Hypo

kitedoc said:

TID 51 years: Before answering your question. What are you doing to prevent this happening again?
Then to answer: It depends with me on what quickly my BSL falls. Quick fall = adrenaline -related symptoms as you describe:
pallour, tremour, profuse sweating ( and my wife notices the smell of sweat)), rapid heart beat, even a feeling of great energy and curiously in the past few years a numbness of my front left thigh: that may then go onto the brain-related troubles like numbness of my face, a feeling that my arms, face and sometimes legs are oversize and out of proportion ( like the feeling you get when you have a local anaesthetic numbing you for a dental procedure). irritability, other emotional upset like crying very easily, clumsiness, sometimes repetitive movement ( I was described one one occasion to be doing pushbike cycling movements with my legs whilst laying in bed , another time I went the the local swimming pool with friends and after changing into my swimming togs I was found trying to put an imaginary token into the gate at the entrance to the women's change room!!) I have extreme insatiable hunger and at others nausea and anorexia, difficulty walking straight, co-ordination is shot for all sorts of activities including sex, a feeling of coldness ( they did a study on diabetic patients in hospital and found that their temperatures dropped around the times of hypos),.muscles twitching with some sudden arm movements, difficulty focussing on writing etc, difficulty actually writing both in co-ordination and finding words, doing arithmetic. If the fall of BSL is slow, I hardly notice the adrenaline symptoms and just note the numbness in left thigh, some difficulty thinking, increased irritation etc. My hypo symptoms became easier to recognise after the 45 year mark on insulin when I switched from intensive basal-bolus insulin injections to an insulin pump. The improved blood sugar control, reduction in fluctuation allowed my sensitivity to hypos to improve.
Also I found that I can be testing myself whilst in the adrenaline-shaky stage and sometimes the result comes back low, like you described, or high. The reason for the second is that the liver and muscles have been influence by my body's release of glucagon and adrenaline to release glycogen (sugar storage ) and the blood sugar has bounded up (= rebound). If the sugar is high I have a devil of a time to not eat as the hunger is powerful and I figure that I have over the years associated hunger and then eating as a way to combat hypos or prevent them. Please try to reduce the chance of your hypo happening as much as you can!! and Good luck, Best wishes.

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jlarsson said:

It varies from hypo to hypo. Most of the time one or more of blurry vision, motor skills dropping, increased heart rate, sweating, muscles twitching, sense of taste and/or numbing tongue, questionable temper and shaking. There's probably more that I can't think of, but since getting the Libre noticing any of those symptoms I immediately check my sugar.

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lizdeluz said:

I start looking for things in a handbag, say, and then forget what I'm searching for. Uneasy. Coordinating the task of eating a carb snack, waiting and doing a further test, coordination generally. Including moving. I have to make a huge effort to sort the hypo. Happy days!
I hope you're ok now. You lined up the jelly babies well: good first aid. As @Jaylee says, though, a sandwich or digestive would be something to consider to avoid another hypo. And then tomorrow, look back and work out what caused the hypo.

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Jaylee said:

Hi @lorna_fletcher ,

When did you last eat? ( or bolus for?)

I personally would have gone for a longer acting carb (like digestive biscuit.) incase of a recurrence of the low? (Early hours.)
My symptoms? Ohh. Light sensitivity, blurred vision. Dancing visual lights. Feeling "stoned."
Depends on basal or bolus induced....? (If fast acting is still on board.? It's like the "egg timer is "thinking about it" on a computor.)

I hope you're OK now...?

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kitedoc said:

Glad it is helpful. I guess you will be adjusting things back in discussion with you DSN. I found that each hypo can be embarrassing and depressing and takes time to recover from emotionally. I learnt to not blame myself too much. Even a change in season could affect how sensitive or not I was to insulin. Each hypo is a learning opportunity and I think remembering the humorous parts or stories keeps the negative aspect of hypos at bay. Hang in there ( a quaint Aussie saying that refers to a surfer who are standing in a precarious position with (ideally) 10 toes hanging over the front tip of their surfboard. (just the sort of info you do not need but adds to one's sayings vocab)!

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