How to treat a diabetic emergency?

Always keep glucose tablets or small sugar packets in your bag and car if you have diabetics at home. If they are conscious but shaking, act fast with sweet water. But if they are unconscious, do not try to pour liquids in their mouth, rush them to the nearest hospital.

A diabetic emergency can turn critical very fast, so please do not try to manage it entirely at home if the patient isn't recovering within 10 minutes. Call an ambulance immediately or take them to an emergency room.

I have faced this with my wife twice. When the sugar crashes, they might refuse to eat because of confusion, but you have to force them to take a spoonful of honey or sugar. Once they recover slightly, give them a proper meal like roti or rice to keep it stable.

My dad is diabetic and when his sugar dropped crazy low last month, we gave him a glass of glucose water instantly. It brought him back to normal in minutes, but we still took him to his doc the next morning to adjust his insulin dose.

I have lived with diabetes for thirty years now. Don't panic when a sudden low happens; keep your mind calm, drink sugar water immediately, and sit down. With experience, you will learn to spot the early warning signs of sweating and shakiness.

If you or a family member uses a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), check the trend arrow during an emergency to see if the sugar is crashing or spiking. Keep emergency contact numbers pre-saved in your speed dial for such situations.

My father always kept a small box of raisins nearby for sudden drops. However, our family doctor advised us that for extremely high sugar emergencies (where they feel very thirsty and vomit), only hospital insulin therapy works, so we must go to the clinic immediately.

For low sugar emergencies, standard white sugar or sweet fruit juice works best to raise levels quickly. But please don't give chocolates or sweets high in fat, as fat slows down the absorption of sugar in the body.

My teenage daughter has Type 1 diabetes and we always carry glucagon and sugar candies in her school bag. It is very important to educate teachers and friends on how to spot a crash and give sugar immediately if she feels dizzy.