Going Low and Hypo.. what can I do to help?

[Shaz]

Hello,

I have a quick couple of questions, my awesome partner is a Type 1 diabetic, and I'm trying to find advice on how to help him during a hypo or even better, how to get my partner to take sugar when I can see he's going low but he's already too low (and too stubborn) to accept and food. I've tried the submissive approach, polite, amicable, and forceful approach. None of it seems to work very well.

Also when he goes through a hypo (which has been up to once a week over these last two months) should I just let him go through it and then offer him food when he's come out of it? Or is that the wrong way to do it and I should be trying to get sugar into him before this and should I be quite forceful? (as he pushes everything (sugar/food) away and tries to get up and falls down during his convulsions).

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Stuboy]

try not to force, but tell him to at least check his levels if you think he is low, sometimes we dont know that we're low but others can see that we are by the way we act (silly). Do you have a glucogen hypo kit incase he passes out? If not, get one, it's good an an emergancy.

[Shaz]

Thanks for the info, I will speak to him and ask him to get a glucogen kit as we don't have one.

Also because his stress levels have increased (new job, new baby) and he's not getting a good nights sleep would this affect his sugar levels? If so is there something I can include in our meals that would help, ie more slow burning carbs, more fruit, or..?

Three weeks in a row now he's had a big meal and 2 hours later his sugar went from normal to low to hypo within the space of 30 mins. I can only guess that's a combination of stress and being run down? Perhaps he took too much insulin? I'm just interested in possible causes as the hypos are coming so often.

..and just following on from my last question, is he at a serious risk if I don't give him sugar (or inject him) DURING his hypo and instead wait till after he's over it?

[cheryl]

Thanks for the info, I will speak to him and ask him to get a glucogen kit as we don't have one.

Also because his stress levels have increased (new job, new baby) and he's not getting a good nights sleep would this affect his sugar levels? If so is there something I can include in our meals that would help, ie more slow burning carbs, more fruit, or..?

Three weeks in a row now he's had a big meal and 2 hours later his sugar went from normal to low to hypo within the space of 30 mins. I can only guess that's a combination of stress and being run down? Perhaps he took too much insulin? I'm just interested in possible causes as the hypos are coming so often.

..and just following on from my last question, is he at a serious risk if I don't give him sugar (or inject him) DURING his hypo and instead wait till after he's over it?



The last part don't wait I don't think he will snap out of it, i have never gotten that bad you can get pancake syrup or that cake decortaing icing stuff in a tub and rub it on his gums if it makes it easier to be forceful till he starts to come to his senses he can check and then he might be able to fix it better,

Cheryl

[johgn]

Three weeks in a row now he's had a big meal and 2 hours later his sugar went from normal to low to hypo within the space of 30 mins. I can only guess that's a combination of stress and being run down? Perhaps he took too much insulin? I'm just interested in possible causes as the hypos are coming so often.

..and just following on from my last question, is he at a serious risk if I don't give him sugar (or inject him) DURING his hypo and instead wait till after he's over it?

He DEFINITELY needs sugar during a hypo, he could die!

For the first question it's probably just too much insulin. Stress usually causes blood sugar readings to go up but it's also possible he's lost weight or something, reducing his insulin need.

[Shaz]

The last part don't wait I don't think he will snap out of it

Ok this is where I'm getting confused perhaps what is happening to him every time he drops to the floor and convulses isn't a hypo? Because he ALWAYS snaps out of it after 5 minutes and then there's a 20 minute space where he's fine, I assume adrenaline kicks in for those 20 mins, at which point I make him eat something. It's definitely cos his sugars low (even he says it) BUT IS this a hypo? He has never blacked out from it (knock wood)? Has anyone else had this experience?

[cheryl]

I wish there was a way that you can check his sugar when he has a convulsion and then check it when he snaps out to determine what is going on, I heard people having convulsions with a hypo but I think they have always got sugar in them before they snap out of it. I can see your confusion but it is better to be safe and get sugar in him because he might not always snap out of it and black out.....This is where those continous glucose monitors would help, he should talk to the dr about wearing one for three days and if he has an attack they can see where his sugar is ranging......


Hang in there

cheryl

[lgvincent]

I tend to act that way a lot when my blood sugar is low. For me, force will not work because I'll only try to resist that much more. What does help is someone asking me to check my blood sugar because telling me to do so will only make me resist, too. I'll usually check it when asked to do so although not always.

[christie]

for me at times even when i'm low and people can tell i'm low,i'd swear i was fine. and stress for me can make my sugars go up or down.my endo was saying how most people with stress makes them high,but as i pointed out to him,everyone is different.

[MJM]

Hello,

I have a quick couple of questions, my awesome partner is a Type 1 diabetic, and I'm trying to find advice on how to help him during a hypo or even better, how to get my partner to take sugar when I can see he's going low but he's already too low (and too stubborn) to accept and food. I've tried the submissive approach, polite, amicable, and forceful approach. None of it seems to work very well.

Also when he goes through a hypo (which has been up to once a week over these last two months) should I just let him go through it and then offer him food when he's come out of it? Or is that the wrong way to do it and I should be trying to get sugar into him before this and should I be quite forceful? (as he pushes everything (sugar/food) away and tries to get up and falls down during his convulsions).

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Generally speaking when he gets to a certain place in a hypo there is nothing you can do to change. I know this from experience myself. When you reach a certain low all logic goes out the window and the symptoms tend to kick in. When that happens, memory of the event can be lost.Are these hypos occuring at the same time of day each week? If so perhaps you need to look at the bolus taken for the prior meal. If I knew what regime he was on, it would be easier to give you more definite advise. Perhaps testing a lot more often would help, as he will see when his sugars are starting to fall and take appropriate action early and avoid the hypo totally. The more hypos he has the less he will become aware of them. When he's having the hypo the symptoms should become apparent for some time before he actually collapes. When he has too many the brain accepts them as normal and doesn't warn of their approach. How to overcome that is to try and get to a situation where he doesn't have hypos for a period of time and the awareness will come back. Letting him go through the hypo is not a good idea. Call a doctor or ambulance in such a situation if you don't have glucogen. Hope you both can sort this.
P.S. If he's unconsious don't try to give him anything to eat or drink as he could choke.