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Issues with recognising hypos

hollieb

hollieb

Member
Messages
5
Location
UK
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi all, I'm a 19 yo type 1 diabetic (diagnosed august 2007)

When I go through a period of hypos where I get them for quite a few days, some days I can have as many as 5-7 hypos, I stop recognising the symptoms - such as shakiness, loss of concentration and slurred speech.

I wondered if anyone else had ever experienced this?

If so, how can I prevent this happening? As it's particularly dangerous if I'm driving or on my own if I can't recognise that I am having a hypo!
 
Hey @hollieb
this is something that I have attempted to deal with over many years.

if you look at patterns ( keeping a log ) you hopefully should find that the hypos happen at times that fit with these patterns.

example : waking BG 5.7 carbs 20 bolus dose 2u -- set off to work and at work 2 hours later BG test is 3.7 ----- ( it could be your ratios are out -- )

have you spoken with your DSN ( diabetic nurse ) to look at dose adjustments

another good thing would be to buy a book called -- think like a pancreas
this book covers all of the sort of issues we find in trying to optimise our BG's.

hopefully some other members will come along with some other suggestions as well.

keep smiling -- with you here !!!!!!
 
Hi @hollieb :)

Have you spoken to your DSN about not being able to recognise hypos? You may be advised to run your sugars slightly higher for a few weeks so that you can get your awareness back.

In the meantime, I'd start from scratch - do a basal check to make sure that's ok, and then look at all your meal time ratios to check those too.

I second the recommendation of Think Like A Pancreas.

If you're not able to recognise hypos, it's not a good idea to drive. You could hurt yourself - or somebody else.
 
Hey @hollieb - I tend to find that if I over correct on a hypo then I can go onto have another same day, so go low, over correct, take insulin, run low again, some days there can be a pattern to this. Obviously getting your hypo awareness back is very important, so good advice above, start with the basics and test your basal pattern, I would also contact your DSN and let them know what's going on, they may offer you a CGM to help monitor your bg for a week, my nurse has one that she loans out, I think under the circumstances it would help you massively and they may want to review your targets to run higher for a while too so be good to have the chat with them, good luck ;)
 
Hi @hollieb

Ask your DSN about when your next DAFNE course is on near you. This will help you identify the hypos as well as loads of other useful info.
 
Hi everyone and thank you for your advice!

My next appointment is in December at a new hospital as I am transferring from a children's hospital to a adults one.

In response to @azure - I don't drive once I know that my hypo awareness is failing
 
The key to success with bolus basal is in frequent bg testing about 6 to 8 times per day and unless confident to altering bolus, eat a small carb snack about 1hr before the symptoms of a hypo start to manifest and that should prevent them.
 
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