Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar level can be a side effect of the medicines that are taken to control diabetes. One may experience a drop in their blood sugar if they are taking the following medications:
- Insulin
- Glyburide (Micronase)
- Glipizide (Glucotrol)
- Glimepiride (Amaryl)
- Repaglinide (Prandin)
- Nateglinide (Starlix)
- Chlorpropamide (Diabinese)
- Tolazamide (Tolinase)
- Acetohexamide (Dymelor)
- Tolbutamide (Orinase)
Diabetes makes the blood sugar rise which can affect health. Even if a doctor prescribed these medicines to lower your blood sugar level, sometimes, if a diabetic is sensitive to medications, their blood sugar tends to fall below normal limit i.e. below 70 mg/dl. This can be very dangerous as it can cause accidents, injuries, coma or even death.
When blood sugar level drops, one may experience:
- Fatigue or weakness
- Shivers
- Sweating
- Hunger
- Headache
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Dizziness
- Blurry vision
You may also feel faint, have a seizure or go into a coma if your blood sugar falls too low. To avoid this make sure you:
- Take your medications or insulin on time.
- Take the right doses of your medication or insulin.
- Do not increase or decrease the dose of your medicines without consulting with your doctor first.
- Eat enough food after you have taken your medication or insulin.
- Do not skip meals.
- Do not wait too long to eat after you have taken your medications.
- Do not exercise too much or at a time that is unusual for you.
- Adjust your insulin dose before you begin to exercise.
- Do not drink alcohol.
If you experience any of the symptoms of low blood sugar, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. Also, ask your doctor about a bedtime snack to prevent your blood sugar from dropping while you are asleep.