How Do I Recognize And Treat High Blood Sugar Levels?

— -- Question: How do I recognize and treat high blood sugar levels?

Answer: High blood sugar levels may be symptomatic; in other words you may feel thirsty, you may feel tired, you may urinate a great deal, you may have vaginal infections, but those are all suggestions that your blood sugar is really quite high, well over 200, and it's been for quite a while.

In order to know if your blood sugar goes high, just every now and then, or let's say after a particular meal, you have to test your blood sugar, and that's the best way. If you test your blood sugar with a finger stick method, and find that it's over say 200 or 250, then you know that you are high, whether or not you've actually developed thirst and frequent urination.

Now how do you treat a high blood sugar? That, of course, depends on what you're basic diabetes regimen is. You may learn simply to avoid whatever it was in your diet that caused the high blood sugar; or you may have to change your insulin dose, you may have to change the pills. Certainly if you're remaining high; if you're symptomatic or if you're over 200 or so frequently, then you have to change your treatment regimen in some significant way, and you may want to talk to your healthcare professional and find out about what to do.

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