250 (13.9 mmols) is the threshold that can leave you at risk for a diabetic coma.

So if you hit that, it keeps going up despite taking meds or drinking gallons of water or whatever other tricks you have to knock it down quickly - essentially if "nothing is working" (and this is not a super common situation for you - the sugar at that level I mean because some do go higher on a regular basis and not so much as a hangnail but for them it's "normal/expected"),

then I wouldn't wait around, I would head to the ER.

@A DiabetesTeam Member

The guidance from Diabetes Canada is at 20 mmol's call and get medical advice (and they always tell you to "come in").

At 30 (I believe the US guidance equivalent would be 33.3 - nobody agrees on anything) head to the hospital no matter what. At that level your blood is so thick your kidneys can no longer keep it separate from what it's trying to filter and you can pass blood in your urine which also "sucking all the fluids out of you", so can dehydrate to deadly levels in short order - 50% chance of going into a coma at this BG level.

But at levels of "about 14" if accompanied by racing heartbeat, breathing problems, nausea or stomach pain you shouldn't wait around to see if it "makes it 20"

It is all relative though - some regularly run up near 20 with not so much as a hiccup but if you typically did you wouldn't be freaking out if you saw that on your meter.

I see a 10 on my meter I would know that I put something in my mouth that I knew I shouldn't have.

Once I wanted to see what the 50 carbs suggested as ok by most diabetic dietitians would do to me - resulted in a 12.6 and that really freaked me out. But was for "science" 😁

When you are used to your typical range you would know when "that's not normal" and may take action sooner then someone who typically runs higher.

And if your range is consistent then I would be seeking advice if you suddenly saw a reading a few full mmol's higher than normal because that would be sure sign that "something is up" even if it's not really diabetes related (a major infection that needs attention would significantly jack your numbers)

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A Diabete...

Wow really? @A DiabetesTeam Member. I thought it was 30mmol! 😅 Mine definitely went up to like 20 on the glucose test (but had dropped to 13 when they tested me). I was wondering why they thought it was so serious lol
So if it goes up to, say, 15mmol you should go to the hospital?

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A Diabete...