Reviewer: Yang Xubin (The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University)
People with diabetes who are treated with insulin injections may experience occasional fluctuations in blood sugar levels. What should a patient do if blood sugar levels do not drop after insulin injections?
Don’t worry, insulin isn’t the only way to manage diabetes. Healthy lifestyle habits and other diabetes medications can also help control blood sugar.
One, change your lifestyle
The best ways to prevent high blood sugar include:
1. Exercise
Exercising regularly is like adding another “drug” to your diabetes regimen. Exercise increases the effectiveness of insulin, removing excess glucose from the blood. Exercise can also lose weight.
Even if you only start with 5 minutes of continuous exercise, it’s a good idea to accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day. To be safe, consult your doctor before exercising and follow your doctor’s advice.
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2. Healthy eating
A healthy diet helps keep blood sugar within a safe range.
For those who are overweight, healthy eating is the most important way to lose weight. It’s best to work with a nutritionist to create a meal plan that fits your lifestyle. If using diet pills, discuss with your doctor what is right for you.
3. Relax
Stress prevents the body from releasing insulin, causing a buildup of glucose in the blood. If you are stressed for a long time, your blood sugar levels will keep rising. Yoga, meditation, tai chi, and breathing exercises can help lower blood sugar.
2. Increase the insulin dose
If the insulin injection is not enough to lower your blood sugar, your doctor may suggest the following.
Increase the insulin dose.
Rapid-acting insulin is injected before meals to help lower postprandial blood sugar.
Long-acting insulin is injected once or twice a day to help you control blood sugar more smoothly.
Use an insulin pump to manage blood sugar levels more easily.
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Third, consider other drugs
In addition to insulin injections, there are other medications to control high blood sugar. Some common medications include:
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist. These drugs lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, making them feel full after meals, which can lead to less food intake and weight loss. These drugs are given by injection and may cause certain side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, or dizziness.
Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP-4) Inhibitor. These drugs lower postprandial blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes and are given by mouth. Side effects vary depending on the drug chosen.
4. Diagnosis and treatment
There are other causes of high blood sugar, such as insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can run in families, and the body of people with insulin resistance does not respond properly to the insulin they produce.
High blood sugar can also be caused by taking medicines for other medical conditions that prevent the body from using insulin.
Patients have repeated injections at the same site, which can leave scars that can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb insulin.
Consider changing injection sites or using an insulin pump.
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Some patients reduce their insulin doses on their own. Patients may be fearful of the risk of hypoglycemia, or fear of needles.
The patient may feel more comfortable after slowly increasing the insulin dose. If you don’t like injections, consider using an insulin pump or injection pen.
Regardless of the cause of the elevated blood sugar, patients should actively cooperate with their physicians to find a solution. In particular, do not change the insulin injection dose on your own.
*The content of this article is for the popularization of health knowledge. It cannot be used as a specific diagnosis and treatment recommendation, nor can it replace the face-to-face consultation of a licensed physician. It is for reference only.
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