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Losing hypo awareness

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pinewood

Well-Known Member
Messages
792
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I was only diagnosed in December but over the past few weeks I've registered readings in the 2s and not really felt them.

Can I really be losing awareness so soon and is there anything I can do to try to regain it? Last HbA1c was 5.7% and I'd rather not run my levels higher.

Thanks!
 
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pinewood said:
I was only diagnosed in December but over the past few weeks I've registered readings in the 2s and not really felt them.

Can I really be losing awareness so soon and is there anything I can do try and regain it? Last HbA1c was 5.7% Would rather not run my levels higher.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm really interested to see the replies to this!
My husband was diagnosed in April and his sugar can drop to 3ish/2 and he doesn't realise either!
Very strange!
 
Hey @pinewood

I can understand your concern over not wanting to run your levels any higher...and would be inclined to agree. Were these low readings following any kind of exercise? Are you following a LCHF diet? The reason I ask is that @tim2000s ran an experiment on this...and I too have noticed that I can function and not get any normal hypo symptoms at low levels since following this diet...just a thought.
 
Hi @pinewood. How often are you having hypos? If I'm having regular hypos (daily), and this pattern occurs for say a week, I'll also lose hypo awareness. You can definitely regain this awareness, by simply (well, not so simply!!) not having hypos! For example, if I'm having hypos and not noticing, I'll set myself a target for the next week of keeping my readings 5+, so if I get a reading in the 4's, I'll have a snack. This means I'm less likely to go hypo cos I'm not allowing myself to push myself to low.

By reducing the frequency of my hypos, it means that when I do eventually have one, I'll notice! Sounds a bit too simple, but that's how I approach it!
 
I guess it depends what your hypos feel like personally? Mine sometime feel like a caffeine rush so it can be a wee bit difficult with my fav diet coke to feel it. Also I find when my sugars have been a certain reading for a bit the body takes a little while for the signs to kick in. Over these period I just test more and I find the feeling comes back. I guess I would say if your worried see your consultant as we all feel them differently it's hard to answer for you. Sorry to say but feeling can come and go, it can stay, it can go at anytime so I would check in with ta doc sorry I could not help more
 
I've gone hypo before without really noticing its effects. Once I even failed to notice it because I figured I was sweating due to the heat and humidity - I live in a tropical climate and have no air conditioning at home, and it was a very hot day. Still, I was bustling around in the kitchen, preparing my lunch, singing along and dancing to music... and I felt fine. I didn't feel shaky or weak at all. It was only when it came close to my lunchtime, I checked my bs and it was 57 (3.2...)

I would feel it at other times... yet it has snuck up on me once or twice, in the short while that I have been living with the illness.

What would your hypos normally feel like, when you had awareness of them?
 
I have also era of different responses but I do find it harder to feel in heat too.
Best sign I have is a sleep as I always dream about a hypo. I tend to though sweat, become angry(in my head), itch is a big thing when I was first diagnosed I caused a lot of scaring because of itching, I can't think clearly,y vision is blurry and I shake a lot. What about you?
 
Hi @pinewood

this has been an ongoing concern of mine ( and my endocrinologist ) for a number of years.
he always thinks my HbA1c's are too low and I definately have impaired hypo awareness which is why i have been referred to go for a pump.

his remedy is to "run high" for a week or so to allow the brain to re-adjust it self and gain back the symptoms.

as natalie1974 has suggested -- testing a bit more often and light snacking to prevent bloods reaching the < 5 range at all.
 
Ah Pinewood. Are you low carbing? Because if you're in mild ketosis, it seems to protect you from hypo symptoms. I've never actually, um, felt hypo symptoms tho Ive not gone below 3.0. Definitely in my case, a hypo would be substantially lower than led to believe. (Ive been permanently in mild ketosis for the last eleven months.).

So OTOH probably nothing to worry about, but on the other, better just to monitor and try not to go below 3.0, or whatever.
 
Been running my BG lower overnight for about a week due to going away for a wedding and other parties. 2.9 on average waking, and I didn't feel it, quite worried tbh as my wife won't spot the triggers if I can't.
 
Pinewood I've lost my hypo awareness over the last 3 years,I've been type 1 for over 52 years and tried every thing my Endo and DSN suggested but have not been able to get it back.My Hospital team was able to get funding for a pump and CGM which I have been using 6 weeks now with brilliant results and I have reduced my hypos to a minimum.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I'm not on a low carb diet but I have been exercising more intensively than usual so perhaps that has something to do with it.

I've reduced my daily Lantus by 25% (from 8 units to 6 units) and that seems to be helping but I'm still having hypos 2 hours after each NovoRapid: it seems to correctly deal with the spike after eating but then stays in my system too long and drops my levels unnecessarily in the 2-3 hour post-eating period.

@Brownie1993 - that sounds promising and I think you might be right that once I get the frequency of hypos back down the symptoms will come back. I'm hoping it's just because I've had a lot in the last couple of weeks.

@GoRachel1989 - my symptoms were increased heart rate and a sweaty/panicky type of feeling. Kind of like how I would expect a panic attack to feel. Or like a major caffeine rush like @Fayefaye1429 describes it.
 
It also may be that you don't always get symptoms. My brother (t1d since 4 y/o, now 23) hardly gets any symptoms (memories of him being 'a little sleepy-looking' or 'a bit hungry' at readings around 1.8 to 2.5!), whereas I have always had very good hypo awareness. However, mine is also changing a bit, probably from being on pump since feb so better readings, and I'm now not always aware. But it varies a lot. The last couple of weeks I've been extra-aware of them, yet just now I tested before a snack and was 3.1! Go figure...I can feel it now, but am used to feeling them earlier.

I have to say, though, I don't miss it. Would rather just be like my bro, and be able to eat and carry on, without feeling like rubbish for however long!
 
@pinewood, if you are hypoing two hours after each NovoRapid, it sounds like you need to reduce your insulin:carb ratio too. Maybe if you keep your BG a bit flatter (fewer plunges after eating), your hypos will be less frequent and you may get your symptoms back. Having said that, my hypo symptoms are extremely subtle these days, just a bit of flickering in my vision, mainly, and I'm not really willing to keep my bloods higher! What I have found, though,miss that with keeping my blood sugar readings flatter, my hypos are much slower and so they don't incapacitate me before my next finger prick. And I do test six to eight times a day, which helps to head off any disasters.
 
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