Autonomic nerves help you know your blood sugar is low. Some people take diabetes medicines that can accidentally make their blood sugar too low. This kind of damage is more likely to happen if you have had diabetes for a long time. It can also happen if your blood sugar has been too low very often. Autonomic nerves go from your spinal cord to your lungs, heart, stomach, intestines, bladder, and sex organs.
Autonomic nerves go to the stomach, intestines, and other parts of the digestive system.
Damage to these nerves can make food pass through the digestive system too slowly or too quickly. When nerves to the stomach are damaged, the muscles of the stomach do not work well and food may stay in the stomach too long. Gastroparesis makes it hard to keep blood sugar under control. Damage to autonomic nerves from diabetes may cause problems with having sex. Autonomic nerves go to the penis.