A wobbly day.

[Scubamup]

Had a proper scare today. Feeling a bit wuzzy, measured at 4.2, so had some toast to tide me over till teatime and went to do a bit of shopping. Half way round JS and I need the trolley more for support than holding groceries, and within minutes I'm feeling faint, tingly scalp concentration gone and about to pass out. Fortunately I had a pack of glucose handy but not my meter. So no idea how low I'd got. Not pleasant. I'm 10 mths in with diabetes but not confirmed as Type 1 or 2, the consultant wants to test for MODY next, but my numbers have been great on 30mg Glickazide then 500mg Metformin and now 10mg Dapagliflozin. My problem is whatever I'm on I seem to suffer from lows rather than anything.
My real bugbear is the fact I don't seem to get hungry first. Suddenly your just dizzy.
Normal?

 

[TorqPenderloin]

Are you suffering from actual hypoglycemia or false hypoglycemia?

I ask because 4.2 is not what I would consider hypoglycemia, and most would agree.

False hypos tend to occur when your blood sugar drops rapidly which means you could experience symptoms even when your blood sugar is perfectly normal. Most people have difficulty with this in the early stages of diagnosis when their body has gotten used to 10+ mmol/L average blood sugar levels.

 

[Liam1955]

Hello @Scubamup - I noticed you are on Dapagliflozin, I am also on this and I take mine with my evening meal. I used to take it on a morning and I found my blood sugar would drop very suddenly and I would experience the symptoms you described. Which is when my blood sugar is round about 3.8.

 

[Scubamup]

I'm still trying to work out if they're false or real. From what I've read false hypos occur after a rapid drop or if you're generally high. I *rarely* see the wrong side of 7. 9 times out of ten I test in low 5's, or low to mid 6s after a meal. Last 2 Hba1c's have had me at 32mmol/mol which is 5.1%. I'm finding though I can feel when I'm in the mid 4's. A bit dizzy, a bit like I'm on a boat, but generally I'm OK for a bit. Normally gets me late afternoon early evening. This just seemed to go from the usual wuzzy to 'about to pass out' rather suddenly. I might give taking the dapaglaflozin in the evening a go.
The one thing that has me a bit worried is at my last visit to 3rd consulant (1st retired, 2nd locum, now this chap) he thinks only Dapagliflozin might be dodgy if I turn out to be a type 1 or one of these MODY options. He pointed out the Dapagliflozin would flush the sugar out but if my insulin is low I won't process enough. This has got me wondering if that's why I still seem to be sensitive to not particularly deep lows all this time later.

 

[Scubamup]

Hello @Scubamup - I noticed you are on Dapagliflozin, I am also on this and I take mine with my evening meal. I used to take it on a morning and I found my blood sugar would drop very suddenly and I would experience the symptoms you described. Which is when my blood sugar is round about 3.8.

How long after taking the tablet did it hit. I'm taking mine at breakfast but really struggling in late afternoon/early evening.

 

[Liam1955]

Hi @Scubamup - I used to take it at breakfast round about 8.30 - 9am, but, I also take my Insulin between 8 - 9am. And by lunchtime about Noon I would start to feel as though something was draining the energy out of me, so I mentioned to my GP last year about taking the Dapagliflozin later in the day and he said that was better. I take it half way through my evening meal and within an hour I start and wee all evening and last time is about 1.30am in the morning, but I sleep through the night till 7.30 - 8am. William.

 

[Liam1955]

I must add @Scubamup - don't alter/change taking medication without first consulting a GP. I saw my GP about changing the time of day for taking the Dapagliflozin - and he agreed. William.