My worst night

[Mario]

Last night, I got a very bad episod. The worst that I ever had since I'm diabetic.

I woke up at 2am with a big hypo so I eat some sugar stuff and my BG raise. I slept about 2 hours and the nightmare start at 4am. I woke up with a big headache, maybe the biggest I ever had. I seriously tought that it could be a stroke or a cerebral embolism. It was like my head will broke in two parts. I also felt like I was in a low blood pressure, like if I could go unconscious. I felt weak, nauseous and sweaty. Like if it was an hypo but my BG was 24mmol at this moment (432 mg/l) and my ketones were at 0,1 mmol which is not high. I vomit a lot but no food, just some stomach liquid. I give myself a bolus for the hyper and took a gravol after vomiting. After that, I felt ok but the headache remains for 12 hours.

I never felt so bad, one moment, I wish to faint because I felt so bad.

Did someone ever felt like this ? I never felt like that in hyper, I don't think it is the hyper. I talk about this with my girlfriend and she don't know what happen too.

hope you'll understand, this one wasn't easy to translate !!!

[2high]

YIKES Mario!!!

being so sick might have been from the huge swing from low to 24... I know I often get ill when that happens, or is there a chance you had some sort of short-lasting stomach bug??

I sure hope that doesn't happen again!!

[xMenace]

I have gone from hypo to hyper more times than I care to remember. It never gave me a headache.

[ant hill]

Yes i think you have had a stomach bug and because you are low because the food did not reach the point of using the insulin!! Yes my head is spinning and sickly high (floating) so because that insulin still in me had to eat something and wondered what?? I cannot eat!!! Then something liquid and sweet and hope to god that i don't throw it up!! Anyway i decided to calm down and just sip on the sweet drink and i had to stay up out of bed because if i did the insulin reaction will be worse. A night that i wont forget. :eek: :confused:

[Cyborg]

It sucks going from super low to super high. What kind of "sugar stuff" did you treat your hypo with? Why didn't you treat with glucose? If you check your bg before treating and you know your bg to carb ratio, it's very easy to not overtreat a hypo. If you don't know your bg to carb ratio, then the general rule for treating hypos is 15g carbs, wait 15 minutes and recheck the bg. Repeat if necessary.

[Scratch]

It sucks going from super low to super high. What kind of "sugar stuff" did you treat your hypo with? Why didn't you treat with glucose? If you check your bg before treating and you know your bg to carb ratio, it's very easy to not overtreat a hypo. If you don't know your bg to carb ratio, then the general rule for treating hypos is 15g carbs, wait 15 minutes and recheck the bg. Repeat if necessary.
That's true, but sometimes it's tough. I had a nasty hypo while at work this week, when I measured my blood sugar it was 32 mg/dl. I had my roll of glucose tabs and when I get that low and there's sweat popping out of every pore of my body, those things taste really good for a change. I thought I would stop at 3 tablets, but I ended up eating the whole tube because I was in the dazed and confused kind of state where my most basic thought was, "Sugar sugar sugar."

Fortunately because it was during the day, I was able to cover the extra carbs with a bolus injection, but at night, it's tougher to do that. I have had a few of those nighttime hypos where the only thing I could do was consume a gargantuan amount of carbs, then crawl back into bed.

[Cyborg]

I always sleep with a bottle of glucose tabs within an arm's reach away. I know it's hard since the adrenaline is flowing, but self-control is the key when treating a low. :vroam:

[Scratch]

I always sleep with a bottle of glucose tabs within an arm's reach away. I know it's hard since the adrenaline is flowing, but self-control is the key when treating a low. :vroam:
Understood, I'm just emphasizing that while we can know that, especially in the comfort of detached reflection, it is much more difficult that self-control will always be present at times when all we have available to many of us is instinctual self-preservation. We can take measures to mitigate against that, by making plans for emergencies, but there are emergencies that will panic even the best of us.

I wish to emphasize this because at times when we get a voice to speak to others about what we live with, this is critical in pointing out that our current treatment of symptoms is not a cure. I think sometimes it is too easy for non-diabetics to think that it's almost as good as a cure with with wonderfully increased sophistication of treatment, it is still crude and pales in comparison to the automatic functions of a pancreas which would never have us waking up in the middle of the night, shaking, sweating, scrounging desperately for a source of sugar to keep us alive.

[owlyn]

That's true, but sometimes it's tough. I had a nasty hypo while at work this week, when I measured my blood sugar it was 32 mg/dl. I had my roll of glucose tabs and when I get that low and there's sweat popping out of every pore of my body, those things taste really good for a change. I thought I would stop at 3 tablets, but I ended up eating the whole tube because I was in the dazed and confused kind of state where my most basic thought was, "Sugar sugar sugar."

Fortunately because it was during the day, I was able to cover the extra carbs with a bolus injection, but at night, it's tougher to do that. I have had a few of those nighttime hypos where the only thing I could do was consume a gargantuan amount of carbs, then crawl back into bed.

I've had those same situations happen to me. More than once. It's frustrating because I kind of know I'm doing it, but I think instinct takes over, and I overcompensate. I know I should do the 15/15, and I can when my bg is maybe 50, but once it goes below that, reason goes out the window.

[Cyborg]

I agree that self-control in times of a hypo can be difficult. Even doing the math can be hard if you can't think straight. I woke up last night at 1:30 am with a 46 bg. It was hard enough to calculate how many tabs I needed, but knowing that 1 tab will bring me up about 12 points, I took 3 tabs. After about 10-15 minutes I felt much better, popped 1 more tab for safety and went back to sleep. Woke up this morning with a bg of 76. My target bg is 80...

[kate]

That's true, but sometimes it's tough. I had a nasty hypo while at work this week, when I measured my blood sugar it was 32 mg/dl. I had my roll of glucose tabs and when I get that low and there's sweat popping out of every pore of my body, those things taste really good for a change. I thought I would stop at 3 tablets, but I ended up eating the whole tube because I was in the dazed and confused kind of state where my most basic thought was, "Sugar sugar sugar."

Fortunately because it was during the day, I was able to cover the extra carbs with a bolus injection, but at night, it's tougher to do that. I have had a few of those nighttime hypos where the only thing I could do was consume a gargantuan amount of carbs, then crawl back into bed.


Thats interesting that you sweat when low.... I sweat when high... I do get a headache when low however.. thats when my body is craving food... but I sweat and have to urinate more when high.

I've often wondered if excessive sweating had something to do with anything until I was diagnosed and "cured".

Obviously I did nothing about my query until I was hospitalized.

Ignorance is not bliss.

I rarely have a sweating problem now.

Best Wishes to everyone.

[Cyborg]

If I go too low, I sweat like crazy too. I litterally have to change my shirt...

[Dewey]

Hi Mario,

Sorry to hear this happened to you! :( I hope you are feeling better.

I too, have had a swing from hypos to hyper (low to high sugar levels) and have had a headache as a result. Usually though, I don't get sick or throw up. Sometimes, when I'm low, I'll get sick (or even throw up), but not when I go high.

It could be that something else is going on (like your body is trying to fight something off before it begins?). It also could be that your body just reacted in that way from going low to high...Each of us can react so differently that it's hard to say why that happened.

I'm just glad you're ok now. (((((Hugs)))))

[tanyatype1]

I've had those same situations happen to me. More than once. It's frustrating because I kind of know I'm doing it, but I think instinct takes over, and I overcompensate. I know I should do the 15/15, and I can when my bg is maybe 50, but once it goes below that, reason goes out the window.

When I'm low, I eat my glucose tablets and then sip on a bottle of sweet tasting Crystal Light so that I don't overcompensate. Sipping on the sweet, but carb-free drink, helps to control the overwhelming urge to eat everything sugary in sight! As the low subsides, so does the urge. :)

[gettingby]

Wow Mario !! I'm sorry you had such a bad night. {{{Hugs}}}.
I'm glad you are doing a little better.
I find that if I go from real low to high, I get a headache.

[grace girl]

Hypos while sleeping always result in a MAJOR headache for me in the morning, and I feel hungover all day long, and have been fairly close to vomiting from it. I think the major swing in bs plays a huge part it in it all, too.

[Mario]

My first reaction was also to think that it was a stomach bug or some king of food indigestion. I ate 2 bread slices that I dip in maple sirup. Usually, that don't make me so high. I give myself insulin for the second slice. The first was for the hypo. I ate two because when I'm on hypo, I want to eat all that is in the refrigerator. Maybe my body did an over-reaction with glucagon also.

I don't feel or think that the hyper was the reason of feeling so bad. It happen rarely but it happen to but at 24mmol. When this happen, I felt like in hyper, no like this night.

I have headache only in hypo, never on hyper. I suffer of migraine for 3 years now and my migraine are never so painful.

I hope this will never happen again. Not funny.

[HollyB]

Salut Mario!

I don't have anythingvery helpful to add, just wanted to say it's nice to hear from someone from Québec city. I spent two summers there as a student and still have such great memories. You're lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

Glad you're feeling better. Just a thought -- injected glucagon can make people throw up, maybe a liver dump could as well? Don't know about the headache though -- that sounds horrible. Though you say you suffer from migraines -- I know a girl with diabetes and migraines and for her, lows are a trigger. So maybe some connection there...

[Mario]

Thanks HollyB.

I found recently that drinking red wine gives me these migraine. I usually drink only one glass but it is enough to give me migraine. Since I stopped drinking red wine, my migraine also stopped. :albertein

[KickStart101]

Hi Mario: Always Good to see Ya. :)
You speak fine.

I'm sorry to hear that you were in so much
pain and anguish.

The big headache, feeling that you had a
stroke,etc., and feeling like your head broke
in two parts all rang a bell with me.

I have never had migraines or much problems
with headaches(kow)but WOW, that was one
prizewinner headache I had that day. It felt
like my skull and brain had cracked in two pieces.
It was a sunny day and I was doing something.

My blood pressure has always been fine. I didn't
get headaches with high blood sugar. I wasn't
nauseous(sp), weak or sweaty either. Just one
massive headache. I felt fine otherwise. I just
laid down and asked Hubby to get me a Tylenol 3.
It lasted many hours.

Unfortunately, I had dropped my Endo and other
Specialists before that, except for 2, because I
was sick of all the appointments so I couldn't ask
him about it. I hadn't checked my sugar so I
presumed it was unusually high and something not
Good happened. I don't feel that it has effected
my brain in any way....although some would rush
to disagree. :D

That happened about 22 yrs. ago and hasn't happened
since(kow)thankfully. I sure hope that it doesn't
happen to you again either. Take Good Care.


p.s. I thought I had read somewhere that migraines
can sometimes cause weakness and nausea. I also
believe I read that People can have strokes and not
even know it. Perhaps that is incorrect.

Hey, had you been out in the hot sun that day. I was.
Maybe related to sunstroke??

(A BIG HUG to Antoine).

[Mario]

Thanks Kickstart101,

You are true, sometimes, my migraine gives me weakness and nausea but in my case, it is about 25% of the time.

You had also a big sunny hot day in Ontario as I see. I work al the day outside but always in shadow, not in direct sun. And I drink a lot so I don't think it was a sunstroke or something like that. That's why I didn't mention it. And it wasn't a heavy work, I just stained my deck, not a big exercise.

[Penny]

Hi Mario, Haven't seen any pictures of the little guy for awhile. :) I don't think or speak clearly when I am having a low, thank God my husband has learned to know when I need help without me asking.