MEGA LOW NO SIGNALS!!!!!

Hi Megan
Sorry, I don't really have an answer, but I know how scary it is. I think viruses can cause strange swings, any chance you've got a bug?

When I was about 12 I had a sudden hypo. Had some symptoms (strange visual disturbance, kept dropping things), but nothing I'd ever had with a hypo before. I just thought the strange TV picutre was down to a problem in the studio, when really it was my brain scrambling the image. Had been active in the park that afternoon but with extra snacks so didn't even think I could be hypo. I was really scared but couldn't explain what was happening cos I couldn't remember simple words. My parents realised something was up and took me straight to the hospital ward, thinking I was having a stroke and they were going to lose me. Eventually when I started vomiting the medics checked my BS, said it was so low I should've been unconscious (don't know the actual number though).

We never really worked out why it happened. It shook my confidence for a while, but it didn't happen again.

<Hugs>
Sue

hi megan,
I've had a few lows without symptoms myself, 1.5 was the lowest. It's a little
bit scary because it's so close to "lights out" and you feel relatively ok.

The link below is about "Dead in bed syndrome". There is a suspected link between it
and undetected heart problems.
Dead in bed syndrome

all the best,
timo.

Hi Megan,
You were very lucky to have tested when you did. The stages that are defined for hypoglycemia are:

below 3.4 mmol/l - shakiness, lightheadedness, numbness, tingling of lips or tongue, hunger, rapid heart rate, sweating, anxiety

below 2.3 mmol/l - sleepiness, headache, behavior change, anger, stubbornness, confusion, lack of coordination

below 1.2 mmol/l - seizures, unconsciousness, coma

For someone who has been running higher than average BGs for some time, the early symptoms may be experienced at 4 mmol/l or higher.

The only thing I know that can help is for you to keep your sugars above 4 for two weeks.

What you do is test much more frequently during that time and correct any blood sugar below 4 but not correct highs (within reason - you don't want to go into ketoacidosis either!)

had you considered asking your doctor to put you on a different insulin?

Dennis said:

Hi Megan,
You were very lucky to have tested when you did. The stages that are defined for hypoglycemia are:

below 3.4 mmol/l - shakiness, lightheadedness, numbness, tingling of lips or tongue, hunger, rapid heart rate, sweating, anxiety

below 2.3 mmol/l - sleepiness, headache, behavior change, anger, stubbornness, confusion, lack of coordination

below 1.2 mmol/l - seizures, unconsciousness, coma

For someone who has been running higher than average BGs for some time, the early symptoms may be experienced at 4 mmol/l or higher.

Click to expand...

Dear Dennis - who defined these symptoms and the levels? I find it quite bizarre that there's a defined list of symptoms at different levels because in my experience and from all that I've read on several diabetes boards, symptoms vary hugely from one person to another and even for the same person from one hypo to the next. For example sometimes I realise that I'm starting to go low (ie heading for 4) when I can't quite think straight - ie confusion, which isn't supposed to happen on your defined list till I get to 2.3. I've also had levels of low 2's with only a mild sense of nausea and unease. The only solution I reckon is to test and not to trust the symptoms.

Something warned you to test. so in some way, your body knew. Always listen to your body, even if it isn't speaking very clearly.
Good Luck! that must have been scarey. I know what hypo feels like, but have never been really low. don't use insulin.

[quote="l0vaduck] Dear Dennis - who defined these symptoms and the levels? [/quote]
Hi l0vaduck,
They weren't figures I plucked out of the air, if that's what you mean. I believe I pulled them from a US medical paper that defined the levels because I remember having to convert the mg/dl values to mmol/l. However you will find them repeated in many other places, e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia

You need to bear in mind that our bodies tend to become accustomed to running either unusually high or low levels and this can have an impact on the physical response to a hypo. My BGs have run quite high and have only recently come under control. Like you I experience the first level warning signs when when my BG drops to 4.0. I get the second level warnings at 3.0. I can't comment below that level because fortunately I have never been there. Conversely some on this forum who are more used to regularly low BGs have commented that they can go quite low before feeling any symptoms.

Of course the other factor is that we all go by what our BG monitors are telling us and they tend to be notoriously inaccurate at low numbers.

Hi, sorry you've had such a scary experience, doesn't sound like you have much hype awareness, a switch to animal insulin could help. Someone on this forum has composed a letter to NICE about restrictions on glucose testing strips for type-2s. Have a look. Don't trust that your GP or Constultant will make note of problems suchas unexpected or unexplained hypos. I got a glimpse of my hosp notes recently and was angry and disgusted that symptoms and problems I had reported directly to my consultant were not given a mention! How do experts at NICE ever hear about the real problems people with Diabetes live with if the "experts" cant even report honestly?!
I went in a coma in my sleep bout 9 years ago, but I was lucky that my husband got up for the loo about 3am and found me un-rousabe and sweating--some people aren't so fortunate.
Regular testing is not a luxury, it's essential to life.
I was told by a diabetes nurse specialist that to get my "hypo-awareness" back I was to let my blood sugars run high for a couple of weeks. My first thought was, what a stupid idea, turns out I was probably right. How would that make any difference when it is clearly documented that people lose "hypo-awareness" as a result of being on the newer GM insulins and analogue insulins?? People on animal insulin appear to keep there symptoms. I reported unexpected all day hypos to my GP, diabetes nurse, and consultant while on Lantus- it was only through my persistance ,that a diabetes nurse specialist admitted to me that these incidences had been reported to her by many patients.
Jus