Diabetic coma symptoms are something every diabetic should know about. It is true that type 1 diabetics are much more likely to experience them than type 2, but diabetics live longer, so the chances of experiencing symptoms are greater. According to one statistics, up to 15% of diabetics fall into the diabetic coma due to severe hypoglycemia.
What is diabetic coma?
Coma means unconscious. A person is in a coma if he cannot be awakened and he cannot react to sounds and glances. This does not mean that a person in a coma will die. These days, with fast results and a blood test, diabetes will come out of a coma very quickly. Diabetic medical bracelets and neck chains prevent us from being mistakenly diagnosed as drunk or epileptic when we cannot speak.
But just knowing that you are diabetic is not enough when patients are sent to the emergency room, and the doctor reads his diabetic alert spells. The symptoms of diabetic coma must be diagnosed correctly, so the correct treatment begins, because the complications are brain damage and death.
Oddly enough, chronic high blood sugar or sudden low blood sugar can cause symptoms of diabetic coma. That is why it is so good to know how we react to both of them.
With high blood sugar or hyperglycemia, you feel thirsty and should urinate more often. You feel tired, and there is always nausea and vomiting, often within a few days. You may feel short of breath and pain in the abdomen. You have a smell of fruit or acetone and a fast heartbeat. Symptoms are not sudden.
But low blood sugar comes very quickly and can wake you up because of a good sleep. You feel shaky, nervous, tired, hungry, or nauseous. You sweat a lot and your heart races. You can become irritated and even aggressive without a reason, and confusion makes it difficult to think. Blurred vision may prevent you from reading your counter when you try to check blood sugar levels.
Get help fast. Someone should check their blood sugar levels, and if they are low, below 70, you are in a hypoglycemic reaction and need some orange juice or another sweet drink or some quick source of glucose right now. Test your blood sugar in 15 minutes, and if it does not respond, and your confusion, sweating and blurred vision remain, you need to be taken to the hospital. Paramedics may start treating you as soon as they arrive, so call 9-1-1.
Symptoms of diabetic coma, three sources
At the hospital, emergency doctors will need to find out the source of the symptoms of diabetic coma. There are three possibilities:
- Diabetic ketoacidosis (diabetic acidosis)
- Diabetic hyperosmolar syndrome
- hypoglycemia
In diabetic ketoacidosis, muscle cells starve for energy because insulin is not available for them. Thus, they destroy fat cells for energy, which produces ketones, which leads to ketoacidosis.
Meanwhile, sugar builds up in the blood because it is not used by muscle cells. Severe hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) causes the diabetic's body to plant sugar in the urine, and with it requires a lot of water. This is the cause of dehydration, insatiable thirst and constant care in the bathroom.
Dehydration leads to shock and exhaustion. There will be vomiting, which can last for 36 hours, so these symptoms are not sudden. As it gets worse, you will see bleeding and fast breathing (hyperventilation), and you can slip into a coma.
At the hospital, the doctor diagnoses blood tests that show high blood sugar and metabolic acidosis with dehydration. You will be treated with IV fluids, including electrolytes, to restore fluid balance in the blood and taking insulin into account and monitorefully carefully to make sure that you do not become hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). Patients wake up quickly with rehydration.
In diabetic hyperosmolar syndrome, ketoacidosis is absent. But an extremely high level of sugar in the blood, which is not controlled in time, leads to lethargy, confusion and drowsiness, slipping in a coma. This is observed in nursing homes for elderly people with diabetes, but it can happen to anyone who allows their blood sugar to remain out of control. The patient does not recognize thirst, and dehydration will lead to coma if not treated.
In this type of coma, blood tests show extremely high blood sugar levels, sometimes more than 1800 and dehydration. He is treated with IV fluids and insulin therapy, and the patient is recovering.
Then there is hypoglycemia. Our brains need glucose functioning. If they are too few, we lose consciousness. It is simple, and it can happen quickly. The reason is too much insulin or too little food. Doing a lot of exercises that you are not used to, or drinking alcohol without food, can dramatically lower blood sugar levels, even two days after drinking.
Here are three things that, if you do them, can save your life:
- Wear a diabetic bracelet or necklace all the time.
- Be careful with alcohol. Eat snacks with him or don't drink at all.
- Teach your friends and relatives about the symptoms of low blood sugar and ask them to ask for help if you are confused, sweat profusely, or faint. If someone in my family sees me sweating, they want to know why, and I can better explain it, or they will take me to the hospital.
If you are wearing an insulin pump, you need to keep an eye on the tube. Kinks or disconnections will stop insulin delivery, and for type 1 diabetics, this can be fatal. If you have a disease, injury or surgery, know what to do to protect yourself from high or low blood sugar. Congestive heart failure and kidney disease lead to hyperosmolar syndrome. Liquid flu and diarrhea of the gastrointestinal tract can lead to a decrease in blood sugar levels in some people.
Manage your diabetes. Take your medications and use a glucose monitor. Never skip insulin to lose weight. Some really did it. Never use drugs. You can get strong blood sugar, and you will neglect your health. Diabetics cannot take advantage of this chance.
What if you are confronted with diabetes in a coma? Call 9-1-1. If you have been undergoing diabetes treatment while you are waiting, you can check your blood sugar levels. If it is low, give an injection of glucagon. If there is no glucagon, you can rub honey or syrup on the inside of her cheeks, but do not pour anything into her mouth. If sugar is low, do nothing. Do not give insulin to an unconscious person.
I hope you never need this information. If you take care of your diabetic affairs every day, you probably won't.
