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Dealing with Hypo in my partner

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Nikki1979

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Good morning all!

I have been searching the net since 3am this morning trying to find some help on dealing with Hypo's in my partner. He is type 1 and uses insullin, and occasionally goes into a hypo, if he is awake, he can sort himself out, but as happened this morning, we were asleep and I was woken by him thrashing around (although not a fit) shouting and sweating. I tried everything I could think of to get him to eat or drink something, but of course, he became very irritable and dug his heels in. When i eventually got him out of bed (after 3 hrs of trying) he drank orange juice and was fine to sort himself out. My question is....how long do I leave it before I give up and call an ambulance? He has no recolection of the incident this morning, can not remember the conversations or that I was so upset, so he doesn't seem to think it was a massive problem. Please help...I'm at my witts end!

Thank you :?
 
If you are getting concerned then you should dial 999 and ask for assistance. That is what the Ambulance Service would tell you to do. If they need assistance then they would ask for Police attendance.

Only you will know at what point you feel the need for help in dealing with things.

In the cold light of day when he realises all the trouble he put you and Ambulance Personel through he MAY then do something to try and prevent the hypo's from happening in the night. Not easy sometimes but attacking the cause might be the best way forward........

Welcome to the Forum BTW...... :)
 
Hi,

not sure if you are aware but you can get a glucagon injection on prescription that can be used if he is unable to eat or drink anything, its simple to use and i always have one in the fridge just incase.

I've never had to use it, as i've always been able to test and treat myself unaided.

But it gives me and my family peace of mind that if needed it is there.

I once was alone with a friend who had been drinking and was epileptic, she had a grand mal seizure and i really wasn't sure wether to call an ambulance as it seemed like she was seizing for too long, i called an ambulance, I would rather at least speak to someone medically trained on the phone or even ask for an ambulance if i wasn't sure.

It's quite common for people who are having a hypo to become quite stubborn to treat a hypo, as sometimes they may have trouble thinking straight as a diabetic his first instinct is to think 'i shouldnt be drinking that much juice or taking those glucose tablets' which is why we have that glucagon injection at home.

It can be used concious or not and can be used alongside waiting for an ambulance if needed.

As cugila mentions too, prevention is always better than a cure, so maybe if you can help stop these hypo's there will be no need to worry about treating them :)

good luck!
 
Hi Nikki,

Some good advice by Cugila and ebony regarding treatment and assistance in dealing with such a frightening episode.

Night time hypo's can never be eliminated when treating diabetes with insulin and even those who are well controlled will experience one from time to time, if your fella is having frequent hypo's then he needs to make changes to his insulin usage and know what is a safe level to go to sleep on, the best person to speak too regards making adjustments to his insulin is his diabetes care team who will assess his blood glucose readings and advise on insulin doses.

Just one more thing Nikki, ask your partner if he has done a carb counting course such as DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating) if not then get him to ask his diabetes nurse to put his name down on the next available course.

Nigel
 
A few tips that might help:
Take orange juice to your partner in bed, not get partner ouf of bed to orange juice.
A sports bottle is less likely to spill than an open glass or cup.
Jelly sweets are relatively easy to chew and swallow, if a bit hypoglycaemic, and taste OK.
Glucose gel comes in tubes or sachets, some aimed for diabetic hypoglycaemia, some for sports, but beware of getting bitten.
You & your partner should taste various types of gels, as many taste pretty horrible. Jam or honey in squeezy pots often tastes nicer than gels.
Drinks and gels should only be given if person with hypoglycaemia is conscious and at leats a bit co-operative, to prevent risk of choking.
If person is unconscious, then glucagon injection is worth having available - they won't fight if unconscious.

My partner, with whom I share a bed at home, although he & I both work away from home for longish periods of weeks / months, once tried to give me gel when, in his words, being somewhat unco-operative one night, so he tasted the gel, agreed it was disgusting and found me some jelly sweets instead. I stopped leaving gel on windowsill or in a bumbag hooked to bed frame after that, but continued to keep jelly sweets to hand. When I mentioned the problem to my diabetes specialist nurse, he suggested splitting my Humalin I insulin into 2 daily doses, and we're never had a problem since.
 
Thanks for the replies and tips, I shall no doubt try them all out!

PS - I did try taking the juice to him in bed but he threw it everywhere!

Thanks again everyone, I am feeling a little less anxious about it all now!
 
Sorry, it wasn't clear from original post, but that's why a bottle helps! :)

Hopefully, your partner will seek advice to adjust his doses / times / food intake etc so you won't have to use techniques, but better to have some more ideas up your sleeve in case you need them. Personally, I wouldn't want to upset my partner by having uncontrolled hypos, but fortunately, I found a solution to avoiding any more after the one mild incident and mentioning it to DSN I trusted, but it's not so easy for everyone.
 
Try getting a tommee tippee beaker. I love mine, and will not throw it or the contents around, I just take it. I normally have milk and sugar in mine, as it is my favourite hypo stopper. With a lid on, there is no chance of it spilling.

Also, ask your partner if they can remember anything about what you do during the time when they are hypo. Ask if they remember anything about what they do?

When my hubyy and I discussed my night time hypo's, I told him I get really anxious when he tells me to drink, and then when he gets huffy if I don't.....now he gives me my drink and asks me to drink it, and he sits down next to me, and gently guides me. Previously I would fall out of bed and crawl along the bedroom floor, or hallway floor, and over the dogs lying down and back to the toilet still crawling...... Now, hubby will get my hypo fix, shakes it and hands it to me, and I take it. He will stay with me. When I try getting out of bed, he will assist me, as he knows that when I try to get to the toilet, I am starting to come round. When I have been to the loo, he helps me get back in to bed, and he knows I am ok.

I used to hate the way that he would try and control me (never hurting me or anything as, but that was what I felt at the time of my hypo's).

Your partner needs to try and adjust his dosage to avoid the hypo's at night, whether it is having less long acting insulin, or splitting it in to twice a day, but your partner should try to avoid them, and speak to DSN. On MDI, I had horrible night time hypo's, which were horrendous for 25 years, since being on a pump, I have had two night hypo's-both of which I woke up myself and treated myself. Don't know why night hypo's are different, and why I can treat them myself now, but it is very rare that I get them anyway since being on the pump.

Your partner really needs to adjust doses and speak to DSN, as hypo's aren't only bad for the diabetic person, they can also be horrendously bad for the person treating them-I do not envy you at all.
 
Nikki1979 said:
Thanks again everyone, I am feeling a little less anxious about it all now!
Click to expand...

Good! :) Just one other thing Nikki, next time your partner is attending his diabetes check-up why don't you go along with him and ask any questions you may have regards treating hypo's etc. Most clinics are very friendly and will not mind a partner or friend attending, on the DAFNE course I mentioned earlier there is a afternoon set aside for friends and family to attend where information and advice is given on treating hypo's.

Best wishes

Nigel
 
Friend of mine with T1 husband who has the odd hypo swears by those squeezy bottles of honey as she can squirt it in his mouth and he can't spit it out. He's mostly placid but if he is aggressive she just calls the ambo's. You don't want to risk yourself as he wont know what he is doing. I wouldn't wait 3 hours personally as that is a long time for the brain to be struggling. Going along to a clinic appointment would be a great idea.
 
My husband could answer this better than me!

His method is:-

Try and get me to eat jelly babies...if they get spat back (!)
Try the getting juice with teh squeezy bottle..if no good
If I am still enough , he will try the glucogen injection..

if not, call the ambulance.

He has had to do this twice. On both occasions the paramedics have been wonderful. They actually seemed to "enjoy" helping me. Enjoy is teh wrong word, but they seemed to act like they could I was genuinely in need of their help, through no fault of my own (ie, not drunk!) and they could help me. Whne they arrived, I was unconscious, when they left, I was eating a sandwich and apologising.
 
In the past, I've been saved from the dead by my partner giving me some Hypostop. Fantastic stuff is all I can say. Every type 1 should have some in their cupboard :wink:
 
As an alternative to Hypo-Fit type glucose or sports gel sachets, I recently spotted "squeazy pouches" in Asda - presumably aimed at children's lunchboxes judging by cartoons on front. Various flavours in various types, including fruity, jelly and dairy, each containing about 15g CHO in about 70 to 90g total pack weight. Easy to open screw top, resealable, so not sticky edged pack left after. Haven't used them for hypo treatment, but have used when running, so being able to open something without stopping is a useful guide to what's possible when hypoglycaemic.
 
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