Gliclazide - 4.00bs =6 hrs in A&E ?

[Ellit]

Yesterday tea time I began to feel odd, tingly hands , face slightly heady.First time I'd felt like this.Tested bs and it was 4..Also a new low for me.Generally I average out about 7.5 I began to feel tired, had to sit down and was given some coke. Over a period of 20 mins I went from feeling odd to finding it difficult not to just drift away from everything going on.An ambulance was called, off I went to A & E.All blood tests etc were OK, bs was up to 14, heart ok and then I'm told...... a bs of 4 is normal so it can't have been a hypo;are you under stress at the moment;perhaps things have got on top of you?

Began to get back into the land of the living about an hour later.

I was told by my GP not to drive if my bs went below 5 in case I had a hypo, so I automatically assumed that feeling odd + a lowest ever level of 4 was a hypo.Am I wrong?I have never felt like this before ever.OK I take medicine for depression but I take it so I don't get depressed and that wasn't how I felt anyway.

I was frightened as I had no idea what was happening to me and now don't know what to think...any thoughts from anyone?

 

[Daibell]

Hi. A blood sugar of 4 is below normal for most people and for some it's getting near to a hypo level but this does vary between individuals. As you may know Gliclazide can cause low blood sugar if your pancreas has enough islet cells left. If your sugars go low again you may wish to review your Glic dosage with your GP?

 

[angieG]

It may have been that your levels could have got slightly lower than 4 too depending on what tester you are using and also how good the blood sample was taken up by the test strip. Meters are notoriously variable in their readings and can sometimes be quite a bit out so can't be treated as gospel.

Your feelings sound very much like a hypo so keep an eye on your levels with the Gliclazide. I was put on them initially when my levels were high on diagnosis and they thought I was type 2. But I had to quit them when I got my readings in more normal range as one minute I would be fine at about 6 and half an hour later I would be 3.5 or something!! :shock:

Angie

 

[desidiabulum]

Hi. If you are averaging 7.5 then it is quite natural that you will get hypo symptoms at 4. You may have started to get an edgy, tingly feeling a bit earlier -- that is when to take jelly babies or whatever you have to get your numbers up again. Do you take your gliclazide at lunchtime? I found I regularly got teatime hypos doing this, and now take only 20mg at breakfast and 80mg before evening meal. Everyone is different, but you might find experimenting with timing of dosage could help to iron out the highs and lows. It should be possible over time to get your averages down without running risk of hypos, but it may take a bit of time and eating to your meter to sort out how it works best for you. 'Five to drive' makes perfect sense. Good luck!

 

[Ellit]

Thankyou so much everyone...I knew you'd come up trumps for me and give the reassurance I needed.

I've now had a long chat with my GP and am now halving my Gliclazide for 6 weeks to see how that goes.While currently undergoing various tests to diagnose gastric and digestive problems my food input has probably completely changed and reduced , hence I've been overdosing on the gliclazide .

At least now I'll know straightaway if it happens again. Just need some help to stop rellies rushing round now if I don't answer the phone!

Thanks again... :thumbup: