Hypoglycaemia - Preventing hypoglycaemia

If you have diabetes, sticking to your medication plan and eating regular meals can help prevent hypoglycaemia.

It is also important to monitor your blood sugar (glucose) levels.

Monitoring your blood glucose

Regularly checking your blood sugar levels can help you spot hypoglycaemia quickly. You can monitor your own blood glucose levels using a simple finger prick blood test.

See treating type 1 diabetes and treating type 2 diabetes for more information about blood glucose tests.

Eat regularly and limit alcohol

If you have diabetes, strenuous physical activity can lead to hypoglycaemia. Eating extra carbohydrate-based foods before and during exercise can help reduce the chances of this happening. If you are taking insulin, your doctor may advise you about lowering your dose before you do strenuous physical activity.

Alcohol can also affect your body's ability to release glucose. If you have type 1 diabetes, you are advised to drink no more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day and to eat a snack after drinking alcohol.

Spot the signs early and make others aware

As hypoglycaemia can develop suddenly, it is important to be aware of the symptoms of hypoglycaemia so you can treat it quickly. Tell your friends and family about signs to look for and let them know how to treat it.

People with diabetes are advised to carry a form of identification with them that states their condition so that they can be helped quickly and efficiently.

Make sure treatment is readily available

If you are at risk of hypoglycaemia, you should carry sugary food and drink with you at all times to treat mild cases as soon as possible.

If you have diabetes, particularly type 1 diabetes, your doctor may recommend medications such as glucose gel to carry with you. Glucose gel can be used to treat hypoglycaemia that doesn't respond to normal treatment.

If you are being treated with insulin, you will usually be given a kit containing an injection of a medication called glucagon. Members of your family or your carer can be trained to carry out the injection, which should be used if you lose consciousness because of severe hypoglycaemia.

Preventing hypoglycaemia at night

It's important to avoid recurrent hypoglycaemia during the night (nocturnal hypoglycaemia) as this can reduce the early symptoms of daytime episodes. If you experience nocturnal hypoglycaemia, you can try:

keeping something sugary by your bedside
having a snack before bedtime, such as biscuits and milk
checking your blood glucose levels between 3am and 4am, when hypoglycaemia is most likely to occur

Hypoglycaemia and driving

As hypoglycaemia can cause confusion, drowsiness, or even unconsciousness, this can present a significant risk to you or other road users. If you have diabetes requiring treatment with insulin, you must:

inform the DVLA and your insurance company
test your blood sugar before driving and at regular intervals (at least every two hours) while driving
avoid driving if your blood glucose is low
avoid driving for 45 minutes after treating hypoglycaemia
carry rapid acting carbohydrates with you in the vehicle at all times

If you experience hypoglycaemia while driving, you should pull over and stop as soon as it is safe to do so. You should remove the keys from the ignition and get out of the driver's seat before treating the condition in the normal way.