What makes glucose levels high

Let your parents or someone on your diabetes health care team know if you have any of these symptoms or are sick and don't know what to do to take care of your diabetes. Always wear a medical identification bracelet or necklace that says you have diabetes. Then, if you are not feeling well, whoever's helping you will know to call for medical help. Medical identification can also include your doctor's phone number or a parent's phone number. No matter how well they take care of themselves, people with diabetes will sometimes have high blood sugar levels.

But the best way to avoid problems is to keep your blood sugar levels as close to your desired range as possible, which means following your diabetes management plan. Checking your blood sugar levels several times a day will let you know when your blood sugar level is high.

Then you can treat it and help prevent DKA from happening. High blood sugar levels don't always cause symptoms, and a person who isn't testing regularly might be having blood sugar levels high enough to damage the body without even realizing it.

Doctors may use the HbA1c test to find out if someone has been having high blood sugar levels over time, even if the person has not had obvious symptoms. Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is High Blood Sugar? Managing diabetes is like a three-way balancing act because you have to watch: the medicines you take insulin or pills the food that you eat the amount of exercise you get All three need to be balanced.

In general, higher than normal blood glucose levels can be caused by: not taking your diabetes medicine when you're supposed to or not taking the right amounts not following the meal plan like eating too much on a special occasion without adjusting your diabetes medicines not getting enough exercise having an illness, like the flu stress taking other kinds of medicines that affect how your diabetes medicines work A single high blood sugar reading usually isn't cause for alarm — it happens to everyone with diabetes from time to time.

Signs of high blood sugar levels include: Peeing a lot: The kidneys respond by flushing out the extra glucose in urine. People with high blood sugar need to pee more often and in larger amounts.

Drinking a lot: Someone losing so much fluid from peeing that often can get very thirsty. Losing weight even though your appetite has stayed the same: If there isn't enough insulin to help the body use glucose, the body breaks down muscle and stored fat instead in an attempt to provide fuel to hungry cells.

Feeling tired: Because the body can't use glucose for energy properly, a person may feel unusually tired. Reason for High Blood Sugar Level What to Do Not getting enough insulin or other diabetes medicine Make sure that you take the proper type of insulin and the correct dose at the right time.

Check that insulin is not expired. Make sure that all equipment pumps, meters, etc. Diabetes medicines may need to be changed or adjusted — check with your diabetes health care team. Not following the meal plan like eating too much food on special occasions without adjusting medicines Work with a registered dietitian to make adjustments to your meal plan as needed.

Not getting enough exercise Figure out a plan to make time for exercise. Adjust your medicines based on the diabetes health care team's instructions. Illness or stress Contact your diabetes health care team. Continue to take insulin the dose may need to be adjusted. Check your blood sugar levels frequently. Use of other medicines that can increase blood sugar Contact your diabetes health care team if you start taking any other medicine.

Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. Do you know all of these blood sugar triggers? To receive updates about diabetes topics, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. If hyperglycemia goes untreated, it can cause toxic acids ketones to build up in your blood and urine ketoacidosis. Signs and symptoms include:. During digestion, your body breaks down carbohydrates from foods — such as bread, rice and pasta — into various sugar molecules.

One of these sugar molecules is glucose, a main energy source for your body. Glucose is absorbed directly into your bloodstream after you eat, but it can't enter the cells of most of your tissues without the help of insulin — a hormone secreted by your pancreas.

When the glucose level in your blood rises, it signals your pancreas to release insulin. The insulin unlocks your cells so that glucose can enter and provide the fuel your cells need to function properly. Any extra glucose is stored in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen. This process lowers the amount of glucose in your bloodstream and prevents it from reaching dangerously high levels. As your blood sugar level returns to normal, so does the secretion of insulin from your pancreas.

Diabetes drastically lowers insulin's effects on your body. This may be because your pancreas is unable to produce insulin type 1 diabetes , or it may be because your body is resistant to the effects of insulin or doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level type 2 diabetes. As a result, glucose tends to build up in your bloodstream hyperglycemia and may reach dangerously high levels if not treated properly.

Insulin or other drugs are used to lower blood sugar levels. Illness or stress can trigger hyperglycemia because hormones produced to combat illness or stress can also cause your blood sugar to rise. Even people who don't have diabetes may develop transient hyperglycemia during severe illness. But people with diabetes may need to take extra diabetes medication to keep blood glucose near normal during illness or stress. Keeping your blood sugar in a healthy range can help prevent many diabetes-related complications.

Long-term complications of untreated hyperglycemia can include:. If blood sugar rises high enough or for a prolonged period of time, it can lead to two serious conditions. Diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis develops when you don't have enough insulin in your body. When this happens, sugar glucose can't enter your cells for energy.