What Causes Fluctuations In Blood Sugar Levels?

Posted on Wed, 11 Jan 2017

Question: EMT's came to our house today b/c my son was having an issue with his blood sugar levels...... His blood sugar was at 50, they gave him an IV to get his blood sugar level up....it went up to 150. 45 minutes after eating dinner his blood sugar was at 212. When we take his next reading what should we do if his levels skyrocket? And what would be a high reading that I should be concerned about? Contacted the on call doctor this evening and she said to stop the Glipizide but I forgot to ask what to do if his bottom out again or go to high. He also takes 35 units of Toujeo plus Metformin.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Will need sugar supplements if low again

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

This appears to be low sugar due to drug effect. Is his oral intake fine? In that case, it seems that the ongoing regime was too much for him. If after stopping glipizide it normalises, then fine. If again low, which can happen in next 1-2 days, be ready with sugar sachets, sweets, etc to boost immediately. Dose of glargine will need to be reduced then.

If it skyrockets, say > 250, then supplemental shots of regular insulin may be required. Please contact the oncall doctor again, to fix the dose.

Hope this helps.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar