What blood glucose level triggers your hypo's?

[n1ck]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum part of the website so excuse me if my question lie's in a thread somewhere else.

In the couple of days i've been posting in the 'morning blood sugar readings' forum i've come to notice a few people posting morning readings that are quite low but no mention of hypo feelings.

So, that leads me to the question...at what point do you start to get the 'hypo' feelings? For me, without fail, it is always as i get to 4.5. In fact only yesterday i was noticing the 'feelings' i usually get and without fail my reading was 4.4. I've been Type 1 for 14 years now and i have always been sensitive to low levels. I know at some point in the future this could change. Has your sensitivity changed the longer you've had diabetes?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Nick

 

[Diakat]

Regards those morning sugar readings on the T2 forum? As some people there may not be on hypo inducing meds so are perfectly ok in say the 3s?
Some people on T1 forum sections hae lost hypo awareness. Otherwise the usual "we are all different" applies and different hypos hit in different ways!

 

[Antje77]

Usually between 3.6 and 4.2.

 

[SOPHIE2006]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum part of the website so excuse me if my question lie's in a thread somewhere else.

In the couple of days i've been posting in the 'morning blood sugar readings' forum i've come to notice a few people posting morning readings that are quite low but no mention of hypo feelings.

So, that leads me to the question...at what point do you start to get the 'hypo' feelings? For me, without fail, it is always as i get to 4.5. In fact only yesterday i was noticing the 'feelings' i usually get and without fail my reading was 4.4. I've been Type 1 for 14 years now and i have always been sensitive to low levels. I know at some point in the future this could change. Has your sensitivity changed the longer you've had diabetes?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

Nick

I just had a hypo feeling and my sugars were 4.9. I always get a headache and feel weak if i go below 5.

 

[n1ck]

Regards those morning sugar readings on the T2 forum? As some people there may not be on hypo inducing meds so are perfectly ok in say the 3s?
Some people on T1 forum sections hae lost hypo awareness. Otherwise the usual "we are all different" applies and different hypos hit in different ways!

Doesn't it just. I've just had a couple of replies where they have lost the awareness and that's something i wouldn't want to lose but i realise 20 years from now it could be a different story all together!

 

[n1ck]

I just had a hypo feeling and my sugars were 4.9. I always get a headache and feel weak if i go below 5.

The feelings are weird aren't they? I always find it hard to describe to people what it 'feels' like when they go low. People who know me can see it in my eyes apparently. I think they go grey and sallow. I can remember a time in the early days where i just sat there uncontrollably laughing for no reason and had a 'waxy' feeling to my skin...sugars at that point were 1.9...needless to say i've never been there again!

 

[n1ck]

Usually between 3.6 and 4.2.

At that level i'm thinking forget the dextrose...where's the chocolate!

 

[SOPHIE2006]

The feelings are weird aren't they? I always find it hard to describe to people what it 'feels' like when they go low. People who know me can see it in my eyes apparently. I think they go grey and sallow. I can remember a time in the early days where i just sat there uncontrollably laughing for no reason and had a 'waxy' feeling to my skin...sugars at that point were 1.9...needless to say i've never been there again!

Yeah they are. My family say I go very pale and weak and my legs feel like there going to give way

 

[Juicyj]

My hypo awareness changes with the speed at which my levels are dropping, if i'm dropping quickly then I can get hypo symptoms around 4.5-5, if the hypo is a slow onset then I can get hypo feelings around 4.2.

Getting older doesn't mean all this will change though, hypo awareness is based on maintaining good control and not hypo-ing too frequently, losing awareness simply means you have become adjusted to them

 

[Knikki]

Depends sometimes I can be around 4.0 and deffo feel like something is wrong other times I can be as low as 2.6 and still function, although I would not drive or anything like that.

Most of the time it is other people who pick up I am heading hypo especially Mrs Knikki.

My hypo awareness is not as good as it used to be but I run low and like running low but that is just me.

Like others have said "we is all different"

 

[Ann1982]

It’s usually about 3.6 but before that my husband says I start to talk rubbish!

 

[n1ck]

My hypo awareness changes with the speed at which my levels are dropping, if i'm dropping quickly then I can get hypo symptoms around 4.5-5, if the hypo is a slow onset then I can get hypo feelings around 4.2.

Getting older doesn't mean all this will change though, hypo awareness is based on maintaining good control and not hypo-ing too frequently, losing awareness simply means you have become adjusted to them

And that's something i don't want is to adjust to them...although sometimes when i have them could be at a awkward moment i.e. in the middle of teaching a class! Weirdly though, even though i sense they are going as soon as the machine confirms it they then just plummet really fast!

 

[n1ck]

Depends sometimes I can be around 4.0 and deffo feel like something is wrong other times I can be as low as 2.6 and still function, although I would not drive or anything like that.

Most of the time it is other people who pick up I am heading hypo especially Mrs Knikki.

My hypo awareness is not as good as it used to be but I run low and like running low but that is just me.

Like others have said "we is all different"

We certainly are. I generally don't like mine running too low. With the volume of exercise i have to push up my sugars knowing they are going to drop because of the exercise. If i ran them low and still did the exercise then i'd be in permanent hypo city!

 

[n1ck]

It’s usually about 3.6 but before that my husband says I start to talk rubbish!

Haha..i've been there too..talking rubbish! But more gibberish nonsense where i'm trying to make sense of what i've just said then know i'm going low!

 

[urbanracer]

I've been running my glucose levels a little high for some time, - for no other reason than bad management - and usually start to feel 'the shakes' around 5mmol. In the past I've been down to 3.2 with no feelings - only caught it through a routine check.

 

[Dixon1995]

When I was first diagnosed and in the honeymoon period, I checked my blood sugar before eating a snack and it was 1.2mmol/L, I felt fine, treated it, and when my sugar began to rise it hit me like a ton of bricks! That was lucky, never had anything like i since, I can feel it around 4mmol/L

 

[Knikki]

We certainly are. I generally don't like mine running too low. With the volume of exercise i have to push up my sugars knowing they are going to drop because of the exercise. If i ran them low and still did the exercise then i'd be in permanent hypo city!

Oh yeah I fully get that from what you have said about how much you exercise. I too go the gym and sort of enjoy it but I tend to go when I am on the high side or around 8 to 9, will do a routine and generally bail out when I hit 4.9ish, because I know that if I kept going I would be in Hypo world.

 

[Juicyj]

And that's something i don't want is to adjust to them...although sometimes when i have them could be at a awkward moment i.e. in the middle of teaching a class! Weirdly though, even though i sense they are going as soon as the machine confirms it they then just plummet really fast!

If you wanted to invest then using the Dexcom G6 means you can set an alert say at 5 mmol/l and get an alarm if your levels are dropping, which means you can take some glucose on board and avoid a hypo, it’s not completely foolproof but it’s a great help.

 

[Knikki]

Indeed I agree with @Juicyj CGM's are a great help I have a Libre and MiaoMiao linked to a phone and watch, great for Alarms

 

[db89]

Usually <=4.5 I start to get the feelings of heading low. Then if it dips further start to feel a little shaky through to getting the shakes in my hands in the high 3s. Lower than that I start to feel worse, increasingly confused and find it difficult to concentrate.

I try to run between 5-9 because driving awareness is important to me.