Thank you for offering your credentials. By nature of this being an internet, tech-focused forum there just aren't many doctors here. Without a reference to credentials, I made a (poor) assumption about your authority on the matter. I was very clear that I probably know more than the average person, but I'm certainly not an authority.
I do think my underlying point is generally, correct, though. And, implicitly supported by your retort. Low and high blood sugar are emergencies of different acuity. To be clear, by the time either of them turns into an emergency, they are both emergencies. However, the time frame for going from "my blood sugar is managed" to "I need emergency intervention" is generally different (and longer for high blood sugar emergencies).
I'll respond to the sibling poster with the same content—yes, DKA won't cause coma as quickly as insulin overdose but it can indeed come on acutely and it absolutely does kill people.
I'm a bit frustrated by the number of people on this page who are saying that high BG readings aren't an emergency; the timeline to death isn't weeks or months or 'next time I get to urgent care' but instead 'later today' or 'early tomorrow'.
DKA may be precipitated by infection (like the seasonal flu), and in that setting, worsened further by an unreliable CGM.
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40811481/ (pregnant women can have DKA irrespective of blood glucose readings due to changes in normal range attributable to pregnancy)
I do think my underlying point is generally, correct, though. And, implicitly supported by your retort. Low and high blood sugar are emergencies of different acuity. To be clear, by the time either of them turns into an emergency, they are both emergencies. However, the time frame for going from "my blood sugar is managed" to "I need emergency intervention" is generally different (and longer for high blood sugar emergencies).