Hypos - how do you deal with them & what are the first signs

Not had any hellish ones (yet?) unless you include the sliding scale induced 0.5 the hospital saw fit to give me 6 hours after I was dx. At that point I was lying down, state of shock etc so didnt feel it until I sat up until which point I began to feel sick, dizzy, shaky. Nurse told me I had just sat up too quickly :shock: . Have felt lightheaded ever since so am convinced they have damaged my brain!!!

Generally though when they start dropping I can feel a bit nauseous (even if not clinical hypo, I can feel them on the way down). When 4 or just below i start feeling a bit lightheaded and jittery and a bit 'starey'. Sometimes if just at 4 or below, I will eat something but not treat as such. THis seems to work ok.

However, if Im worried about it still dropping I will have 1 dextro tab, or if able, a cup of milky tea with 1 sugar. Gives a new perspective to the turn of phrase, I can put the kettle on for when im likely to hypo :lol:

L

My symptoms kick in at around 3.0. First thing I notice is palpitations and when I check my pulse it is usually racing, then because I have tested and found a three (eek) the symptoms really kick in with shaking, tunnell vision and the feeling that my heart is going to burst out of my chest, sweating.if I don't fix it straight away. I have only had one hypo as bad as this and that was very soon after dx. Havent had one for many weeks and don't plan to if I have my way. I check my bg levels religiously in order to avoid hypos as I can't stand the loss of control.

Caitycakes x

derailleurs

That is one thing I've never thought about... I think the main difference is jelly beans are harder rather than soft like the jelly baby...

I to find that when hypo it's difficult to show restraint with the jelly babies!

My hypo warning symptoms change every so often, they come in 'batches'. After diagnoses and for a few years after, I got the text book, shakes, sweats, hunger etc.

Around the time of my pregnancies (1st 3 ended in miscarriage), I lost all hypo warning signs. In hospital, after the first loss, I was waiting to go to theatre, lying on the bed. The next thing I remember was waking to see my husband puple faced, covered in tears and snot and lots of staff. I was very confused and couldn't remember if I was still pregnant, had ever been pregnant or what was going on, the nurse was trying to reassure me and kept saying 'we have done x,y,z, you'll be ok', but not once did se say, 'you have had a hypo', once I understood that, I calmed down. My poor husband thought he had lost me as no one had realised I was unconcious til they came to fetch me for theatre.
Shortly after my 1st misscariage, we were sitting in the garden and decided to go and buy some patio furniture. We went to homebase and tesco, yet I don't remember past the end of our road. My husband took about 20 mins before he realised something was not right and force fed me a mars bar, as my sugars were coming up and I regained some actual memory I remember 'taunting' him by aving my food around and refusing to eat, like a stroppy toddler.
It was around this time that I had a few really scary ones which caused me to be paralysed and loose my ability to speak, despite understanding what was happening.
I have had warning signs since such as a numb face.
Currently I get a certain type of headache and get very stroppy plus a bit of nausea.

My biggest problem is treating them, I ave no self control and no matter how bad the hypo, I still understand the '15 rule', eat 15g, wait 15 mins, retest etc, but I rarely stick to it. I eat whatever and generally carry on eating til I feel ok, by which time my BM is through the roof!

I get hypo warning signals if my blood sugar drops quickly, even if it doesn't go low enough to treat, if it drops fast, I feel like rubbish.

I haven't had a nighttime one in a long time, but I apparently make some very odd noises and my husband wakes me. We have a deal, he tells me he is going to use the 'big needle' (Glucogen), if I resist, I am well enough to eat, if not, he jabs me.

I am a type one diabetic, and I have had it for 17 years now. i have to say that my diabetes has fluctuated over my years, but it has stayed fairly stable for a while.
The only problem is, I'm starting to get 'fake' hypos. This means, that I'm feeling 'hypo' when I'm actually about 5mmol. Doesanyone know how to0 sort this out? I'm getting fed up of 'going hypo' at 6am and not actually going that low. Please help!!!!

What I understand about false hypos, is that your hypo clock has reset rather higher than it should be.

Aiming for tighter control is meant to work. Meanwhile you can't afford to ignore the symptoms in case your bs is really below 4. Test each time but try to use very little glucose to get you past the feeling so you can carry on. Eg one Bassett's jelly baby is 4.7g carb so instead of say three jelly babies to correct a hypo just have one.

What are your blood sugars running at ?

Hi Krysie,

Have you tried testing on a different meter?

I have a freestyle meter which consistantly reads 1-1.5 mmol/l higher than my other meters.

Regards,
timo.

derailleurs said:

Some of the things that have happened to me really do give me the giggles now but of course it wasn't funny at the time...

Has any of you hallucinated when having a hypo? Well I have!! We were on holiday with my ex and I saw this couple, with two dogs, and the woman was in skin tight jeans bent over really provocatively...and me, I am accusing my ex of staring at her!! And of course he hasn't got a clue plus is totally confused as this is so unlike me, but also not really a typical hypo symptom either!

I've also had visions of people move on slow motion, these are real people but again, with the connection between the eyes and the brain not working properly, it was like I was being shown a 20s black and white movie. AND all the stupid things I have said to people...! It is funny now but I hate the embarrassement afterwards. I've always been the kind of person who's found it very difficult to admit I have special requirements due to diabetes and sometimes, afterwards, I've felt I've not been able to face the people who've seen me in a hypo. But what do you do? You just have to go there and move on and just remind yourself that they've never been there so they'll never know exactly what it is like to go through a hypo...
These are the things I really hate, these things separate me from other people and sometimes make me feel really lonely. But hey, I've found this place now

Click to expand...

I've had plenty of weird s**t like that happen over the years. I thought it was just me who had the weird hallucinations. amazing what happens when the brain is grasping at reality. freakin scary sometimes too.

Hi All
The only symptom that I have is that I have the shacks, I have Lucasade then a couple of biscuits, some times I will have a gluco gel. The worst hypo I had was due to giving my self to much insulin 16 units to much. All of a sudden I felt unwell, collapsed on to the floor. My wife said that I had a fit and then went unconcious, came round in A&E a few hours later.

Your hypos sound quite similar.

One of my best warning signs is that I yawn a lot. If i feel tired at an unusual time i make sure i do a test. I've been caught out too many times.

I've had times when I've thought shadows were people hiding and got paranoid.

I once jumped back and forwards in time. This was really scary. I was convinced I'd gone a week back in time. I was reading a book and the blood sugars dropped and I thought I'd gone back in time to a different place in the book. I realised later that this must have been a memory from when i was last looking at that book which was about the same kind of time i thought i'd jumped back to.

It was when i jumped forward again in time that i got really freaked. i wanted to die because i couldn't trust one minute to follow the next. at this point a little common sense kicked in and i phoned my dad and then ate some sweets and got back to normal.

Hypos have caused me break downs in relationships. I was out in town with my girl and she didn't feel safe around me when i went low. I hadn't done anything wrong but she wasn't comfortable with me not having full control of what i was saying and doing. it frightened her. She said she could never see me again but luckily we have. I hated having type 1 for a long time after that.

I used to be really bad at picking up on hypos. I would have difficulty speaking or reading and would blame myself rather than my blood sugars. this changed when one of my colleagues (also type 1) said she always blamed the type 1 for any time she wasn't feeling right. I've decided to copy this and it's working well. my awareness of hypos is better now.

has anyone had the "i believe i am god" hypo experience? i had one after chemistry one day. i really belived i'd found nirvana and then finally woke up to the fact that i was just low on sugar. sometimes hypos can bring out some new ideas. a lot of them are rubbish but at the time you believe they're life changing.

I've heard people commonly say they've seen God during a hypo experience but rarely say they were God. Dont want to go low but if I do I certainly wouldn't mind this kind of experience, it would definitly beat seeing enormous cats moving about which I seem prone to. :lol:

this is a very interesting post. I asked my 7year old son what he feels like when his blood sugar goes low, he replied that he feels unsteady on his feet, shakey and 'bonkers' were his words. He knows to check when it feels low and he normally says to me that his blood sugar feels like 3 point something and it normally is, however he is unaware of it being low when it goes under 3. Sometimes he gets a little confused. I treat his hypos with lucozade or dextrose tablets, his nurse told me that these are better for children as it is a bit unfair for them to have to carry sweets around that they can't eat unless they are hypo, which does make sense.

The lowest his has been is 2.1 and after his lucozade when his sugar level went back up and he was back to his normal self again, he couldn't remember having drunk his lucozade.

Must say absoluely brilliant post... can relate to most of the usual symptoms, the shakes, having that "tingly" feeling all over mainly in my fingers... which does make openning the lucazade vvv difficult so much so have covered my self in it more than once...

Also get blury vision and a spaced out look on me face... which ususally brings a smile in the office before the lucazade kicks in... (very amusing i know ) and the amount of doors and walls ive walked into due to hypos just isnt funny. Lastly mood swings like most i get soooo iratable i could argue with anyone about anything!! I go right off on one... even when my bs has raised back up it still takes a while for me to settle down again...

Wierdest one ive had is i was working on a printer when it dropped to around 2,5 (yes im one of them who thinks ... ill just finish this then ill check my blood - up untill its too late) my head went dizzy as per ususal but then my tongue went numb and seemed like it was swelling up and even though it wasnt, ended up shouting my mum garbled as if it had ( if that makes sense ) my mum said it sounded like i had a tennis ball in my mouth!!

Treatment wise i like "findingnemo" *user not film * really struggle contolling the amount i take... i know if its really low around half a bottle of lucazade will cover it but still i usually end up drinking it all and then having a glucose tablet, before having a sandwhich after is a wierd one going from 3 to 15 in one fair swoop... and jelly babies wise doesnt help at all, it ususally takes around 10 of them to do anyting and once youve started that many face it the packs going!! lol...

I'm 30+ years type 1. As such I still have facility to still function with 1.something sugar. You learn your physical and mental symptoms, dont you?

My hypo symptoms are very simple: yawning, feeling tired, grey skin (reported by wife), making funny signs with hands, talking rubbish.

ive been diabetic for 2 years and have experienced the dreaded hypo !my symptoms are light headness shaking l go pale in colour although l feel very hot and l get agitated and breathless .l carry gluco tablets and hypo stop gel which your gp can prescribe . my nurse told me chocolate takes to long to react so 3 gluco tabs for me ,lol take care x

Hi everyone this subject and diabetes as a whole

If ever you think their are signs of hypo sweating, blurriness shakes leg and stomouch **** sickness these are all symptoms I have had knowledge of don't take fizzy sugared drinks cola lucozade not good makes you worse.

Try plain biscuits and milk put sugar in milk you would be able to taste it but once swollered that it feeds you aswell you would see dramatic improvment in coming round.

Right been diagnoised as a t1 since 1969 that made me 6yr old now coming up to 45yr old spent all my childhood in hospital yes its hard to live with t1 diabetes t2 people who are not diabetic I feel are ignorant and don't understand where t1 t2 diabetics are coming from public employers and some doctors don't treat this as a life threatening disease.

I lost more jobs for standing up to my employers had more arguments then I care to mention this is through being tired exhausted stressed mood swings hunger bouts they all contributed from this disease.

The thing is you have got to get on with things and stop thinking you are some kind of alien your not you are just the same has a non diabetic get out enjoy things you like doing the most don't mope about feeling sorry for yourself this is no good to you and certainly no good to your diabetes as this will cause stress confusion etc and this will also put your blood sugars up and diabetes out of control.

Yes we all have been told by quacks not to eat this not to smoke do this do that did we listen no, why because our body was telling us we dont believe all that.

If you can control you blood sugars and diabetes control your almost there it is a phase only you will be determined to fight this and believe me you do get stronger.

hi all when i hypo i too feel shakey tingly hot then cold sick blurry vision, heart pounding out of my chest, legs sometimes dont want too work,talking rubbish deppressed, sick just out of it i have learned that there is so many symptoms that if i begin to feel even the slightest bit different i test my bs. i have also had a few fake hypos. i usually use lucazade but nt a big lover of them i have tried lots of things from boiled sweets and lolllies to jellys and wine gums but i still panik when i go low and usually by the time i test i am below 3 and then i shake so bad that it feels like it has taken 5 minutes to open the bottle lol i drink between a third and half a bottle as i guzzle it down . i hate the feeling off hypos but hate the feeling of been too high too lol. i recently woke up through the night having hypo and thought that i was going to die as my heart was pounding in my ears i was very shaky almost fell down the stairs to treat myself. when my bs came back up ii didnt go back to bed cos i was too scared woke up on sofa next morning lol. i have now learnt to keep something for hypos at the side of my bed.

I dont care what people may think Coke is the only thing for treating my hypos followed by a carb.
Only problem is fighting back the urgent hunger pangs brought on by the hypo. When I'm low (really low) I feel I could eat everything in the house and then some. I ate some chocolate chips used for topping cookies the other day.