Scary Low

[Isometric]

I knew I was low a few hours ago - nauseous, cold sweat, etc., but I wasn't expecting to see a 33 on my meter when I shakily tested myself. I immediately began eating some candy, but within a minute or two I was full on sweating and having to concentrate for several seconds just to stand up and go get more food. Even 5 to 10 minutes after I'd eaten, I was still feeling pretty out of whack, whereas a normal hypo lasts only a couple of minutes after eating.

I'm not gonna lie - this one scared me. My wife had just left the house to go get her hair trimmed, and though I really didn't want her to be scared, I called her anyway. I've had a couple of lows where I had to just stop everything, treat it and wait, but this is the first time I actually felt like I was impaired, or close to passing out. I suppose I should be thankful that I felt it in time, but it was a bit freaky, especially considering that it was less than 2 hours after eating, and my carb count was pretty solid and pretty low, so my bolus was similarly low. Ironically, my wife grabbed the mail on her way back to the house, and my copy of Using Insulin had arrived. :) I read the first couple of chapters while I was recovering.

[EasyType2]

I know that feeling, Iso. I still remember the first really bad low when I was flat on the floor, totally helpless. It IS scary.

[Alice]

Yes, that is scary. We've all had some of those that seem to pull you way down and a long way back out of it.

I suggest drinking (and keeping handy) a 12oz Coke. The sugar will digest more quickly than a candy which often has a gum base (or fat to slow it down).

I'm sure you reached for the quickest thing you could think of...at the time. I also keep Glucose tabs all over my house, car and luggage.

Often, when down in the 30's, I eat those and drink the Coke at the same time. Drink it all, even if you feel you can't. A few sips won't help enough. You need a tummy full of sugar.

I also don't worry about "rebounding" when that low. My goal is to get out of the low...any way I can.

A more moderate low, is another story. I will judge how much I need with out "going overboard"...but in the 30's don't waste energy trying to figure out how much is enough. When you start to "come out of the fog" you can recover from a high when you are feeling better.

I know it's scary. But you did the right thing and hopefully you are feeling better.

Keep Coke and glucose tabs handy. (I keep Coke in my bathroom cabinet and in fridge)

Also, try (when you are feeling better) to figure out what happened. Was it a slow carb not matching up to insulin? And such...

[notme]

Miserable Isometric. I have done that a few times myself. It really can ruin the rest of your day. Sounds like you did the right things.


I keep a bag of snack cookies in my nightstand so I don't have to stumble down the stairs at night.

Sorry about your miserable low!

[Isometric]

Thanks for the encouragement! I did end up overdoing it and rebounding a bit too high, but I remember thinking that it didn't matter if I did at the time. I probably downed about 100g's, but I wasn't counting, and as of right now I'm probably up in the 160's, several hours removed from the hypo. Do any of you keep a glucagon shot around for something like this, or is that more for the kind of emergency that someone else has to help you deal with?

Hopefully, with the help of my new book and my endo, I can avoid these altogether!

[xMenace]

Hopefully, with the help of my new book and my endo, I can avoid these altogether!

I don't know if we can eliminate them altogether, but we can minimizes the incidence and the severity. Everything helps.

A glucagon pen helps, but my wife has never been able to catch me with one. I convulse too much and have a tendency to be violent. It's easier for her to 911 me. It's a free bill in Canada. I now take extra steps to make sure I don't go low.

I don't want to scare you, but as we get older and our control gets tighter, we tend to lose our sensitivity. I think I have a real good handle on the symptoms, but sometimes I get caught. Napping is evil.

It's not just the food that makes you high afterwards. The liver also kicks in and can keep you high for many hours. The hormones released can be like a dawn phenomenon and make you insulin resistant too.

[gettingby]

Sorry to hear about your scary low. I've had quite a few of those myself. I try to keep the little 8oz cans of Sprite close by the bed and in the fridge. And, I also keep glucose tabs within reach.

[soso]

Yuk.. I I hate the hypo-overs as well..... That's how they get me Isometric, just the insulin getting there first, or sometimes if I do too much right after eating.. I had that happen in a shop last week, I caught it just in time, but still had a full on shaking sweat for a couple of minutes..I always use glucose tabs for the scary ones, they do work fast.
Hope you are feeling better now..

[cheryl]

My really good friend told me, that if I have overdid a low, while I am recovering if you catch it before it hits 100 your bg's that is then bolus like this, say you probably needed 15-30 carbs for the low right but you know you so over did, it....So lets say I ate about 60, So I would bolus for atleast 30 of those carbs....hey it has worked for me on a couple of occasions.....especially when I was at the lake with the kids with no cell phone bg was dropping and I was 50 and still drinking coke, I ended up drinking the whole can, when I hit 100 bolused for 20 carbs of the can.....I told the children get in the van we are going home, since i live 5 minutes away from the lake entrance, and did ok, yea I was 140ish for dinner that night but so much better then what i would of been LOL.......I was so pannicked being alone and it was the first low on the pump that didn't shoot right back up, when I drank half the can....scarey scarey....but I knew when I was around 100 I was ok, bolused ran home so I would be in a safe enviornment LOL....Don't worry we were gonna go home in about an hour anyway, we were already their for 5 hrs so I didn't really mess up their day LOL.....

Cheryl

[aeromarv]

Had a similar incindent. Only mine was after I went to sleep for the nite. Woke up once sweating thinking how hot it was in the room and went back to sleep. Started with convulsive like shaking and woke my wife. She couldn't wake me. 2 paramedics, one engine crew, and an IV later, I woke up to see the emergency crews standing in my bedroom around my bed. Very scary.

[Bunkins]

I couldnt imagine waking up with emergency personel standing around my bed.. But then again I live alone, so I dont see that happening lol...

I've been down into the low 40's a few times ( had one today infact, didnt see that coming at all, been low all day after that for some odd reason ), but I know I've been lower but grabbing for the meter was the last thing on my mind.. So anymore I keep 2 rolls of glucose tabs next to my bed along with a candy bar, glucose tabs in both of the trucks and in my laptop bag.. I'm alone 95% of the time, so it's pretty much up to me to get myself out of it..

The few times I've really been scared is due to being diabetic, by either going low or getting really sick.. Brings a new meaning to being scared, for me atleast..

[Alice]

My feeling is that if you are capable of putting something in your mouth, opening a Coke can from you bedside table, etc.,...then you probably won't need a Glucagon injection. Don't treat those severe lows with anything else "bonded" to other ingredients...just get sugar into your system.

Digesting the other ingredients can really slow down your glucose absorption...while that is fine in normal circumstances, a severe low wants to pull you down. You just want sugar going in, for a few minutes at least.

I have taken a unit or two of Humalog after coming out (an hour or so later) of a rebound...knowing I overtreated with carbs. But, I'm not recommending that for everyone. Sometimes you just need to sit and get your wits back around you...it all evens out in in the wash...