First hypo & I think I’ve really messed up.

[Gloucestergirl]

Don't forget that if your body has been used to high blood sugar levels even a small drop can feel like a hypo. When I was first diagnosed 23 years ago my sugar levels were 22 but I was getting all the hypo symptoms - sweating, confusion etc. and yet my blood sugar was NINE! There is a temptation to treat the "hypo" symptoms when you've got a false hypo and you have to just convince yourself that you're not hypo, you won't go unconscious and don't go stuffing yourself to make you feel better. When I've woken up with a 2.9 or something THEN I go a bit overboard with the food - like we all do when in a panic!

 

[Fairygodmother]

Before the wonders of Dafne, when I was also subject to a daft basal insulin and a poor Consultant, I had glucagon kits in the fridge that others could use to inject me with if I were too far gone in a hypo. They were really nasty night time hypos!
There are still a couple of kits in the fridge ‘just in case’ and I feel guilty that I swop them for in date kits when their useful life expires. I still feel relieved I’ve got them and take them with me if travelling abroad, with friends, or staying with friends. I show the friends how to use them and every time I fear that they may be needed. So far they haven’t been, but I still do this ‘just in case’ as it’s reassuring for everyone.
I have a bowl on the bedside table with jelly babies and a couple of biscuits - the mess caused when other stuff’s knocked to the floor as I try to locate it’s a small price to pay for consciousness. There’s also a bottle of lucozade there but it’s easier to grab a jelly baby than remove the lid from the bottle.

 

[becca59]

If in kitchen you could just add sugar to a lukewarm cup of tea or coffee or to water.

Tablets are not the only items for hypo's. I crunchon sugar cubes if hypo around eating times at home as I can clean teeth after.

According to dentist, best just to flush mouth with water after hypo treatment. Brushing encourages the sugar taken, to damage teeth.

 

[kev-w]

Before the wonders of Dafne, when I was also subject to a daft basal insulin and a poor Consultant, I had glucagon kits in the fridge that others could use to inject me with if I were too far gone in a hypo. They were really nasty night time hypos!
There are still a couple of kits in the fridge ‘just in case’ and I feel guilty that I swop them for in date kits when their useful life expires. I still feel relieved I’ve got them and take them with me if travelling abroad, with friends, or staying with friends. I show the friends how to use them and every time I fear that they may be needed. So far they haven’t been, but I still do this ‘just in case’ as it’s reassuring for everyone..

I never replaced my last ones when they expired as the modern insulin hypos don't wipe me out as badly as past ones have I still have enough hypos but they aren't what they used to be, and I live alone currently, useful kit though and I doubt I'd have got to 25 without them having been used a few times

There's glucose tab stashes all over here mind....

 

[RAPS_od]

You've probably noticed a trend here: It's not just you. I used to turn into a locust and eat the kitchen until I felt safe again. Bad hypos in the wee hours are more common to me than I'd like. I almost always wake up when it dips like an automatic alarm clock. Nowadays, I'm trying to eat/drink some glucose and then stay calm for ten minutes and retest. Once I start going up, I'm sleepy again, but I usually eat a sugar-free cookie or some carb to keep from bottoming out again and it's back to bed.
Forgiving yourself is a really important part of accepting your condition. You will make mistakes. You will make a lot of mistakes. We all do. The effort is best applied to trying to stay level, forgiving yourself, and doing what's right for you. Believe me, I've been T1 for 50 years and I'm still learning.

 

[mountaintom]

According to dentist, best just to flush mouth with water after hypo treatment. Brushing encourages the sugar taken, to damage teeth.

Often wondered how bad glucose tablets are for my teeth.

 

[Tjroberts3]

I have used hypos as an excuse to eat **** more times than I should have, it’s easy to convince yourself it helps so it’s okay! Your body turns against you when you go hypo so don’t worry about it.

I keep Dextro tablets EVERYWHERE these days. Every coat, jacket, drawer, car, bags. 4 tablets sort me right out everything.

 

[Janetoby]

No-one's mentioned the other type of hypo i.e. Nocturnal Hypo's. None of my medical team has ever raised the topic and as I don't know of any T1's I've just had to learn/experience them on my own.

There is no sense of "Panic" (or "crashing" as I call it) and no sense of the "Zombie" urgency. My symptoms are fatigue and a complete loss of focus or I'm just a bit dopey. e.g. I might wake up do a test 2.5, hmmm hypo, wander into the kitchen to get something and "oh the plants look like they need watering" ... "oh I'm sleepy, better go back to bed". Or I've woken drenched in sweat the bed's soaked. Did I wet the bed??? No urine smell, ok oh I'm hypo ... oh, better change the sheets, oh I'm sleepy, just as well I changed the sheets ... and I "forget" to eat anything. Hmmm.

So in my experience I will find I've over slept by as much as 8 hours! (in some cases I've slept for 18 hours) ... and I'll have a "hangover from hell".

The worst case, actually my first case, I'd been skiing the day before so my body was severely taxed and standard glycogen release was being used for repair at a guess (I'm not a clinician). I got up and had been potting around for 20 plus minutes (dopey state), decided to have a bath and my last memory is turning on the hot tap ... woke up in bed, confused and in severe pain .... huh? my skin is falling off????

Short story is 3rd degree burns on 20% of my body, 6 weeks in hospital, skin grafts etc ... Doc's all said "he had a hypo", which I vehemently disagreed with, because I'd had a "hypo" before ... just not a Nocturnal Hypo. It took me 25 years to realise what had actually happened as I believed I must have slipped and banged my head (though I never could come up with a reason as to how/why I got back to bed).

None of the Doc's then, or anyone EVER since, has explained/discussed to/with me the symptoms of a nocturnal hypo.

If you wake up drenched in sweat, you're Hypo! If you find yourself "pottering" e.g. had been going to do something but got distracted (though the chances are you won't notice you're distracted), Check your BG as it's likely you're hypo. Especially relevant/likely if you've had intense exercise the previous day.

Hope this helps.

 

[Janetoby]

This can also happen after alcohol the night before.
I have always had a problem with overnight hypos, sometimes I wake up sweaty but sometimes just half wake and fell like i'm dozing...I keep jelly beans and sultanas and a honeycomb chocolate bar next to my bed. If I use any during the night, the first thing I do in the morning is replace my hypo foods to I don't go to bed and forget!
I also have long standing T1, and have many times had the 'panic' eating, but sometimes its a good excuse to eat those things that you usually can't eat. I keep a wide variety of hypo foods that suit different situations. I have jelly beans and my honeycomb bar for in the car, creamy soda lemonade in the kitchen pantry. I have stuff stashed all over the house!

 

[Ziggy2017]

@RichardSp8 dontt worry it was your first hypo when I had my first severe hypo (2.7) I really messed up I took my insulin (14 units of levemir at the time now reduced to 10 units) I forgot to eat any breakfast and started playing with the dog instead all of a sudden a felt like I had to lie down I was very sleepy and my heart was beating a mile a minute I talked to my mum and she said maybe it was just anxiety (I do suffer from anxiety) I ended up going to my bedroom lay on the bed and checked my BG I was 2.7 so immediately my brain went into overload I ate half a big bag of m&ms (didn’t work) and drank a Capri sun and toast afterwards.good luck with your next hypo