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Severe hypo recovery

Lynz84

Well-Known Member
Messages
344
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi All

On sunday my fiance had to inject me with glucagon. I was unconscious and bless him he correctly checked my sugars and rectified the situation.
Its been pretty scary but for any of you who have experienced this, did you still feel rough a few days later? I feel utterly shattered still and its two days later!

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I have never been unconscious and have been able to treat myself but I can say with confidence that I have had some very low numbers and it has sometimes took a few days to get back to normal so it perfectly acceptable to see that kind of effect after unconsciousness.....

your muscles would have been fighting for energy as your body switched off to keep the vital organs going.....so its basically like you've went 10 rounds in the ring.....
 
Certainly feels that way!!

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That must have been some serious hypo, I've been to the point where I could not even speak! I was surrounded by caring individuals who jumped to my defence. God bless 'em all!
 
Even a mild hypo will slow me down for an hour. Severe hypos can incapacitate me for a day. Damned annoying.
 
Hi @Lynz84 . Not been in such a situation for along time whilst on a different insulin regime. I was once in need of help whilst having hypo and my wife administered a glucagon injection, it did its job and got my sugars up BUT it made me physically sick for maybe 2 or 3 hrs after and also I felt as if I'd been hit by a bus for the next day or so. Every muscle and joint in my body ached and I felt sh*t and unable to do anything.
Hope you're feeling better now.
 
Yes.
My worst ones haven't been bad enough for unconsciousness and glucagon (I have RH not T1) but they have left me feeling like I have been run over by a bus (like therower).

I reckon that mild hypos will leave me feeling rough until I wake up the next morning.
Medium ones will leave me feeling rough for a second day
and the worst ones will take 3 days till the feeling lifts.

Take care of yourself. The fragile feeling and aches and pains and black misery definitely lift. You just have to wait them out.
Have a hug.
 
Hi I have never been unconscious but yes I take one or two days to get back to normal it knocks my for six
 
 
Just had one this afternoon and have been asleep for 4 hours since and have woke up feeling **** no appetite no energy hate this wipes you right out
 
I've had quite a lot of severe typos requiring glucogon over the years and they always leave me feeling pretty rubbish for a while. The glucogon itself, though very useful, makes me feel sick fircseveral hours afterwards and the hypo leaves me with a pounding head and tiredness. I'm lucky that it usually only lasts up to 12 hours though. I sometimes go severely hypo without warning before coming down with some illness - body working extra hard to try and fight off infection, so just a chance your feelings are in part at least due to some other illness. Hopefully you're feeling much better now though!
 
Yes it does leave you feeling like that. I can't remember how long the exhaustion goes on for and I suspect that's down to the individual but the other thing is the emotional fall out i.e. embarrassment over it happening and fear over it might happen again at any moment however irrational that might be which also contributes to how you're feeling. You will get over it but it does take time.

The more important thing is have you worked out why it happened and why you did not have hypo awareness? Hypos are unfortunately a side effect of using insulin and minor ones from too much exercise, mis carb counting, the weather etc are par for the course. But severe ones means something else is not working as your hypo awareness should have kicked in and allowed you to get symptoms and treat before it got to unconsciousness. You need to discuss this with your consultant and make changes where necessary as your hypo awareness is not working if this is happening. I don't know how old you are and if you drive but if you have more than 1 episode in a year you will lose your driving licence.

I have had 10 comas over 34 years which sounds pretty bad but the reality is that they were mainly in concentrated periods with identifiable reasons. I had 3 over 2 years when first switched to human insulin and lost all hypo awareness. I had 3 in my first pregnancy (2 1st trimester, 1 post natal) and 3 in my 2nd pregnancy (same spread) both due to very tight control and hormonal swings. I also had 1 random one in university which I still don't know how it happened. 9 of them have been while I was asleep and the only 1 when I was awake was a human insulin one.

Have a look at your control, you will probably be told to aim higher if you're keeping very tight control. Also have a look at the hypo awareness course on this site, it's very useful. Also if you can get a libre or other cgm and try and see if there is a point of the day or night where you are dipping massively and if you can change your regime to cater for this. If none of these things reinstate your hypo awareness do have a conversation about the insulin you're on as there are certain insulins which reduce hypo awareness. I use animal insulin and it is still available easily in the UK. IDDT are a great organisation to talk to if you do start going down this route.

Good luck and I hope it doesn't happen again.
 
Oh no!! Ive never been that low but been having a few days of my bloods dropping for no reason and then not wanting to climb back up and I feel like I havent slept (even though I have) in days.
Hope you feel better soon!! X
 

Hello Lynz84. A couple of weeks ago I started having a bad Hypo whilst driving. My wife was with me and she got some "pop" into me and some food. I was getting bad rigors (shaking).

Next day I slept nearly all day exhausted, and the following day was fit for nothing.

Having read other peoples experiences on this Forum is a comfort for me - I thought I was getting lazy in my old age.

Cheer up girl - just part of life's experience.
 
Thank u kyambala!

Feeling more human now thankfully. Hope you recovered well from yours!

Xx

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Sorry, must have touched some unintended key. To carry on, we all have our weird and traumatic hypo stories. In my 42 years of being type 1, Only once I have ended up in hospital when in 1978 after doing some heavy physical work laying concrete in our garden, didn't eat enough extra carbs to compensate and passed out in my sleep drenched in sweat. This was before you could get Glucagon on prescription. My dear wife had to call the ambulance. Think she was equally traumatised with worry. They brought me round with glucose drip and discharged me after a couple of hours. I was in a daze for the rest of the day. Couple of subsequent severe nocturnal hypos were treated by my wife with Glucagon. But that has an unpleasant effect and makes you feel sick. I still keep a Glucagon kit in the fridge, just in case and always take it with me on holidays. When you do come round after a bad hypo, it's as if you've been to the edge of death. Feel drained, emotional and teary. You talk gibberish. The world seems dark and bleak. And the worst is the feeling of guilt and failure. How could you let this happen to yourself and cause all that worry and upset to people around you? It's irrational but you can't help it. I don't think most people apart from your immediate family, who have been on the journey with you, understand what a severe hypo is.
 
My wife reminds me to mention the weird groaning noises I make when having a hypo in my sleep, foaming at the mouth and even having mild convulsions. And during my day time hypos I become very irrational, argumentative and keep repeating trivial stuff! Who, me? A model of reason and control!
 
Yes absolutely - shattered, drained (physically & Mentally), weak and generally unwell for at least a couple of days afterwards. Just think what your body has been through, your organs have slowed down to reduce energy and help you stay alive whilst in a severe hypo and you have then been shocked back into recovery by a glycogen shot, your body is still trying to return to 'normal' T1 state so be patient and try not to worry, you will feel better soon. I've had numerous hypos of this severity and they are very frightening and unsettling but you will be fine - it just takes time

On sunday my fiance had to inject me with glucagon. I was unconscious and bless him he correctly checked my sugars and rectified the situation.
Its been pretty scary but for any of you who have experienced this, did you still feel rough a few days later? I feel utterly shattered still and its two days later!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app[/QUOTE]
 
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