Advice with Girlfriend

[Hazzer]

Hi all...

My girlfriend is a Type 1 diabetic. She has an insulin pump, and checks her sugars regularly. When we are together, her sugar levels often drop as low as 2.6. I am wondering what I should do in these situations. I am used to the signs she is going low, and she often knows herself and tells me. We then go to the kitchen and get Lucazade or a bannana or whatever. The problem is getting her to the kitchen, as she often feels tired and doesn't want to move... reasoning doesn't seem to work, and I am sure it is better for her the quicker her sugar is corrected... is there anything I can do to get her to listen to me?

Thanks,

Harry

 

[Jen&Khaleb]

Take the food to her rather than have her go to the kitchen. I hope she isn't going low frequently. I think most people have a couple of hypos a week. They are hard to avoid and can come unexpectedly even with a good testing schedule. Maybe you should start carrying around a little packet of jelly beans or mini popper juice.

Lovely to hear you are so caring and ready to learn.

Three cheers, Jen.

 

[SophiaW]

Check my pockets at any time of the day and anywhere and you will find a roll of glucose sweets. I don't go anywhere without them. I'm not a diabetic but my 8 year old daughter is, having glucose sweets close to hand makes it quick and easy to correct a hypo without having to walk anywhere. She shouldn't be going that low frequently, if she is then she needs to look at what is causing it, perhaps too much insulin or missing/delayed meals. Whatever the reason, if it's happening often she needs to make a change to avoid those lows wherever possible.

 

[copepod]

I am female and have type 1 diabetes, and my (male) partner doesn't. However, apart from one night a long time ago when he noticed me very restless in bed, tried to get some Hypostop gel (as it was called then), couldn't understand why I was resisting, so tasted it, discovered it tasted disgusting, and went to find some sweets or jam or something from elsewhere, he's never needed to help with hypoglycaemia, as usually I get to one of my many stashes of sweets before he even notices. However when he competes in adventure races, I usually marshal and drive (as he refuses to learn) and have often supplied him and his team mates with quick and long acting carbohydrate at the end of a race. My Berlingo car has 2 handy holds under the back seat floor, where I keep UHT milkshake bottles, fruit juice cartons, oatcakes, sweets etc, where they stay relatively cool, compared to rest of inside of car.

 

[hanadr]

Some diabetics become totally irrational and even aggressive when hypo. My T1 husband once nearly broke my arm as I was trying to get some sugar into his mouth. Glucotabs are the easiest things to carry about. I have some in my pocket at this moment and I don't get hypos.
David Mendosa recommends Glucotabs too, because, as he says, If you are among other people, they don't expect to be offered a "candy" if they see you with Glucotabs, as they might with normal sweets.
Lucozade is good too. T1 husband, who is big and strong, always carries some in his backpack, without which he goes nowhere. I'm not so strong and find bottles of lucozade too heavy for my handbag.

 

[jopar]

Hi

I would take the food/hypo remady to her a lot easier... And if you have a house ruling of no eating in the lounge, I'm sure in the case of an hypo this can be overlooked...

As to what is best to use on these occasions, well some of it can be determined by your girlfriends likes and dislikes, what you'll looking for is something that easy to swallow, easy to quantify, is fast carbs so anything with glucose based is ideal..

Lucozade and Gluotabs is what the medics generally suggest (but they don't have to eat or drink it) Luccozade is difficult to quantify the actual amount taken, Glucotabs can crumble etc in the pocket.. Hypostop just taste foul similar to the other two..

Some suggestion of alternitives..

Jelly babies ( I use theses)
Jelly beans
Pure fruit jucie..
Normal Fizzy drinks such as coke lemmode, but can be a bit slower at kicking in..
The ready made icing tubes that you buy in the supermarket, that you use to write/decorate cakes
Any sweets with high glucose content..

Avoid things like chocolate bars,biscuits yes they are packed with sugar but the fat content slows the absorbtion down quite a bit, the blood glucose levels tends to keep dropping before it kicks in...

If your girlfriend is having regular hypo's and ones that are going down very low (under the 3mol/l mark) she might be wise to have a look at her pump setting and see if she needs to adjust... Her basal requirements might need readjusting to suit better, I have found over time using my pump that I have to review my settings on a regular bases to keep them in check as they can change...

 

[Fujifilm]

Hi Harry

As Hanadr has pointed out some diabetics become irrational. Sometimes if my sugar level goes low I find it a real struggle to get up and get sugar, its like the brain has bcome confused and I sit there thinking I need sugar what should I do, its a strange experience, I always have a glucogel (used to be hypostop) on me and usually lucozade tabs.

But on saying that there are other occasions when I go low and I have a bloody minded determination to get sugar even if my partner has offered to get it. The brain is a complex bit of kit so her not going to the kitchen to get something to eat may well be that she is just confused. At 2.6 I would be struggling and walking would be a problem.

Unless you experience a hypo you can never know what its like. The nearest I can explain it to a non diabetic is when you have had a shed full to drink and wake up the next morning confused with the shakes, head in bits, thats how it is, but once you have something to eat you are OK

All you can do is get her sugar, if you think she is not well even if she says she is OK but suspect otherwise just get her to eat / drink something. You at the time will be the rational one and can see whats happening, the diabetic will often think they are in control, you will see and hear different. Your other added problem and is she is a women, no way can you reason with them and if you find a way of getting them to listen, let me know. :!: :lol:


One added point about glucogel, its handy to have because its a gel in a small plastic tube, easily carried in your pocket, car etc. easily administered if diabetic has passed out. The problem I find with sweets etc. is I eat them! or if they are in the car or around the house someone else may eat them. The glucogel taste disgusting nobody will touch it! I get it on prescription. Very handy when on holiday and I go swimming I always tie it my trunks.

More information on it can be found by google - glucogel

 

[Giraffe]

She often goes below 2.6? Then there's something seriously wrong she needs to get adjusted and sort this out. Is she newly diagnosed?

Yes you can get irrational or whatever when hypo, but most type 1's should be able to recognise symptoms and get themselves sugar - I manage it and have never had to have anyone help me to the kitchen in 10 years of being diabetic, and that includes looking after two babies.

What if she is by herself, would she just sit on the sofa and go hypo without doing anything about it?

I don't want to sound horrible, but really she shouldn't be putting you through this on a regular basis, it's not fair.