I had my first hypo ever

[steveh h]

HI ive had type one for 45 years and any hypo is no fun . blood glucos are a strange thing mine generaly run a litel high .diatitions doctors specialists can only advise you you have got to find whot works for you .be cearful dont do anything stupid and you will be fine .i have had levels of 2 2.3 in the past and funksiond to get bloods up .a diatition once told me how i should only have small amount of carbs to bring my bloods up .when you are in the throws of a hypo reason gose out the window survival takes over .survive . deal with the high bloods after . metformin .not good suguest you speak to gp thear are lots of difrent insulins most used down to cost .bit of reserch helps all remember gp thear to look after you not keep the cost down.

 

[davetee]

I had in the morning...about 3am to be exact. Started sweating, arms and legs beginning to ache slightly. Got up and ate some leftovers and had some milk...felt fine after that...went back to bed

 

[Glucobabu]

I am quite surprised people are saying they get severe hypos at around 4.0 ! I could be feeling and acting perfectly normal even when I am around 3.0 ! And then suddenly it hits you — and of course you overtreat. You want to get out of it quick! 10 - 15 gm carb that people have suggested would be nowhere near enough to treat a hypo. Sometimes you get a post high or often you need to take even more carb to raise it up - it all depends what caused the hypo in the first place. I would never go to bed with BG lower than 6. Always eat a biscuit or two. I do a blood test first thing on waking, before and after each meal, before bed and before I get in the car. I’ve been type 1 for 43 years now and with the help and support of my better half have had a fairly smooth ride so far. But I think dealing with hypos does become your day to day priority. It is always at the back of your mind!

 

[BaliRob]

I ate my breakfast this morning.

Pre-Prandial: 5.2 mmol/L
Post-Prandial (2 hours): 8.0 mmol/L

Uggh, I was 0.1 over my goal. I try to be 7.9 or lower.

I ended up getting really busy and didn't end up eating for 6 hours. I was feeling hungry so I go and get something to eat. I sit down to eat at the table and go to take my blood sugar and realize that my hands are shaking and I can't hold my glucose monitor still enough to take my blood, my heart is beating really fast, and I'm getting kind of confused. I end up finally focusing and it's 2.9 (so probably low to mid 3s). I have those fast acting glucose tablets, but realized I didn't know where my purse was and probably wouldn't have been able to open the package. So I just scarfed down the food that was in front of me and when I felt a little better got some OJ.

So scary. It's so weird that I had ZERO idea I was going hypo except for a slight increase in hunger. I've now broken the seal on my glucose tablet packet, so I'll actually be able to open it in a time of need. Definitely not going more than 4 hours w/o a meal or snack (and probably test too). I need to build more hypo awareness 'cause it felt scary. I don't know what i would have done if I didn't have food in front of me that luckily had some carbs.


Also, is hyperglycemia afterwards normal?

Pre-Prandial: 2.9 mmol/L
20 minutes later: 3.9 mmol/L
2 hours post: 9.8 mmol/L

Just add the figure 1 to the '3' to make your emergency level !! In my case the number is '6' but if I hit 5 I am on my way with all the symptoms - extreme hunger - aggressive or bad tempered - agitated - you name it. Lesson - a hypo can be different for everybody - no standard reading.

 

[davetee]

My Hypos always happen around 4.0 too.

 

[Interaud]

2.9 is a very scary number for your first hypo! My first was a 4.1, much less horrifying.

To help with situations like this in the future, put hypo treatments EVERYWHERE. In your bag, your car, your jacket pockets, your bedroom, your kitchen (obviously lol), your bathroom, any room of the house you spend significant amounts of time in, in your desk at work, in the fridge at work....you get the idea, leave them all over the place so that if you are low you can spot some food/drink at a moment's notice and without having to think where it is or go wandering around looking for some.

Hyperglycaemia after getting low is definitely normal. With minor lows (around 4) it's easier to avoid since you don't have to eat so much so quickly, but with very bad hypos (<3) you don't want to be taking any chances, so the best course of action is to overcorrect slightly. It doesn't matter if you get high, you can always fix it later. But if you get too low, you may not be able to fix it....So when in doubt, always have a couple more grams of carbs. 9.8 is also a pretty mild high - many people on insulin find that their numbers get on a sort of rollercoaster after they get low.

It's very unfortunate you had such a severe hypo as your very first. I think most people are lucky enough to have a few fairly mild ones soon after they're diagnosed, which help them learn how to treat correctly without being in too much danger as well as developing hypo awareness skills. As you are having issues with hypo awareness, try to check more frequently and run your numbers a little higher than you usually would.

Excellent advice on having hypo treatments everywhere. My Jelly babies (and glucose tablets) are in every room of the house (and in jacket pocket/handbag). My hypo shakes come on when I'm hitting approx. 2.7 or less (usually 4hr intervals of finish eating and doing labouring job), and then it's 6 Jelly Babies, then light carb intake. If I'm in the 3's readings, it can be 2 to 4 Jelly Babies, and then same carbs. As we all learn it's how your own body responds, so my experience of coping may suit me, but is far from gospel

 

[Lamont D]

I do believe that over treating hypos in T2s is unnecessary, when they have the symptoms but don't have an actual reading below 4.
Just a few carbs would benefit most rather than too much.
But how many test when the symptoms appear?