What is an "insulin reaction" or "hypoglycemia"?

What is an "insulin reaction" or "hypoglycemia"?

Anne Peters, MD, FACP, CDE (Professor and Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs, USC Keck School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: Does taking additional insulin correct a high blood sugar level?; Why is my blood pressure important if I have diabetes?; What are the most common causes of death for people with diabetes? and more...

An insulin reaction, which is also called hypoglycaemia, basically means that your body has too much insulin, so too much sugar goes into the cells, and then the blood sugar to your brain starts to fall. Now, all of us have had a hypoglycaemic reaction; say you eat a doughnut and then two hours later you're trying to focus but you just feel all shaky and jittery and you've got to eat; that's a blood sugar reaction. That means that your blood sugar levels are falling. Your blood sugar level may not get too low, but your sugar level is falling and you feel it. We call that the adrenergic signs of a low blood sugar reaction; you feel shaky, sweaty, hungry, weak, tremulous, all of that happens. If you eat something, if you eat sugar right then, your blood sugar level will come back up to normal and you're fine.