or adjusting your medications
• Drinking alcohol

Blood sugar regulation

The hormone insulin lowers glucose levels when glucose is elevated. If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes and need insulin to control your blood sugar, taking more insulin than you need can cause your blood sugar level to drop too low and result in hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia also may result if, after taking your diabetes medication, you eat less than usual or exercise more than you normally do. Your doctor can work with you to prevent this imbalance by finding the dose that fits your regular eating and activity patterns.

If you ignore the symptoms of hypoglycemia too long, you may lose consciousness. That's because your brain needs glucose to function. Recognize the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia early because if untreated, hypoglycemia can lead to:

• Seizures
• Loss of consciousness
• Death

On the other hand, be careful not to overtreat your low blood sugar. If you do, you may cause your blood sugar level to rise too high (hyperglycemia), which can become a problem with repeated episodes of hypoglycemia.