Type 1: Normal response to low numbers?

[Butchr]

Hello I've only been diagnosed a week now with type 1.
When my bs is above 4 but no more than 5 I feel really shaky.. is this normal?

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @Butchr Welcome to the forum

Yes what you're feeling is normal, when you've been running high for a long time and then gain better control you can very often feel what is a 'false hypo', as you maintain better control this will pass, obviously discuss this with your DSN but if it's making you feel unwell they may want to review your insulin doses. Please do remember if you drive that you must be above 5 mmol/l and report your type 1 status to the DVLA.

 

[devexity]

I had my first ever hypo when my blood glucose dropped to 6. I was in hospital recovering from the DKA-induced coma, and my glucose was 64 upon admittance: to my body at the time, 6 was a massive crisis. 13 years later, I don't get symptomatic until I'm at 3.9 or lower (frequently much lower). Anecdotal I know, but I'm guessing that your body is still adapting from running at high glucose levels.

 

[Butchr]

Thank you I was admitted into hospital with a bs of 42 stayed in for 3 nights. I am waking up to a bs of 5-8 for the past few days. I'm probably just getting used to this new way of life

 

[JMK1954]

I would suggest you take it easy, particularly for the next week or so. Don't push things in terms of exercise until your body has adjusted to the massive change in sugar levels. Doctors and DSNs tend to assume you will be fine as soon as your BS level is fairly normal. They forget the shock to the system we all experience in these circumstances. Good luck for the future !

 

[alhubb]

Hi! I have only been diagnosed for ~2 months and for the first 2/3 weeks I was having false hypos whenever my BGs were below 6. More recently, I sometimes don't get symptoms until I'm below 3.9 and even below 3. I have to say, I haven't got used to that feeling yet and it makes me feel like s**t. But keep going mate!

 

[Kristin251]

Same here. Bs 550 at DX and took awhile to bring it down and keep it down. I didn't feel good the whole time until it stabilized. Shakes, nauseous, blurry eyes you name it. It does get better

 

[db89]

I had my first hypo signs the morning they put me on insulin in the hospital and remember an overwhelming urge that I had to lie down - now. I've only had that symptom once since with a hypo (when it wasn't false) but when I was getting false hypos from my numbers being down after diagnosis (<6.0) I would usually notice shaky hands first.

So yes, I think it is normal at first and once your body adapts to running at lower levels over days and weeks they will disappear naturally.

 

[Scott-C]

Agree with other posters that once you've adjusted from the pre-dx high levels, hypo response will more likely kick in below 4.

Like the shakes people get after a "fight or flight" panic, the shakes are caused by an adrenalin rush which is aimed at getting your liver to release glucose so as to fix the low sugar. So although they undeniably feel lousy, it's your body trying to fix itself before it gets any worse.

As time goes by, you'll probably learn to pick up on much subtler things which'll warn you before shaking, for example, some of us feel a sort if lightness, and that'll give a heads up to go test before things get too extreme.

When I was newly dx'd I made some pretty dumb mistakes like thinking, it's OK I've got some biscuits in the kitchen. Turned out that managing to get from the bedroom to kitchen to get the biscuits after waking hypo at 2am is about as easy as crossing the Alps in flippers, so learned pretty soon to keep stuff right beside the bed.

Another mistake was to overtreat. I used to just stuff myself with a Twix and keep on eating till the symptoms went away. Wrong, why? Twix has fat, slows down absorption, even neat lucozade will take a while to show up in blood, and it turns out 10 to 15 grms will sort out most minor hypos anway. So now I'm more like 10 grms jelly beans or 50 mls lucozade then wait 10 mins, test and repeat if not sorted. Sure, there'll be messier hypos where those rules go out the window, but for most, just waiting that ten minutes to give the chance for it to actually show up in test avoids overtreating and ending up at over 10.

 

[GrantGam]

Hello I've only been diagnosed a week now with type 1.
When my bs is above 4 but no more than 5 I feel really shaky.. is this normal?

One day at a time @Butchr, don't try to run before you can walk.

You shouldn't be worried about what BGL your hypo symptoms present at. As typically, us T1's worry about losing that precious trait altogether.

Please make a conscious effort to not bring your BG down too fast - there are many reasons why that will do you more harm than good. Also, bringing your BG down too rapidly, too hard, will more than likely (especially just post diagnosis) result in over frequent hypos. This will lead to a false sense of achievement (respectable HbA1c weighted through time spent at <4mmol/l) and a possible lack of hypo recognition - which is something you don't want at any time, but especially early on in your diabetic career.