January 31, 2001
Hypoglycemia
Question from Pennsylvania, USA:
My friend has diabetes, and once and a while, I test my blood sugar with her meter. About 30 minutes after I ate a lot of sugar cookies, I started getting dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. I checked my blood sugar, and it was 77 mg/dl [4.2 mmol/L], so I ate two glucose tablets. We checked it again 10 minutes later, and it was 414 mg/dl [23 mmol/L]! I’ve been experiencing a lot of signs of hypoglycemia hypoglycemia like blurred vision, dizziness, lightheadedness, and feeling shaky and tired. Every time I check my blood sugar it’s in the 60-70s mg/dl [3.3 to 3.9 mmol/L]. What does this mean?
Answer:
There is some variability in the range of normal for blood sugars. Most folks would agree that a normal blood sugar in someone who does not have diabetes is 65-110 mg/dl [3.6-6.1 mmol/L]. I would not be concerned about a blood sugar of 77 mg/dl [4.2 mmol/L], and it certainly does not require the use of glucose tablets in someone without diabetes. A blood sugar of 414 mg/dl [23 mmol/L] is always abnormal and requires a discussion with your physician. Don’t forget also that blood sugar meters aren’t perfect and can, on rare occasion, give a falsely high or low reading.
MSB
