If you’re healthy, your body is able to regulate its own blood glucose levels, secreting insulin when blood sugar rises, and glycogen when it begins to fall too low. But if you are living with Type 2 diabetes, things are more complicated. You may need medication to help your body control your blood glucose levels or prescribe insulin itself. This helps you to lower your blood sugar level, but you can’t just “set and forget”.

Because it’s a balancing act, you have to be careful about what you eat, when you eat, avoid drinking too much alcohol, and the effect of changes to your daily routine.

But while guarding against hyperglycaemia (overly high blood sugar levels) there’s a chance that you may experience the opposite problem: hypoglycaemia.

What is Hypoglycaemia?

Hypoglycaemia occurs when blood sugar levels fall too far - and it can be extremely dangerous. Most people will experience symptoms that tell them there’s a problem, sometimes waking up during the night if it occurs while they’re sleeping. In most cases, people can treat themselves at home and don’t need medical help, but if they don’t notice the problem or react in time, or if it is severe, it can cause them to lose consciousness and can even cause a coma or seizures.

Type 2 Diabetes: Hypoglycaemia Symptoms

Early symptoms of hypoglycaemia include feelings of fatigue, dizziness, sweating, feeling hungry, experiencing a tingling sensation in the lips, shakiness or trembling, rapid heartbeat, mood disturbances, or turning pale. If you take action at this point, you can ride it out and feel better within minutes.

When hypoglycaemia becomes severe, the symptoms are worse. You may feel terribly weak, have blurred vision, become confused, start having trouble with balance or slur your words, become unconscious, or even experience seizures.  

Even if you’ve never experienced hypoglycaemia before, it’s important that you and your family know about it, know what to do about it, and know when to summon emergency help.

Riskiest of all, some people don’t feel the early symptoms of hypoglycaemia until it becomes critical. This is known as “hypoglycaemia unawareness” and people who have this problem need to be extra careful about monitoring their blood sugar levels.

What Causes Hypoglycaemia in Type 2 Diabetes?

Can Type 2 diabetes cause hypoglycaemia? Not in itself, but some of the medication we use to treat it can.

In Type 2 diabetes, your body loses sensitivity to insulin and your blood sugar levels can become dangerously high. You solve this problem by using medications, but it can be a delicate balancing act. If you have too much insulin or elevated insulin sensitivity, your body takes too much sugar out of your blood.

Besides this, you may trigger hypoglycaemia by eating too few carbs or by eating meals that consist of a balance of food types that limit carbohydrate absorption. And of course, skipping meals or drinking too much alcohol can cause hypoglycaemia too. Then there’s your insulin (if you use it): the type and dose of insulin are important, and so is the timing.

Physical activity is great for helping you to control Type 2 diabetes, but the intensity, amount, and timing of exercise makes a difference - even unusually hot weather could mean that your blood sugar level falls too far. Finally, there are physical changes during puberty and menstruation that can affect your blood sugar levels.

How to Treat Hypoglycaemia and When to Call for Help

If you think you are experiencing mild symptoms of hypoglycaemia, check your blood sugar level. Your reading should be at least 4 mmol/L or 70 mg/dL. If it’s lower than that, you need easily absorbable sugar. As a guideline, apply the 15-15 rule. Eat 15 grams of carbs and check your blood sugar level again after 15 minutes. Repeat these steps until you have reached a normal level. Then, eat a meal or a snack.

To raise your blood sugar quickly, use glucose tablets or gel, have half a cup of a sugary drink, eat a few sugary sweets, eat two tablespoons of raisins, or take a tablespoon of sugar or honey. Don’t use chocolate because the fat it contains slows the absorption of glucose.

When hypoglycaemia is severe, you may need glucagon. It’s a natural hormone like insulin, but it has the opposite effect. While insulin helps to reduce blood sugar levels, glucagon tells your body to release sugar into your bloodstream.  

Make sure that your family knows they need to call an ambulance if you lose consciousness and, if glycogen has been prescribed, that they know how to administer it. Wear a medic alert bracelet or necklace in case strangers need to understand your condition in order to help you. If you have experienced severe hypoglycaemia or have recurring problems with milder hypoglycaemia, be sure to see your doctor.

How to Manage Hypoglycaemia in Type 2 Diabetes

If you have Type 2 diabetes, managing your blood sugar becomes part of your daily life. If you allow it to get too high, it can cause irreversible damage to your body. If you let it fall too low, you’re at risk of hypoglycaemia.

Monitor your blood sugar in line with doctors’ orders. Notice how your body reacts to different things you do such as exercise, eating, or taking your medication. Stick to a routine, eating and snacking at set times of the day and be careful to take your medication as recommended.  

If you’re planning to get more active than usual, eat something beforehand and, if you’re checking blood sugar and have instructions for adjusting your medication based on readings, follow your doctor’s recommendations. Planning to celebrate something with a couple of drinks? Be sure to eat a meal or snack to keep your blood sugar up, drink moderately, and monitor extra carefully!

Can You Die From Hypoglycaemia?

Most episodes of hypoglycaemia are mild and you can treat them quickly and easily. The main risks come from severe hypoglycaemia attacks that affect consciousness – the complications of these can be fatal. Your best solution is to find the right routine and make changes to your lifestyle or medication slowly with advice from your healthcare team. With a little care, it’s entirely possible to live a long, happy and healthy life with Type 2 diabetes.

Nevertheless, it’s natural to find yourself wondering about what may happen to your family if you were to die unexpectedly. Life insurance is the obvious safeguard for their financial health. But once you start exploring this option, you’ll find that most insurance companies are very reluctant to provide cover.

They may ask you to go for tests, ask for access to your medical history, and then take months mulling things over before offering you cover with higher premiums. At Blueberry Life, our team of doctors and insurance experts believes in you. We know you can manage your diabetes, and we believe in your commitment to staying as healthy as you can.

That’s why we’ve made it easy for you to get the life insurance cover you need for that bit of extra peace of mind. We won’t send you from pillar to post. We won’t delay. You won’t even have to visit your doctor for reports. Find out more about our life insurance policies for people living with chronic conditions today or start your application today and watch us spring into action. All you need is 5 minutes to tell us about yourself.

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Reviewed by Dr. Kingshuk Pal