Rapid heart rate, shaky still a symptom?

[kel4han]

I am wondering if you still have the same shakiness and rapid heart rate to indicate your lows? In the beginning that is how I felt my lows........now I just feel "floaty" most times and distracted. Almost an unawareness if I was too busy doing something active. I suppose sometimes I still experience the heart rate change or shakiness, but not usually anymore. I guess no lows are created equal. Not all lows drop the same, and not all lows are as threatening as others.

What is your main low indicator?

[grace girl]

It depends. I still having the shakes and a rapid heart beat on occasion, but more often than not I just feel...odd. Off in some way. I've learned to recognize those times as a time that I should test. I've found that the symptoms I get for a low depend on whether it's the lantus or the humalog that's causing it, and if it's just a low, or I'm heading into a spiral. Recently I was in walmart, felt fine, but I kept yawning. I mean, a LOT. Tested, I was low. That was a new one!

[Eddy]

I am wondering if you still have the same shakiness and rapid heart rate to indicate your lows?


Not to the same extent. The first time I dropped below 50, my heart was pounding, and I was pouring sweat. Now, that usually doesn't even happen in the 30s. (Fortunately, I rarely drop that low nowadays.)


In the beginning that is how I felt my lows........now I just feel "floaty" most times and distracted. Almost an unawareness if I was too busy doing something active.


I've had the same thing. If I'm [sufficiently] physically active, I frequently hit the 50s -- even 40s or occasionally 30s -- before I really pick up on the hypo.


I suppose sometimes I still experience the heart rate change or shakiness, but not usually anymore. I guess no lows are created equal. Not all lows drop the same, and not all lows are as threatening as others.


Rate of drop also plays a part.


What is your main low indicator?


I don't know that I have any one "main" indicator. Sometimes I'm shaky, have a rapid/hard pulse, get light-headed, have a headache, become drowsy, sound intoxicated, or just get grouchy. Except for shakiness and pulse, all those symptoms also can indicate that I'm going hyper.

In general, I just test when I feel "not right".

[Jan B]

A newer one for me is tingling in the mouth/gum or lips. Then I know I'm lower than just a "common" low.

These days, the floaty thing best describes most lows.

[UpNorth]

I still get the shakes and rapid heart rate quite often when hypo, especially if it's a Novorapid hypo- those can hit me real fast and real hard! But if i'm going low slowly, i mostly just drift off into functioning like normal but feeling like i'm in a dream or something, having difficulties to focus and wanting to sleep, so whenever i feel like i'm daydreaming, i'd better test :T

[sugardumplin]

My indicator I guess ...used to be shaky and cold sweats. Very scary feeling. But now, I go low, and I just feel weird. My forehead feels cold and the forearms feel cold. And I cant carry on a conversation. If I get up and walk while I am low, I shake uncontrollably, then I really know I am low. Riding in a car or sitting at my desk, I dont shake unless I get up. I hope this helps. I know that saying "I get a weird feeling" probably doesnt help But it is a weird feeling...

[Keezheekoni]

The only way I know is when I get the feeling of paranoia. I start thinking that someone is after me, or everyone's against me...I don't know how to really describe it.

If I get low after working out it's usually because I didn't eat a granola bar beforehand, and that's one of those "crashy" lows, where I drop 50 points in 10 minutes... those ones I get shaky and panicky. Like the feeling when you're in transition during labor.

[Eddy]

D'oh... how could I forget! Feeling confused! I'm currently 46, and having a hard time writing my post.

I sometimes experience the same tingling/cold others have mentioned, but generally in my arms.

To treat hypos inexpensively and quickly: Learn how much a mouthful of soda will affect you. I just had two mouthfuls -- open mouth, pour soda until full, swallow -- of lemon-lime soda. That should boost me by about 45 mg/dL.

*** BEGIN EDIT ***

When I'm "in tune", sometimes I can just tell what my BG will be. (It's hardest when normal, and easiest when hypo.) After having a 55 sneak up on me yesterday, I was frustrated about not sensing hypos.

With my recent one, I felt like I was in the mid-40s.

[JoanW]

The way I know I am getting pretty low is my eyesight goes really weird, like looking at a screen of pixels where there are some black ones interspersed with the other colours, sort of a broken up kind of vision. I haven't seen anyone else mention this. I used to get the lips and mouth tingling sensations, and that sometimes still happens. I can still function though even when I go really low, and manage to get myself some glucose tablets. The other thing which will bring me back up is half a glass of milk. If I take the whole glass I will go too high. It's interesting to check and see how lows affect people differently.

[SharpTail]

Some of the work I do is very high precision and meticulous requiring exceptional eye/hand coordination. If my blood glucose drops to a "low" level when I am working on something requiring such intense focus and precision I start to notice a decline in this eye/hand coordination. Generally at this point I will have no other symptoms, but invariably when I test I will detect this drop in BG.

I do have the symptoms described by others of "tingling" in my extremeties, but this usually happens after I have corrected the low and my blood sugars are rising into a good range.

The bad thing is after 26 years with Type 1 I do not feel the symptoms of low blood sugar very well. I test more frequently and especially before I drive a vehicle and am successfull in detecting the lows before they get bad.
Pat

[xMenace]

I lost the shakes at age 34, 13 years ago. 9 911's since.

Some symptoms I look for are
- sleepiness
- blurred vision
- slurred speech
- stupidness
- hunger
- loss of coordination

I've learned to think hypo when anything unusual hits me; though I have occaisionally drifted into them rather deeply.

Some other symptoms I don't notice include
- nudity
- aggressiveness
- argumentative
- convulsions
- wall ramming
- hair pulling (not mine)

[cheryl]

I get those normal symptoms after a bolus I will get the typical indicators of a low, when I bolus and within the first hour, I get that shakey heart racing....feeling...I hate those...

Now my lows with others are either hyper I am very hyper, or very groggy, or I get pms itch with a "b". Sometimes I get very paranoid, but that has been a very long time....but with all my low's I feel off, not myself...but usually the one's where I am hyper and happy is a 2 hr after bolus low....so I always test at my two hr so I know I am not concerned, and the groggy one's are always four hours after a bolus....so and when I work out or active, I just know I feel off....afterwards....I have had a few where I was like how am I low....like I have been in the 60's two hour post meal, but if I am not feeling it, I tend to wait, cause i can dip before the rise sometimes....this just happened to me...I was 67 after I ate a late dinner....but of course right before bedtime I was 108 without anything to eat, then all thru the night and morning I was 116....weird...

I test enough to catch things...so I am not really nervous of unawarness....as long as I can still feel those fast drop lows.....which I always do I am not nervous of not feeling the slow on coming low's....because I never wait too long and not have tested....and low's overnight I still jump out of my sleep in a pannic....

Cheryl

[cheryl]

I lost the shakes at age 34, 13 years ago. 9 911's since.

Some symptoms I look for are
- sleepiness
- blurred vision
- slurred speech
- stupidness
- hunger
- loss of coordination

I've learned to think hypo when anything unusual hits me; though I have occaisionally drifted into them rather deeply.

Some other symptoms I don't notice include
- nudity
- aggressiveness
- argumentative
- convulsions
- wall ramming
- hair pulling (not mine)


The other night after a site change I was a nice 108, took a bath and well, I was very argumentative towards my hubby.....I was waiting to test right before I went to sleep, but I was wondering why I just wanted to kill my husband for some reason if he even dare touch me....so I tested cause I knew something wasn't right, I was 59 LOL.....even though my hubby was like oh Cheryl you have been doing site changes for a year why are you still nervous, but I knew it wasn't my time of the month, so I was wondering why I was in KILL mode....so yea that argumentative one, is a new one I have been having to look for.....

[Eddy]

I get those normal symptoms after a bolus I will get the typical indicators of a low, when I bolus and within the first hour, I get that shakey heart racing....feeling...I hate those...


Cheryl, I'll go out on a limb, here: It might be the Humalog. Any time I'd do more than 4U of Humalog, I'd get that "adrenaline hit" feeling at one hour after injection; I, too, hated it. Happily, Novolog does not affect me the same way. I've never tried Apidra.


the groggy one's are always four hours after a bolus


For me, groggy hypos tend to be the slower ones; shakies, the faster. I wonder if your 4hr-pp hypos are due to a slow, gentle tail on your bolus.


I was 67 after I ate a late dinner


FWIW: Although Lantus faded around 22hr for me, it would drop me 40mg/dL (give or take 10) about 2hr after injection.


The other night after a site change I was a nice 108, took a bath and well, I was very argumentative towards my hubby.....I was waiting to test right before I went to sleep, but I was wondering why I just wanted to kill my husband for some reason if he even dare touch me....so I tested cause I knew something wasn't right, I was 59


Any chance you'd eaten recently? I found that showers (don't know about baths) speed up my insulin activity, making R act about as quickly as rapid. I don't dare shower when I have rapid on board.

Waiting to test... I've tried that, and found it doesn't work so well. If I'm anxious to test, it's usually better that I do. I once was walking around, wanting to test, but "couldn't be that low"... finally decided to test because I was getting confused... 32. Whoops.

[Real4]

Almost an unawareness if I was too busy doing something active. I suppose sometimes I still experience the heart rate change or shakiness, but not usually anymore. I guess no lows are created equal.
What is your main low indicator?

What you are describing is "hypo unawareness'. It is usually caused by your body becoming used to lows. The shakiness and rapid heartbeat are cause by the release of epinephrine, the "fight or flight" hormone. That will always eventually come if you go low enough. It's better to get the symptoms early rather than lat because it gives you more time to deal with them. The longer you go without a low, the more hypo awareness will return. This is one reason that many doctors don't want patients shooting for BG levels that are near normal.

[Kateri]

I rarely have low readings, I have struggled with high readings mostly. My doctor has always told me that if I experience a low, (for me that includes feeling panicked, shaky, sweating, my heart races and have an overall sense of 'doom' I can't really think of a better explanation than that.) My problem is that my doctor tells me to test when I am feeling a low. However, I have a difficult time testing, holding the strip, inserting the strip much less applying that tiny drop of blood on the strip. My hands are shaking too much. I like those smaller meters and smaller testing strips, but at the same time, when that rare time comes and I have to test because I think I am low is next to impossible to do. I then become frantic. I am not sure how I should handle this... get a meter with bigger strips for those RARE times that I feel a low? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Eddy]

My problem is that my doctor tells me to test when I am feeling a low. However, I have a difficult time testing, holding the strip, inserting the strip much less applying that tiny drop of blood on the strip. My hands are shaking too much.


Consider setting changing the lancet driver from "stun" to "kill". The times that I have difficulty drawing blood are when I'm really low. During my first sub-30 excursion -- which ended up being sub-20 -- I had the stabby wand ("lancet driver") cranked up an extra two or three settings. Bruised fingers were the least of my worries at the time.

If you're nearly always correct about being low, consider sugar first and testing afterward. I mean... if you know you're low, and testing is that difficult that is causes panic... consider sugar first and questions later.

Getting good information is important, but health and safety come first. I've had a few hypos where I decided testing could/should wait.

[cheryl]

Cheryl, I'll go out on a limb, here: It might be the Humalog. Any time I'd do more than 4U of Humalog, I'd get that "adrenaline hit" feeling at one hour after injection; I, too, hated it. Happily, Novolog does not affect me the same way. I've never tried Apidra.



For me, groggy hypos tend to be the slower ones; shakies, the faster. I wonder if your 4hr-pp hypos are due to a slow, gentle tail on your bolus.



FWIW: Although Lantus faded around 22hr for me, it would drop me 40mg/dL (give or take 10) about 2hr after injection.



Any chance you'd eaten recently? I found that showers (don't know about baths) speed up my insulin activity, making R act about as quickly as rapid. I don't dare shower when I have rapid on board.

Waiting to test... I've tried that, and found it doesn't work so well. If I'm anxious to test, it's usually better that I do. I once was walking around, wanting to test, but "couldn't be that low"... finally decided to test because I was getting confused... 32. Whoops.

Yea, I cannot even bolus for 4 units of humalog ever....I haven't done it since I started pumping just once or twice and I plumit....but I know I plumit because I am low I will be 40's or 50's errrrrrrrrr not cool....and I get groggy too with slow onset low's that is what I meant the four hour post meals are slower lows for me....cause the insulin in not peaking...

I have been comptemplating on trying novolog since I have been pumping cause first it is cheaper and two I heard it has some different effects on some people and now since all I use is fast acting the humalog is probably really kicking my behind....so I thank you for the advice really....Oh and that night I was low....I was just waiting till bedtime.....cause I didn't feel low, but I felt evil and my mind finally told me just go test, cause you are being way too mean...

Cheryl

[MinimedPumper07]

By groggy do you mean tired and depressed?

[Eddy]

Yea, I cannot even bolus for 4 units of humalog ever....I haven't done it since I started pumping just once or twice and I plumit....but I know I plumit because I am low I will be 40's or 50's errrrrrrrrr not cool....


Deja vu. (That's why I started mixing in R. A pumper would try a slower bolus.)


I have been comptemplating on trying novolog since I have been pumping cause first it is cheaper and two I heard it has some different effects on some people and now since all I use is fast acting the humalog is probably really kicking my behind....


I find that Novolog actually acts faster in me... but it doesn't feel as brutal. I use more R in my mix, or delay a bit... but at least I can use a big Novolog dose without that awful feeling.

Breaking news: Just this evening, I posted my highest reading of the year. 247. :mad: However, 4U of Novolog had me down to 78 in 1:40. For me, Humalog was less predictable... and probably would have taken longer to bring me back into range. (I used to correct major highs by using R, then having niacin to kick the circulation up.)


so I thank you for the advice really....Oh and that night I was low....I was just waiting till bedtime.....cause I didn't feel low, but I felt evil and my mind finally told me just go test, cause you are being way too mean...


It's interesting... sometimes one can't sense a high/low, but can tell "need to test".


By groggy do you mean tired and depressed?


For me: Tired, but not depressed. So far, I don't start feeling depressed unless I run high for several hours.