what happens to a person if they miss a few days without insulin?
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Answers:
Oh boy...there's a lot of misinformation out here. Be careful what you believe around here.
First of all, let's discuss how this works. Insulin is NOT sugar. Insulin allows the body's cells to utilize sugar. Without insulin (which is normally produced naturally by the body), the sugar is not able to be metabolized by the cells, so it steadily increases in concentration in the blood. In other words, a diabetic's blood sugar will go UP if he does not take his insulin.
The most dangerous problem a diabetic can run into is taking TOO MUCH insulin, or taking the insulin and then skipping a meal. In this case, the insulin converts the sugar in the blood for use in the cells, and once this converted sugar has been used, the diabetic's blood sugar level goes DOWN, which is a far more dangerous.
Low blood sugar is by far the most common and the most critical diabetic problem we respond to in emergency medical services. When a person's blood sugar drops, they can very quickly have a decreased level of consciousness leading to coma and eventually death. When they're blood sugar gets too high (like if they don't take their insulin for a few days) they may have an altered level of consciousness, as well as other complications.
Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can be dangerous, but is typically much less life-threatening than hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
On another note...if you find an unresponsive diabetic patient, don't immediately give them a shot of insulin as some here have suggested. If their blood sugar is low (which is probably the case), that shot of insulin just may kill them. They would actually need sugar. As a paramedic, my first action on a diabetic emergency is normally to administer 50% dextrose in water (D50) intravenously. It's basically sugar-water. Of course, I would first check their blood sugar level with a glucometer to determine if it was high or low. However, if we are unable to check blood sugar for any reason, we would administer the D50. If they're low, it will help them immensely. If they're too high, it really won't make a significant difference.
they would go into a coma and die.
a diabetic that wants to die can die easily.
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