Blood Sugar Spikes: Causes, Symptoms, and Management (2024)

Blood sugar spikes are sharp rises in blood sugar levels. They can happen due to a variety of factors, but often occur when you eat too many simple carbohydrates.

In this article, we share possible reasons for blood sugar spikes, as well as what you can do to manage blood sugar levels and prevent blood sugar spikes from occurring.

What Is High Blood Sugar?

High blood sugar (hyperglycemia) occurs when blood glucose levels exceed 180 mg/dL after eating. A blood sugar spike is a rapid increase in blood sugar, often brought on when eating too much food containing carbohydrates.

When you eat food containing carbohydrates, your body breaks down the carbohydrates into a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose then enters your bloodstream. When the amount of glucose in your blood starts to rise, it sends a signal to your pancreas to release a hormone called insulin.

Insulin’s job is to act like a key to unlock the doors of different cells in your body. This allows glucose to leave the bloodstream and enter the cells to be used for energy or be stored for later use.

Without insulin, glucose stays in the bloodstream, causing blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels to rise too high. This can lead to serious health problems.

With diabetes, sometimes there isn’t enough insulin, or it isn’t working properly. Because of this, it’s very important for people with diabetes to regularly monitor their blood sugar levels, making sure they are in a safe range.

What Are the Symptoms of a Blood Sugar Spike?

Some people can feel a blood sugar spike when it happens. It typically occurs within an hour or two of eating. Symptoms of a blood sugar spike vary from person to person and may include:

• Blurry vision
• Dry mouth
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Increased thirst
• Frequent urination
  

Sometimes, blood sugar spike symptoms are subtle and go unnoticed, but you feel it when the spike resolves and your blood sugar drops. This can cause low blood sugar symptoms such as:

• Anxiety
• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Hunger
• Irritability
• Nervousness
• Shaking
• Sweating

Learning to recognize your individual blood sugar spike symptoms can help minimize any damage to your body and keep your blood sugar in control.

If you have diabetes or prediabetes, the best way to identify patterns is to test your blood glucose when you experience these symptoms.

If you do not have diabetes and have signs of high blood sugar, talk to your healthcare provider about being evaluated for diabetes.

What Is Ketoacidosis and Ketosis?

If your blood sugar levels remain high for too long, glucose will remain trapped in your bloodstream, leaving your cells starved for energy.

When there is not enough of your body's preferred energy source of glucose to be used for energy, your cells begin to use fat for fuel. When your cells use fat for fuel instead of glucose, it creates a byproduct called ketones.

In people with diabetes who don't make any insulin or whose insulin isn't working properly, ketone levels can rapidly rise to dangerous levels. When ketone levels get too high in people with diabetes, the blood can become overly acidic, and they can develop diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

Diabetic ketoacidosis is different from ketosis, the state aimed for by people following the ketogenic diet. DKA is a medical emergency and can result in diabetic coma or death.

Symptoms of Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Call 911 or seek medical attention immediately if you experience any signs or symptoms of DKA, such as:

• Confusion and decreased alertness
• Dehydration, dry skin, and severely dry mouth
• Flushed face
• Frequent urination
• Fruity smelling breath
• Headache
• Loss of consciousness
• Muscle stiffness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Rapid breathing
• Stomach pain
• Weakness
  

What Are the Causes of Blood Sugar Spikes?

As your body goes between fed and unfed states throughout the day, your blood sugar levels will naturally fluctuate up and down. In someone without diabetes, blood sugar levels are regulated by insulin and stored glycogen to stay within normal ranges.

If you have diabetes, you are at a higher risk of having a blood sugar spike than people without diabetes. Eating foods high in simple carbohydrates, like desserts, sugar-sweetened beverages, and refined-grain pasta and bread, is the main cause of blood sugar spikes.

However, there are additional causes for high blood sugar levels, such as:

• Eating more than planned
• Exercising less than planned
• Not taking enough diabetes medication (oral or injectable) or needing changes to your medication dosage
• Illness or infection
• Having an injury or recent surgery
• Stress
• Taking certain medications, such as steroids
• Over-treating low blood sugar levels
• Dehydration

Early morning blood sugar spikes, which result in high fasting blood sugar, can be caused by:

• Dawn phenomenon: This is a natural surge in blood sugar early in the morning. It can be higher in people with diabetes who have insulin resistance.
• Somogyi effect: This is high early morning blood sugar levels caused by a rebound effect from low blood sugar levels in the middle of the night and your body triggering a release of hormones to raise blood sugar levels.

How to Manage Blood Sugar

Self-management of blood sugar levels is a key component of diabetes care. Being able to identify high and low blood sugar levels and knowing how to treat them is critical if you have diabetes. Below are some tips on how you can properly manage your blood sugar levels.

Proper Hydration

Staying hydrated is important even if you don’t have diabetes. Water makes up most of the body and plays a role in many different body functions. From digestion and absorption of nutrients to lubricating joints and maintaining your body temperature, water is vital to life.

In people with diabetes, dehydration can cause blood sugar levels to become more concentrated, spiking blood sugar levels.

Drinking water throughout the day will provide you with most of your daily fluid needs. Water from foods, such as fruits and vegetables, also adds to your daily water intake. Opt for water over sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, flavored coffee beverages, juice, sports drinks, sweet tea, and others.

Follow these tips for drinking more water:

• Keep a water bottle nearby and refill it throughout the day.
• Make infused water by adding slices of fresh fruit, vegetables, or herbs to your water.
• Drink sparkling water with a splash of 100% fruit juice.
• Ask for water when dining out.
• Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator to always have cold water to drink.

Meal Timing

When you eat can be just as important as what you eat when managing blood sugar levels. Being consistent with meal timing can help prevent blood sugar swings. Have a regular eating schedule where you eat the same amount of meals and snacks around the same time each day.

This might look like three regular meals with two to three snacks in between, or it might be five to six smaller meals throughout the day.Choose what works best for you and stick with it.

Relaxation Techniques

Circulating stress hormones can raise blood sugar levels, so learning techniques to help you relax and de-stress may help reduce blood sugar levels. What is relaxing for one person may make someone else more stressed. Explore different techniques and methods to help manage your stress. Find what works for you.

Some examples include:

• Meditation
• Deep breathing
• Progressive muscle relaxation (alternating tension and relaxation in the major muscle groups)
• Journal writing
• Going for a walk
• Reading a book
• Yoga
• Listening to calming music
• Taking a warm bath

Better Sleep

Getting enough quality sleep each night can help reduce stress hormones and reduce the risk of obesity. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep each night along with regular sleep and wake times which will help to regulate your circadian rhythm.

Consider these additional tips for getting better sleep:

• Put away electronics, such as cell phones and TV, at least an hour before bedtime.
• Limit daytime naps.
• Keep a calm and restful sleeping environment.
• Participate in physical activity throughout the day.
• Avoid caffeine late in the day.

Physical Activity

Physical activity can increase insulin sensitivity, helping it work better to decrease blood sugar levels. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week.

If you haven’t exercised in a while, start small. Try to fit in 15 to 20 minutes of exercise each day, or break it up into 10 minutes three times a day. Move your body in ways you enjoy, choosing activities that you like and can stick to.

Medication

Medication can help you manage your diabetes and keep your blood sugar levels from spiking. There are two main types of diabetes medications: oral (pills) and injectable.

What medication you take will depend on various factors, such as the type of diabetes you have, your personal health history, current diabetes management, and other medications you may also be taking. Try not to skip any doses of your medication and never stop taking it without consulting your doctor first.

How to Prevent Blood Sugar Spikes

There are additional ways to prevent blood sugar spikes.

• Monitor blood sugar levels: The first step in preventing blood sugar spikes is knowing what your blood sugar levels are in the first place. Especially if you take a medication that directly affects your blood sugar level, such as insulin, you should be checking your blood sugar level often.
• Check your blood sugar level every morning before you eat: This is called a fasting blood sugar level. This once-per-day testing might be sufficient for some people with type 2 diabetes. However, others may need to check their blood sugar level up to 10 times daily.
• Choose whole grains: Compared to refined grains, whole grains contain the entire grain, including the fibrous outer layer called the bran and the nutrient-rich inner core called the germ. Choosing to eat whole grains ensures you get the most nutrients out of your grains.
• Eat more fiber: Fiber isn’t absorbed and broken down in the body like other carbohydrates, so it doesn’t result in a big blood sugar spike.
  
• Balance meals with fat and protein: You can help prevent blood sugar spikes by eating fat and protein with carbohydrates. When eaten alone, carbohydrates quickly break down into glucose and spike blood sugar. Fat and protein help slow down the digestion of carbohydrates and, in turn, their absorption into the bloodstream.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Blood Sugar Spikes?

The occasional blood sugar spike should not cause any issues in the short term. However, frequent blood sugar spikes are associated with diabetic complications.

High blood sugars can cause damage to both large (macrovascular) and small (microvascular) blood vessels. This can lead to:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Heart attack
• Kidney disease
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Retinopathy
• Slow-healing wounds
• Stroke

Even people without known diabetes or prediabetes can experience blood sugar spikes. In one study, 15% of nondiabetics had blood sugar spikes that exceeded the healthy range. Over time, this may lead to a diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes along with complications.

Summary

It is normal and natural for blood sugar levels to fluctuate throughout the day. However, blood sugar spikes are higher than normal rises and can lead to complications over time.

Knowing your individual symptoms of high blood sugar levels and regularly monitoring your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes can help you identify blood sugar spikes.

Managing your diabetes at home is a critical part of preventing blood sugar spikes. Also, work with your healthcare team to create a diabetes treatment plan that works for you.