Question About a Patient With Diabetes

[HappyMeNow]

First of, from the limited time that I had access to her medical records, I cannot find out whether she had Type 1 or Type 2.

On her admission sheet, it said that she was admitted for low blood sugar, but when I was looking over her blood work that was taken a week later, it showed that she had high glucose level of 106.

Does this seem right? I am a first year student so very little knowledge of diabetes but can you go from low blood sugar to high in a matter of days?

[SolaireSolstice, BSN, RN]

You can go from a low blood sugar to high within an hour. Was the 106 a fasting blood sugar? If it was from a lab reading, it may have been, but probably they are doing regular accuchecks on this patient. 106 is actually a good reading for someone with diabetes. You should read up on diabetes. You'll need to learn the pathophysiology later anyway.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

The previous poster is correct. A brittle diabetic can go from a low blood glucose level to a high blood glucose level within an hour.

In addition, 106 is not a "high" blood sugar reading in the real world of nursing. Many diabetics have blood glucose levels that regularly exceed 400. In the U.S., the majority of endocrinologists and internists would be pleased if their diabetic patients had glucometer readings that fell in the 106+/- range.