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Need some advice on possible hypo

M

MattMattHi

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi there. Matt here. I am 23 year old, type 1 diabetic having been diagnosed 2 years ago and would be grateful for some advice on a hypo I may or may not have had earlier today.

I am currently in holiday and today went on a day trip with some family. I was not hungry in the morning so ate a banana and took a small amount of insulin. By lunch time I felt a little bit weak and shaky (only very slightly) and ate a pizza, again with a fairly small amount of insulin. By the afternoon I felt terrible but it didn't feel like hypos I've had in the past. Usually they involve shaking, an extreme hunger, and the inability to concentrate. I was not able to check my blood sugars as I left my glucose monitor in the hotel room (may have been stupid I know!). I felt extremely faint with a soreness at the back of my head. My family said I went very pale and I couldn't walk more than a few yards (but with none of the symptoms I usually feel).

I decided to be safe and eat a large amount of sugar tablets and a lolly. After about thirty minutes, my colour returned, stopped feeling faint and the strange sensation at the back of my head disappeared, although I felt hot and sweaty on the trip back to the hotel even though the coach was fairly well air conditioned.

After getting home I checked my blood sugars and they were pretty high (18 ish), took three units of novorapid, checked again, still 18 ish (odd I thought).

I still feel not 'right', a bit shaky, tired and with no appetite although maybe that could be due to stress?

Does this sound like a hypo and if not what might it be (I have no history of feeling faint) and now how should I proceed for the rest of the evening. Slightly worried about bringing my blood sugars down quickly and suffering an incident like this again so quickly after, so should I keep them highish overnight?

Many thanks for your help.
 
Hi Matt,

Hypos can be different each time. I've also found that they vary in different circumstances. The motto is 'if in doubt, take some glucose'. Far better to be a little high than to pass out. My hypo feelings are commonly a weird feeling in my head, so what you described does sound like a hypo. I also go pale, friends have told me.

When you're on holiday, with the different routine, hypos and highs can happen at unusual times - a mix of different foods, different exercise and different daily routines.

As for,your high and your correction dose, do you know your correction ratio? If your blood sugar is that high it may take a while to come down. For me, anything above 11 or 12 takes longer to come down - sometimes as long as 3 hours. You're right to be cautious, especially in the evening. You don't want to,risk a nighttime hypo. If it was me, I'd set an alarm to test around 2am to see what my sugars were doing.

But it sounds like you're coping really well The on,y other thing to say is that I guess it's possible that you've picked up some kind of bug, which is causing the faintness and then the high when you tested. It does sound like a hypo to me, but don't atke anything for granted and keep an eye on things for the next few hours.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday
 
It sounds as if you aren't testing pre meals??

You don't get a holiday I'm afraid from diabetes. So theost important tjing is to have your meter with you I'm afraid.

Apologies if I'm wrong.
 
Thank you for all your comments. They are all very helpful as I can often feel lost with whether what I am doing is right despite being diagnosed a few years ago.

I'm sorry but I am not aware of what a correction dose or ratio is. Thank you for the advice about setting an alarm, never thought about doing that and have had sleepless nights worrying about hypos in the past.

I do usually test my glucose levels before meals though admittedly I haven't been as strict during the past week and I see your point...

Sorry if I didn't cover every point, pretty exhausted after a stressful day.
 
A correction dose is insulin you give to bring a high blood sugar down within the ideal range. Your correction ratio is basically how many mmols one unit of insulin puts you down. As an example, mine is 4mmols. So if I had a blood sugar of 10 but wanted it to be 6, I'd have an extra unit of insulin that should put my blood sugar down 4mmols to the 6 I want.

You had 3 units of insulin to correct your 18. I don't know how you chose that dose - maybe it's worked for you before?

Definitely set an alarm during the night after your messed up day. Keep some glucose by your bed too just in case you go low.

I find any change to my routine needs more blood tests. So on holiday i test lots of times a day just so I know what's happening.
 
Typically one unit of insulin reduces blood glucose by 2mmol/l - but your mileage may vary depending on exercise, stress and other factors.

A pizza is high in carbs and I find sometimes the symptoms of a rising blood glucose can seem like a low. Especially if stress is involved.

The one way to be sure is to test.
 
Oh and clean your finger before testing or you may read glucose you've sweated. Licking your finger will do even if you're high because saliva won't contain sugar.
 
I think if I was you I'd write this one off to experience and make sure to take your meter with you. It would also be worth, either in free time on holiday, or when you get back, going to this site and learning about carb counting and ratios: http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/
 
Just my thoughts on this. I think you were having a hypo but as the other peeps have said often the symptoms do vary. Any weird feelings should have you testing your blood.

I think your problem was that you had pizza for lunch. Often pizza will take a long time to affect your blood sugar as it is normally quite fatty and takes a long time to get into your system. So you continued to have a hypo which was made worse by the fact you had injected insulin which was working before the carbs. You then treated the hypo as well as the pizza starting to take effect which resulted in your blood sugar levels being high.

When eating food like pizza or other high fat carbs many people will either split their short acting insulin and have some when they eat and some an hour or so later or even inject half an hour after eating. Just my thoughts on what may have happened but in future always remember your blood testing machine. Hope you had a great holiday and just chalk this one down to experience.
 
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