• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Type 1 Scary hypo dream

hypopippa

Newbie
Messages
2
Location
Manchester
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi everyone I’m new to the platform)
I’ve been having a lot of hypos recently and they’ve been giving me really scary dreams. A recurring one is someone trying to chase me and kill me. I woke up this morning at 2.7 and had been dreaming that I was 0.3. In the dream I ran to my housemate to get an ambulance as I was unable to eat my dextrose and I collapsed on the way and felt like I was going unconscious/dying. Know that sounds very dramatic haha was just wondering if other people had experienced anything similar?
Thanks, Pippa)
 
I have had some terrifying hypo dreams/thoughts - luckily not often and the last one was quite a while back - the last one I thought time had slowed down for everyone except myself (including hallucinating that the TV was also running really slowly and therefore the picture wasn't changing), I knew I needed help and felt trapped, but since everyone else was going so slowly there was no way anyone could help - I was on my own at the time - I thought I was going to be trapped in time forever (the fact that I like sci-fi may have had some influence in why time slowing down came into it)
 
Yes, don't worry. It's not just you. Even the doctors know about this, though I somehow doubt that most GPs have ever been told about it. I don't dream about being pursued by somebody who is out to get me, but about situations which are anxiety-provoking in another way, for instance being accused of making a serious error of some sort at work.

Vivid dreams are known to be triggered by hypos during the night. The worst thing is that, in my case, it takes a minute or two for me and my brain to get back into gear when I reach for the glucose. I know I'm hypo because I'm sweating, but it can take a bit longer for the conviction that I am facing a worrying situation to wear off. It's certainly a big relief when it dawns on me that the accusations were part of a hypo dream.

Edited to add - Get rid of the hypos at night. During the day they are bad enough, but at night they pose a more serious danger. Please take some action. If they happen frequently, insulin or food needs adjustment urgently. Ring your DSN. My sister died as a result of an overnight hypo.
 
Last edited:
Scary hypo dreams are not nice at all. I have had some horrendous ones. Even had some not nice awake ones!
 
During my hypo hell period before diagnosis, I had the most vivid colourful Technicolor dreams, some recurring and frightening.
I didn't know then, why I was having them, nor did my doctors.

After diagnosis, the worst of the night time terrors went away!

Control the hypos, control your dreams!
 
Scary , frightening, horrendous hypo dreams? Most definitely. Not for along time thankfully but the first few years of diagnosis most definitely.
Probably to many to list but one of the most notable was...
I was in space and I was surrounded by black holes. These holes kept in turn falling into each other and subsequently disappearing. The black holes were becoming fewer over time as each one was swallowed up by another.
Here in lay the biggest fear. In the dream, when there was only one black hole left I would go into it and die. Never have forgot this dream and the first few seconds when I woke up. Can’t describe how I felt on first coming around but never want to go there again. If memory serves me right I had at least 3 months of going to bed with BS in double figures just to be safe.
This is one of those things that is unique to us T1’s . People may say they understand and offer reassuring advice but unless you’ve been there it just isn’t the same.
 
I had one of these last night for the 1st time. Didn't realise it was a hypo until I read this post. Scary stuff
 
I had one last night for the 1st time. I'm type 2
 
Although not type one, I have had some dreams which have left me in a state of terror, shock and alarm - even with illusory pains from woundings and fights - and there was the memorable one with the exploding missile which caused me to feel burnt...
 
@SOPHIE2006 . Apologies for not considering T2’s in my post. The thread title is aimed at T1’s but obviously anyone taking medication that lowers BS , whether it be insulin or certain oral medication is susceptible to hypo nightmares.
 
therower said:
@SOPHIE2006 . Apologies for not considering T2’s in my post. The thread title is aimed at T1’s but obviously anyone taking medication that lowers BS , whether it be insulin or certain oral medication is susceptible to hypo nightmares.
Click to expand...
There are quite a few dream posts in probably every forum.
To me, sudden drops in blood glucose levels would probably be a trigger during rem sleep or deep sleep stage. Enough to wake or have those similar experiences through the night.
During my dreams, they would wake me up, and I then couldn't get back to sleep, making me more tired, more restless, more brain fog, and of course typical awful day after. Blood sugar levels all over the place!
 
Diabetes and low blood sugar certainly teaches us humility. The art after the fall is how you pick yourself up afterwards. How we recover and plan to attempt to reduce it from happening again.

You could basal test to see if your taking too much insulin. Cgm might be helpful. Many doing mdi insist on eating something before bed. I keep food right beside mine. I wish we all could have nice big happy service dogs to alert us, but they are REALLY expensive!

There will be things that we can’t do, like end diabetes (how I wished for this as a kid...). For all of the things that we cannot do, you have to figure out what you can do. And then work on those. Hopefully this will get you planning & moving forward.
 
Years ago I went through a period of these truly terrible nightmares not long after my insulin regime was changed. Usually they were full of horrible creatures chasing me, I'd fall off a cliff and could feel the terror as I kept dropping down. That's when I woke up, sweat pouring off me. I thought I was going mad as it was happening almost every night so I made an appointment to see my GP.

He explained that they can happen if my sugar level dropped too low through the night and said I should eat a one slice of bread sandwich before turning in. It was amazing that something so simple fixed it all! Bill
 
Hi

i am really curious. Did you have hypos before diagnosis. I would have thought that before medication or insulin you would always be normal or high.

am i wrong?
 
Does anyone else experience similar nightmares when one’s bladder is full in the night?
 
 
I dreamt that my dad, who passed away a couple of years ago, was talking to me, telling me I couldn’t give up, I had to fight. He was so animated and urgent. I woke up, it was 2am. When I checked my bm, it was 2.4 . I’ve had a few other weird hypo dreams. Not nice.
 

Hi, maybe I'm lucky but I have never experienced what you did. I awoke on 2.4 this morning and felt 'odd' but that was it.
Edited to say, as far as I know, I have no knowledge of dreaming scary things whilst having a very low hypo.
It must of been so frightening for you, but I hope you are feeling much better now and I hope you never experience that again.
Take care and sleep tight x
 
Hi,

That sounds a bit like like the Star Trek episode "wink of an eye?"

Whatever the subject matter of the dream. If there is a low involved I'm always triggered to wake up.
Been doing it since I was a kid.

I've woken from lows after dreaming about a massive sprawling house fending off some realy freaky genetically modified zombies? Realy tripped out. Faces in the stomachs, weird rubbery disjointed limbs.. I'd kill one & throw it in a pit at the other end of the ramshackled property & as the corpse hit the bottom another would climb out..

Another one.

Strangely, I posted about a hypo dream I had back in June last year involving a spaceship. I put it down to the flashing lights I get when low whilst awake? With my eyes closed it triggered some pretty wild imagery.

So.. This dream I had was set when humans were in the future free floating through space in some sort of massive plant based bio mechanical starship structure.. It was quite beautiful like a green laser show? (From a distance.)

Then the cinematography swept in to reveal the detail..
It all seemed quite wonderous & lovely to start. A sort of forest traveling through space. There were these comfy branch beds with giant leafs that could hold you in sleep stasis.
But then this dark entity would sneak about & take out passengers & crew one by one then go on to consume parts of the ship's structure.

This thing grabbed my foot at one point & I awoke.. 3.3Mmol.. (I remember the figure because I found the old post on the subject.)

To be fair. I find them more entertaining than scary.

I've also had Ronnie James Dio wake me up from a low too..
 
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…