• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

First hypo & I think I’ve really messed up.

Don't forget that if your body has been used to high blood sugar levels even a small drop can feel like a hypo. When I was first diagnosed 23 years ago my sugar levels were 22 but I was getting all the hypo symptoms - sweating, confusion etc. and yet my blood sugar was NINE! There is a temptation to treat the "hypo" symptoms when you've got a false hypo and you have to just convince yourself that you're not hypo, you won't go unconscious and don't go stuffing yourself to make you feel better. When I've woken up with a 2.9 or something THEN I go a bit overboard with the food - like we all do when in a panic!
 
Before the wonders of Dafne, when I was also subject to a daft basal insulin and a poor Consultant, I had glucagon kits in the fridge that others could use to inject me with if I were too far gone in a hypo. They were really nasty night time hypos!
There are still a couple of kits in the fridge ‘just in case’ and I feel guilty that I swop them for in date kits when their useful life expires. I still feel relieved I’ve got them and take them with me if travelling abroad, with friends, or staying with friends. I show the friends how to use them and every time I fear that they may be needed. So far they haven’t been, but I still do this ‘just in case’ as it’s reassuring for everyone.
I have a bowl on the bedside table with jelly babies and a couple of biscuits - the mess caused when other stuff’s knocked to the floor as I try to locate it’s a small price to pay for consciousness. There’s also a bottle of lucozade there but it’s easier to grab a jelly baby than remove the lid from the bottle.
 
donnellysdogs said:
If in kitchen you could just add sugar to a lukewarm cup of tea or coffee or to water.

Tablets are not the only items for hypo's. I crunchon sugar cubes if hypo around eating times at home as I can clean teeth after.
Click to expand...

According to dentist, best just to flush mouth with water after hypo treatment. Brushing encourages the sugar taken, to damage teeth.
 

I never replaced my last ones when they expired as the modern insulin hypos don't wipe me out as badly as past ones have I still have enough hypos but they aren't what they used to be, and I live alone currently, useful kit though and I doubt I'd have got to 25 without them having been used a few times

There's glucose tab stashes all over here mind....
 
You've probably noticed a trend here: It's not just you. I used to turn into a locust and eat the kitchen until I felt safe again. Bad hypos in the wee hours are more common to me than I'd like. I almost always wake up when it dips like an automatic alarm clock. Nowadays, I'm trying to eat/drink some glucose and then stay calm for ten minutes and retest. Once I start going up, I'm sleepy again, but I usually eat a sugar-free cookie or some carb to keep from bottoming out again and it's back to bed.
Forgiving yourself is a really important part of accepting your condition. You will make mistakes. You will make a lot of mistakes. We all do. The effort is best applied to trying to stay level, forgiving yourself, and doing what's right for you. Believe me, I've been T1 for 50 years and I'm still learning.
 
I have used hypos as an excuse to eat **** more times than I should have, it’s easy to convince yourself it helps so it’s okay! Your body turns against you when you go hypo so don’t worry about it.

I keep Dextro tablets EVERYWHERE these days. Every coat, jacket, drawer, car, bags. 4 tablets sort me right out everything.
 
 
This can also happen after alcohol the night before.
I have always had a problem with overnight hypos, sometimes I wake up sweaty but sometimes just half wake and fell like i'm dozing...I keep jelly beans and sultanas and a honeycomb chocolate bar next to my bed. If I use any during the night, the first thing I do in the morning is replace my hypo foods to I don't go to bed and forget!
I also have long standing T1, and have many times had the 'panic' eating, but sometimes its a good excuse to eat those things that you usually can't eat. I keep a wide variety of hypo foods that suit different situations. I have jelly beans and my honeycomb bar for in the car, creamy soda lemonade in the kitchen pantry. I have stuff stashed all over the house!
 
@RichardSp8 dontt worry it was your first hypo when I had my first severe hypo (2.7) I really messed up I took my insulin (14 units of levemir at the time now reduced to 10 units) I forgot to eat any breakfast and started playing with the dog instead all of a sudden a felt like I had to lie down I was very sleepy and my heart was beating a mile a minute I talked to my mum and she said maybe it was just anxiety (I do suffer from anxiety) I ended up going to my bedroom lay on the bed and checked my BG I was 2.7 so immediately my brain went into overload I ate half a big bag of m&ms (didn’t work) and drank a Capri sun and toast afterwards.good luck with your next hypo
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…