How do you spot a hypo

Hi Bucco and welcome to the forum. Here is a link to some information about hypos:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=18529

Hope this helps.

Bucco,

Take a read of the link daisy provided, once you have your first hypo you will never forget it so should learn from the experience.

I was admitted into hospital when first diagnosed and wouldn't let me home until I'd had my first hypo

hospital [...] wouldn't let me home until I'd had my first hypo

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Yeah, they don't do that any more.

I had issues with my blood sugars a while back and recently got them stablised again but my symptoms got all mixed up as i suffered a lot of Hyper attacks. Now if i feel different in anyway i check just to be on the safe side, i good idea until your in tune with your symptoms i believe.

AMBrennan said:

hospital [...] wouldn't let me home until I'd had my first hypo

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Yeah, they don't do that any more.

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No they don't but unsure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, when they said they were going to induce one I was panicking but it turned out fine and learnt a lot from the experience.

Hi this might not be useful but anyway I am newly diagnosed type 2 but have worked as a night nurse for many years.

During this time I cared for many people who suffered hypos through the night and early morning. It would generally be the elderly who were type 1 and uncontrolled or unwell with another illness. What I would notice first would be that they would become unsettled or wake from their sleep, then paleness and a light sweat to their skin..when touched they would feel cool and clammy..if I had to wake them from their sleep they would often be slightly confused..often shakey and disorientated. It was almost like a miracle when they had some glucose within minutes they were back to their usual selves.

Maybe your good friends and family could be aware that if you look unwell to mention it to you ?

Maybe your good friends and family could be aware that if you look unwell to mention it to you ?

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Good advice, but have them insist that you have some glucose to be sure.

Thats sounds similar to my symptoms, i get shaky and feel weird i used to tell my mum when i was a kid that i felt funny and she would instantly give me a chocolate then do my BM (Blood measure). Once your sugar levels come down you may not notice the symptoms as soon so if you go for a walk take a mars bar thats more then sufficient to stablise your levels.

Bucco said:

I think I had the symptoms of a hypo today - does this sound right?

BG after breakfast was 17.8 so being acutely aware of carbs my lunch was a plate of bacon and eggs, BG before lunch was 11.8, plus my 6u of novo rapid. By mid afternoon I was starting to feel shaky, hands a bit shakes, feeling really nervous and a bit wired. Took the dogs for a walk about 4, felt really strange, did a BG test and was 5.8!

Ate a couple of bags of crisps (25g carbs) and started to feel 'ok' after about 15-30 min.....did another test and BG up to 14.2.

If that is what a hypo feels like, I will know what to look out for now....Sid it isn't, it was really uncomfortable!

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Bucco.. what you experienced there was a 'false' hypo as at 5.8 mmol/l your blood sugars weren't low enough for the real thing.. the positive is though that a false hypo gives you the same initial symptoms are a real hypo so you now know what to look out for... what you may find is that as you stabilise your blood sugars you will get false hypos as your body isn't used to running 'normal' sugar levels.

You should treat any blood glucose below 4.0 mmol/l as a hypo although technically a medical hypo starts at around 2.4 - 2.7 mmol/l. As you drop to around or below 4.0 mmol/l your body will begin to give you warning signs that your sugars are going low these include the shakes, sweating, increased heart rate, dizziness, nauseousness..

As you drop to below 3.0 mmol/l you can begin to lose brain functions and therefore can see changes in mood; aggressiveness, sadness, paranoia, confusion, etc... The exact 'level' that this occurs can vary as glucose levels in the brain can vary from those in the blood.. so sometimes you might get these at higher or lower levels.. As levels drop lower you may suffer memory lose, pass out and eventually enter diabetic coma.

The important thing to do if you start to feel funny is not to ignore it.. make sure you test and make sure that you are carrying glucose tablets or something to bring your sugars up.. I would always recommend glucose tablets or gel as these are much faster acting than sweets or chocolate and these days rapid insulins can drop BG very quickly... If your not sure or can't test always be safe and take a tablet better to be high than passed out!

Actually I think what you did was right.. if you ate around mid-day and were 5.8 mmol/l at 4pm then your correction dose was nearly spot on.. probably could have taken one more.. the only problem was that your body wasn't used to running such low sugars and therefore objected! this will ease over time.

A couple of things you must ensure that you do however... always test 2 hours post meal.. your Novo will work for around 2 hours at full strength but for a further 2 hours will still reduce BG's a little.. so if you are say below 5.5 mmol/l at 2 hours you know you might need some carb's.. conversely if you are high at 2 hours then you can take a correction and re-test.

Secondly if you are going to exercise and this includes walking! then test before you leave the house.. in the cold you will be surprised how quickly you can burn glucose.. always take glucose tablets with you.. (I have packets stashed everywhere!)..

If I go hypo then I test every five - ten mins until my blood glucose is going up.. once its on the rise make sure that you then re-test 30 mins later to make sure its not dropping again. Once you have had a hypo then it takes sometime for your liver to re-absorb glucose.. this means that a subsequent hypo can be a lot more aggressive and dangerous as your liver won't beable to dump glucose. Its important that post hypo you eat carbs and then cover with insulin.. this will prompt your liver to re-take up carbs.. insulin is important not just for reducing bg's but also for regulating glucose uptake into muscles and organs as well as a host of other things!

How do you spot a Hypo?

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It's a bit like an elephant, with smaller ears and no trunk or tusks.

I had a false hypo on the first night in hospital after diagnosis after dropping within a few hours from 40 to 4.5 mmol. The symptoms were the same if not worse than subsequent 'real' hypos.

I get shaky, sweaty and anxious. Its horrible!

For me, lucozade or dextrose tabs do the trick, then a banana or crackers.