Hypos

[sadsocks]

Hi everyone...a quick question, my daughter who is 18 and diagnosed in October, can fairly regularly have blood sugars between 4 and 2.6 and feel completely fine!... is this normal?

 

[mentat]

Yes, this is called "loss of hypo awareness" and is quite common. It is not a good thing, because it means someone can lose consciousness or get very confused without early warning signs.

This is usually caused by frequent hypos. How often does she have a hypo? Reducing the frequency of hypos can reverse it; if that fails then keeping sugars somewhat high for a while can help.

Also I was diagnosed in my early 20s and maybe I can help you make sense of this time; PM me if you like!

 

[sadsocks]

Hi mentat, she's been below 4 three times this week and only once at 2.9 did she feel 'a bit weak' It's a bit of a struggle, trying to give as much independence as possible, whilst also trying to encourage good control. I favour low carb, but while away from home, she occasionally favours high carb/ high insulin. She's pretty good at carb counting... from what I can work out, but the high carb/ fast foods lead to less control... I think that's the issue... hoping that she will realise this herself soon... last 30 days average blood sugar has been 6.8...

 

[mentat]

Hi sadsocks, that's not too bad. Some people have a couple of hypos a day.

If she has poor awareness she must be very careful when driving etc. and she should explain to her friends and employer what to do if she's hypo. It's easy to be embarrassed about this stuff but it's really just basic first aid.

I would suggest that she aim for a higher target when having "less predictable" (e.g. high carb) meals. As long as she's not doing that too often her control should still be reasonable. It's a balance, and it's tough.

 

[noblehead]

Hi mentat, she's been below 4 three times this week and only once at 2.9 did she feel 'a bit weak' It's a bit of a struggle, trying to give as much independence as possible, whilst also trying to encourage good control.

Ask your daughter to contact her diabetes team and they'll advise her on tweaking her insulin so that she isn't having so many low's.

Feeling a 'bit weak' is a hypo symptom and it's good that she is showing some hypo awareness (as the concern is when someone loses their hypo awareness symptoms), as long as she recognises the feeling of being a bit weak as a hypo symptom (and can treat accordingly) then all is good, here are just a few of the more common symptoms of a hypo but they can vary from person to person:

• feeling hungry
• sweating
• dizziness
• tiredness (fatigue)
• blurred vision
• trembling or shakiness
• going pale
• fast pulse or palpitations
• tingling lips
• irritability
• difficulty concentrating
• confusion
• disorderly or irrational behaviour, which may be mistaken for drunkenness

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/hypoglycaemia/Pages/symptoms.aspx