• Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

I had my first real emergency today

P

plantae

Well-Known Member
I know that I've been hypos in the past. But I've never "felt" them. This afternoon I went to 0.9 (yes) and I couldn't even put my shoes on. I could not walk! I couldn't do a f thing. I don't want to ever feel like that again. Ever. I'm just glad my mum was here
 
I've been hypo before, lots of times. But never have a felt the utter lack of control. My heart rate must have been 180 (is that a symptom?) and I honesty could not put my shoes on. I couldn't got to the fridge to get an orange juice! I couldn't do a thing. The only thing I could do was look at my hands shaking
 
So you had orange juice, thanks to your mum? Have you had anything else since then? Oh sorry, I see it was honey. Anything else?
 
Must have been very scary for you @plantae, I’m T2 not on any meds now but when first diagnosed I was on Gliclizide and had a nighttime hypo of 2.1 once and was by myself, managed to get downstairs.

knew I had to eat but couldn’t function well at all, managed eventually but that was after I’d tried to eat peanut butter that I’d spread on kitchen towel! - it was like an out of body experience I could see myself doing it I knew it was wrong but couldn’t stop myself. I did grab a drink of sons orange juice though which finally sorted me out, thank goodness for your mum
 
zand said:
So you had orange juice, thanks to your mum? Have you had anything else since then? Oh sorry, I see it was honey. Anything else?
Click to expand...
Mum got me the orange juice. I had two sandwiches with honey (4 slices of bread) and I think 3 cups of milk. I had dinner as normal because I felt better after all of that. But I'm dropping, fast, again, I had 7 units of novorapid with dinner. But this doesn't feel right. I can barely type
 
It was terrifying. I could honestly barely move. I've had heaps off hypos in the past when I first started on insulin but nothing like today. If my mum wasn't here I'm not sure if I'd be typing this because I could not open the f fridge
 
I am pleased that your mother was with you.
Bad hypos do give you chest pains and make your heart race. A few years ago, before I had either Libre or Dexcom, I woke in the early hours with very bad chest pains. I knew that I ought to perform a finger-prick test but I passed out before I managed that. Fortunately, my liver compensated with glucose, and I came to several hours later. I woke up with a very bad headache and glucose readings of 24.
It was after that episode that I started to self-fund Libre. Now I rely on Dexcom (on prescription). I certainly hope not to have to repeat that painful experience. I am still amazed that I didn't die.
 
Last edited:
Just a suggestion might be worth getting a glycogen injection, they are available on prescription , I always have one in the fridge , very handy if you get a bad hypo like you had , your mum sounds totally aware and capable to give you it should it happen again , also setting alarms on glucose meter will help prevent reaching a low state in the first place
 
Yeah I have to get one of those glycogen pens (but I would not have been able to do it today), Today was a wake up call. I need to reset my alarm settings as well because I honestly did not know how totally useless I'd be when *really* low. I now know. If I was alone today I don't think I'd be typing tonight. All I wanted to do was get orange juice (and put my boots on for some unknown reason) but I couldn't do either of those things!
 
plantae said:
I'd like to make this clear. I am not unused to hypos. But today was ridiculous. I could not function. I knew what to do I just couldn't do it
Click to expand...

I have definitely had ones like that before - they can be absolutely terrifying at the time

Last one I had like that was about 12-15 years ago, was on my own, knew I had to phone my best friend for help as I was on my own, but couldn't work out how to use the phone, I was also convinced that time had slowed down so even if I could phone him then he wouldn't understand me (ok, I may have watched too many sci-fi films) - my liver did eventually rescue me - though not til after I'd clobbered my head on a solid wooden toilet seat (I'd obviously decided I need to go to the bathroom for no known reason) - I had a lump on my forehead for days .......

Luckily it's been a long time since that but yes ones like that can be terrifying - and luckily my liver came to the rescue (eventually).

But make sure you are fine now, and keep an eye on your levels for a good number of hours
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…