Hypoglycemia Symptoms – Low Blood Sugar Causes
Hypoglycemia is a condition whereby the blood sugar level is very low in the human body system. Literary, the term means “under-sweet blood”. In most cases, the condition occurs where there’s a complication of diabetes treatment with oral medications or with insulin. If you’re diabetic, you’re likely to have hypoglycemia. People who are not diabetic have the lesser chance of having the condition.
Meanwhile, hypoglycemia can occurs at any given age. It can occur as a result of excess production of insulin by the pancreas. It can also occur as a result of inborn errors of metabolism. Reactions from medications, alcohol and poison can also lead to the condition. If you have a prolonged hormone deficiency, you’re likely to have the condition. Prolonged starvation and organ failure are also possible causes of hypoglycemia in humans.
Hypoglycemia symptoms abound. The condition usually produces lots of symptoms which are mainly direct outcome of inadequate supply of glucose to the brain. This can lead to brain impairment, seizures, brain damage, unconsciousness and even death in some cases.
Hypoglycemia symptoms can be mild or severe. The mild symptoms include:
- Hunger
- Profuse sweating
- Tremor
- Anxiety
- Paleness of the face
- Increased heart beat
- Tingling lips
- Palpitation of the heart and so on.
The severe hypoglycemia symptoms include:
- Brain damage
- Brain impairment
- Difficulty in concentrating
- Confusion
- Irrational behavior
- Disorderly behavior
- Loss of consciousness
Meanwhile, the hypoglycemia symptoms can also be categorized into various ways. For instance, there are symptoms related to adrenergic manifestations. There are also symptoms that relate to glucagon manifestations and neuroglycopenic manifestations. Let’s outline them.
Adrenergic manifestations
These are hypoglycemia symptoms triggered by the falling glucose. They include:
- Anxiety
- Shakiness
- Nervousness
- Palpitations
- Tachycardia
- Sweating
- Feeling of warmth
- Coldness
- Pallor
- Dilated pupils
- Numbness
Glucagon Manifestations
These are also hypoglycemia symptoms triggered by the falling glucose. They include:
- Hunger
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Stomach discomfort
- Headache
Neuroglycopenic manifestations
These are hypoglycemia symptoms produced by the reduced brain sugar. They include:
- Impaired judgment
- Abnormal mental process
- Brain impairment
- Brain damage
- Moodiness
- Depression
- Profuse weeping
- Irritability
- Negativism
- Belligerence
- Rage
- Emotional instability
- Body weakness or fatigue
- Apathy
- Lethargy
- Daydreaming, over sleeping
- Confusion
- Amnesia
- Dizziness
- Delirium
- Blurred vision, double vision
- Automatic behavior or automatism
- Difficulty in speech
- Lack of coordination
- Paralysis
- Stupor or coma
- Abnormal breathing
- Focal seizures and so on.
The above are the major symptoms of hypoglycemia you may have when you’re suffering from the condition. It’s important to state that not all the symptoms can occur in every case of hypoglycemia. It all depends on the reactions going on in your body. Individuals suffering from the condition may also exhibit some of the symptoms which others may not have.
When hypoglycemia occurs in young kids, they are likely to vomit several times. They may also have fever, nausea and headache. However, most adult s that have the condition do experience most of the symptoms already discussed. The only thing is that, the symptoms may vary from person to person. In elderly individuals, stroke and coma can easily occur. In the lives of newborn babies, the hypoglycemia symptoms can be in the form of jerks, respiratory distress, sweating, inability to feed, seizures and so on.
Whichever is the case, the fact remains that hypoglycemia is treatable. In most cases, the treatment begins with proper diagnosis whereby a blood test is carried out in order to determine the actual level of the blood sugar or glucose. The condition is mainly arrested by the restoration of the blood sugar level to the normal state it should be. In order to realize this, there may be the ingestion of dextrose or carbohydrate foods. This helps in bringing the glucose to the normal level. In severe cases, the treatment is usually done through the infusion or injection of glucagon. This helps in bringing the glucose to the normal level it should be.
In all, prevention is better than cure. Symptoms of Hypoglycemia and the condition itself can be adequately prevented from occurring when you take certain precautions. You can prevent the condition from occurring by dealing with the root causes. Your doctor is in the best position to tell you what to do. You need to avoid certain ugly habits in order to be free from hypoglycemia. There’s always the need to watch out for the hypoglycemia symptoms in your body system. If the condition is spotted on time, the treatment process can be very easy. It’s always very important to go for regular checkups in order to be free from issues that can lead to hypoglycemia.
