High blood sugar is when your body makes too little insulin or when your body is not able to use insulin the right way. High blood sugar may also be called high blood glucose or hyperglycemia.
Symptoms of high blood sugar may include:
You may have other, more serious symptoms if your blood sugar becomes very high.
See also:
High blood sugar can harm you. If your blood sugar is high, you need to know how to bring it down. Here are some questions to ask yourself if your blood sugars are high:
Are you eating correctly?
Are you taking your diabetes medicines correctly?
What else has changed?
When you have diabetes, you will learn to use diet, exercise, and diabetes medicines or insulin to prevent high blood sugar levels.
You and your doctor will
If your blood sugar is higher than your goals for 3 days and you do not know why, check your urine for ketones, then call your doctor or nurse.
See also:
Hyperglycemia - self-care; High blood glucose - self-care
American Diabetes Association. Diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care. 2010. 33 Suppl 1:S62-S69.
American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care in diabetes -- 2010. Diabetes Care. 2010. 33 Suppl 1:S11-S61.
Updated by: Reviewed by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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