unexplained hypos

[mike_poulson]

my daughter (14)is in hospital at the moment. she has been having massive hypos in the evening after dinner all week and no one knows why. the insulin has been drastically reduced and she's starting to feel low even when her blood is in the 20's!

has anyone ever experienced anything at all like this?

mike

[JJM335]

Is that 20's mg/dl (US system) or 20's mM (rest of the world)? The first is very low, the second very high.

[xMenace]

I have heard of people who are chronically high experiencing symptoms of hypos with modest reductions in BGs even though they are still very high. Has she been in the 20's or 30's for some time? Keep in mind with a 14yr old you may not be getting the full story. She could be practicing things like diabulimia behind your back. It seems in these cases that coming back down to normal is quite uncomfortable.

Keep us up to date please and good luck.

[REDLAN]

(I.m assuming from the way the post is written that we are talking mmols)

The point at which a person feels low can be quite variable. By running blood sugars higher for a period of time the body resets the point at which you feel a hypo to a higher level.

(the reverse happens if you keep your blood sugars very low)

secondly there are quite a few people who can experience the symptoms of a hypo when they are in fact high. The only way to be sure is to test.

The symptoms that people experience whilst low are highly individual, and can vary within the individual themselves. It is also possible to confuse other symptoms/feelings with a hypo

Hypo symptoms can be broken down into 2 types

1) adrenergic - This is your fight/flight response. The body responds to the dropping BG by releasing catecholamines (stress hormones) which stimulate the liver to release glucose into the blood stream. The adrenergic response produces the "classic" hypo symptoms pallor, sweating, shaking, butterflies in the stomach. Typically the younger you are and the less time you have had diabetes the stronger this response. It is possible to confuse a normal adrenergic response e.g. feeling anxious with having a hypo. I personally have experienced this on several occasions (when I was younger I might add)

2) neurological - if you miss the adrenergic symptoms, then once your BG get's to around 2 mmol/l you will instead experience neural effects - essentially the low glucose prevents your brain from working properly, and you get symptoms such as confusion, slurring of speech, erratic behaviour etc. Neurological symptoms can be especially hard to recognise.

My thoughts on this with the information you have provided are...

1) It is very common for puberty to affect blood sugars and diabetes quite dramatically - typically occurs during growth spurts. This could explain your daughters erratic blood sugars.

2) your daughter is in fact confusing hypo symptoms with a state of general anxiety.

3) You do not say what your daughter's general control is like. Can I suggest that one possible reason is that she has been running higher blood sugars and has managed to set the level at which she experiences a hypo to a higher blood sugar.

[kgm0612]

Hi Mike & Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry your daughter is not feeling well and hope she feels better soon.

What type of insulin is she on?

Karen

[mike_poulson]

the hospital moved to novorapid three times a day with each meal and glargine at night

mike