Learn more about diabetic complications and signs or symptoms of these complications. You will need to take care of yourself better than the average person. If your diabetes is advancing, you should be alert to signs of:

Eyesight problems.
Skin irregularities or sores that don't heal.

Heart and blood vessels disease, which can be helped by exercise, lower fats in diet and more exercise.

Nerve disease, particularly tingling, numbness, or pain in your feet and toes.

Impotence (difficulty in attaining and/or keeping an erection during sexual activity).

Kidney disease, which does not have symptoms until much damage is done and you start retaining fluid.

For both types of diabetes, keeping your glucose levels as close to normal as possible will greatly decrease your chances of getting these long-term complications of diabetes. And if you already have them, keeping your glucose levels as close to normal as possible will greatly decrease the rate of progression of the complications.

If new symptoms or questions are troubling you, contact your doctor immediately. Diabetes can affect many different parts of your body at the same time.

Diabetes means that you will need to closely monitor your blood glucose levels.

Balance your life and your blood sugar with a good diet and exercise.

Avoid drinking alcohol. Some people with mild cases of diabetes may be able to drink alcohol, but the American Diabetes Association recommends that you have no more than one or two drinks daily, if you are a woman or a man, respectively.

Stop smoking if you smoke. The combination of smoking and diabetes is very bad for blood vessel and heart disease. Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do to avoid these problems.
Even if you take very good care of yourself, sometimes you may have hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

If your blood sugar is high:

High levels of blood sugar or sugar in your urine make you need to urinate often and to have increased thirst.

Exercising may help to lower your blood sugar level. If you have Type 1 diabetes and if you develop an illness with an associated increase in your blood glucose you should check your urine for ketones. You can keep a test kit for ketones in your home and office. Ketones form in the body when it starts breaking down fat and you're dehydrated (not enough water in your system). This can happen, for example, if you have the flu or another illness. If you have ketones, don't exercise, which could make your blood sugar go even lower.

You might try eating less. If this does not help to control your blood sugar level, then you may need to readjust your medication or diabetes medicine.

If eating and exercise don't help, contact your doctor about a better way to manage your blood sugar.

If your blood sugar is low:

You may have symptoms like shakiness, dizziness, confusion, inability to concentrate, hunger, paleness, or headache.

Raise your blood sugar immediately with a glass of juice, six pieces of hard candy, or 3 glucose tablets, available at drugstores.

Wait 15 minutes or so and then test yourself again. If your blood sugar is still low, repeat the sugar treatment again (juice, candy, etc.). If your blood glucose remains low so that you cannot help yourself and need someone else to assist you, that person should give you an injection of glucagon. If you don't have that, someone should bring you to the nearest emergency room for help. You may become unconscious if your blood sugar is extremely low.

Glucagon is a prescribed drug that helps to raise blood sugar, like insulin does. You should always have some on hand and train a relative or coworkers how or when to inject you with it, should you become unconscious.

If you are beginning to feel low when driving, pull over to the side of the road immediately. Treat the reaction with sugar and only begin to drive again when you are completely back to normal. This will prevent accidents.
If you pass out from low blood sugar, people should:

• NOT inject insulin.
• NOT give you food or fluids.
• NOT put their hands in your mouth.
• Inject glucagon.
• Call for emergency help.

Ask your doctor or dietitian for advice about which foods or drinks are best for treating an insulin reaction, when you feel it coming on. Always carry some form of sugar with you
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