Help new hypo side effect!

[Chezzy89]

Had a real fright last week woke up & could tell I'd had a hypo in my sleep but then I tried to get off my bed but couldn't whole right side of my body had just gone completely couldn't move or feel it I couldn't talk so took about 30 mins to get my feeling back I went to the hosp for tests all came back fine (apart from my right pupil going smaller) so they said it was a reaction to a migraine so was sent home since then I've had another 2 hypos & the same things happened both times! My sugars are constantly up & down like a yoyo but now I'm terrified of having another hypo! I don't have a gp or diabetic specialist yet as I've just moved to a new area! Anyone else ever had this?? worst feeling I've ever felt!


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[BigRedSwitch]

First off, take a day off work, sort out a doctor and a diabetic specialist. There's no excuse for that, unless you're very well controlled (which you're obviously not).

What you haven't said on here is what type of diabetes you have, and what your treatment is?

As for the whole side of your body not being usable - I've had this happen once, when I was 19, after a *VERY* bad hypo (that required my parents to sort me out). I was hospitalised, and couldn't move one side of my body or say anything other than 'Yes' and 'No' for 2 days. My speech returned (slurred) after that point, but took a few more days to return to normal. Was practically like having a stroke.

In other words, it's unusual, but not the end of the world.

As for the other things you're reporting - it's much better to be marginally higher at night than it is to worry about keeping your blood sugars low. If you have a hypo during the night, in my opinion, you shouldn't just have the standard 15 carbs to sort yourself out, you should have 30 carbs minimum. The logic behind this is that it's much easier for you to mentally deal with high blood sugar than it is to deal with low blood sugar while you're sleeping. If you have 30, then find yourself getting up to go to the bathroom during the night, test again, and correct your reading with insulin according to your standard level of correcting.

I've always done this, and my HBA1c is 6.2.

DON'T leave yourself at risk of further hypos when you're asleep - this is MUCH WORSE than being slightly higher for the remaining hours of the night.

 

[smidge]

Hi Chezzy!

That sounds terrifying! I haven't had anything as extreme as that with hypos, but I do get really horrible symptoms when I have night time hypos. My lips go really cold like an ice cube is on them and i get a horrible metallic state in my mouth - surprisingly, my levels are not always really low when this happens (low 3s would do it). In the day time I never get those symptoms even with a lower hypo. My levels are unpredictable overnight and I've talked this through with my consultant. First of all, he has told me (and put in writing) that however scary it is, I'm not in any real danger as my body will correct the low. He has also said that he will fit me with a CGM to see exactly what is happening overnight as my levels are otherwise very good - but I have to go on a DAFNE course before having the monitor as that's their procedure :roll: Anyway, maybe worth getting yourself to a diabetes consultant and asking them about fitting you with a monitor to see what's going on.

Incidentally, the symptoms you are describing sound like migraine to me. I do get migraines (in fact they are sometimes triggered by a hypo) and they do make me feel very weak down one side. So maybe you're having hypos which are causing migraines and the other symptoms are a result of the migraine rather than of the hypo?

Take care

Smidge