Major Hypos

I have been Diabetic for 27 years and have been extremely lucky with my control. Prior to this period I have only ever had one major hypo resulting in needing support from others. I inject 2 amounts of lantus, one does in the morning and the other before bed and take novorapid with meals, I carb count my meals. Over the Christmas period this year I found my routine very difficult to stay within my boundaries. From Christmas Day to 31st December we were eating out, eating at friends, eating at at different times and drinking more wine than normal. This resulted in me crashing and burning on the afternoon of the 31st. I'd got up in the morning took my normal lantus injection and then dozed on the settee, a friend spoke to me on the telephone about 12pm, which I vaguely remembered but didn't realise I was in hypo and went to my bed. I then roused again at 6pm but in major hypo, I was aware of what was going on around me but couldn't speak and couldn't move. I thought I'd had a stroke. My teenagers (eventually!!) realised that something was wrong and called my husband, who managed to get fruit juice and sugary fudge in me. I did come round but my body went in to shock, freezing cold and shaking. It has left me with a total lack of confidence in myself and keeping my glucose levels as tight as I normally do and I have this urge to run them higher than normal, which I know I cant do!
Has this happened to any other normally well controlled Diabetics? Just looking for a bit of support.
Thanks.

DunePlodder said:

Something similar, but I was alone in a hotel. I was shivering uncontrollably. I guess my liver dumped glucose into my system as I "came round" eventually.
Actually it had happened to a lesser extent 3 times over the year (I'd been T1 for 20+ years) but that last one gave me such a fright that it prompted me to buy a CGM.
Very glad I did. Initially I was looking for it's alarms but it does so much more. It was life changing for me.
Hope you are feeling better, it really does shake your confidence.

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Thanks for sharing with me. I have just googled and never realised that the CGM can give you warnings! My father in law has one but he has never mentioned this to me. I just thought it was a replacement to pricking your finger. Are they expensive to run?

jonniey said:

Are you insulin sensitive, do you exercise?? What doses lantus do you inject?? And humalog/carb??

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Hi,
I have been told in the past that 1) even though type 1 diabetic they thought that I was still producing insulin myself and 2) that I am sensitive to insulin. My lantus dose is 12 in the morning and 5 before bed, I used to take full dose before bed resulting in night time hypos, then changed to full morning dose resulting in lantus running out at 5am, changed to split which has reduced night time hypos, but they do still occasionally happen. My novorapid/carb is 1 unit per 15 carbs breakfast, 1 unit per 20 carbs lunch and 1 unit 15 carbs teatime.

himtoo said:

Hi @Soplewis12
I had a major hypo 16 years ago -- unconscious for about 90 minutes -- woke up freezing in the back of an ambulance on the way to A&E
My consultant advised me to stop driving for 8 weeks and run my sugars higher for that time to retrain my body to better recognise hypos.

have you spoken with your care team( DSN or consultant) at all since this happened ??

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Hi
Scary stuff for you!
I have spoken with them this morning and I have to drop both my lantus injections and drop change my breakfast ratio to 1 unit to 20 carbs. I agreed with them that if this results in highs that to leave for the next few days and then contact them again next week.
Fingers crossed, thanks.

DunePlodder said:

Yes, I'm afraid they are expensive. There is a thread at the top of the "Sticky Threads" in the "Blood Glucose Monitoring" part of the forum. This compares costs.
It all depends on how long sensors last for you. They can be restarted - I use a Dexcom G4 & sensors last, on average, around 18 days. Everyone is different though. You also have to budget for transmitters. G5 transmitters are more expensive because they don't last as long.
To give you a (very) rough guide I probably pay out about £108/month.

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Yikes, but it is something I think I really should consider, I will do a bit of research. Thanks again.

slip said:

What about using a Freestyle Libre for a bit to get your confidence back, a bit like a CGM but you have to swipe the reader device over the sensor to get a reading, it displays a graph of your last 8 hours blood glucose results but more importantly provides an indication of where your levels are heading (basically up, down or level) so you can pre-emptive any highs or more importantly lows and do something about if before the hypo takes hold.

They are 'cheaper' then the CGMs currently on the market - sort of, depends how long you can extend a G4 sensor. The Libre is £46 for a 2 week sensor, the reader can be a further device for much the same price as the sensor or could be a compatible android mobile phone with NFC and an app.

using any CGM style type device is a real eye opener!

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Thanks a million all, I will look in to this also.

slip said:

What about using a Freestyle Libre for a bit to get your confidence back, a bit like a CGM but you have to swipe the reader device over the sensor to get a reading, it displays a graph of your last 8 hours blood glucose results but more importantly provides an indication of where your levels are heading (basically up, down or level) so you can pre-emptive any highs or more importantly lows and do something about if before the hypo takes hold.

They are 'cheaper' then the CGMs currently on the market - sort of, depends how long you can extend a G4 sensor. The Libre is £46 for a 2 week sensor, the reader can be a further device for much the same price as the sensor or could be a compatible android mobile phone with NFC and an app.

using any CGM style type device is a real eye opener!

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Thanks I am going to look in to it more.

CarbsRok said:

Do you think it was the extra Alcohol you were drinking over the Christmas/new year period that caused the bad hypo?

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Definitely a factor to it. Don't get me wrong it wasn't heavy drinking by any means but more than normal. The mix of this & guesstimate of carbs I was eating. I know this is our life's but you know it occasionally rocks you when it goes wrong & it really is a precarious balance. Thanks.

novorapidboi26 said:

This was my thoughts too...........

the only time I have experienced a hypo of this severity where I was babbling and hallucinating was due to lots and lots of alcohol....

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Lesson learned for me, next Christmas period I will be pacing out the invites for eating out or pub nights.