Very High Blood Sugar: Is More Insulin Necessary?

Savvy diabetics who are on top of their blood sugar management program at all times can be thrown off by an episode of unusually high blood sugar. In such cases, it's natural to consider upping your dose of insulin to combat the excessive rise in glucose. However, diabetes experts do not recommend this strategy. According to researchers at the American Diabetes Association (ADA), increasing the regular insulin dose by one to two units does not tend to produce a faster drop in blood sugar levels. In fact, a big insulin dose can lead to other complications, such as an episode of hypoglycemia later in the day. For patients experiencing a high blood sugar episode, the ADA recommends immediately taking the regular dosage of insulin, holding off on eating until blood sugars return to under 200 mg/dL, and drinking plenty of water.