Paralyzed by night time low?

[kel4han]

I have NEVER had a low over night in the past 3yrs since dx. Last night was the 1st night I changed my sensitivity on my pump from 1:70 to 1:50.

I corrected a 214 at bedtime and by midnight (2.5hrs later) I heard the alarm going off to check my daughter (7)who is Type 1 as well. I couldn't "wake up" or get up although I felt awake and was hearing the alarm. I remember laying there feeling like my entire body was shaking. I wasn't sweaty and I didn't feel low, I just couldn't respond to get up for the alarm clock. I remember thinking my daughter was shaking (she was sleeping in my bed) and that one of us was urgently low or seizing, but I couldn't get up, and I never did until around 2:30am when I leaped from bed. I checked her, she was good. But I was 240!! There is no way that the correction didn't even touch my 214 at bedtime, I wonder if I rebounded causing the 240?

I still dont know if I was dreaming, or if I was paralyzed by a low. Anyone ever had this happen? Today I am kinda freaked out about the whole thing wondering what was really happening.......

[notme]

Kelly, I am so sorry this happened to you. I know how scary it is to look back and know you made a bad decision, even if you had no control.

I have had a couple of lows recently that were quite frightening and I really made bad choices.

About a month ago, I felt low and checked my blood sugar (it was 10:00 am). I thought the meter read 32. I was very thirsty, but knew I had to eat. Now for the bad decision. I went to the fridge (mind you it is 10 am) and I saw a beer in the fridge. I was so thirsty that I opened the beer and seriously chugged it. I went to the couch and laid down and went to sleep. I woke up about an hour later and realized what I had done. Lucky for me, just before I felt low, I had eaten a scone and had not bolused. I was totally freaked out by my bad judgement. I looked at my meter's memory and my blood sugar had been 21.

A few nights later, I was in bed going to sleep and I felt low. My husband was not home from a meeting and I was alone in the house except for my dogs. I made it down the stairs and remember drinking milk. After that, I don't remember anything else for at least an hour when I found myself sitting at my computer and not knowing what to do. I had no clue why I was at the computer or what it was I was supposed to be doing at that moment. I managed to turn it off and I do remember going back up the stairs to bed. When I got up the next morning, I didn't know how much was true or how much I was dreaming. Once again, I checked my meter and I was in the 20's.

Low blood sugar affects me differently all of the time. I do make very bad decisions when I am low and sometimes I can't remember if what I did was real or something I imagined. Very scary.

[xMenace]

No you're not alone Kelly. I'm a totally zombie when I wake up with lows. I've gone back to sleep and woken up sky-high too, usually covered in sweat.

I went to the fridge (mind you it is 10 am) and I saw a beer in the fridge. I was so thirsty that I opened the beer and seriously chugged it.

Nancy, that is hilarious! :D

[DeusXM]

Could be sleep paralysis. I've heard that your body paralyses itself when you're dreaming in order to prevent you acting out your dream - and sometimes if you get brought out of REM sleep too quickly, the paralysis system gets a bit screwed up and so you're awake but unable to open your eyes or move for a short while.

It's happened to me a couple of times and it's a bit freaky :eek:

[Wild Hawg]

Kelly,

Just a thought -- whenever you change your insulin dosages it's best to do it early in the day instead of at night to prevent overnight hypos. If you were increasing your dosage from one insulin unit per 70 carbs to 1 per 50 as it sounds, that's nearly a 30% increase in dosage in one step. I hope you and your doctor are getting your situation under control. Good luck in your pursuit!

[RobiJo]

Definitely sounds like you rebounded. Perhaps you need 2 correction rates, or at least different targets. My nighttime target is 20mg/dl higher than during the day.

I have a much harder time getting out of bed when I'm low. I can hit the snooze but I can't do anything else. I try to keep juice boxes in my nightstand just for that reason.