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

Shivering

D

DunePlodder

Well-Known Member
Messages
861
Location
N Somerset
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I spent Christmas with relatives but stayed in a local hotel.
I'd done reasonably well BG wise but around 2:00 am Friday morning woke with a BG of 2.5!
I was very shaky & sweaty but took a couple of glucose tablets & ate some biscuits and drifted back to sleep.
Some time later I woke up to find myself curled up in a ball under the duvet, shivering uncontrollably.
I felt very weak & cold & just didn't want to move. This went on for about 10 minutes or so, hard to judge, then I must have drifted off.
I woke again feeling weak but did a blood test - 7.8. It wasn't particularly cold.
The next morning I was tired but otherwise fine.

The shivering has happened before, three times in perhaps 8 years. I'd never had the hypo before or perhaps I'd slept through one.
On both previous occasions I tested a short while afterwards & was 5 or 6ish.
I've been doing this diabetes thing for nearly 20 years (Type 1) but I can't work it out.
Has anyone experienced this? Rather unnerving especially as I live alone.
Regards,
Robert
 
It does sound like your bg continued to drop even after you treated the hypo, had you been drinking the night before Robert as this may explain what happened?
 
noblehead said:
It does sound like your bg continued to drop even after you treated the hypo, had you been drinking the night before Robert as this may explain what happened?
Click to expand...

I had a glass of wine at lunch time but I was driving, so nothing after that.
 
I think without knowing what your bg was when you awoke weak & cold it's difficult to say the problem was, if it happens again I would personally treat it as a hypo and eat some fast-acting glucose then check bg immediately after (mindful to wash the hands first to avoid a false reading).
 
You could have still been hypo as hypo's can effect your temperature gauge

Or it maybe that even though you sorted your hypo out, due to your blood glucose being so low that you were sweating during your hypo, and this cooled the body down making you feel cold and shivery.
 
Shaking can also be caused by delayed shock -- perhaps prompted by your hypo. but manifesting itself even when your bgs are back to normal and your temperature is normal. I used to get this occasionally. But do mention it to your GP -- there could be something else at work (it took a long time to work out that some of my non-hypo shaking was sometimes shock caused by artery blockage).
 
Thinking about it, I have no idea how long after the hypo this happened. I suppose it could have very soon afterwards. I didn't look at the clock - I was under the duvet & though I think I could have moved I felt so cold that I didn't.
The idea that my BG was so low that my body couldn't maintain a normal temperature seems to make sense to me. A shock reaction is also possible.

As to why I went low, I'm not sure. With Christmas/being away from home I was completely out of my normal routine which is always a struggle, though I thought I was doing well!
I'll see what my GP/Diabetes nurse thinks.
Thank you all for your thoughts.
 
cold sweats are a standard for diabetics which will leave you shivering just as a hypo could do another cause I have come to learn of is diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage) which again can leave you feeling cold when it's hot and can even prevent you feeling as cold as it is. with this in mind I've become fully dependant on wall thermometers and trusting in what they say as opposed to how I feel. but taking into account what you say I'd be more inclined to go with the symptoms of hypo or cold sweats we diabetics seem to suffer from.
 

This wasn't a normal "hypo sweat" type shiver, it was a quite violent shuddering, I was curled up in tight ball trying to stop my teeth chattering.
I'll let you know what the Diabetes Nurse says.
 
In the last few years I had severe problems with night time hypo's which frequently left me requiring assistance and medical care. After these I would always become as cold as ice and starting shivering for up to an hour afterwards as well as feeling physically exhausted.
Luckily since I attended a DAFNE course I have regained control and have only had 1 of these in the last 6 months.

However I don't think what you are describing is actually that abnormal. I know it isn't pleasant and I don't know what causes it but I don't think it is actually dangerous in it's own right. Talk to your nurse though. I have been Type 1 for nearly 31 years now and you still find out new things about the condition as well as your body changing how it deals with things.
 
Thank you.
Night hypos are very rare for me I'm relieved to say.
They are certainly exhausting!
 
Hi, just half an hour ago i had uncontrolled shivering which made me sound like a car crash victim, the partner didnt bother to check on me, she's a horrible person. the shivering was so bad that i had to think ahead to get myself to the shower, i turned the water onto heat, then more heat, then full... the shivering continued for 15 minutes!!! skins very red now, im type 2 with a good history of controlling my BSL. oh, forgot to mention, i contracted omicron 48 hours ago.. ive shivered before but this was a whole new level of ER type. i was almost ready to call for an ambulance when it started to abate.
 
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.…