is there a reason you're not on a pump or using a CGM. what was your blood sugar when you tested? had you just bolused and didn't eat enough. Lows happen for a reason...what happened?
Good grief lots, I can imagine you would be embarrassed and scared. I was at PT last week and left with a 79 on my dex. I only live a mile away so hopped in the car and came home. By the time I arrived, I had really bad adrenaline shakes, couldn't do a FS. My son-in-law did it for me - thank goodness he was here - 43. All I could do was sit back in my office chair with my head back, shaking, because for some reason I belonged there? I felt fine driving, but scary to think about it. I do a fs when I leave PT now LOL
I like the idea of a 'low treatment protocol' on the whiteboard!
I have that problem all the time. Clients calling just when I'm about to nip out for lunch, or a meeting that overruns into lunch/dinner, or overdosing the insulin at lunch. If I even am aware enough to test I just think "I want to finish this then I'll do something about it", half the time I don't even realise I'm hypo.
I've had some shockingly embarrassing office moments, and am occasionally totally frustrated by my co-workers: "I thought you looked a bit unwell but I didn't want to say anything".
The worst for me was when I travelled from Australia to the UK to show off my newborn to my family, who had arranged a garden party. Quite a few old friends, family and complete strangers. Lunch was delayed quite a bit and when my daughter finally woke up, someone gave her to me and told me to stand up and say a few words. Which I totally failed to do - standing there sweaty, slurring, and in no fit state to be holding a newborn. Hardly anyone there even knew I was a diabetic, and it was mortifying, seeing all those people staring at me in confusion...I'm sure you can imagine.
All I can suggest is that you "out" yourself. I told everyone at a work team meeting and tell all the new workers who join and let everyone that there's a coke in the fridge with my name on it - if in doubt get me to drink 1/2 that then we'll talk about why I don't look well...
Lots....your brain DOES shut off! The very first thing affected by a low is, unfortunately, your brain! Your brain runs on sugar!! Sweet little gray matter!
I have had times of having everything I need to test and to treat RIGHT NEXT to me....and still not being with it enough to realize what I need to do!
I don't know if a post-it on your computer screen/dash board/desk or where ever, that reads in bold caps "TEST" would help??
It's because you are looking at the stuff and trying to decide what would be good to eat and get stuck in a "loop" of "hmm, how many carbs is that, I ate that once, what happened, where the hell was that...[duck to avoid space aliens...]oh yeah, that was pretty good, oh, I ate that other thing once too..." and will spend 20 minutes while continuing to crash deciding between two things instead of just eating one!
Fifty years of experiences are not wasted. That is why these boards are so nice--you do not have to come up with all the ideas yourself.
Do you carry a wallet card? There are high tech ways to provide information, but I like the 3x5 card. My medic alert says to look for the wallet card. It screams: I am a Type 1 Insulin Dependant Diabetic, and goes on to list meds, type of pump, last A1C and how to contact my husband. As my mom would says: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The back side explains how to treat the low, if I am at all alert.
One more thing: do you have an emergency kit at work with extra supplies,test strips, etc.? I keep a fully stocked and up to date kit in a bright yellow box on my file cabinet. My coworkers are instructed to grab my insulin from the frig and send the box with me, in case of an emergency.
I am really glad I could help.
It's an evolution. When that started happening to me, it was the same thing. I knew something was off, but it wasn't the physical shaking I had when I was first diagnosed. It was almost all purely mental.
You probably do feel embarrassed and vulnerable. There is nothing wrong with feeling that or being vulnerable. We do need help at times. One of the first significant times it happened to me I was with friends. They noticed that something was off before I did and asked me to check my blood sugar. Sure enough, they were right. That was a learning moment to me that when my thoughts start getting side-tracked or I'm having trouble making a decision, I might want to check my blood sugar.
Now I tend to catch them. I work alone, but if I can't think from point A to point B, then I'll stop and take my blood sugar to make sure things are going haywire. Over time I've learned to outwit that adrenaline rush you get to keep doing whatever you're doing. I stop and I test.
Also, I wear a pump but my doctor doesn't recommend that I bother with the CGI component for my pump, so it's not one size fits all for everyone.
Yep I got excused after a seizer & scaring the crap out of the judge! LOL!
Also another tip off I have that can sometime correspond to a low? I suddenly want to eat but I'm not hungry.
We've all been there. Not fifteen minutes before writing this, I was in the garage replacing a broken light switch, all the while feeling the low coming on and the my pump/CGM alerting me to the same.
Priority #1 was to get the light switch installed and the power back on before my wife got home. Then I'd treat the low.
Sometimes (OK, most of the time) lows come at bad times, and it impairs our judgment and sense of priority. My advice to you is don't hide it -- not from clients, not from anyone.
There are plenty of smart people out there who can see the signs and "get it". Really. We just don't talk about them here on Tu.. we make fun of the stupid, ignorant ones. Something as simple as a bottle of glucose tabs on your desk might be enough for a casual observer to figure out what's going on when you get low.
A few years ago, a contractor I was working with came out of the boss's office and asked me "Is John diabetic?" and described what he was seeing. I knew that John (as am I) was Type 1 and was able to take care of him until his BG came back up. But John tried to hide his D, and if not for this guy seeing the signs and springing to action, things might have been a lot worse.
Bottom line is this -- lots of people understand D enough to recognize the signs. A subtle clue would be enough to change their thoughts to "I wonder if..." to "I'm sure this is hypoglycemia."
LOL, my priority #1 doing electrical work is not to electrocute myself!
I think this happens to a lot of us. In the past, I tried to make sure that co-workers were aware of my diabetes and knew what to do just in case... Unfortunately, working in live radio can be an unforgiving situation. Once I began to slur a bit on he air! Yes LIVE RADIO! ha I just stopped and went into music and sat there confused. Luckily someone else in he building heard it too and recognized I was in trouble. Really embarrassing. But I got through it and recovered, and went about my business. I made some crack about it when I got back on the air and laughed it off.
I agree with Robyn. Don't beat yourself up. We all get caught off guard sometimes when wrapped up in what we are doing. WE just have to be more careful than most folks.
Good luck and take care!
brant
Yes it does- If can? Just have to Excuse yourself. call for assistance, etc.
- This is a very common problem when we try to have Decent BG's while working
Unfortunately? We have to run them alittle higher than when we are under controlled and Less Important conditions, such as at home..
-I have t obe 120's before diving and take 1 glucose tab every 15 min.. Don't care if I am 150 when I get home. I can always take a CB for that..
Same goes for doing anykind of Work.. I run them Min 120's and make sure I don't go below that.. the best I can..
As for Eating Lunch? That's the tricky part..But I have a Higher I;CR for Lunch when Working ( I take less) vs When I'm at home under controlled conditions..were I can be more aggressive..
Ave 140's from the time I leave home , till I get home is fine with me.. I have the other 12 hrs to ave my 80-120's .. And that's just has to be the way it is to be safe...
Imagine if this happened while driving?
Sunontie, are you alone in the studio when you're on the air? I listen to a talk radio station in New Jersey regularly where one of the afternoon co-hosts (it's a two-man team) is T1, and discusses it openly on the air. Usually it's not a topic of conversation, but I remember one day where he came on-air saying he didn't feel quite right, but couldn't know if he was high or low. He decided to run an impromptu contest: the first three people to call-in would guess what his blood sugar was, and whoever was closest would win $5 (this was not a station-sponsored contest, as they tried to figure out how to get the money to the winner). The non-D co-host kept encouraging him to just take care of himself and forget the stupid contest, but in the end, he tested on-air and was 240-something. He took his insulin injection after they broke for traffic.
The point is, I thought it was fun (but most listeners, assuredly non-D, probably didn't) but perhaps not all that responsible. And if worse-came-to-worse, the producer/call screener was nearby to step in if needed.
Hi Scott,
I was alone in the studio at the time. I never made it a contest , but after I had developed some audience I was more open about my situation. Lucky for me it was not talk radio! lol..I was able to more openly discuss my situation when we did diabetes awareness month and other fund drives. Since my doctors listened, It probably would have back-fired on my to run a guess my glucose contest. haha
Excellent...on the subject of low sugars. I try to keep glucose tabs handy. Also..this is funny but works. The little bottles of maple syrup from cracker barrel are small and can be carried in the pocket! haha only trouble is they also look like air plane bottles of booze when you are drinking out of them!
Never saw those little bottles of maple syrup, but I do like honey sticks (long thin plastic tubes filled with honey)though they can be difficult to open when low. Those little honey containers from convenience stores work too.
Funny isn't it how hard simple things can be to open when ur low????? Sorry pup but I just had to say that. I've spent like 20 minutes trying to figure out how to screw the top off something when I'm low.