- Had My Very First Hypo Today -

[Delphinus]

Good thing my brother was here.

I was all over the place, shaking, confused.

I got a glucose tablet into me, and two of those tetra pak milkshakes you shake yourself.

Feeling a bit better now, but still shaking and blurred vision.

This sucks and it's scary. :(

I am still getting used to bolusing insulin.

[jenb]

Yes! Hypos can be very distressing:eek: . How low were you? Try not to over-treat it (although your body will be yelling at you to eat eat eat) as you may find yourself with a rebound high: Your liver and adrenal systems are in full flight mode, spitting out glucose and trying like heck to raise your blood sugar. Then you'll have to correct the high, and you'll be in a frustrating jag.

I always try 1 g tab first (1 gram of carb raises my bg 6 - 9 points), wait 15 minutes, then grab another if I'm not on the rise. Once I'm in a decent range I eat a little fruit and cheese and try to relax. Scary as they are, you will be OK. Glad your brother was there for support.

Take deep breaths!!!! Feel better:)

Jen

[Delphinus]

Yes! Hypos can be very distressing:eek: . How low were you? Try not to over-treat it (although your body will be yelling at you to eat eat eat) as you may find yourself with a rebound high: Your liver and adrenal systems are in full flight mode, spitting out glucose and trying like heck to raise your blood sugar. Then you'll have to correct the high, and you'll be in a frustrating jag.

I always try 1 g tab first (1 gram of carb raises my bg 6 - 9 points), wait 15 minutes, then grab another if I'm not on the rise. Once I'm in a decent range I eat a little fruit and cheese and try to relax. Scary as they are, you will be OK. Glad your brother was there for support.

Take deep breaths!!!! Feel better:)

Jen

Well, i got a drive home from work, as I do every day. And I felt it, just like that as I was getting out of the van.

Tested, I was 4.6.

You have to understand, 4.6 is VERY low for me. I am slowly coming down. Prior to this, 7.6 is as low as I have been before beginning to bolus insulin.

I checked again... 3.8. Blah.

Feeling a bit better now. As for sugar highs, would you believe I feel nothing when my sugars are up? Nothing. Literally I feel totally normal.

So even a mild low, is killer, for now, until my body starts to know them as normals.

[Delphinus]

This bolus thing, it's a whole new game for me. Tricky stuff.

[lorilei]

awww....glad you were safe jason...guess you can cross that first off your list..have you added the basal yet? watch your numbers in case you are "enjoying" the honeymoon period and your pancreas is playing up...

[jenb]

When I was first diagnosed, anything under about 100 (I think that's about 5.3 mmol) felt awful because my BG had been so high for a few months. Now I'm good down to about 65, then the shakes start.

I'll bet other people will report this too, but when I'm over 180 it sometimes feels like I'm low - muddleheaded, a little shakey, even snarky / snappy.

I feel for you with the bolses. It can take some time to get it under your belt, but all (or at least most) will be clear later! You might pick up Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner or Using Insulin by John Walsh - they both have great info about bolusing.

Good luck - let us know about your progress.

Jen

[Delphinus]

awww....glad you were safe jason...guess you can cross that first off your list..have you added the basal yet? watch your numbers in case you are "enjoying" the honeymoon period and your pancreas is playing up...

I won't be doing my basal for another three hours.

Wow... Who needs drugs when you can have this happen to you. :D

I am still really shaky, especially my hands. My sugar is back up tho, so I am in the clear I guess.

Takes a bit, right? To "recover"?

[Delphinus]

When I was first diagnosed, anything under about 100 (I think that's about 5.3 mmol) felt awful because my BG had been so high for a few months. Now I'm good down to about 65, then the shakes start.

I'll bet other people will report this too, but when I'm over 180 it sometimes feels like I'm low - muddleheaded, a little shakey, even snarky / snappy.

I feel for you with the bolses. It can take some time to get it under your belt, but all (or at least most) will be clear later! You might pick up Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner or Using Insulin by John Walsh - they both have great info about bolusing.

Good luck - let us know about your progress.

Jen

I am grabbing that book this weekend actually. The pancreas one.

Where my sugar is normally higher, this felt super bad.

[jenb]

Hypos can be pretty exhausting and it can take a while to feel like yourself. Take it easy and do something relaxing. Glad you BG has risen.

Don't be surprised if you run high later - it can happen a few hours after a low. Don't worry - it's normal! Don't overtreat a rebound high with too much correction. Take it slow and easy.

Yahoo - who needs puzzles and games when blood sugar management is so much fun :D !!!

Jen

[Delphinus]

Yahoo - who needs puzzles and games when blood sugar management is so much fun :D !!!

Jen

Yes, yes, back up into the highs where I like to be. My comfort zone. :T

[TommyC1]

Well, i got a drive home from work, as I do every day. And I felt it, just like that as I was getting out of the van.

Tested, I was 4.6.

You have to understand, 4.6 is VERY low for me. I am slowly coming down. Prior to this, 7.6 is as low as I have been before beginning to bolus insulin.

I checked again... 3.8. Blah.

Feeling a bit better now. As for sugar highs, would you believe I feel nothing when my sugars are up? Nothing. Literally I feel totally normal.

So even a mild low, is killer, for now, until my body starts to know them as normals.

First off, the driving thing, do yourself a huge favor and test your BS before you start the car EVERY TIME at least until you get in better control.

Second, when you are NOT driving or operating machinery, consider NOT treating a low until your meter says you are low. I'd wait until I went below 3.9 mmol (70 mgdl). That will help your body get used to more normal numbers so that you don't feel whacked when your numbers are good.
If you feel low but test normal, test again in 15 minutes. Sometimes that happens to me when my BS is falling rapidly.

Third, welcome to our world! We all know the consequences of running too high. While most lows are not too awful, they can be quite dangerous. Bit of a balancing act we have to do in our world.

Finally, congratulations on getting your numbers down! Live long and prosper.:cool:

Tommy

[Delphinus]

First off, the driving thing, do yourself a huge favor and test your BS before you start the car EVERY TIME at least until you get in better control.

Second, when you are NOT driving or operating machinery, consider NOT treating a low until your meter says you are low. I'd wait until I went below 3.9 mmol (70 mgdl). That will help your body get used to more normal numbers so that you don't feel whacked when your numbers are good.
If you feel low but test normal, test again in 15 minutes. Sometimes that happens to me when my BS is falling rapidly.

Third, welcome to our world! We all know the consequences of running too high. While most lows are not too awful, they can be quite dangerous. Bit of a balancing act we have to do in our world.

Finally, congratulations on getting your numbers down! Live long and prosper.:cool:

Tommy


I wasn't driving, I was a passenger. :D I get a ride home every day.

[Delphinus]

Woot!

Last reading was 5.1. :D

I am feeling really shaky tho. But I am just not used to these "lows".

[dbc]

I am still really shaky, especially my hands. My sugar is back up tho, so I am in the clear I guess.

Takes a bit, right? To "recover"?

It sure does :D My first couple of hypos had me feeling like a truck had gone over me - several times :eek: . It also took like 5-6 hours to feel normal (whatever that is ;) ) again.

Now days I seem to manage them better - very rarely have a hypo below 3.0 before I detect counteract for it, and I tend to recover a lot faster as well

The fun stuff we get to do . . . .

[TommyC1]

I wasn't driving, I was a passenger. :D I get a ride home every day.

Phew!
My little brother was probably walking around Halifax at the time.
Quit scaring me. Will ya?

Coming out of lows is funny. Sometimes as soon as I get my numbers back up it's like nothing ever happened. Other times I don't feel right for the rest of the day.

Tommy

[IrishJoe]

Well, i got a drive home from work, as I do every day. And I felt it, just like that as I was getting out of the van.

Tested, I was 4.6.

You have to understand, 4.6 is VERY low for me. I am slowly coming down. Prior to this, 7.6 is as low as I have been before beginning to bolus insulin.

I checked again... 3.8. Blah.

Feeling a bit better now. As for sugar highs, would you believe I feel nothing when my sugars are up? Nothing. Literally I feel totally normal.

So even a mild low, is killer, for now, until my body starts to know them as normals.

Yeah its all relative.. also sometimes the meter isn't 100% accurate... it could say 3.8 and you're 4.5 so you're fine or say 4.3 and you're really 3.5 and hypo.

The importanty thing is to trust your instinct. If you suddenly magically feel the urge to have cup of tea and a (low sugar) biscuit when you normall dont check your sugar. I've found that its usually on the drop and the body is wanting to avoid the hypo.

The important thing is that they wont all be like that and that you do get used to it and will be able to deal with it after a while.

[Gouranga]

Don't worry you'll soon learn to enjoy them!! (really!)

[GeishaGirl]

The importanty thing is to trust your instinct. If you suddenly magically feel the urge to have cup of tea and a (low sugar) biscuit when you normall dont check your sugar. I've found that its usually on the drop and the body is wanting to avoid the hypo.

The important thing is that they wont all be like that and that you do get used to it and will be able to deal with it after a while.

Agreed on all counts -- when I find myself reaching for a tab "because they taste good" I KNOW my sugar is low -- or going low.

Also (hate to say it this way) once you've had a few more, they'll become routine. A good way to do it is to use the SAME treatment every time, preferably something you don't eat normally. That's why I use glucose tabs. I reach for them now even when candy is available because I know they're predictable in how they fix my sugar.