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Having Low Blood Sugar. Is It Fine To Take Medication For Low Blood Sugar?
Question: My sister's blood sugar is low. She ate an orange 30 minutes ago. Should she still take her medication for today being that her blood sugar is low?
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It would depend on what medication she is using. If she is using metformin then she can continue at the dose she normally uses, this is because metformin does not cause hypoglycemia ( low blood sugars). It pushes blood sugars towards normal but not to hypoglycemia levels, this is the reason is can be used along with insulin.
If she is on medication that can worsen or cause hypoglycemia such as insulin or the sulphonyureas then she may want to check her blood sugar before taking the medication.
It is likely that the blood sugar will rise once she has eaten and she may require her medication even if it is at a reduced dose.As a diabetic she would have reduced capacity to respond to a meal so if she notes that the premeal and post meal are increased she needs to continue the medication.
The premeal blood sugars should range from 70 to 130 mg/dl
The post meal should be less than 180 mg/dl
She also needs to determine the reason for the low blood sugar to prevent recurrence. It may be due to inadequate oral intake or inappropriately high doses of medication.
If there are recurrent episodes then the times that they occur, the meals used need to be documented and discussed with the doctor. IF she is using low carbohydrate meals then her medication needs to be adjusted to suit because it is the carbohydrate in the meals that mainly raise the blood sugar.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
It would depend on what medication she is using. If she is using metformin then she can continue at the dose she normally uses, this is because metformin does not cause hypoglycemia ( low blood sugars). It pushes blood sugars towards normal but not to hypoglycemia levels, this is the reason is can be used along with insulin.
If she is on medication that can worsen or cause hypoglycemia such as insulin or the sulphonyureas then she may want to check her blood sugar before taking the medication.
It is likely that the blood sugar will rise once she has eaten and she may require her medication even if it is at a reduced dose.As a diabetic she would have reduced capacity to respond to a meal so if she notes that the premeal and post meal are increased she needs to continue the medication.
The premeal blood sugars should range from 70 to 130 mg/dl
The post meal should be less than 180 mg/dl
She also needs to determine the reason for the low blood sugar to prevent recurrence. It may be due to inadequate oral intake or inappropriately high doses of medication.
If there are recurrent episodes then the times that they occur, the meals used need to be documented and discussed with the doctor. IF she is using low carbohydrate meals then her medication needs to be adjusted to suit because it is the carbohydrate in the meals that mainly raise the blood sugar.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further follow up on related General & Family Physician Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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