I had my first real emergency today
- Thread starter plantae
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Stop typing and treat the hypo now, please!
Typing takes energy, you don't have it to spare until you're back in a safe range.
Ushthetaff
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definitely get those alarms set , it’ll stop you reaching that level !as long as yOu don’t ignore them of course
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Hi @plantae ,
I hope you're doing better now.
Please let us know how you are when you log into the forum again.
I hope you're doing better now.
Please let us know how you are when you log into the forum again.
I'm home now. I called an ambulance on the advice of a forum member and had 4 infusions of glucose at the hospital who have also halved my lantus dose. Thank you everyone. I'm only 3.9 now but seem to be functioning
Grandma Misti
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I am so glad that you went to the hospital and are (more or less) ok now.
Have you reset your alarms yet? Those are important!
Yeah the alarms have been reset. But I think I have alarm fatigue, I click them to go away haha. Before yesterday I actually didn't know it was possible for a hypo to cause someone to not be able to move or take action of any kind. I'm just very lucky mum was here and I could speak. I was thinking fairly coherently -- as said I knew what I had to do -- but I literally could not move. And I'm not kidding about my heart rate. It was racing. I couldn't get to the fridge to get the orange juice I needed even though I knew I needed it, immediately. That scares me a lot thinking back. I still don't know why my boots are on the floor, I wasn't going anywhere
I'm pleased that you are ok. Having audible alarms is crucial (just change them to vibration when in a theatre or cinema). Importantly, you need Dextrose tablets in your pocket during the day, and on the bedside table during the night. Dextrose works much quicker than orange juice, so no need to walk to the fridge when your BG goes low.
Engage your brain, and stop doing this, please. You could set your low alarm a bit higher, say 4.2. This would give one Dextrose tablet time to work before readings go below 4.
I have the dextrose tablets. Unfortunately I lost all of my teeth as a side effect of cancer treatment so unless I have my dentures in I can't chew them, so orange juice and honey are my "go to" treatments
My alarm is now set to 4.7. The other dexcom alarm is fixed at 3.9 (can't change it). The problem is that, well for today at least, the alarm is going off every 15 minutes. I'm 3.3 now (2.9 fingerprick) and functioning ok but those readings are too low for comfort especially now I know that I can get to a point where I cannot function. I have to wait for last night's lantus to wear off I guess. If I was the hospital I wouldn't have sent me home
I don't have my dentures in, I hate them, so I'm sitting here drinking a lot of orange juice. The real problem is that will raise my blood sugar but it's coming down just as quickly. So I'll just drink constantly. This won't help me if it happens in the middle of the night though but I have put the bottle of honey on my bedstand
I am sorry to read about you having had cancer, and the loss of your teeth. I find that honey works almost as fast as Dextrose, providing I push a tea-spoonful around in my mouth with my tongue. However, honey is not as portable as Dextrose. However, I would suggest that you could crush Dextrose tablets between two spoons and use empty glucose strip containers to store the crushed result. Then it will be easy to tip an amount into your mouth and suck until it dissolves.
In Response
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How about having small boxes of uht orange juice?
They don't taste as nice as the fresh stuff but they don't have to be kept in the fridge so you can place them around the house.
Treating your hypo is far more important than having a pleasant drink.
I know some people use the small cans of full fat full sugar cola which could be another option. However, if you are sensitive to caffeine, they are not great in the middle of the night
They don't taste as nice as the fresh stuff but they don't have to be kept in the fridge so you can place them around the house.
Treating your hypo is far more important than having a pleasant drink.
I know some people use the small cans of full fat full sugar cola which could be another option. However, if you are sensitive to caffeine, they are not great in the middle of the night
Yeah I can buy some UHT orange juice, that's an excellent idea actually. As long as they're close to where I am I don't care about the taste. I know it sounds stupid, my fridge is like 10 metres or something from where I was yesterday I just could not get there.
I've also crushed up some of my dextrose tablets and they're in a jar next to my bed (edit: thanks @ElenaP for that suggestion. I didn't use two spoons I just put the whole packet into a food processor... nobody can accuse me of doing things by halves haha)
The orange juice isn't working. I'm just going straight up and back down so I've put my dentures in (hate them) and am eating chips (crisps) hoping that they'll last longer. I'll probably go the opposite direction and end up being 20 or something but that's better and safer for a one off, I think, than 2.9
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Hi @plantae
I must admit to waking at night, with glucose tablets on my bedside table, and just feeling too tired to take them. I do eventually, but a hypo mind just isn't as rational as a normal mind.
Can you eat something a bit more long acting after your hypos? The "official" recommendation for hypos is to treat with short acting carbs but then add some longer acting into the mix?
Any chance of getting another cpeptide test from your hospital so you can work out what is going on with your pancreas?
Lots of virtual hugs, hypos are awful.
I must admit to waking at night, with glucose tablets on my bedside table, and just feeling too tired to take them. I do eventually, but a hypo mind just isn't as rational as a normal mind.
Can you eat something a bit more long acting after your hypos? The "official" recommendation for hypos is to treat with short acting carbs but then add some longer acting into the mix?
Any chance of getting another cpeptide test from your hospital so you can work out what is going on with your pancreas?
Lots of virtual hugs, hypos are awful.
Fairygodmother
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What a horrible experience @plantae. Bad hypos are the nastiest part of being Type One. The suggestions others have made about always having a hypo-negating and manageable food source nearby are good. I also agree that setting alarms to warn you in time is essential and the loud alarm on librelink should wake a whole household and make all outdoor wildlife scurry for shelter.
Does your mother live in the same place as you? It’s possible to set up a link so someone else can hear the alarm and provide assistance if required.
If you had glycogen the she’d be the one who’d administer it if you sank too low to drink orange juice.
You could also ask your doctor to prescribe gluco gel which is glucose in soft form that you take from a tube-like container. It’d be for those times when you’re conscious enough to sort it yourself.
The one good thing about a bad hypo is that it gets us all thinking about how to avoid having another.
Does your mother live in the same place as you? It’s possible to set up a link so someone else can hear the alarm and provide assistance if required.
If you had glycogen the she’d be the one who’d administer it if you sank too low to drink orange juice.
You could also ask your doctor to prescribe gluco gel which is glucose in soft form that you take from a tube-like container. It’d be for those times when you’re conscious enough to sort it yourself.
The one good thing about a bad hypo is that it gets us all thinking about how to avoid having another.
I had heaps of hypos when I was first on insulin. @EllieM @Antje77 and lots of other people on this forum helped me get through that. But those numbers I had in the early days were just that: numbers. I have never been unable to walk to the fridge or had my heart racing and my hands shaking like yesterday. Now I know and have a new respect.
Yeah I don't think I was thinking properly even after getting home today. I was drinking orange juice. This is clearly good for the immediate effect, but I wasn't eating the long-lasting carbs after even though that's been drilled into my brain. Maybe my brain isn't working as good as it should be even though I say I feel ok.
I have gluco gel. I didn't even think to try and get it, I don't know why. I couldn't get up off the silly seat that I sit on in my front yard. I could not move. I knew in my brain what I had to do, I just couldn't do it. I live alone. Mum was, fortunately, here yesterday. I am starting to suspect that I would not be alive if she wasn't. My brother is here tonight.
In the middle of the night last night, I was very low. Like very low. I could move but I don't think I was thinking rationally at all. A member on here suggested I call and ambulance because my typing and sentences just didn't make sense. So I did. The person on the phone said to leave the front door open (so did the person on here) so I did. Which is probably lucky because by the time they arrived I was, again, not in a way that I could get up and open the door. I don't need to mention the person's name but they know who they are and have my eternal thanks.
I'll get there! Wherever that is
Grant_Vicat
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I know exactly what you mean. This happened to me when I was an apprentice organ builder in 1989:
One evening Mike was locking up the workshop and noticed me staring vacantly. He asked me if I needed food, but got no reponse, so he told me to go into the Assembly Shop where my food was and eat something immediately. When I got there, I could see my bag, but just walked round it without making the connection.
