Hi,
I wanted to know what do you guys do when you have a low b/s moment and you are cranky? Sometimes I don’t realize I am cranky. I usually get something to eat. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Have a great weekend.
Hi Larry, I have not gone low since I stopped injecting insulin. What I’d do however, is follow the 15-15 rule. Test, and if I am low, have a 15g carb snack (and some protein) and then wait 15 minutes to test again.
I do get a little hungry if my sugars dip below 4.8mmol, but that’s just HUNGRY, not HYPO and I can usually withstand it for a while.
Hi Larry:
Not just cranky, but some times angry. Last Monday (Labor Day) my wife and I had been home 30 minutes after driving five hours returning from a trip to North Carolina. We were discussing on where to go for dinner when I became angry because one of the suggested restruarants has such poor menu choices for those of us watching our carbs. I was surprised by my reaction. When I tested my blood sugar it was 69.
Larry - I think it’s pretty normal to be irritable because of erratic blood sugars. It’s a challenge that diabetics must learn to manage. I’ve yet to even have a hypo - as I’m a new Type 2, but I have been a Bipolar person with mood swings all my life, so I understand CRANKY, real well, LOL! My long-suffering hubby and friends know & I sometimes get the “have you taken your meds today” comment (which really just agitates me more) but the answer is NOT feeding into it. You just try not to take it out on those you love. Obviously if you test and you are low, you need to take care of it - you may come to the place where you can recognize this “crankiness” as an indicator of a hypo - which is kinda kewl if you think of it that way, huh?
Sometimes I just start sobbing my head off - big gasping sobs. If I don’t have anything to really be crying about, then I go test.
hi,yoga ideas and philosophy is great help in controling emotions and keeping peace of mind.So when I get low BS I can easily recognize it is illness call.
For me crankiness and spaciness are my prime symptoms of lows. I'm pretty used to recognizing changes in mood or cognition in myself (long practice!). I'll test and if I'm below 60 I'll treat with glucose tablets which are quicker and more exact than getting something to eat. For me, 15 grams would be too much. I use two tablets (8g) if I'm in the 50s and 3 if I'm lower. I also find it's better to wait a full 30 minutes to see the results before deciding if you need more. It's too easy with food to overdo and go high and the roller coaster is worse for us than just being low.
DeeVa makes a really good point about "not feeding into it". If you are low, the same as hormones influence you, it's not a good time to get into major "discussions" with your partner! (or make decisions)
When I worked, 3 of the 5 ladies in my department were T2. We learned to have production meetings AFTER lunch, when we were less likely to get into arguments and stray from the topic.
When I'm low I don't get cranky; I get scared because of the severe symptoms I get, even when I'm near 100. I do get cranky in private because I can't eat what I want. :-)
Honestly going for a little walk and getting a snack is the best way to get over the crankiness quickly. Coworkers especially don't like it!
Thanks so Much..
Hate to disagree, but if you feel cranky, check your blood glucose levels while you are still thinking straight and do not go for a walk. Lows are not an anxiety/stress thing at the moment they happen. They are a "take actio NOW thing" and a dramatic enought drop in the glucose level in your body to get the crankly response. These lows really affect your mind, how you think, what you do. It is not uncommon--emphasis--for this to happen.
Seriosly--pay attention to this as a symtom. It is very common and a siren call for action.
I agree. Going for a walk might be a great solution for crankiness or stress in general, but if you are cranky because you have low blood sugar, the only reasonable solution is to treat the low...right away. And though I know I'm often a broken record on this topic, low blood sugar is a medical condition that calls for a medical response: a precise "dose" of glucose. A "snack" is a very vague term for an undetermined amount of carbs which are probably more than you need and take too long too act. In addition many people have hunger symptoms when they are low and so overdo on yummy snacks and then end up on a roller coaster that is worse for us than the low to begin with.
I do what I need to do to treat my low, not much else to do really.
I generally don't start off cranky. My first emotion is usually paranoia over any possible thing that there is to worry about.
Any emotional extreme, really, means it's time to test my blood sugar to test for a low. That's the first thing to do if I even suspect I'm low.