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Confused about Hypos

B

BeanieRob

Member
Messages
17
Hello.

I've just been diagnosed as type 2, and have been reading everything I can find.

I have a pretty good grasp of how my blood glucose gets high, but I'm a bit confused about hypos.

When I get hypo, I feel the shakes and the weakness and kinda anxiety-type symptoms, but I always just assumed that this is what happens to everyone when we go too long without food. Is that not the case? Is this just something that happens to us diabetics?

Also; if I don't deal with the hypo quickly enough (for example if I'm stuck in a traffic jam or breakdown or whatever and don't have some food handy), am I going to end up in a really bad way?

Thank you for any help, and for a great forum which has been really reassuring.

Robbie
 
Hi and welcome to the forums.

What diabetic medication are you on? If you're not on medications that increase the insulin in your body then you shouldn't get hypo, though you may get symptoms know as a false hypo as your blood sugars go down nearer normal if they've been running high for a long time.

Traditionally , T1s gets hypo when there is too much insulin in their system and their blood sugar goes below 4. Because of the injected insulin they risk going much lower than that and potentially even passing out or becoming very confused.

But a non diabetic might feel a bit shaky or hungry before a meal, and perhaps have a blood sugar of 3.8. They are not at risk because their body stops pumping out insulin when their level goes low.

There are a few medications that can make T2s go hypo, if you are on one you should have been given a glucose monitor.

(Oh, and a few people have a condition where they naturally produce too much insulin under certain circumstances, but this is a separate issue to being T2. )
 
BeanieRob said:
Also; if I don't deal with the hypo quickly enough (for example if I'm stuck in a traffic jam or breakdown or whatever and don't have some food handy), am I going to end up in a really bad way?
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If it's a hypo induced by too much insulin (or drug that makes you produce extra insulin) then potentially yes. Always keep something sweet (eg glucose) in the car and, if you are prone to real hypos, always do a blood test before getting in the car.
 
Speak to your gp. You have to keep a log of hypos and even one a year may take you off the road.
 
Hi there, I agree with the others but also just wanted to add, I hypo once or twice a week at the minute as I am a newbie type 1 and trying to get used to all this but anyway I have found a small carton of orange juice is amazing for dealing with low blood sugars, i drink about 75ml of a 100ml Carton just to bring me back up with range when I start feeling a little shaky or check my sugars and they are not much lower that 4. It really helps! Keep some in your car or choose a sugary substance of choice! I just like orange juice as it has lots of vit c!!
 
Thanks for your quick answers - really appreciated.

I'm not yet on medication - I'm waiting to see my doctor after my second blood test confirmed type 2.

Perhaps the hypos are a side-effect of other medication I am on. A quick search for SSRI, type 2 and hypoglycemia has brought up quite a bit, so I'll go and do some more reading...
 
T2's don't usually go actually hypo without some outside help, so if they really are proper hypo's rather than something called a false hypo (which feels exactly the same and thus, horrible, but doesn't have the numbers to back it up), it might be useful for you to get a meter with cheap strips, as you'll need to be testing a lot to see what is workable for you. I was on blood glucose lowering medication for a while, and combined that with low carb eating, meaning I went hypo regularly. (I am not a nice person when I hypo!). So you really need to keep an eye on what your numbers are doing, and go from there. In all likelihood you'll be told not to test, which is the standard mantra for T2's, but I sort of assume you can't just quit the SSRI, as it's not like you're popping those for the hell of it... And you need to know what your blood sugars are doing and how they're affected. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ includes some information on how to test effectively, but let me add this: if you feel off, hypo or hyper or just ill in whatever way, check what your bloods are doing. This is information that may be vital to doctors and nurses that will help you down the line.
 
walk39isl said:
Speak to your gp. You have to keep a log of hypos and even one a year may take you off the road.
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For a normal (car ) driving license, hypos which you self correct are not an issue (and no log is required). The issue is if you have hypos that you can't cope with on your own (either you fall unconscious or someone else has to feed you sugar because you are confused). (HGV vehicles are a different story and yes logs are required).

From the DVLA website
You must inform the DVLA if you have had any episodes of hypoglycemia requiring assistance (termed as disabling hypoglycemia) within the previous year. You should also inform the DVLA if your awareness of hypoglycemia has become impaired.

Normal hypos are common for people on insulin (or insulin stimulating drugs), disabling hypos are very rare and are the ones that lose you your license (and potentially your life if you're driving a car when you have one). But a normal hypo can become a disabling one if you don't treat it immediately (hence the DVLA don't like people who's lost their hypo warning symptoms). Remember that confusion (hallucinations if you go low enough) are symptoms of hypoglycemia, you can't afford to go into a severe hypo if you're driving a car, it risks the lives of other road users as well as yourself.
 
Thanks again.
I've bought a blood glucose meter and strips, so will see what's happening when I feel rough.
I've had three days with very few carbs and feel really good on it - I fear that my terrible diet was the vast majority of the problem... maybe the hypos were just those pseudo-hypos.
 
So there is no evidence to say you've been hypo and your just assuming? Unless on hypo causing medication then it's very unlikely you are experiencing actual hypo's, you don't just have hypo's because your diabetic so your reading up hasn't actually been of much help to you
 

Excellent that you've bought a meter, there's really no way to tell what's happening without one. If you're getting false hypo symptoms then they should subside as your body gets used to normal levels again. And if you find that a low carb diet agrees with you there's a good chance that you may be able to control your T2 on diet alone.

Good luck, let us know how you go.
 
When I was first diagnosed type2 I was put on Glimepiride which helped my pancreas to create more insulin.
My surgery also gave me a meter mainly because of driving.
The trouble was I also put myself on a low carb diet so I started to go too low down to 3.5 .
I didn’t feel unwell but just a little bit weak.
you shouldn’t go hypo without this sort of medication.
Not on Glimepiride anymore, my GP took me off after 3 weeks.
 
Some type 2 diabetics, Including me, can go down to under 3. It happens.
 
This advice is not suitable for type 2 diabetics on no medication and can slow to adaption to a low carb way if eating and cause rebound hypo type episodes.
 
You are doing well. The blood sugar swings will soon level off as your body adapts to lower carbs. I suggest avoiding having carbs like sugar or fruit juices when the shaky feeling happens, as they will produce a rebound sugar rush, and keep the high/low cycle going.

The shaky feeling will pass quickly. I stop (if I can) and sip water until it passes. I am unusual as other health issues means sometimes my shaky turns into a hypo blood sugar level, but even then my body eventually recovers on its own.

We type 2 diabetics who are not on hypo risk medication are not at the same risk as type 1's, so our treatment for recovery is different. We just sit tight and wait for our liver to kick in.
 
lucylocket61 said:
Some type 2 diabetics, Including me, can go down to under 3. It happens.
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I said unlikely, not impossible but so can any muggle, it just isn't seen as dangerous for a non medicated as it is with an insulin dependant etc BUT they can't say they were actually below 4 as they had no means of testing
 
Argh! In order to avoid the false hypos, which I've been getting regular as clockwork 3hrs after eating, I've been making sure to eat before they hit - and doing this for years without knowing such a thing as a false hypo exists.

It seems I've probably made myself type 2 unwittingly by eating every 3 hours and keeping my blood glucose constantly stable at a high level - I have panic disorder and the false hypos set me off.

The low-carb diet seems to have stopped the 'crashes' after just 3 days. Let's hope I can undo with knowledge what I inadvertently achieved through ignorance.

By the way, I just got a half-***** 'ask my gp' reply from my absentee doctor. Blimey!

"Here's some metformin. Case closed."
 
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