Side effects of insulin injections that you should not underestimate

For diabetics (the name for diabetes mellitus sufferers), insulin injections are one of the best ways to help control blood sugar levels to remain stable. Even so, insulin also has potential side effects. The side effects of insulin injections can range from mild to severe to require emergency treatment. Let's discuss more deeply in the following review.

Various side effects of insulin injections

Insulin is a natural hormone produced by the body to convert glucose (sugar) in the body into energy. In healthy people, the hormone insulin can be produced naturally.

However, in diabetic people, insulin production is insufficient or even absent. As a result, additional insulin is needed by injecting it into the body.

Insulin injections play an important role to help stabilize blood sugar and control diabetes symptoms. However, if not used in the right dose and time, injecting insulin has the potential to cause side effects.

According to the UK Health Center, there are several side effects of insulin injections that may occur in people with diabetes, including:

1. Allergic reactions

Allergic reactions due to side effects of insulin injections are characterized by skin that feels itchy and red. In addition, swelling accompanied by pain can also occur.

This side effect arises because the syringes used are not sharp enough to injure the skin. Fortunately, this condition can resolve within a few days.

In severe cases, allergies from insulin injections can also cause side effects such as tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, dizziness, or even fainting.

2. Lipodystrophy

Insulin therapy can cause side effects on the area of the injected skin, which is known as lipodystrophy. This condition occurs quite often.

Lipodystrophy occurs as a result of too many injections in the same area. As a result, the fat in the skin layer will be lost, changing the appearance of the skin.

To avoid this side effect, you can outsmart it by changing the injection location frequently.

3. Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is the most common and serious side effect of injecting insulin. About 16% of people with type 1 diabetes and 10% of patients with type 2 diabetes experience this side effect.

Hypoglycemia itself is a condition when your blood sugar level is too low, which is below 70 mg / dL. Although insulin functions to lower blood glucose, too much insulin intake by injection is also not good for the body. The reason is, this condition can cause side effects in the form of a drastic decrease in blood sugar.

Too low blood sugar levels occur because insulin causes liver and muscle cells to take glucose from the blood. If you inject too much insulin, your cells will take in and store too much glucose.

The risk of experiencing these side effects will be higher if you take intensive or continuous insulin therapy. So, it is very possible for people with diabetes to develop hypoglycemia after injecting insulin.

Lowering blood sugar levels can reduce glucose intake for the brain. In fact, the human brain only uses glucose as an energy source.

If the amount is insufficient, hypoglycemia will cause headaches, blurred vision, fatigue, and tremors. In fact, this side effect of insulin can cause complications, such as seizures, loss of consciousness, and death.

If it is difficult to recognize the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia, you will need to check your blood sugar regularly. Afterward, eat or drink something that is mostly sugar or carbohydrate to quickly raise your blood sugar levels.

4. Weight gain

Gaining weight is the most common side effect of taking insulin.

Additional insulin helps the body store glucose so that the body does not experience excess blood sugar. On the other hand, insulin also makes the body store glucose in the form of glycogen or fat. Well, the increase in fat is what makes you gain weight.

If you do not control your diet during diabetes, the risk of side effects from insulin injections is greater. Yes, the more you eat, especially unhealthy foods, blood sugar can increase sharply.

As a result, more blood sugar is stored as fat. This is what causes body weight to increase dramatically while using insulin.

5. Insulin resistance

After an injection of insulin, blood sugar may not decrease and may even rise. The side effects of insulin injections are caused by various factors. One of the most common is insulin resistance.

The condition of insulin resistance indicates that the pancreas produces the hormone insulin, but the body's cells do not use this hormone as they should. This condition causes the body's cells to not absorb sugar properly so that sugar in the blood will accumulate.

The occurrence of insulin resistance as a side effect of insulin injections usually occurs with long-term use. To fix this, you need a larger insulin dose to be more effective in stabilizing blood sugar. Talk to your doctor about increasing your insulin dose.

6. Insulin overdose

Insulin overdose occurs when the level of insulin that you put into your body exceeds the body's needs. Excess insulin levels will cause a drastic drop in blood sugar or hypoglycemia and lead to insulin shock or hypoglycemia.

Insulin consumption that is not accompanied by adequate nutritious food intake, high-intensity exercise, and alcohol consumption on an empty stomach can also cause hypoglemic shock.

When you are in hypoglemic shock from an insulin overdose, you can experience:

Feeling restless, restless, in cold sweat and unsettled.
Feeling weak, to feel your legs and hands trembling.
Has difficulty standing straight and has muscle cramps.
There is a feeling of dizziness in the head accompanied by the effect of the vision that is sometimes blurry.
Irregular heartbeat accompanied by shortness of breath.
Swelling of the arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs.
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.

If you experience any of the above side effects, seek medical help immediately. You should go to a doctor, emergency care clinic, or hospital emergency room if complications are more severe. While seeking medical help, consuming sugar can help relieve this insulin overdose reaction.