my old roommate almost died once because I didnβt realize that hyperglycemia can cause weird mood changesΒ
we were getting into bed and he suddenly became an asshole and I just assumed he had decided to be evil now and went to sleep
the next morning he had to be airlifted to Seattle
That must have been some sky high blood sugar, usually itβs only a problem after being that way for a while
Yeah, I guess heβd gone to a party and didnβt take the right amount of insulin to keep up with how much he ate/drank. Idk if the alcohol is what allowed him to sleep through the worsening symptoms or what.
I had to get up early the following morning to attend an advanced first aid/CPR class and we just so happened to be covering diabetes when the instructorβs radio crackled and announced that a young man in his early 20βs was going into a diabetic coma and needed to have a helicopter called in to save him. I realized it was literally my roommate and could NOT focus for the rest of the class.
This is unfortunately my area of personal expertise. Hyperglycemia affects everything in the body in bizarre ways.
There are also stages of behavioral changes.
Around 200 mg/dL, we get irritable, and speech suddenly gets choppy, words getting flipped around or slurred. They may also complain about being too hot at room temperature. Unfortunately the same symptoms as being buzzed, but a good indicator if they wouldnβt normally be intoxicated. A small thing is that I personally find I canβt sleep in between these stages. Even after a long day, Iβll just. Toss and turn.
Around 250 I get hungry. Like, any food nearby will quickly disappear type hunger. I know a lot of people get very thirsty as well, but itβs the hunger that really sticks out to me. I tend to gravitate massively towards sugary and salty foods when it hits that point. Irritation in full swing, general symptoms increase.
300 is when you breath check. Itβs also when things get weird. At this point, thirst is settled in and theyβll be urinating more than usual. Water goes in, and instantly goes out. Hunger will subside a bit. The irritability may die off, or spike into full out aggression, or oscillate at random. Severe mood swings set in.
400 is where the aggression turns to exhaustion. Weβre aching, our breath smells distinctly sweet, nausea kicks into high gear. If they do not have insulin at this point, you need to be on your way to a hospital. We may lose conciousness just out of tiredness, and our brains turn to mush around here anyways; do not let us drive.
The only reason I havenβt said to take them before is because if treated quickly, we can usually ride it out. Prolonged hyperglycemia (above 150mg/dL for several hours/days) is βdangerousβ at pretty much 200, but an unexpected spike can happen, especially if theyβre busy/neurodivergent, or eating something new. Even 250s happen occasionally after meals that we give ourselves enough insulin for, depending on what it was, what we were doing, our mood, stress, alignment of Jupiter, whatever. Taking a hospital trip for an unexpected 385 because I got distracted giving it to myself at lunch a half hour ago is entirely unnecessary (and potentially costly, yay america). As long as we can dose and monitor it so it doesnβt nosedive into a hypoglycemic event or rebound into a high, weβll be alright.
A hypo(low) event is about 90 and below, looks like tremors/shaking hands, wide eyes and lack of focus, sudden weakness/dizziness and loss of balance. Iβve had my legs just buckle unexpectedly without any other sign. As it falls, the symptoms get progressively worse. Loss of conciousness can occur in lows and highs; always ask a person with glucose control issues where and how to test before hand, generally it involves a small meter, test strips, and a bloodletting device, but some can test with their phones. Treatment involves eating a controlled carb of the hypoglycemicβs preferences, usually a candy/glucose tablet, but a medium sized apple/glass of fruit juice can be used instead in a pinch. If theyβre hitting 65mg/dL, you may need an emergency glucagon kit (mine is a thin red plastic box, not sure if theyβre standard) which will have instructions to assist. Every glucose-impaired person should have one with them everywhere they go, again, ask where they keep it before hand.
The longer a hyperglycemic event goes on, the more insulin itβll take to bring it back down, hence why time and testing is crucial. Every fifteen minutes, take another test until the hills and valleys even out. Test again half an hour to an hour after the event as well. If it was a large βhillβ, and a slow return to normal (greater than 2-3 hours), weβre still going to be exhausted for the rest of the day.
Tl:dr; sweeter the blood, nastier we get. be very careful when drinking. Hypoglycemia sucks dick.
This is good to know. Diabetes is so complicated and I donβt think most people know much about it beyond βuh youβve gotta be really careful with sugarβ.
