Any long term Type 1's not needed paramedics

I just remembered two more.

One when I was pregnant with my first son. About 3 months gone and due to go for a diabetes check that day. I got up, my BG was around 4 or so, it was usual to be a bit low in the mornings, I injected then went down to have breakfast. Older insulins (result of that pregnancy is now 26) worked slower so we injected about twenty minutes before a meal. I always used to inject and then have breakfast straight away. Well, a short while later my hubby came down to breakfast and I was sitting at the table with my back to the door. When I didn't respond to his 'Good Morning' he touched my shoulder and I fell over unconscious. The chair had been holding me up. I expect he honeyed me again, but I came round ok. I can only imagine that I must have put the insulin into a vein because it knocked me out in such a short time. I swore that if it ever happened again, out of the blue like that, I would hand in my driving licence, but it never has.

The other one was in the night again. Usual scenario: hubby did all the honey etc but I didn't come round properly. I was conscious and fully aware, but couldn't breathe. When he rang the doctor he got told to do all the things he'd already done and when he came to tell me that I said 'Make him come.' So he did. Our regular doctor would have come straight off because he knew that we would never call unless nothing else had worked. A glugagen injection into my arm kick started my brain again and I was fine. A long time later a doctor admitted that that one could have killed me. The BG must have gone so low that the system was unable to absorb it somehow. I dare say a medic could make me understand what he meant, but I don't really now. Anyway, it was a bit of a close call.

Be reassured: all these nasties happened when on Actrapid (except the couple of walking unconscious ones that were many years before Actrapid was invented). I avoid it like the plague. I have not had a hypo that needed major assistance since I came off that and on to the modern ones. Currently on Humalog and Lantus.

Debloubed said:

mmmm, yum, I want some honey on my lips, hypo or not! :lol:

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My ex-hubby used to treat my nocturnal sleep-through hypos by putting set honey in my mouth. He knew I was coming out of it when I pulled a face because I hated the taste.

The cat we had then could tell when I was hypo. Hubby slept very little and would often be in the next room at the computer when I went hypo. Cat would go to him, but instead of settling on his lap as usual, she'd sit by the door and yell at him till he stood up, then lead him to me. While he fed me honey, the cat would get between us and purr herself silly. Bless!

Cat purring is healing so she was trying to heal you. It has been scientifically proven that the wave length of the purring can speed up the healing of broken bones. A cat often purrs when it is injured or ill to try to heal itself.

daisy1 said:

Cat purring is healing so she was trying to heal you. It has been scientifically proven that the wave length of the purring can speed up the healing of broken bones. A cat often purrs when it is injured or ill to try to heal itself.

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That's interesting, I didn't know that. When hubby and I cuddled (if you know what I mean :wink: ), that cat would try to get between us then too - maybe she thought he was giving me the kiss of life :lol:

My present moggies are great at purring and cuddling, but unfortunately I don't think their moggy mum taught them about hypos. The healing thing might explain why one of them sat on my chest purring her head off the other night, when I felt faint doing my first ever infusion set removal.

I've been T1 for 19 years now and only had the paramedics called once - that was in Italy though. I was on a singing tour and had a hypo in my sleep... (singing is VERY energetic when you're doing it properly and I was so exhausted I didn't wake up). Luckily I was sharing a room with someone and she woke up to the sound of me fitting and had enough intelligence to get help.

Every other time I've had a bad hypo it's been when I've been asleep and I've got through it with the help of family members, or since living alone, through sheer will to surive, like others have mentioned.

T1 diabetic 38 years never had paramedics for hypo's i've always woken up when my blood sugar dropped to far at night and always had a fast acting remedy.... dextrosol or coke works for me however i did need reviving from my sister-in- law many years ago after doing some work on their house having lunch with not enough carbs to cope for the afternoon work, she was clued up enough to force warm water and sugar down me after i became disorientated and aggressive with her strawberry patch in her garden so i'd say that i've been lucky in 38 years not to have been rendered unconcious by a hypo attack although many a near miss!!..lol

Ive been diabetic 15 years and had the ambulance called out loads of times which looking back on it now was partly because my parents were never told how to treat a hypo properly..

Only once has it been anything really bad, never made it to school my friend came to mines couldnt get in the door to begin with after she managed she found me on the floor chocking on my own sick and in a really bad hypo, which resulted in a 3 day stay at hospital thankfully its never been as bad :dxx

Snodger said:

Type 1 20 years, so far (touch wood) still have hypo warning symptoms so have never woken up surrounded by paramedics or worried friends/relatives. I do have a terrible habit though of finding out that I'm hypo and set off to get something to eat, then getting distracted and going to do something else (eg finish ironing, do the washing up, post a reply on diabetes.co.uk...).

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This happens to me a lot.. It took me a while to realise this is because of low blood sugar, not because I am getting crazy
It is amazing how sometimes I slip in hypo without realising while walking somewhere and then sudenly I start changing directions, the place I need to be and instead head somewhere else.

Gosh, so many lucky Type 1s who havnt needed intervention.
My question is, and its never ever been answered, , why are some type 1s are more sensitive to insulin than others????????? AND, why are some long term type 1s still on really low doses of insulin when others are on 4 or 5 times as much?????

I have to add that there have been occasions when I have stopped having any warnings of hypos and just sonk out, in shops and city centres as well as in the home, its awful, and depressing, but on other occasions I always get a warning. My total amount is 22 untis per day max, other type 1s are on 50 per day and above, and they dont get hypos but I do. Curious???

Hi All! I have had a life of the awful Diabetes lol i got it when i was 7, and things in 1976 were sooooo different to today, diabetes was just about unknown, during my 35 years i have only EVER had trouble when it was new to myself and my parents, quite often it took my mother and brother to bring me round, but only a few times my dad had to help, the paramedics have never had to be called out, my worse time really was during my 2 pregnancies, but they were still not required, my family were always my saviour lol

Geri said:

Gosh, so many lucky Type 1s who havnt needed intervention.
My question is, and its never ever been answered, , why are some type 1s are more sensitive to insulin than others????????? AND, why are some long term type 1s still on really low doses of insulin when others are on 4 or 5 times as much?????

I have to add that there have been occasions when I have stopped having any warnings of hypos and just sonk out, in shops and city centres as well as in the home, its awful, and depressing, but on other occasions I always get a warning. My total amount is 22 untis per day max, other type 1s are on 50 per day and above, and they dont get hypos but I do. Curious???

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How big are you? How big are they? Not in terms of being overweight (although that is a factor too) but if there is more of you, you tend to need more insulin. Since being on a pump I take approx 15 units per day, combination of basal/bolus. I'm 5'8 and and quite slim but also quite active so my body reacts to insulin more quickly than perhaps someone my size who is less active would. So many factors to consider! Plus, so many more factors can cause hypo's, stress, anxiety, rushing around, periods (for us girls!), feeling unwell, alcohol, forgetting to eat, miscalculating your carbs/bolus, etc, etc, etc. Also, some people are insulin resistant so just need more! Lots of factors contribute to that as well. In short (?!) there is no simple answer I'm afraid........ 8)

Hi Debloubed,
I havnt met anyone who is on less inslulin that me so there is a first.!
I am short, 5'1, but weigh about 9 ' 8lbs. I think having an underactive thyroid can make insulin more sensitive too.
I wondered how different your dosage was prior to the punp? did it go up or down?
Regards, Geri

Geri said:

Hi Debloubed,
I havnt met anyone who is on less inslulin that me so there is a first.!
I am short, 5'1, but weigh about 9 ' 8lbs. I think having an underactive thyroid can make insulin more sensitive too.
I wondered how different your dosage was prior to the punp? did it go up or down?
Regards, Geri

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Hi Geri, my overall dosage went down but in particular, since carb counting (which I needed to learn before they would give me a pump) I now know I only need a tiny amount of bolus and this can vary depending on what time of day it is. For example, my carb to insulin ratio is 1-10 in the morning (so 1 unit of insulin for every 10g carbs) but then at 10am I drop it to 1-20 and then at 5pm 1-25. Obviously this can vary from time to time, it is a moving target and has to be monitored but as a rule, I need much less insulin in the evening. I used to have the same amount of bolus every time I ate, which just seems daft now! If I had a big potato or a big piece of cake I'd up it even more. I still have hypo's though but find that is more to do with exercise than carbs/insulin. I struggle to reduce my basal rate to the correct amount to combat the exercise and I need to reduce the basal at least 1 hour before I start exercise and I struggle to remember to do that! But it's a work in progress, only had the pump for 20 months so I'm still learning

hi, i never had paramedics surrounding me and i have been a type I for almost 27 years now. But three times i had to be taken in because of very high bloodsugar (because i was ill with infection).

45 yrs (4 years pre symtomatic) and still kicking but not as well as I used to.
Yes, I have been ambulanced for Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia and woken up on a gurdy in my PJ's. My then wife, now ex told me I was unconscious and tried out my Kung fu skills (skilled in Martial Arts) on the paramedics and almost connected with their heads and bodies several times because I viewed them as the enemy. I tried to stop them taking me away. My survival instincts took over. No one is safe around me when and If I am too low, which has not happened in 10 years. Night time terrors I call them. I have Gastroperesis and constantly vomit and cannot hold down my food for long periods without choking and running to the toilet or the nearest street corner after eating a bite from a sandwich. I swallow Omeprazole daily, I no longer eat all my small dinners and they invariably end up in the bin on a daily basis. Very slim, 13 stones. I have not seen the inside of an ambulance in 5 years. Ain't being a T1 great! Fun everyday! £&%* it!
I forgot to mention that my blood sugars are constantly low and much better than they have been for a long time. I have very good awareness level of hypo's and can still read the signs after 40 yrs.
I use porcine insulin (neutral and isophane).

I've woken up on the breakfast table after being rescued by family members - but never paramedics! That particular situation was caused by taking the wrong dose of Lantus - however I had literately just changed on to it so I did not know my doses yet!

Everything's A-OK now...! ^_^

i used to need paramedics a lot but hubby learned how to inject me with glucogen so now they are things of the past

I had lots of ambulances called soon after diagnosis, during the 'honeymoon' period. I'd be walking down the street and then the next thing I knew I'd waking up in hospital, totally unaware of what had happened. Quite scary as a ten-year-old.

Another time, I vividly remember going to **** Chipperfield's Circus in Brighton with my family, nipping to the loo, and (miraculously, really) waking up in **** Chipperfield's caravan, being nursed round by his wife – my parents were frantically running around looking for me, I could have ended up in anyone's hands.

I had no hypo warning signs whatsoever and regularly went unconscious. But after about six months, I started to get the warnings and eventually learned to spot a hypo. Touch wood, I've not been hospitalised for a hypo since then, so 28 years.

I have been diabetic since the age of 7, when I used to have hypos in the night I used to fit & my folks would feed me lucozade. Never had any recollection that it had happened. Had a coma at the age of nine and ever since then Im been lucky, always known when Im having a hypo, (usually the first sign for me is a headache) even in the night will just wake up, have a ribena and back to bed.

1978-1992 = not a once, starting this gig at age 9

1992-present day = few dozen easily w/paramedics, hundreds w/other folk





angeldust, this gastroparesis/dka stuff sounds dreadful but sounds like you've got the right team on it now, yourself included.