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

[mountaintom]

I find 3/4 of a can of red coke is also a good thing to have around.

 

[Tony337]

Jelly babies can be like that when they have too much dusting on them.



Just wanted to check how much you use to treat a low as I think the bags you're referring to are 18g carb/15g sugar per 1/2 pack not per pack?

Hi
I added a ps to see what works as we are all different and yes I buy and use the 45g packs which as you point out are 18g of carbs per one half pack and a full pack contains 9 jelly babies.

Tony

 

[porl69]

There isn't a type 1 in the world that hasn't done exactly the same. I use 4 jelly babies now to bring my sugars back up. BUT I LOVE jelly babies and do tend to eat a few more than 4 MOST times
I count 4 as 20gms carb?

 

[Daibell]

Hi. We've all done it so don't worry. I use Dextrose tablets and take one or two when I'm between 4 and 5 and driving etc. With experience you will find you don't need to take that many carbs to get back above 5 from 4 - perhaps 10-20gm of glucose?

 

[becca59]

They are like eating flavoured talc.

Fruit pastilles are what I use. But my stash seem to go missing as the kids eat them.

Aren’t they just. Got a pack free and ended up with dust all over my clothes and my husband thought I was frothing at the mouth.

 

[mountaintom]

Just treated a hypo with 4 fruit pastilles. They didn’t work quick enough. Glucose tablets work best!

 

[lizdeluz]

There's a lull after I've realised I'm hypo. If it's before breakfast, for instance, I'm hanging around waiting for my blood sugar to get normal. That can be a drag, at a get-up-and-go time of day, depending on how low I've gone. I use glucose tablets to correct for ease of measuring, they are a bit similar to 'talcum powdered' jelly babies, but not so moreish, so I'm less likely to eat too many. If I was hypo I'd probably panic-eat jelly babies - well, that would be my excuse ....

 

[Tony337]

I'd probably panic-eat jelly babies - well, that would be my excuse ....

"panic eat"
What a perfect description.
In 44 years of panic eating (yes it works) I've never heard it referred to as that.
I'm going to pinch that expression!

I wonder if someone should set up a seperate post for diabeticisms?

Tony

 

[Diakat]

"panic eat"
What a perfect description.
In 44 years of panic eating (yes it works) I've never heard it referred to as that.
I'm going to pinch that expression!

I wonder if someone should set up a seperate post for diabeticisms?

Tony

Someone on the forum - can't recall who - used to call the hypo eating "going locust"

 

[phdiabetic]

So you made a mistake, with T1 this is going to happen a lot no matter how much effort you put in - it's not possible to be perfect all the time! Instead, embrace it as a learning experience (what did you do wrong this time, how will you change your reaction next time), celebrate what you did right (you listened to your body when it told you something was wrong, checked your blood sugar and attempted to treat) and now react to the current situation (treat the high). Highs and lows will happen, it's part of life with T1. But if I have made an honest effort to do my best and make the best decisions I could in the situation, I never blame myself for bad numbers or feel like a failure because of it. Things didn't go as planned, but you tried your best to fix it, and that's what counts! Don't let one instance of bad numbers get you down - sure it was bad, but you're still here and that's the important thing! Keep it up!

 

[lizdeluz]

"panic eat"

I wonder if someone should set up a seperate post for diabeticisms?

Tony

Yes, we could write a whole dictionary!

 

[Bluey1]

Thank you Becca, I’ve been so bothered about doing everything right to the letter! I just freaked out. However now I know what it feels like when one is coming on and not to panic so much and just do what I’m supposed to do.
I’m going to speak to my nurse on Thursday about correction doses.
Thank you for the advice.

Don't beat yourself up. Your a noob and mistakes will happen, even those with D for many years we frequently stuff up, and occasionally even by accident, normally deliberately, over confidence and carelessness. Once you have it worked out and it will take sometime most probably about a year you will join most of us and dump the rule book in the bin, we sort of follow the Readers Digest condensed version, with a dash of fake news and fiction added.
The natural reaction to a Hypo is to ram down as much food as possible preferably Chocolate, sweets cake etc as your body knows it wants sugar.

 

[CarlTorode]

Someone on the forum - can't recall who - used to call the hypo eating "going locust"

Ha ha, I call it "going Zombie" as your mind is out of whack and you're driven to sugar, not brains as such ... though as everyone's talking about Jelly Babies, .... brains ... Brains ... BRAINS!!!!

 

[CarlTorode]

No-one's mentioned the other type of hypo i.e. Nocturnal Hypo's. None of my medical team has ever raised the topic and as I don't know of any T1's I've just had to learn/experience them on my own.

There is no sense of "Panic" (or "crashing" as I call it) and no sense of the "Zombie" urgency. My symptoms are fatigue and a complete loss of focus or I'm just a bit dopey. e.g. I might wake up do a test 2.5, hmmm hypo, wander into the kitchen to get something and "oh the plants look like they need watering" ... "oh I'm sleepy, better go back to bed". Or I've woken drenched in sweat the bed's soaked. Did I wet the bed??? No urine smell, ok oh I'm hypo ... oh, better change the sheets, oh I'm sleepy, just as well I changed the sheets ... and I "forget" to eat anything. Hmmm.

So in my experience I will find I've over slept by as much as 8 hours! (in some cases I've slept for 18 hours) ... and I'll have a "hangover from hell".

The worst case, actually my first case, I'd been skiing the day before so my body was severely taxed and standard glycogen release was being used for repair at a guess (I'm not a clinician). I got up and had been potting around for 20 plus minutes (dopey state), decided to have a bath and my last memory is turning on the hot tap ... woke up in bed, confused and in severe pain .... huh? my skin is falling off????

Short story is 3rd degree burns on 20% of my body, 6 weeks in hospital, skin grafts etc ... Doc's all said "he had a hypo", which I vehemently disagreed with, because I'd had a "hypo" before ... just not a Nocturnal Hypo. It took me 25 years to realise what had actually happened as I believed I must have slipped and banged my head (though I never could come up with a reason as to how/why I got back to bed).

None of the Doc's then, or anyone EVER since, has explained/discussed to/with me the symptoms of a nocturnal hypo.

If you wake up drenched in sweat, you're Hypo! If you find yourself "pottering" e.g. had been going to do something but got distracted (though the chances are you won't notice you're distracted), Check your BG as it's likely you're hypo. Especially relevant/likely if you've had intense exercise the previous day.

Hope this helps.

 

[Glucobabu]

I find 3/4 of a can of red coke is also a good thing to have around.

I keep a small bottle of Lucozade handy in the bedroom. Take two or three swigs depending on the severity of the hypo, rinse out my mouth with water and go back to sleep. Check BG in the morning. It’s usually a little higher than it should be, but that’s to be expected. Adjust breakfast insulin accordingly. I have been a Type 1 for the last 43 years and broadly in good health for my 65 years.

 

[LocoRoco]

Hey Richard,

Ive been there done that the same way

3 days after my diagnose I went hypo (sister found out I "turned off" and was looking straight to the wall and did not react to her calling)

I drank/ate 100ml of sweetened condensed milk , which is around 55 simple sugars and I sky rocketed to 21 .

Just some food to treat hypo : coca-cola , some snack bars , glucose tablets - Depends on situation . If I am at home I usually grab fruit juice and sit down for 15 minutes and feel better . If I am driving and start to feel strange I stop , test and have the fast sugars like glucose tablets .

Try to calculate 10-15g of fast acting carbs to treat hypos - might be more or less , also depends where you are in the action timeline of your insulin .

About two weeks ago I went hypo (3.5mmol)before bed and I could not get above 6 , despite the fact my bolus insulin was not active anymore and I ate 4 teaspoons of honey . I woke up with 5.7mmol .Our bodies are strange and sometimes react in unpredictable ways . You get a hang of it

PS : Im switching to jelly babies

 

[RichardSp8]

Hey Richard,

Ive been there done that the same way

3 days after my diagnose I went hypo (sister found out I "turned off" and was looking straight to the wall and did not react to her calling)

I drank/ate 100ml of sweetened condensed milk , which is around 55 simple sugars and I sky rocketed to 21 .

Just some food to treat hypo : coca-cola , some snack bars , glucose tablets - Depends on situation . If I am at home I usually grab fruit juice and sit down for 15 minutes and feel better . If I am driving and start to feel strange I stop , test and have the fast sugars like glucose tablets .

Try to calculate 10-15g of fast acting carbs to treat hypos - might be more or less , also depends where you are in the action timeline of your insulin . About two weeks ago I went hypo (3.5mmol)before bed and I could not get above 6 , despite the fact my bolus insulin was not active anymore and I ate 4 teaspoons of honey . I woke up with 5.7mmol .

Our bodies are strange and sometimes react in unpredictable ways . You get a hang of it

PS : Im switching to jelly babies

Thank you so much for the advice. It’s a great reassurance as I tread these murky waters of diagnosis at the moment.
I’m determined to live a happy, healthy, normal life as everyone here is.

 

[mikel1967]

I have bottles of Lucozade everywhere. 1/2 a bottle usually does the trick. It has also come in handy if I have a hypo in the night and not realise it. The wife can get it down me easily. Make sure everyone knows in your household what to do. It is apparently very scary. I have never seen it though.

 

[Madmaureen]

I keep a small bottle of Lucozade handy in the bedroom. Take two or three swigs depending on the severity of the hypo, rinse out my mouth with water and go back to sleep. Check BG in the morning. It’s usually a little higher than it should be, but that’s to be expected. Adjust breakfast insulin accordingly. I have been a Type 1 for the last 43 years and broadly in good health for my 65 years.

I have been where you are so many times being 48 yrs type 1.
Its a worry and scary and it takes time and energy but it will soon not be quite.as.bad as the first.hypo.
I live alone and have lucozade by my side on the floor too in my bedroom as I have fallen out of bed with a hypo before I went on a DAFNE course but at least I can reach it now not so far to travel!!
It has not happened since a.year ago .ow I feel I want to celebrate !
Always have lucozade in car in kitchen at all of my friend's houses and.cars.
Long live lucozade!!
Keep strong and best wishes to you.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Thank you Lucy, that has put my mind at rest. I had the tablets they were upstairs in my bag.
I’m going to keep some all over the place now.

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.