Everyone wants insulin to outlive! With out sufficient or any insulin, your physique can’t use the meals you eat for power, and blood sugar ranges rise to harmful and ultimately deadly ranges.
This makes insulin one of the crucial necessary hormones in your physique, however simply as too little insulin could be life-threatening, an excessive amount of insulin — an insulin overdose — is equally harmful.
On this article, we are going to have a look at how you can spot the warning indicators of an insulin overdose, how you can deal with it, and how you can forestall it from occurring within the first place.
What’s an insulin overdose?
An insulin overdose is outlined as merely getting an excessive amount of insulin to the purpose of inflicting low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) — however the severity of that low blood sugar can fluctuate wildly primarily based on how a lot extra insulin was taken.
Signs of an insulin overdose
Early signs of an insulin overdose are the identical as signs of low blood sugar:
- Feeling shaky
- Being nervous or anxious
- Sweating, chills, and clamminess
- Irritability or impatience
- Confusion
- Quick heartbeat
- Feeling lightheaded or dizzy
- Starvation
- Nausea
- Shade draining from the pores and skin (pallor)
- Feeling Sleepy
- Feeling weak or having no power
- Blurred/impaired imaginative and prescient
- Tingling or numbness within the lips, tongue, or cheeks
- Complications
- Coordination issues, clumsiness
- Nightmares or crying out throughout sleep
Extreme hypoglycemia (beneath 40 mg/dL) from an insulin overdose can result in:
- Being unable to speak, chew, or swallow
- Shedding consciousness – as a result of your mind isn’t getting the glucose it must operate
- Seizures – as a result of your mind isn’t getting the glucose it must operate
- Demise – as a result of each a part of your half requires glucose with a purpose to operate
Causes of an unintended insulin overdose
In life with diabetes, making an attempt to steadiness your insulin wants with the variables of meals, exercise, stress, weight administration, and many others. is a continuing problem. Only one or two items of insulin greater than your physique wants can simply result in even the earliest signs of an overdose.
Listed here are the final causes of an unintended insulin overdose:
- Taking a dose of insulin on your meal twice
- Taking your long-acting insulin twice in in the future if you usually take it as soon as
- Taking insulin for a deliberate meal however forgetting to eat
- Overestimating the quantity of insulin wanted for a meal
- Overestimating the quantity of insulin wanted to right a excessive blood sugar
- Exercising with an excessive amount of insulin in your bloodstream / not sufficient glucose
- Taking your rapid-acting insulin as a substitute of your long-acting, or vice versa
- Prescribed an insulin dose that doesn’t suit your physique’s wants
- Modifications in your insulin sensitivity like dropping pounds, improved food plan, decreased stress, exercising extra, and many others.
- Taking insulin for a high-carb/high-fat meal that digests too slowly to match the height of your insulin
Treating an insulin overdose
The way you deal with an insulin overdose is dependent upon how a lot extra insulin was dosed. If it was just some items and also you’re mentally clear and able to feeding your self, the low blood sugar must be simply corrected with a small snack.
The better the overdose of insulin is, the extra doubtless you’ll want extra critical medical intervention.
Let’s take a better look.
For gentle insulin overdoses: blood sugars between 50 to 70 mg/dL
If you’ll be able to feed your self meals or drink, deal with your low blood sugar with 5 to fifteen grams of fast-acting carbohydrate like:
- Glucose tabs
- Gummy sweet
- Juice
- Dried fruit
- Jelly beans
- Pixie Stix
- Honey
- Syrup
A small proportion of individuals can lose consciousness at 50 mg/dL. Whereas that is much less frequent, it’s necessary to know what your private tolerance is for hypoglycemia.
For those who’ve misplaced consciousness earlier than at a blood sugar stage at or simply beneath 50 mg/dL, you need to deal with this extra critically with a glucagon package or calling 911 for emergency assist.
Deal with with 5 to fifteen grams of carbs after which…wait.
Some gentle lows could solely want 5 grams of carbohydrate to right again to a wholesome blood sugar stage. Others might have 15 grams or extra.
Both means, attempt to eat that fast-acting carbohydrate supply after which be affected person. Examine your blood sugar once more in quarter-hour to see if you happen to’re coming again up.
The signs of a low — like cravings for extra meals — can persist lengthy after your blood sugar has returned to a secure stage.
It’s very straightforward to binge-eat throughout hypoglycemia, however this will develop into a vicious cycle.
Be ready: preserve fast-acting carbohydrates in easy-to-reach areas.
As an individual taking insulin, you need to have fast-acting carbohydrate sources saved in just a few locations, like:
- Your purse
- Your little one’s diaper bag
- Your automobile
- Your jacket pocket
- Your fitness center bag
- Your workplace desk
- Your associate’s automobile
Select meals that won’t soften, freeze, or rot since they’ll doubtless be saved in locations that may get highly regarded or very chilly.
For reasonable to extreme insulin overdoses: blood sugars beneath 50 mg/dL
There are two issues you’ll be able to and will do if you happen to really feel you’ve taken a big overdose of insulin otherwise you’re affected by extreme hypoglycemia:
Use a glucagon package
A glucagon package can save your life and is prescribed by your physician. You’ll want to preserve it in an easy-to-reach location that others in your family or workplace find out about. A glucagon package works by supplying you with an injection of glucagon which is a hormone that tells your liver to launch saved glucose (sugar).
This huge dump of glucose out of your liver can save your life, or a minimum of forestall seizures in somebody who’s already unconscious.
Name 911 or get somebody to drive you to the ER instantly
For those who’ve taken a critical overdose of insulin or your blood sugar is crashing and also you don’t have a glucagon package, name 911 instantly.
For those who’re caring for another person who has taken an overdose of insulin and they’re unresponsive and unable to chew or swallow, you completely have to name 911. The emergency medics will give dextrose (a fast-acting carbohydrate) intravenous to hopefully revive the individual affected by a extreme insulin overdose.
For those who take insulin, you’re vulnerable to experiencing an insulin overdose almost each day of the week as a result of juggling insulin doses with the numerous different variables that have an effect on blood sugar ranges is a sophisticated recreation. The extra you observe how a lot insulin you want with sure meals and with meals that happen proper earlier than train, the extra you’ll be able to forestall overdosing.
Tips on how to keep away from an insulin overdose
There are a lot of steps you’ll be able to take to keep away from an unintended insulin overdose. Most of them revolve round avoiding errors if you take your insulin and remembering if you took your insulin and the way a lot you took
Preserve an insulin log. For those who log each insulin injection, you’re a lot much less more likely to mistakenly inject the improper quantity of insulin or inject twice. There are a lot of telephone apps that may assist you to calculate your insulin wants and log your injections. Most insulin pumps and smartpens (insulin pens that ship information on to your telephone) also can do that routinely.
At all times double-check that you’re utilizing the best kind of insulin. By accident utilizing fast-acting insulin (bolus) if you had been supposed to make use of long-acting insulin (basal) can result in an insulin overdose.
Don’t neglect to eat. For those who take fast-acting insulin for a meal, you additionally want to truly eat the meal. Don’t take your insulin till you realize the meal is on its means and that you’ve got time to eat it.
Intentional overdose as a way of suicide
Overdosing insulin has been used as a way of tried suicide by each individuals with diabetes and non-diabetics. As a result of individuals with diabetes face an elevated danger of melancholy, it’s necessary to notice that overdosing on insulin is just not a easy or assured dying.
As a substitute, in lots of circumstances, your liver saves you by releasing a big dose of glycogen which is transformed into glucose (sugar).
Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply a full restoration is assured both. Many sufferers who try suicide by insulin overdose endure long-term neurological harm that may have an effect on their speech and motor expertise.
If you’re considering or planning suicide, name the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Hotline instantly: 1-800-273-8255, accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days every week.
