Hypos that leave you feeling chilled

[Coppernob]

I am curious as to whether anyone else experiences this - when I have a really bad hypo - around 30 mg/dL (1.67 mmol/L) - I sweat so much that my clothes are soaked through. When my blood sugar is back to normal, I completely change my clothes but then will feel chilled through for more than half an hour. This happens in the middle of the night too and then the duvet is not enough to keep me warm.
Obviously the best way to avoid this is not to have those hypos - I do try! They just have a way of sneaking up on me sometimes.

[mwd]

i know what u r talking about. have had some of those ones in the middle of the nite only. sweaty...then freezing for more than 1/2 hr. i try avoiding them too, specially nypos but they do show up on me too, buddy:(

[notme]

Oh heck yeh Anne. I have that happen when I got low almost all the time. I have had to change clothes, sheets and I will still be chilled. If I am not sleeping and I have a bad hypo, I will usually have to change clothes and get warm. Miserable. I feel your pain. I hate hypos.

[Jules49]

Be proud that you do have them. I no longer do. Mine were always worse at night and would be starving and over eat. Now I tend to get sleepy. Can't check my bg everytime I do get sleepy. My mother used to make me call her when I got up. She is gone now but I was checking on her too because of her age.

[Peggy]

My husband's hypos are like that, usually at night. In fact, that's what usually alerts me to wake him up. When I roll over and touch him and he's cold and clammy, I wake him and head for the kitchen before I'm really even awake!

[jen_slc]

Yes, those nighttime sweats are a horrible feeling. It's usually the first indication that my blood sugar is low in the middle of the night: I wake up because I'm too hot. I kick the covers off because they stick to me with all that sweat. If I realize I'm low at that point, I'll drink some Coke and wrap myself up in a cocoon to ride out the chills and get back to sleep. Sometimes I don't realize I'm low though, so after waking up because of being too hot/sweaty and kicking the covers off, I'll fall back to sleep, only to wake up again in an hour or so because I'm freezing to death. When that happens, I never really warm up the rest of the night.

[xMenace]

My husband's hypos are like that, usually at night. In fact, that's what usually alerts me to wake him up. When I roll over and touch him and he's cold and clammy, I wake him and head for the kitchen before I'm really even awake!

You sound like my wife ... hmmm :stupido2:


I once had one while camping. I was sooooo cold in the morning when I woke.

[Scratch]

Yeah, I've had those, although I haven't had one for a good long time now, so that's good. The worst one I ever had was pretty scary, I didn't have any fast-acting carbs near the bed and as soon as I tried to stand up and walk to get to the fridge where there were sodas, I toppled forward. The rest of the trip was like that pretty much, crawling, trying to stand up with one standing up resulting in a fall that took the skin off the front of my left knee, finally getting to the fridge and I was so scared and confused I drank probably 4 to 6 cans of coke. Then I crawled back to bed, pulled off the sheets that were soaking wet from the sweat, wrapped myself up in the blankets that had been thrown off earlier, and shivered until I drifted back into sleep. Yuck.

[notme]

Famous Amos makes little bags of their chocolate chip cookies. The bag has six small cookies that have 27 carbs. I keep those in my nightstand and only eat them if I wake up low. I won't over eat by going to the kitchen and I know exactly how many carbs to calculate. I think there are other brands of little bags of cookies. They are sealed and stay fresh for a long time.

[Mich]

Unfortunately there is a reason why old timers call it "insulin shock." All of the physio effects of having alow blood sugar are exactly the same as someone who is going into shock after an injury.

When they tell you to keep a shock victim warm with a blanket or jacket until help arrives it's because of the same chill. It's caused (in an injury) by your body's reaction to adrenalin for the fight or flight thing. Makes all of your blood go to the organs to keep you alive and leaves the extremities cold.

Must be sort of the same reaction for us. I freeze after a bad one too. To the point of shivering sometimes. One of the limitless joys of being diabetic :cool:

PS Good tip on the Famous Amos, Nancy!

[xMenace]

I freeze after a bad one too. To the point of shivering sometimes. One of the limitless joys of being diabetic :cool:


And you live in California (probabilities say a warm place). Try having one when it's -15c outside and close to freezing in the house!

[Coppernob]

Thanks everyone for your replies - it makes me feel: well OK this is apparently a normal response. I guess the saying Misery loves company applies here!
Peggy, your comment about your husband's hypos reminded me of my husband's role through two pregnancies - I would get so low in the night that I couldn't help myself - he either had to administer juice or give me a shot of glucagon. Now he will check that I am OK or let me know that my pump is making a noise.
Nancy, I find for myself that juice is faster than any type of food. I no longer enjoy OJ for itself, just think of it as an emergency item! I keep apple juice boxes in the car but from reading your 2nd post realize that I could keep some by the bed! Silly how I get locked into one course of action but it is an automatic response - walk to the kitchen.
Again, thank you all for your responses :)

[Coppernob]

Mich, thank you for that insight - it makes total sense now that you mention it. I love it when things make sense. :)

[Jan B]

Mich, thank you for that insight - it makes total sense now that you mention it. I love it when things make sense. :)

Me too -- love for things to make sense! Anne, Almost everything you have said sounds like me. It's funny how we get into habits and need a little bell to go off (someone suggesting hints like cookies/glucose by the bed, not in the kitchen!). When I would wake up severely low from lantus (thankfully not anymore), I would often stand in front of the refrigerator with it open and just look in there for a long time, not knowing what to do. Something in a drawer by the bed would have helped a lot more!

[UpNorth]

It doesn't happen very often when i have hypos. but it has happened a few times and **** it's not nice at all!
I do keep both juice and glucose tabs just next to bed though...

[Simons70]

Hi- We can all relay with each other when we have lows. But as I have gotten older I no longer have sweats and my signs are extremely subtle and I must be very careful that I pay attention to any little sign. I have been insulin dependent for 64 years now.
I like Nancy's idea of the little bags of sealed cookies by her bed. If I did that than I would not over eat. Thanks Nancy.
Everyone have a good week end.
Simons

[Simons70]

I think we can all have empathy with everyone who is D. I no longer get the sweats. My hypo symptoms havce chang3ed a lot and now are very subtle. I must pay attention to any little symptom. But than I have been insulin dependent for 64 years.
I like Nancy's idea of keeping little sealed packets of cookies by her bed. Than I would not over eat which I usually do. So I will try her idea.
Have a good week end.
Simons

[squidsdc]

My signs are often much more subtle these days. I do still get the sweats sometimes, though. I keep my tester next to the bed and am often testing half asleep. I also keep glucose tabs next to me. (Sour apple is my favorite) That prevents me from over treating a low, which was a problem before I was on the pump. I find I still feel low, even thought my bs has come back above 100. Last time I tracked it, I didn't feel better until my bs was around 180.

It was one of those lightbulb suggestions from my husband. Not sure when I started, but I know since an accident I had he doesn't like me walking around when I'm low. A long time ago, when I was still living at my parents house, I awoke low and crawled to my brother's door at the top of the stairs and told him I felt low. That's all I remember. Apparently, I blacked out and fell down the stairs, and was the recipient of a huge goose egg above my eye. Thankfully, that was all--it could have been much worse.

I started with the juice boxes, but they would send my bs too high in the other direction. The tabs work best for me. I'm often 40 or below when I wake to test these days, and unfortunately, the sweats are not what awaken me. But when I do get the sweats, the chills follow.

[Eddy]

I've only had the sweating a few times -- usually when setting a new record low. (At this point, I'd better avoid setting any new records.) Chilly hypos? Oh, yeah. Been there, done that.

[Cormac_Doyle]

It's rare that I have hypo's ... but yep - I sweat RIVERS ... I've woken up (3 hours later than my alarm clock was set) and my matress, duvet and pillow were all so wet that it took 2 days to dry the mattress!

When it happens during the day, I can recognise the symptoms, but my problem is that when I start to eat, I can't stop myself, and I end up riccocheing sky-high ...