Blood sugars are normal, why do I feel bad?

[Lydiagoodman93]

Hi, so I’ve had T1 for about 2 weeks now and I’ve finally got my blood sugars lower today (4.7 from an average of about 16).
I felt so awful though, I was shakey and dizzy and fuzzy. Has anyone else experienced this when they get their BG to normal levels?

 

[Knikki]

If your only two weeks diagnosed and your sugars have been running very hi, then it sounds like you experiencing a type of hypo.

Yes your BSL is at 'normal' 4.6 but because of the drop you will not feel great. My only advice is to ride with it I'm afraid
Saying that , maybe just have a small amount of carb say something of 5grms just to push you up a little but not back into the 16 mark.
ONLY a suggestion I'M NOT MEDICALLY TRAINED, IT IS WHAT I WOULD DO BUT I HAVE BEEN A T1D FOR A LONG TIME AND KNOW HOW MY BODY WORKS.

Once your body get accumulated to running at 'normal' levels then the feeling should go away and you will only start to feel like that when you get in a proper hypo which is usually less than 4.

That would be good because you will then get warning signs and be able to deal with it

Hope things get better soon.

 

[Boo1979]

If youve been running at a high average, then your body kind of accepts it as “normal” and will see readings in the true “ normal” range as abnormal until it adjusts - its called a “false hypo”. It will soon pass if you keep your bloods in target.
Im not a medic so its probably worth running it past your Doc / nurse to double check

Edit to add
http://blog.joslin.org/2012/02/a-false-sense-of-hypoglycemia/
Its from an American site - to convert the BG levels given into UK units just divide by 18

 

[Freema]

Hi, so I’ve had T1 for about 2 weeks now and I’ve finally got my blood sugars lower today (4.7 from an average of about 16).
I felt so awful though, I was shakey and dizzy and fuzzy. Has anyone else experienced this when they get their BG to normal levels?

well even when now having normal number it is maybe a huge dive, your body has maybe gone used to being higher, your eyes will also take a bit longer until they have normal levels,... as a type 1 diabetic you should also maybe stay around 5.5 at least because you are new to this and it takes time to learn to control and achieve the best level for you... I think 4.7 is a bit low for a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic.

Type 2 and type 1 does not have exactly the same level to aim for because it can be much more fatal for a type 1 to get too low and maybe not be able to act contra-active and manage in time to turn a hypo...

it takes a long time to get so much experience that you can stay as low as 4.7 safely.. relax a bit and be satisfied with a bit higher level here in your first learning period

 

[Scott-C]

because it can be much more fatal for a type 1 to get too low

Whoah, steady, Freema! I know you mean well, but using words like "fatal" is inappropriate in the OP's context, and might lead her into being unnecessarily fearful of what her new T1 life involves.

Hypos can be very dangerous for the very young and very old, but the op is 25 yrs old, newly dx'd, so if a serious hypo comes along, her alpha cells will still be well able to boot out some glucagon to tell the liver to start releasing glycogen as glucose in order to raise bg levels.

Sure, a bad hypo is never nice, but I think, with the biological mechanisms which T1s have, talking in terms of fatality in the sense of dying is grossly misleading for a newly dx'd T1.

 

[sudip762]

Hi, so I’ve had T1 for about 2 weeks now and I’ve finally got my blood sugars lower today (4.7 from an average of about 16).
I felt so awful though, I was shakey and dizzy and fuzzy. Has anyone else experienced this when they get their BG to normal levels?

My Aunt told me that she felt like exactly what have you felt

 

[Virago_H]

Hi, so I’ve had T1 for about 2 weeks now and I’ve finally got my blood sugars lower today (4.7 from an average of about 16).
I felt so awful though, I was shakey and dizzy and fuzzy. Has anyone else experienced this when they get their BG to normal levels?

I got diagnosed early November and for about a week after getting out of hospital I had headaches every day. I spoke to my diabetes nurse and she said it could be a symptom of getting used to not walking about with crazy high blood sugars XD. I also was getting hypo symptoms in the first couple of weeks from about 5.4 mmol, but more recently my symptoms don’t cut in until 4 or under.
Maybe this is a similar thing? May just be your body adjusting to regular glucose levels? For sure mention it to your diabetes team though

 

[Circuspony]

Consultant told me that you are effectively addicted to sugar pre diagnosis and starting insulin puts you into cold turkey! So let your body recover and be gentle on yourself.

 

[mahola]

Hi, so I’ve had T1 for about 2 weeks now and I’ve finally got my blood sugars lower today (4.7 from an average of about 16).
I felt so awful though, I was shakey and dizzy and fuzzy. Has anyone else experienced this when they get their BG to normal levels?

I remember this stage well! Fear not, it will get better. It's because your body is so used to running at high blood glucose levels, when your levels are in a more normal place it makes you feel hypo, even though you are not. What you're feeling is perfectly normal. It's not pleasant but you've just got to go with it. It will pass after a couple of days of within range BGLs. Be kind to yourself.