Changes in blood sugar levels can affect how a person feels. To help maintain stable and healthy blood sugar levels, the body produces a hormone called glucagon after sleeping and eating.
The hormone is produced by the pancreas (a small organ above the liver) and raises the level of glucose, or sugar, in the blood. Sugar is the fuel that muscles and organs use to function and stay healthy.
Glucagon assists the liver in breaking down food to make glucose.
If blood sugar levels fall too low, hypoglycemia can occur. This can make a person feel dizzy, slow to move, or even faint. Glucagon helps treat hypoglycemia, so it will feel normal again.
How glucagon works
Glucagon works with the liver to convert sugar called glycogen, which is stored in the liver, into glucose. From the liver, glucose enters the bloodstream and then provides energy to the person.
Glucagon allows the liver to take in less glucose from food and release stored glycogen into the bloodstream. This keeps blood glucose levels stable.
If blood glucose levels are too low, the pancreas releases glucagon, which causes the liver to make more glucose.
Glucagon also plays a related function in the production of glucose from amino acids, the compounds that make up the body’s muscles and tissues, and can break down triglycerides, or fat stored in the body, into fuel.
Glucagon and insulin
Glucagon and insulin (another hormone) should work together to keep blood sugar in balance.
The cells in the pancreas that secrete glucagon are similar to the cells that secrete insulin. The body needs insulin to be involved in order to convert blood sugar into fuel.
With diabetes, the body either can’t produce insulin or can’t produce enough insulin. This changes the way the body produces glucagon.
Usually, food provides the body with the sugar and energy it needs. Subsequently, glucagon levels drop because the liver doesn’t need to make more sugar to fuel the muscles.
With diabetes, the pancreas will not stop producing glucagon, which can make blood glucose levels too high after a meal.
If there is a sudden unexplained weight loss, the body may be producing too much glucagon. Hypoglycemia is rare, but occasionally seen in infants.
Low blood glucose
Hypoglycemia is a low blood glucose level. You may have hypoglycemia if you feel the following symptoms are present:
- Blurred consciousness;
- dizziness;
- Speech difficulties;
- Headache;
- Hunger;
- Vertigo;
- nausea;
- Nervousness;
- Shaking or unsteadiness;
- Excessive sweating.
Low blood sugar can also occur during sleep, which can cause nightmares or night sweats, possibly screaming in your sleep, or waking up tired or unconscious.
Mild hypoglycemia can be treated with sugary snacks, drinks, or glucose tablets, which can bring blood sugar levels back to normal quickly.
If your blood sugar is too low, you may faint or even pass out. people with type 1 diabetes are at higher risk for such severe hypoglycemia. If you have type 2 diabetes and are taking insulin, you may also have severe hypoglycemia. It is important to monitor blood glucose levels in all people with diabetes.
To treat severe hypoglycemia, you need to take glucagon quickly. If fainting occurs, someone will need to give the patient hormones to raise blood glucose levels.
A doctor may prescribe an emergency glucagon kit, which contains the hormone in powder form and a syringe filled with liquid. It gives clear instructions on how to quickly mix and inject the glucagon.
Family members, roommates, or co-workers can be taught how to inject to prevent fainting themselves. If your child has diabetes, you can give the school health worker a glucagon kit to use in case you need it.
After one shot of glucagon, you should be back to consciousness. Check the kit every six months to make sure the medication is still within its shelf life.