Diabetes – familydoctor.org

Although diabetes cant be cured, you can still live a long and healthy life. The single most important thing you can do is control your blood sugar level. You can do this by eating right, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, and, if needed, taking oral medicines or insulin.

Your doctor will test your blood sugar every 3 months with an A1C test. Also, you can test your blood sugar on your own throughout the day. You will need to use a blood glucose monitor to check it on your own. This involves pricking your finger for blood and putting a test strip in the blood to get the results. If your blood sugar gets too low, you might feel tired, experience problems with muscle coordination, sweat, have difficulty thinking or speaking clearly, twitch, feel like youre going to faint, become pale, lose consciousness, or have a seizure. At the earliest sign of any of these symptoms, eat or drink something that will raise your blood sugar fast. This could include candy, juice, milk, or raisins. If you dont feel better in 15 minutes or if monitoring shows that your blood sugar level is still too low, eat or drink another item to raise your blood sugar fast. Always keep a supply of these items on hand for emergencies.

You may not know if your blood sugar is too high unless you test it yourself. However, you may experience common symptoms such as frequent urination, extreme thirst, blurry vision, and feeling tired. Some factors unrelated to food can make your blood sugar high. This includes not taking your insulin correctly, overeating at a meal, illness, having hormonal changes, and stress.

If your blood sugar level is too high and you take insulin, you may need to take an extra dose of rapid- or short-acting insulin to return it to normal. Your doctor can tell you how much insulin you need to take to lower your blood sugar level.

The rest is here:
Diabetes - familydoctor.org