Lisa: the CGM will be a great thing, when they finally get it right. I was incredibly disappointed in it when I first got it. I use the Minimed system. I generally find that the CGM does a decent job of tracking trends, but, for me, it tends to smooth things out alot, not get to the extremes that my meter does, and lags behind the meter.
I usually know that I am low before the sensor tells me that I am.
I’ve now accepted the inadequacies of the CGM and rely on it mostly for trend analysis for setting basals and boluses. I wish it could be more reliable for alarms if I get too low, but it is not ready for that yet, at least in my experience.
I generally do not treat my lows until 70 or less, unless I am trending down and am getting close to 70.
Lisa,
This is Karen. It has been interesting to read all the replies you got on this topic. I am a new diabetic, diagnosed January 12th, 2008, so this information has really been helpful. I have had 5 or 6 lows since coming home from the hospital. I was told the reason I felt them so fast was because i had been so high for so long, I was over 400 when diagnosed, up around 13-14% A1C. When I first came home from the hospital, I was in for dka, i couldn’t see right for awhile, they said it would take 3 weeks for my suagr levels in my eyes to level out and return to normal.Oh by the way I am 48 years old. I take the lantus and the novolog. I still feel my lows. My lowest one didn’t even register on the meter, but i was coherant enough to get to the oj and it soon came up. but i was sweating and shivering really bad. The first thing I notice is the shakes. Once I start to feel them I know to test right away, usually that happens around 60-50 on the meter. so it doesn’t get to low. I do see the bright light in front of my eyes which makes it a little hard to deal but when that goes away i know it is rising. It was scary the first time it happened, but i am learning to deal with it and to check more often when things don’t fell right, even a little off. There is still so much i have to learn too and this group has really helped me. Hope it helps u too, hugs,
KAren
Thank you for replying! It’s interesting that you are 48 years old and just now got type 1. I often wonder why this disease that used to be a “childhood” disease is now being diagnosed in adults of all ages.
Anyway, I read your post to my daughter and we just couldn’t believe that your sugar was so low that your meter didn’t read it and you were still conscious! That is amazing. It never ceases to amaze me how type 1 just affects everyone so differently. How everyone’s lows are felt differently. I really appreciate all of the posts that everyone has left for this topic. It gives us so much more insight than what we could get from our doctors office. And I really appreciate hearing all the different ways people have been treating their lows.
Good luck to you Karen. Just know that I pray for a cure daily because that is the only answer. Advances in technology are wonderful, but it’s never going to be enough.
Bad lows are real scary things. When I’m going low and don’t recognise it, I get very confused about how things in the world do not make any sense to me. This is not pleasant at all. When I do recognise it, I Iknow that there is a simple answer to solve my confusion: sugar.
Lows in which I have blacked out (and there were a lot in years past) are horrible to wake up from. I would know that I have done it again, and be at a complete loss to know what happened to me, or how I ended up where I am, or what I did during the low. It is scary to find out how I got to the ER, to look at the damage I done at home, to learn from people I know what happened, to discover how I cut my head or got so sore.
I don’t necessarily lay down and keep in one place. I have worked and talked and all manor of beharvior while blood sugar continues to drop. That is scary.
I bought the Minimed CGMS last year to try to stop having lows that I cannot control. It has worked so far. It has woken me up from deep sleep
Lisa, I hope the best for you and your family. Sometimes I think that mothers and fathers of type 1 kids have it the worst. Despite the problems of type 1, your daughter will gow up and have a good life. I know that I have so far, and I’ve been living a type 1 life since 1966.
Hi Lisa,
They are discovering that there are viruses that can cause it to happen, and some of the lovely new drugs they have developed for things like arthritis and others can also cause the pancreas to fail. that is what caused mine an anti inflammatory drug i was taking for my right arm.the doc should have been taking blood tests to check liver function and stuff and never did and I didn’t know he was supposed to. Now 6 years later i have a non functioning pancreas and fatty liver and pancreas. live and learn huh.
oh steve, they are scarey when you do recognise it! lol
Steve, Thank you so much for sharing your story! This is exactly what I’m wondering: if you guys are aware of what is going on while your low. Because of all that I have read here on Tudiabetes, I see that everyone does different things (sometimes every low is different!). Knowing that you are blacked out while these things are happening, especially the seizures, I pray will help me to stay calm the next time it happens. And I know what you mean about how you feel when you come out of it. So far for my daughter, she has only experienced seizures so she just feels completely whipped out and has a terrible headache. But I can understand how someone who was walking around and working; just continuing about their business would feel. I liken it to someone who was drinking all night and blacked out and the next day wondered “what the heck happened…”. I used to be a bartender. So many would come back and ask “what the heck happened last night?” They wouldn’t know what they did, said, or who they were with. I have to admit, I’d heard some pretty amusing stories back then. Unfortunately, it’s not the least bit funny for people with diabetes (it’s really not for alcoholics either - but at least theirs is self induced!)
Also, I am encouraged about the success you’ve experienced with your CGMS! I’ve been reading a lot of posts about this technology since we’re very interested in it ourselves. The posts have shown me that the success of CGMS is as different as the disease is for each individual! We are definitely going to do what we can to try and get this system for Jamie.
Karen, This is the very reason I try not to use traditional medications if I don’t have to. This is the very reason also, that insurance companies should provide benefits for alternative treatments! I won’t get started on that rabbit trail.
when i go to low i seem to blackout and not remember any of it and when i finally get up i hav a bit of a hadache but a couple of paracetamol kill that. My parents give me a glucose jab and i cant feel any of it and it is not untill they tell me that i relise so dont worry it doesnt hurt the person in any way as most of the time they are unaware of what is going on
Hi Lisa,
I wanted to reply to this because I know exactly how you feel when you say that you panic.
A little over 2 years ago, my boyfriend (a Type-1 diabetic since the age of around 6 yrs old) had a really bad seizure one morning. I freaked out because I had never seen it before. I was terrified, and when he stopped breathing I thought he died. All I could do was panic.
After it happened (just like Jamie), he didn’t remember a thing. The day before was so active for us. We went to a LA Dodger game, and he didnt remember a thing. When the paramedics got there he kept asking me why I was crying, and what happened. He would ask the same thing over and over again. He kept asking what day it was. I was so scared.
After that happened I started to learn a lot more about diabetes because I couldn’t sleep without worrying that it would happen again. I would lay awake at night checking on him to see if he was sweating or any sign that he was going low.
Another time, one morning I was talking to him & I could tell he was in a daze. He couldn’t answer my questions & began to twitch. I immediately ran to the fridge and forced him to drink some OJ. He was immediately back to normal once he had some OJ.
Even though I am not a diabetic, I try my hardest to be there for my boyfriend through the hard times that he experiences. When he is getting low he usually tells me, but his mood changes & I can see it in his eyes.
I worry, and I know sometimes it annoys him but I just can’t help it. Goodluck with everything, and I hope Jamie is doing better!
My experiences with severe hypoglycemic gran-mal seizures stopped when i was 17. (About 8 years ago)
I would not remember slipping in to the seizures, but when I came out, i would have a migraine headache for at least the whole day that followed.
The time during can only be recalled as like having nightmares, where you know it’s terrifying and traumatic, but you can’t see anything… just kind of flashes of light and sounds.
Horrible.
THis is why i have problems about letting my bloodsugar run high these days, I’m too scared of the lows.
