Weird low sugar reading

[Lulu9101112]

So hello. I just wanted to share something weird

my day stared off normal and fine, I met my friend to go bowling. When we go there. My ankles started getting stiff which usually happens after sitting on a bus for a while. We were early so decided to walk around the shopping centre however when I go their my ankle just gave way to point I tripped over and I tried getting up Again the same thing happens when I got up again I was able to sit down on a bench, (my friend isn’t very aware of diabeties as he struggles to understand due to aspergers) a bystander was trying to ask, I just couldn’t speak at the time and my blood was 1.6 I always recognise low blood sugar but I didn’t this time. After eating the usuall amount of sweets I was fine within 20 mins. The thing I don’t get is why didn’t I recognise it till my ankles gave way and why does low blood sugar cause my ankles to give way? (Or was it a mixture of things as I had only just gone back to my volunteering at animal park weds and Friday, volunteering with horses Tuesday for a few weeks and before I go the bus I cycled 20 min) (at first I thought when I got the stiffness I might it just pulled a muscle or something from cycling or volunteering). Or is your ankle being unstable a last warning sign before you end up unconscious as my blood was very low then 1.6 (most of the time before when I was below 2 I usally struggle to keep food down however I didn’t have this problem this time)


is the ankle being unstable related or is it not? And why did I not get any symptoms before hand as normally with low sugar I get shaky/pale/sweaty/headache (especially around 3.0 but this time I didn’t. I did get stung by a wasp yesterday so Mabye my body was dealing with healing that Etc.) I’m just confused why this happened as it never has before

 

[EllieM]

Have you generally been keeping your levels lower for the last few months, weeks? Do you have a libre or cgm? It may be that you are becoming less hypo aware. (Hypo awareness is also something that can also reduce after many years of T1). Personally I became pretty hypo unaware during pregnancies with both my children, due to keeping my levels "normal" then, and have to keep my levels generally slightly higher than might be ideal because my awareness goes if I have too many hypos.

When your blood sugar is very low then pretty well everything packs up, so I personally wouldn't be too concerned about the ankles (but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be). I would be concerned about the lack of hypo warning, see if you can work out why it happened. If you are lose hypo awareness you can often regain it by keeping a bit higher (my doctor recommended a target of 6 to 12) for a few weeks.

Stay safe.

 

[Lulu9101112]

Have you generally been keeping your levels lower for the last few months, weeks? Do you have a libre or cgm? It may be that you are becoming less hypo aware. (Hypo awareness is also something that can also reduce after many years of T1). Personally I became pretty hypo unaware during pregnancies with both my children, due to keeping my levels "normal" then, and have to keep my levels generally slightly higher than might be ideal because my awareness goes if I have too many hypos.

When your blood sugar is very low then pretty well everything packs up, so I personally wouldn't be too concerned about the ankles (but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be). I would be concerned about the lack of hypo warning, see if you can work out why it happened. If you are lose hypo awareness you can often regain it by keeping a bit higher (my doctor recommended a target of 6 to 12) for a few weeks.

Stay safe.

My levels have relatively been in range compared to before when it used to be high quite a lot. I used to rarely get hypos. All though it’s becoming more regularly after I cycle somewhere. I have been type 1 since just before I was 7 and now I’m 21. So for around 14 years. Mabye your right as sometimes my blood is low around lunch and Volunteering at animal park and I didn’t realise till then. Is it possible to be less aware even though you used to be aware then?

 

[Fairygodmother]

I wonder if the extra energy required for cycling and work at the animal park is what makes you drop. Would it be worth experimenting with a snack before you cycle or do a heavy-energy job?
Do you keep records of your bs/carb/doses/activity patterns?
If you’re getting more hypos you could show your doc your records and ask for a Freestyle Libre which would help. If you’ve got a bit of spare dosh, or a birthday coming up (and Christmas is just four months away) you could pair it with a miaomiao and an app on your phone to give you alarms when your bs go too high or too low.

 

[TypeZero.]

So hello. I just wanted to share something weird

my day stared off normal and fine, I met my friend to go bowling. When we go there. My ankles started getting stiff which usually happens after sitting on a bus for a while. We were early so decided to walk around the shopping centre however when I go their my ankle just gave way to point I tripped over and I tried getting up Again the same thing happens when I got up again I was able to sit down on a bench, (my friend isn’t very aware of diabeties as he struggles to understand due to aspergers) a bystander was trying to ask, I just couldn’t speak at the time and my blood was 1.6 I always recognise low blood sugar but I didn’t this time. After eating the usuall amount of sweets I was fine within 20 mins. The thing I don’t get is why didn’t I recognise it till my ankles gave way and why does low blood sugar cause my ankles to give way? (Or was it a mixture of things as I had only just gone back to my volunteering at animal park weds and Friday, volunteering with horses Tuesday for a few weeks and before I go the bus I cycled 20 min) (at first I thought when I got the stiffness I might it just pulled a muscle or something from cycling or volunteering). Or is your ankle being unstable a last warning sign before you end up unconscious as my blood was very low then 1.6 (most of the time before when I was below 2 I usally struggle to keep food down however I didn’t have this problem this time)


is the ankle being unstable related or is it not? And why did I not get any symptoms before hand as normally with low sugar I get shaky/pale/sweaty/headache (especially around 3.0 but this time I didn’t. I did get stung by a wasp yesterday so Mabye my body was dealing with healing that Etc.) I’m just confused why this happened as it never has before

Hypo awareness can change depending how fast your BG is dropping. The hypo feeling you get is caused by stress hormones released by the body, hormones take relatively long to produce an effect. I’ve had times where I was 11.8 and injected 2 units, slept 20-30 minutes and woke up feeling fine but checked and was 2.4. For some reason I also seem to get hypo symptoms once I actually check my BG and see I’m having a hypo so I get a sinking feeling in me.

When I was undiagnosed as a T1 I used to get regular cramps in my feet and leg like I would wake up in the middle of night and would literally be on the verge of screaming. Your situation may be similar. Muscle tissue may not function correctly when blood sugar is too high or too low. There’s actually a scientific explanation for this, muscle contraction relies on molecules of ATP which store energy derived from glucose. Too low glucose and your muscles can’t contract as efficiently but in my case I had no insulin in my body so the glucose couldn’t be used by my muscles

 

[Lulu9101112]

I wonder if the extra energy required for cycling and work at the animal park is what makes you drop. Would it be worth experimenting with a snack before you cycle or do a heavy-energy job?
Do you keep records of your bs/carb/doses/activity patterns?
If you’re getting more hypos you could show your doc your records and ask for a Freestyle Libre which would help. If you’ve got a bit of spare dosh, or a birthday coming up (and Christmas is just four months away) you could pair it with a miaomiao and an app on your phone to give you alarms when your bs go too high or too low.

ill see how everything thing is when I’m next and volunteering as it seems to me fine days I don’t have ani work. I just volunteer on Tuesdays (horses), weds & Friday (animal park) and will eventually go back to my dog volunteering when they get more dogs n in(Sunday’s however not back at this yet) my blood sugar monitor is the Dario so that records a logbook off blood sugar levels.

Hypo awareness can change depending how fast your BG is dropping. The hypo feeling you get is caused by stress hormones released by the body, hormones take relatively long to produce an effect. I’ve had times where I was 11.8 and injected 2 units, slept 20-30 minutes and woke up feeling fine but checked and was 2.4. For some reason I also seem to get hypo symptoms once I actually check my BG and see I’m having a hypo so I get a sinking feeling in me.

When I was undiagnosed as a T1 I used to get regular cramps in my feet and leg like I would wake up in the middle of night and would literally be on the verge of screaming. Your situation may be similar. Muscle tissue may not function correctly when blood sugar is too high or too low. There’s actually a scientific explanation for this, muscle contraction relies on molecules of ATP which store energy derived from glucose. Too low glucose and your muscles can’t contract as efficiently but in my case I had no insulin in my body so the glucose couldn’t be used by my muscles

Thanks that makes sense

 

[EllieM]

ill see how everything thing is when I’m next and volunteering as it seems to me fine days I don’t have ani work.

I would strongly urge you to watch your levels then and maybe proactively top up before or during the session. All my bad hypos (and attendant loss of hypo awareness) have occurred when I've generally been getting a lot of hypos. Just as newly diagnosed T2s can get used to high levels and get "false" hypos at levels of 5 or 6, if you've been keeping your bgs unusually low and/or getting a lot of hypos you can end up with reduced hypo awareness. When I wasn't using a cgm (I became allergic to libre so had to stop using it) I ended up testing up to 10 times a day, including every time I leave the house and multiple times during gym sessions. I'm now self funding a dexcom which is glorious, because its alarms mean I get warned at 4.4 instead of having to rely on my (slightly sketchy) hypo awareness. But hypo awareness can be restored, my specialist just told me to aim for levels between 6 and 12 for a while.

I hate hypos with a passion, they are the thing I most hate about T1. .

Good luck, try not to let those hypos get you down (emotionally as well as bg wise.)