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Question for my T1 friend

M

mehdave

Well-Known Member
Messages
344
Location
Scotland
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Rubbish doctors who dont listen. Unclean hospitals
Hi all

Quick question for my freind who has had T1 since 5years old. Recently hes been having trouble recognising hypo symptoms so no hypo awareness I think they call it. So getting allot of hypos etc. Eg. Like today we went for lunch and he had blood suger bellow 2 and didnt have any symptoms. Really just looking for some advice as to what he can do hes on a background insulin and one he takes at meals. Dont have much more informtion but any advice on what sort of things he can ask his doctor or hospital for would be great. Hes one of those people who are stubborn to ask for help :?
 
There are several possibilities for losing hypo awareness:

First is that by consistently maintaining lowish blood sugars and/or having frequent hypos, the body becomes used to low levels and the hypo symptoms are less obvious. The frequent hypo situation is extra dangerous because the liver is not getting enough time to recharge its stores of glycogen, so in an emergency there's nothing there to get out of a really bad hypo. The symptoms can sometimes be regained by running blood sugars at a higher level for a couple of weeks - the body readjusts to the higher levels, and symptoms return when levels drop, as normal. This situation can occur at any stage post diagnosis.

The second situation is less optimistic, and tends to occur in longer term diabetics who maybe haven't had the best control over the years. The high levels of blood glucose over time can lead to autonomic neuropathy, one of the classic complications one symptom of which is hypo unawareness. It's potentially more serious, because there's not much you can do about it, that is until some clever person finds a way to reverse nerve damage. This is what I have, and it's no fun at all.

Some insulins make different people react in different ways, and just by changing the type hypo symptoms may return. I have noticed a slight change in awareness since switching from NovoRapid to Apidra a few weeks ago, one of the reasons I wanted to try.
 
Thanks for the great information, im hoping he doesnt have the second, allthough he has not had the best control for several years so may be more likely. I will let him know about both and he can decide what he wants to do. I cant force him to pay more attention :|
 
hi,
my son was hypo unaware from the day he was diagnosed. We kept his levels at a higher level for 3 weeks and this worked for him. It might be worth a try we didnt need to keep his levels too high just 6 to 7's with no hypos which meant extra testing.
 
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