Hypo - Lost all feeling in my right side

[Agraham1826]

Hello, I’ve had diabetes for 20 years now and have never experienced this. I am known to have a few hypos as I have limited symptoms of going low. I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great but realised I was loosing my grip in the right hand. I tried looking for my phone but couldn’t find it (obviously a bit disoriented as in the end it was plugged into the wall) couldn’t find my phone at the time and got really panicked as my whole right side had gone so tried to get tot th kitchen for sugar but could only basically get what was as the bottom of the cupboard and it wasn’t enough. Laid in the hallway of my apartment building after dragging myself down the hall (I have scratches and bumps all over now) to see when someone would come and out and get my friend who lived over the road, which they did thankfully, as soon as they got me more sugar i could grip my hand/move it as well as my leg. I was lucid enough to mentally to sort my hypo out but has anyone had this before, it’s so so scary!

 

[Melgar]

I must admit that has never happened to me. Maybe other members have experienced loss of strength down one side during a hypo. It’s not a stretch to think it might happen given its primary effect on the brain. That said, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to discuss your symptoms with your GP or in fact head off to your local ER, especially as it was only on one side of your body. You certainly wouldn’t be criticized by the ER staff for attending ER. If this had happened to me, I would take myself off to the ER.

 

[Hopeful34]

I've never had this happen during a hypo. It must have been very frightening for you. It may not be related to diabetes, so you need to get it checked out at A&E as soon as possible. I don't wish to scare you, but please get seen.

It's always wise to keep a good supply of glucose tablets/gel or jelly babies or lift juice in your bedroom, not just your kitchen.

Do you use a cgm or just finger pricks to monitor your diabetes? A cgm has alarms which alert you to levels dropping, so you can eat something to prevent/lessen a hypo. Are you seen at the hospital for your diabetes or gp's?

 

[Melgar]

Sorry guys I’m being very North American with ER, yes A&E.

 

[MrsA2]

I'm not t1 and probably don't understand...
But that losing a side of my body happens to me when I get migraine, rectified by salt, medication, sleep, time , or a combination of.
How low did your bg go? Could it have been something other than a hypo? Initially my migraines were thought to be mini strokes.
Please get yourself thoroughly checked out, just in case

 

[ATB123]

Hello, I’ve had diabetes for 20 years now and have never experienced this. I am known to have a few hypos as I have limited symptoms of going low. I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great but realised I was loosing my grip in the right hand. I tried looking for my phone but couldn’t find it (obviously a bit disoriented as in the end it was plugged into the wall) couldn’t find my phone at the time and got really panicked as my whole right side had gone so tried to get tot th kitchen for sugar but could only basically get what was as the bottom of the cupboard and it wasn’t enough. Laid in the hallway of my apartment building after dragging myself down the hall (I have scratches and bumps all over now) to see when someone would come and out and get my friend who lived over the road, which they did thankfully, as soon as they got me more sugar i could grip my hand/move it as well as my leg. I was lucid enough to mentally to sort my hypo out but has anyone had this before, it’s so so scary!

Definitely keep your hypo treatments with you at all times, I keep a bag of sweets in my bag which is in easy reach at night. But also do go see your GP just in case it wasn't the hypo that reduced sensation on one side because there are 9ther things that could cause that loss of sensation

 

[SimonP78]

I have had that once, while at school (pre-CGM, pre-MDI). I woke up, I was obviously low, I don't recall whether I could only feel one side of my body but certainly I was completely unable to move one side which was pretty worrying. I dragged myself out of bed and flopped onto the floor then across my room to my fridge (thankfully not far away - I was at boarding school and this was in the 6th form so I had my own room). I drank probably rather a lot of OJ and probably ate anything else in sight, waited and eventually everything started working again, which was a relief!

Re losing grip - while at uni (again pre-CGM, pre-MDI) when I ran low I'd quite often get what I'd call "dropsie", I'd have to concentrate really hard to keep my hand closed (e.g. walking back from the shops with shopping - yeah I know, I should have had snacks and I should have stopped to buy a hypo treatment, etc.) but no matter what my hand would suddenly spring open and I'd drop the shopping. This would also happen sometimes with drinks, usually the OJ I'd poured to treat the hypo. At that point I'd have to find a straw so I could drink the drink without dropping it, or just take quick sips and place it back down while I still had control (and then clean up the mess later on.)

Last but not least, while reminiscing on hypo stories, I do also recall dragging myself from bed and across my flat to the kitchen, unable to stand up (I could feel my legs but they were unwilling to support me). I manged to reach up and over the counter top to grab the sugar bowl (without pouring it all over myself thankfully) and sat with my back against the cupboard eating sugar cubes until I was able to stand up and have something longer acting. At this point I also did a blood test and got back iirc 1.2 mmol/l - the test meters don't necessarily read well outside of their normal range, but I was certainly fairly low.

So don't worry, you're not alone!

 

[CheeseSeaker]

Hi @Agraham1826 - yes, its scary stuff.

I've had some 'interesting outages' over the years - my summary of why (based on me guessing) is that a hypos is essentially starvation of the brain of glucose (it uses blood glucose as energy to the brain cells, and water - but nothing else as nutrients).

When BG is low - bits of the brain either don't work or miss-fire, and while most hypos can take a common path (bits that get hit commonly first), other times odd stuff happens. Been say in a chair, quite happily conscious and able to talk like nothing was wrong, stood up an 'failed to walk'

Another time, was completely out of it - no memory, when I started to come round had begun to decorate the bathroom (no knowledge of starting it, or wanting to decorate) - thankfully not a bad job, so easy to recover (lived alone at the time)

In summary - odd things can happen, events like yours were why I started using CGM and a watch that would alarm when I started dropping, that lead to wearing a pump, and eventually to using a fully-closed-loop where it sorts everything out. Not perfect, but a heck of a lot safer for me.

 

[RickV]

Hello, I’ve had diabetes for 20 years now and have never experienced this. I am known to have a few hypos as I have limited symptoms of going low. I woke up this morning and didn’t feel great but realised I was loosing my grip in the right hand. I tried looking for my phone but couldn’t find it (obviously a bit disoriented as in the end it was plugged into the wall) couldn’t find my phone at the time and got really panicked as my whole right side had gone so tried to get tot th kitchen for sugar but could only basically get what was as the bottom of the cupboard and it wasn’t enough. Laid in the hallway of my apartment building after dragging myself down the hall (I have scratches and bumps all over now) to see when someone would come and out and get my friend who lived over the road, which they did thankfully, as soon as they got me more sugar i could grip my hand/move it as well as my leg. I was lucid enough to mentally to sort my hypo out but has anyone had this before, it’s so so scary!

Hi there. I have had similar but not as severe as what you have experienced, where one of my hands (generally Right) and forearm go numb.
Sometimes it also affects my toes, again on the right side only.
It only happens if my sugar level drops extremely low and now I don't worry about it.
When it happens, I take a few glucose tablets or have a large spoonful of marmalade or jam.
Take care.

 

[mmohan]

Hi. I've never lost feelings in my limbs but when I had severe hypos I start seeing small red/orange stars in my eyes even with my eyes closed. This happens when my levels drop to 1.8mmol and things improve after treatment. Take care it can get scarey.

 

[Fairygodmother]

I’ve not had those symptoms since the very early ‘70s, when recently diagnosed, and the only way of knowing sugar levels was a pee test.
It’s very frightening to lose the use of limbs through hypo, especially if you don’t really understand why it’s happened.
Have you got a way of getting alarms when your blood sugar’s below ‘normal’ @Agraham1826? Many of us use the LibreLink app which connects to the Libre sensor and enables us to set alarms when blood sugars rise or fall beyond a preset level.
Do you wear a sensor? If so, which one and is there an app you can set alarms on?

 

[Ushthetaff]

I suffered similar symptoms when I was in and just after I came out 11 years ago , following my leg amputation. When I had a low blood sugar I lost all feeing down one side of my body , I initially 5hought it was a stroke ! But as soon as my bs rose the symptoms went away, if I remember correctly I think this only lasted for about a month and I’ve ever suffered from it since, I wonder what it was and to be honest I didn’t see anyone about it I ha£ rather a lot going on at the time. I put it down to my body having too much trauma to deal with at the time and a hypo just sent it” OTT” ,
as I said not had anything* like it since neither have I had same sort of trauma I suppose lol

 

[jaywak]

I had severe nocturnal hypos in my 20s - 30s were I would go into spasms and would come round after being woken by my father then later on my wife and not remember anything not even who my wife was , I would convulse and strain every muscle in my body and on one occasion pulled my shoulder out of its socket , and used to bite my tongue so that it would bleed and leave me with mouth ulcers for about a week afterwards, them days have long since gone thankfully and with the Libre alarms would almost be impossible nowadays , the dislocated shoulder incident always caused me discomfort over the years and in the last few years has become very painful so that I am now on a waiting list to have a complete shoulder replacement within the next few months . so far my only complication from diabetes .

 

[Juicyj]

Weird one from me - but numb lips during hypo and passed when levels resumed to normal.

The brain is the main organ affected by hypos and can do some strange things during these events, it's been described as the brain shutting down hence why the ability to speak coherently and see properly diminishes, but also has other adverse reactions too, if in doubt get checked out though.

 

[GMJMMCVC89912000]

I have been a diabetic for 50 years and first experienced this in my 30's. I woke up one morning and had no feeling down my right side. I got out of bed and collapsed as my right leg was completely numb. I managed to get some sugar down and started to feel better. I went to my doctors and he sent me to hospital. I was inside over the weekend and then sent home with no diagnosis. 30 years later and I experienced a similar thing 3 days in a row. The first time I did nothing and my blood sugar rose on its own and I started to feel better. On the third occasion I called out the paramedics and they took me to the hospital and they did various tests and diagnosed a small TIA - stroke. They also said I had another sign that I had another stroke years ago and I associated that with the first episode. They called it an undiagnosed stroke - when I told them I had been to hospital with it and it was the hospital who failed to notice it they said nothing. Another issue to add to my long list of problems I have encountered over the years with my diabetes.
If I was you I would ask to get further tests carried out just to rule this out.
I also had several episodes where I had severe hypos especially after drinking. As Jaywak explained I would also have convulsions and wake up with either a member of my family administering sugar or paramedics giving me a dextrose injection. On one such occasion I was taken to hospital and when I woke up found they had started me on treatment for Epilepsy. After several tests all of which were negative they still insisted on saying I had Epilepsy. I had to give up my licence and it was only after my Diabetic consultant saw me and said the symptoms were associated with my diabetes that I was reassessed and managed to get my licence back.
Be careful out there and keep fighting, look out for yourself and keep your sugar levels within the tolerances set.

 

[Agraham1826]

Thank you everyone for your responses, I am so so grateful. It’s made me feel so much less alone. I have a CGM, a Libre, but I think I must have knocked off the notification when I was half asleep (I have insomnia so I find it really hard to get to sleep, but when I am asleep you could play a brass band in my room and I wouldn’t wake up), that’s the one thing I don’t like about Libre it doesn’t re tell you if your levels don’t raise back up or come back down. I’ve had hypos before where my mam and sister have had to help me and call an ambulance before, thankfully I don’t live alone anymore and my friend lives over the road as it is so stressful!! The good news is though this last couple of months I have been having way less hypos, tried to not give into the anxiety of when your bloods start to have that severe arrow up and not panic dose.

 

[SimonP78]

Hi. I've never lost feelings in my limbs but when I had severe hypos I start seeing small red/orange stars in my eyes even with my eyes closed. This happens when my levels drop to 1.8mmol and things improve after treatment. Take care it can get scarey.

Ah yes, I used to get (I may still, I just don't tend to go hypo often/so low) black blotches in my vision which were a bit of a give-away that I really needed to treat it ASAP.

Weird one from me - but numb lips during hypo and passed when levels resumed to normal.

I've also had this in the past.

but when I am asleep you could play a brass band in my room and I wouldn’t wake up), that’s the one thing I don’t like about Libre it doesn’t re tell you if your levels don’t raise back up or come back down.

This is one of the many advantages of using something like XDrip+ (though really all this functionality ought to be part of the core offering of the official app and it should also make it as easy as possible for data to be shared in real time with other apps running on the same device - so that they can implement alarms, etc.) In XDrip+ (there are doubtless other options) you don't cancel an alarm you merely snooze it (you can select how long for and a default for each type of alarm - you can setup as many as you want for different BG levels and times of the day, etc.) and it will then go off again if you're still above/below the alarm threshold (though with a bit of intelligence as it will auto-snooze if your BG is moving the right way.)

If you're interested there are threads about setting up 3rd party apps (and if you have more questions please start a thread and ask), you can also make it upload data to the standard librelink portal so your consultant/GP can still see the data in a form they expect (though my consultant was more than happy to use Tidepool, to which XDrip+ can upload directly.)