Hypo Symptoms

[lucinda]

Hello hello

Im steadily trying to get my blood sugars levels really under control and trying to my best to overcome my 'diabetes denial' .

Lately however I have noticed that I dont always get syptoms when my blood sugars drop.
Take this afternoon for example, I felt completely fine but decided to test (Im trying to make this a habbit!) and to my suprise I was 2.6 but hadnt had any syptoms of my sugars being low.

Im finding this increasingly frustrating. More often then not I will get symptoms, but they come way too late and come on very suddenly, which therefore means I over compensate when trying to bring my sugars back up and end up having too much to eat because I panic that Im so low.

I really thought that now I have better control over my sugars that my syptoms of being low would become more apparent...maybe Im wrong.

Any advice on this guys would be really helpful? Does anyone else have this problem??

:shock:

 

[AMBrennan]

Loss of hypo awareness is a risk of tight control. Avoiding hypos will restore your hypo awareness (eventually) - more frequent testing would certainly be useful, as might higher BG targets (consult DSN/GP).

 

[RussG]

Yes, I've had a worsening of my hypo sensitivity through (too) rigid sugar control. As AMBrennan says, it's a risk of tight control.

Common wisdom is to run a bit higher than usual for a while - perhaps a few weeks - to restore hypo sensitivity. It is very important that you take special care around driving etc. when you are not as sensitive to hypos and always test before you drive, operate anything dangerous etc.

I would definitely talk it through with your DSN though, if you can.

 

[josie38]

Hi lucinda,

I know when i have had lost my hypo warnings I have had to run my bs a bit higher than normal for a couple of weeks then slowly increase my background insulin back up to normal.

Please consult with your DSN on this as it does need to be monitored so as you don't got too high and then be in more trouble.

Good luck hun

Josie

 

[Poodlelady]

Hi Lucinda, I too don't get warnings that my sugar levels have bottomed out until they reach very low levels of 2.2mmol, then I do get some symptoms. I make sure when I go out that I have either my glucose tablets with me or some sweets and of course my tester at all times with me.

 

[lucinda]

I think I may have to do that Josie.

It came to a bit of a head on Saturday when I went shopping. Popped into a shop to see my friend who works there, and he said I looked very pale and funny and I kept saying I was boiling and yet he said it was pretty cold. He told me to sit down for a minute but I was having none of it as I felt fine. I then went on my way to some other shops and within about 5 mins it was as if someone had literally drained all my energy and had given me a sleeping pill. I struggled back to find my friend and when I got to him I was almost on the verge on collapse. Luckily he knows me very well and went and got me some lucozade and I sat down for half an hour. Phew.

I was lucky that time, but I remember when I was at school and I used to collapse all the time from low sugars. I really dont want that to start happening again. In school I guess I was sort of in a safe environment, collapsing in the 'outside world' seems a little more daunting.

roblem:

 

[josie38]

When I have lost my hypo warnings in the past, I have been "argumentative" There have been times when, no hypo warnings, that i have been 1.5mml without realising it. Thats when my hubby's took over cuz i have been adamant that there is nothing wriong with me at all and i am fine

Hope you get sorted soon hun and let me know how you get on :wink: :wink: :wink:

josie

 

[phoenix]

Another thing that may help is to test more frequently and before testing, take a guess at what your glucose level is before you test. By becoming aware of how you feel at different levels It may help you to become sensitised to more subtle changes in hypo symptoms. Testing more frequently will also help to avoid some hypos. If you have a hypo one day you are more likely to have one during the next 24 hours and this can set up a vicious cycle.
.

 

[microfazer]

Loss of hypo awareness is a risk of tight control. Avoiding hypos will restore your hypo awareness (eventually) - more frequent testing would certainly be useful, as might higher BG targets (consult DSN/GP).

loss of hypo symptoms can also be as a very direct result of insulin type being used. may be worth investigating use of animal/porcine insulins, widespread reports of hypo unawareness/extreme instant hypos really didnt exist until after the advent of laboratory-made in$ulin$.

what my doctors insisted was the net result of yrs of T1, and possibly too-tight control, was in fact immediately resolved -- as in, that day in a single shot -- simply by a switch from in$ulin to porcine instead.

after the switch, just to see if there was anything to the doctors' spin on things, for several nites in a row i tried to induce hypos without symptoms, or at least diminished symptoms. despite the numerous efforts, i was not only wholly unable to go low symptomless, but the symptoms i was getting were as strong and undeniable as the ones from the early years of my diabetes, the ones spent using beef/porcines.


so the loss of symptoms that were undeniably (according to the docs) a direct result of either yrs of T1, or a result of too-tight control, were in fact reversed within the course of a single shot. curious, at least.

 

[AMBrennan]

Do you think I'm stupid and won't notice that you registered today, necro'd a 9 month old thread, and promoted your beloved porcine in every post you've made so far? Only question is whether your a PR shill or a mere troll.

 

[viviennem]

If you have doubts about anyone, AMBrennan, it's usual to click on the exclamation-mark-in-a triangle at the top right of a post and note your concerns to Admin, who will deal with it.

No need to be rude in public.

Viv 8)

 

[microfazer]

Re: enjoy your next hypo

Do you think I'm stupid and won't notice that you registered today, necro'd a 9 month old thread, and promoted your beloved porcine in every post you've made so far? Only question is whether your a PR shill or a mere troll.

yeah, well posting in a whole 3 or 4 threads, i can see why you'd think that.


as a shill i'd be lucky to keep my job.

most folks dont have the luxury of already having switched back&forth&back&forth amongst some 8 or 9 diff insulin/in$ulin flavors through their diabetes. i've done it, several times. those who havent really dont have much of a leg to stand on, when it comes to debating pros and cons of each. but if you think theres reason to discount my offering, please, do tell why, aside from your foolish assertion that enthusiasm for a product nearly a century old = shilling.



really, at this point, i do in fact think you are a bit stupid, but thats kinda neither here nor there. if i was a shill, i'd prob not say this, as it'd get in the way of sales. however, if i was a troll, would i really be touting a very commonly suggested possible resolve for the OP's prob?


it seems a bit half-hearted at best for a real troll, simply suggesting to try something that thousands of folks are doing, and have been for ages. :idea:


"use camel milk, that'll eliminate need for insulin" ---- repeat that 30 times in one forum, that might qualify as trolling. "use an insulin that has nearly a century worth of track record, vs something that was approved and sold before any long-term trials had been done" ----- repeated in a forum 30 times, and it should still sound somewhat logical, shouldnt it? in a diabetes forum, a suggestion to use an insulin. jeez, who ever wouldve expected?

 

[microfazer]

and after a few moments thought, perhaps "stupid" was mis-stating it. uninformed, or better yet misinformed (at least partially, presumably by docs & big pharma), perhaps naive was the word i shouldve used. i'm sorry for the insulting term, but still think you've got a firm grip on only half the picture as far as insulins and their effects.


or perhaps youre a shill, employed by merck or lilly or somebody who's not wockhardt. :shh:



i am an enormous fan of the porcine & beef insulins, for that i'll not even apologize, nor will i for my enthusiasm about them. they are the only insulins that have let me lead a normal -- even uncomplicated -- diabetic life. sorry if that puts you off, but imagine how i'd felt learning that 18yrs of pure misery couldve been avoided by just sidestepping big pharma's business models. while new-fangled meds work for some/many, they are not quite as perfect as adverts try to make us believe.


i wish they did work better for all :cry:



as for the digging up of an older thread, hey, sorry, not all of us got the invite to join here years back. wish i had, but thats also neither here nor there.

 

[anna29]

Hi.
Just a reminder to keep friendly and stay on topic .
Thanks Anna.

 

[josie38]

Hi,

AMbrennan - maybe you should remember that when microfazer was diagnosed, i think, all they had was beef or pork insulins and what one member finds helpful may not be suitable for someone else. When i was first diagnosed i was but on beef insulin and it didn't work so my insulin was changed to human insulin. Microfazer was just suggesting that maybe a change of insulin may bring back hypo warnings which was the OP's problem.

It is not about being rude, it is about helping others.

Josie