A question

[Eri's mom]

OK, this has probably been brought up before somewhere, but, I was wondering, since I get such different opinions on this, what everyone's here is.
What is worse? Hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia?

[Erin]

Hypoglycemia (as in when a diabetic has it, not the disorder with the same name) is more accute. The dangers are real, apparent, and immediate. It interferes with daily functioning, and if it goes low enough can result in seizure, brain damage, or even death. Also, at least in my experience, hypoglycemia is often followed by periods of hyperglycemia. So it has my vote for "worse" I feel like **** when I'm low, and any dream I had of having stable numbers goes out the window after a bad one (I over treat, and my liver tends to dump massive amounts of glucose as well).

Occasional Hyperglycemia isn't that big of a deal. It is when it is sustained over a number of hours, or days, and accompanied by ketones where it becomes dangerous. Having frequent episodes of hyperglycemia increases the likleyhood of complications, but luck and genetics have an equal role in determining who gets which complications, but we control what we can. I don't freak over the occasional high. I figure with highs I have more time to fix it before it becomes a real problem.

[am1977]

Personally, I rather deal with a low than a high. Highs really suck for me...they make me tired, irritable, and I feel like **** when my sugar levels are elevated. Plus, I have a hard time bringing those down those highs most often. Not to mention that complications are more associated with high glucose levels...that's a scary thought :afraid:.

IMO, lows are easier to deal with. Just by eating something, you can bring those numbers up and, hey, it's a good excuse to eat :eating:. Yes, lows are dangerous if they aren't treated, but if you test often, you can catch them before you go too low.

[Diana]

For me, I would say lows are worse, for all the same reasons as Erin listed.

[Cinnabon]

I have to agree with Erin and Diana, the way I think of it is, Being LOW you run the risk of so many things and not being able to react and fix this problem. But, with a hyper, at least you are aware enough to fix it and gain control of the high.

[EdnBama]

I'm with Cinnabon, Erin and Diana on this.

I'm fortunate that in 3 years of glucose monitoring, my bg has never gone below 74 that I know of.

[sydneya]

Hypoglycemia is the pits. The reaction is immediate--right then you feel light headed, dizzy, weak, blurry eyed, and just plain miserable. You finally get to eat sugar and don't really feel like it. It can cause a coma and death. When I am going through it, it is the worst.

Hyperglycemia is the pits. Because of having episodes of it, later in life you could have diabetic retinopathy causing blindness, neuropathy causing amputations, kidney disease causing the need for dialysis, extreme fatigue and depression maybe causing suicides. If I was going through one of the above, it would be the worst.

What a depressing posting. Life is good when we are in control. :hello:

[jen_slc]

I agree that hypoglycemia is worse, it can happen really quickly without warning and do some serious damage in a short time period while hyperglycemia takes longer. Though I have a hard time deciding which is worse for me personally in terms of how I feel. Hypos scare me to death, almost quite literally, but then I also feel like I'm dying when my BG is only moderately high too (almost like a heart attack, though I can't say for sure what that feels like :hmmmm2: ) - I feel very incapacitated and sometimes need help in these hyper situations as well as hypo situations.

[LauRa Lu]

Personally, I rather deal with a low than a high. Highs really suck for me...they make me tired, irritable, and I feel like **** when my sugar levels are elevated. Plus, I have a hard time bringing those down those highs most often. Not to mention that complications are more associated with high glucose levels...that's a scary thought :afraid:.

IMO, lows are easier to deal with. Just by eating something, you can bring those numbers up and, hey, it's a good excuse to eat :eating:. Yes, lows are dangerous if they aren't treated, but if you test often, you can catch them before you go too low.

Totalt agree with this. You've said everything I was going to say :wink:

[Mick]

One reading of 200, or even 300, is in no way even remotely dangerous--only keeping it that high over a period of days is. However, one single reading of 40 or even 55 might cause a car wreck, unconsciousness, risky behaviors (I once fell down a flight of stairs) and even death. Lows are way more dangerous and unpredictable than highs. They can also cause permanent brain damage and loss of memory. I don't like being high, but I would trade a 50 in for 250 any day.

Michael
T1 since 1965

[Georgia]

Definitely the lows for me - I hate the feeling they give. My husband knows when I'm low cos I go all giggly like a school girl! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Eri's mom]

Thanks for your responses :)

I ask b/c, obviously, with Eri being sick lately, she had a lot more hyper's...although she did experience quite a few hypo's. The thing is, lately, even w/ being in the high 30's, low 40's, she's still functioning and "normal".

I've experienced hypo's personally, and can't stand them.

I've also seen Eri go into shock and seizure quite often in the beginning after the initial "honeymoon" stage. (and the weird thing, as I mentioned in some other post, is that her magic number would be 67)...
Her lows hit so fast...we've been on top of everything with her, especially with this wonderful cold and flu season, and lately, since she's been better, her readings have been between the 40's and 70's...some in the 100's, it's just weird how this last bout w/ the flu really changed her readings.

[marshall444]

My dad suffers from both. I have seen the ambulance take him away with a BG of 10. I have been in the hospital when the Dr says he will die because his BG was 1884.
I have seen my mom run out the door to get to the police department because he was found in a ditch in his car and he have no memory of leaving the house.

I know I have always been taught if you don’t know treat it like it is low.

Which is worse? In my experience high is most of the time long term danger except when extremely high. (Not 300 or something) But low can cause instant troubles in many different ways.

[Atomik_zero]

i dunno ive only been diabetic for a month but ive already had my share of both.
i have to say that highs from 200-250 i cant even notice. i feel pretty normal.
but lows i feel right away and they scare the FFFFFFFF out of me. the feeling of them is just horrid. i honestly felt better dka dying in the hospital than i did the first time my BG dropped under 60.

[TechKnowBabble]

which is probably stupid, but I'll bite anyway :-)

Having low BG for an extended period of time would not do any damage to your body like having high BG for an extended period of time right? What can happen to you with having low BG and having high BG?

Since I'm new I don't know all of what can happen.

Thanks for the valuable information!

[jen_slc]

which is probably stupid, but I'll bite anyway :-)

Having low BG for an extended period of time would not do any damage to your body like having high BG for an extended period of time right? What can happen to you with having low BG and having high BG?

Since I'm new I don't know all of what can happen.

Thanks for the valuable information!Here's my understanding of it all from a biological perspective: I don't think it's possible for you to have low BG for an extended period of time like you can with high BG because either you feel so bad you take in glucose or your body would pump out some glucose eventually, but if you are unable to help yourself and your body doesn't react in time, you could pass out, drop into a coma/seizure, possibly even die. BUT, I think that dropping low, even just for 30 or 60 minutes and even if it's not a "bad" hypo, does do some kind of damage to certain parts of your brain. Some typical symptoms of hypos are memory loss and lack of coordination, and this is because certain regions of the brain involved in these functions are super super sensitive to low glucose. It follows that repeated hypos could damage these brain regions and affect your memory and coordination. :albertein

For me personally, since having experienced repeated hypos during the night (a lot of times without knowing it) in the past couple of years, my short-term memory and balance/coordination has suffered. It's very possible that this could be due to something else, but I don't know what, I'm not senile and I used to have a stellar memory & balance. I've no idea if other people have experienced lasting memory effects after experiencing repeated hypos, it could just be me, but it's a good idea to avoid them period!

[TechKnowBabble]

For me personally, since having experienced repeated hypos during the night (a lot of times without knowing it) in the past couple of years, my short-term memory and balance/coordination has suffered. It's very possible that this could be due to something else, but I don't know what, I'm not senile and I used to have a stellar memory & balance. I've no idea if other people have experienced lasting memory effects after experiencing repeated hypos, it could just be me, but it's a good idea to avoid them period!

Hmmmmm....so I could blame my being clumsy on diabetes...works for me :wink:

[sleepy]

this is a hard question

generally hyperglemia really peeves me of, i need to pee loads and feel all uncormfortable and depressed. it also makes me very unmotivated and clumsy.

although having a low blood sugar gives me an excuse to have chocolate :)
...........
i find in some social situations people can be a little ununderstanding, they can really be a problem in formal or work situations, i once went to a job interview and went so low i forgot everything, needless to say i did not get the job. also when people ask me questions im just like '' ugh.........'' .

also it feels like your drowning. ive never drowned , but i bet thats what it feels like

i guess both ar equally pance

[Irish_Fiona]

Definitely the lows for me - I hate the feeling they give. My husband knows when I'm low cos I go all giggly like a school girl! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


Thats exactly the same as me!! I go all giggly and woozy and want to play around. That's how my boyfriend knows. LOL!

[zookeeper671]

Lows... so that's why I'm retarded. :rolleyes:

I'd take a high over a low any day. Even after a low is "fixed," I still usually have to deal with a pounding headache, fatigue, and often an upset stomach.

[Ritehsedad]

I'll answer this, not from the perspective of a diabetic (since I'm T2, not on insulin), but the perspective of an ex-EMT.

Of course, my training was back in the days (late '70's) when diabetics could not routinely test their BG levels, but hypoglycemia is a more serious accute problem than is hyperglycemia, even when resulting in DKA.

With hypoglycemia your brain is not getting enough glucose, similar to when your brain is not getting enough oxygen. Shock (either lack of oxygen, or lack of glucose) will kill you if untreated.

Since we had no way to test, we were taught that when in doubt, give sugar. If hyper, the extra sugar will have little short-term effect, but if hypo, the extra sugar will have tremendous short-term effect (as you all know).