Hi, I am a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic of 25 years and use an insulin pump. Low Bgs are not new to me but the 2 lowest bgs this year had made me scare. 5 months ago my husband found me in another part of the house passed out and my BG was 19 after 2 glucagon shots. What I realized is that after so many years I can not feel or predict for sure when my BG is going up high or way low, not like I was able to do when I was younger. Today I was by myself at home with my 4 yrs old son, I had been working with a low bg first thing in the morning and then a high bg after that. Needless to say, being a brittle diabetic it is like a rool-o-coaster ride; my bg goes to EXTREMES. About 4 pm I was not sure what was going on so grab a juice and drank it. I tested my BG and was 25 my mind was not functioning well, tried to put my insulin pump in basal 0 for an hr but was not able to so, i did not know how(something that I do a couple of times a day). I knew I was in trouble so I disconnected my pump and drank another juice.Everything was happening very fast. My heart beat was accelerated to the point I got a big headache, I was experiencing and enormous pressure in my ears canal, felt like my throat was closing(i could not breath well) and had tunnel vision. I Knew time was running out so with a lot of difficulty I managed to inject myself a glucagon shot. I did not want to have my child find me totally unconscious. It took me I while to get back to normal, the sweating, shaking, muscle pain and then extremely high BG 394 after the episode. I have never experience these symptoms before, the ones during this today’s LOW BG . Someway, somehow I knew if I fell unconscious I would have end up in the hospital ICU. It was that bad. Has anybody experienced anything similar to this before?. This is the second time I have got to inject glucagon myself to avoid passing out. I am doing better know though my bg is 315 and I have been testing and correcting every 2 hrs since the low bg episode. Hope you all have a good day when you get to read my posting. Keep the good work you all! -Ann
Ann,
I’m so glad you are doing better. I know what you are talking about. Two months ago I had a post breakfast of 25 and was all alone. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to call the meat wagon, open the door, lay down on the floor and wait. Our volunteer rescue squad distributes health info cards where you can record vital info like medical conditions, medications, next of kin, etc. I put the card on my chest and waited (after popping some glucose tabs) and washing it down with some karo syrup. (I was in the process of moving and that was all I had.) Anyway, the card helped to save my bacon. Thanks to the local hospital ER, it only took 2 hours to get me back up to 528.
What freaked me was that I’d had the exact same breakfast & pumped bolus the previous day. It made no sense. I also have acquired hypo unawareness.
My solution: get a Dexcom ASAP!!!
Talk to your PCP and Endo. They need to know about this.
Ugh, I so understand what you went through, though I’ve never shot myself up with glucagon before. I’ve had to have roommates call on the medics though. One time I was alone and who knows how low i was and the world was spinning and I’m sure I passed out on my living room floor. I remember crawling along the floor at some point and finishing the whole gallon of orange juice. I posted earlier that I think I am having absorption issues where it takes an enormous amount of time for sugar to entire my system. Scary times while I wait.
Hi Tom and Kwi! Thank God we survived the low Bg’s! I have a medtronic CGM but due to my diabetic brittleness it has proved not to be safe for me! As I have mentioned before on this website: my Bgs change so drastically hr to hr that the cgm can not keep up with it. At some point Medtronic help line advised me not to calibrate so often so I did; that won me a trip to emergency room with keto-acidosis. Not fun at all! =( I have to test constantly(10 times a day) even when I used the cgm. Hospital visits are another story, I go there and at least this last time; they wanted to put me in ICU due to the drastic changes in BGs and their inability to control it. For example: it takes close to 45mins to get to 500 or above when they have me in dextro IV. Normally my husband after making sure I am IV hydrated, he signs me off the hospital due to the ups and lows cycle they put me through. He and I know how my body reacts better than anybody else and in more than 1 occasion it has proved to be the right decision to do… I do not recommend this to other diabetics but this is what works for us and my brittleness.
About Decom, I am waiting for the 2010 model to be available and hopefully it would take away my worries about hypo unawareness. 
My PCP and Endo they are very supportive of me and they do understand how brittle I am. Even to this day after being there patient for so many years they learn something new with me every time I see them. I keep them busy!!! They prescribe 3 glucagon shots every time I need a new prescription and 300 test strips a month. But I have to add that for me testing BGs 10 times a day is not a problem thank to finger calluses! =D LOL
Kiwi- I am aware that glucagon shots are supposed to be given by others when you are unresponsive but in my case it has proven to be the right thing to do. Last time I was unresponsive after 2 glucagon shots my Bg was 19, that means it was in the really scary lows before my husband found me. Personally I do not want to take the risk of that happening to me again and maybe not waking up ever.
Thank you both for sharing with me and for the support we give to each other through this website. I will let you know when ever I get the the Dexcom!! 
Have a great day and keep the good work handling the diabetes!
-Ann
Hi Kiwi and Tom! Thank God we survived the low Bg’s! I have a medtronic CGM but due to my diabetic brittleness it has proved not to be safe for me! As I have mentioned before on this website: my Bgs change so drastically hr to hr that the cgm can not keep up with it. At some point Medtronic help line advised me not to calibrate so often so I did; that won me a trip to emergency room with keto-acidosis. Not fun at all! =( I have to test constantly(10 times a day) even when I used the cgm. Hospital visits are another story, I go there and at least this last time; they wanted to put me in ICU due to the drastic changes in BGs and their inability to control it. For example: it takes close to 45mins to get to 500 or above when they have me in dextro IV. Normally my husband after making sure I am IV hydrated, he signs me off the hospital due to the ups and lows cycle they put me through. He and I know how my body reacts better than anybody else and in more than 1 occasion it has proved to be the right decision to do… I do not recommend this to other diabetics but this is what works for us and my brittleness.
About Decom, I am waiting for the 2010 model to be available and hopefully it would take away my worries about hypo unawareness.
My PCP and Endo they are very supportive of me and they do understand how brittle I am. Even to this day after being there patient for so many years they learn something new with me every time I see them. I keep them busy!!! They prescribe 3 glucagon shots every time I need a new prescription and 300 test strips a month. But I have to add that for me testing BGs 10 times a day is not a problem thank to finger calluses! =D LOL
Kiwi- I am aware that glucagon shots are supposed to be given by others when you are unresponsive but in my case it has proven to be the right thing to do. Last time I was unresponsive after 2 glucagon shots my Bg was 19, that means it was in the really scary lows before my husband found me. Personally I do not want to take the risk of that happening to me again and maybe not waking up ever.
Thank you both for sharing with me and for the support we give to each other through this website. I will let you know when ever I get the the Dexcom!!
Have a great day and keep the good work handling the diabetes!
-Ann
I haven’t needed medical intervention, yet, but extreme lows are scary. My mind races and I feel nearly paranoid.
Have you considered the continuous glucose monitor? If your blood sugars can run that goofy, you’d be safe with one of those, so you’d be warned as your blood sugar dropped. Even if your insurance won’t cover it, I’m willing to bet if you provide your medical records (in triplicate to annoy), they’d buck up. Talk with your doc.
Good luck and stay safe.
Hi Cara!
Yes, I do have a Medtronic CGM but it does not seem to work with my brittleness, IRONIC ahhh!
I am researching the Dexcom CGM and the newest model which is going to be available in 2010. By the reviews I am seeing in this website; it is the logical thing to do for me too. Cigna paid for my new Medtronic pump and CGM last year( my old one was 4 yrs old already) so now I need to start the battle for the Dexcom.
My Endo supports me a 100% so wish us luck!
Thanks so much for your advice and you be safe too!!
-Ann
Wow…I am sorry that those of you who are brittle have to deal with that…so scary. Do your #'s go up and down regardless of carb and/or insulin intake?
Hi Elaine: that is a really good question?
Well, as all of us with diabetes foods, insulin, stress, illness, fatigue etc…have to be taken in consideration and be added to the equation too. To be honest, I am used to my bgs fluctuations through the day. It affects me different ways every day. For example having my Bg 119 before breakfast:I could eat my everyday regular boring breakfast: 1/2 cup of cheerios,4oz 1% milk, 8oz of decaff coffee with 3 tbsp of light non dairy creamer w splenda and 1 slice of turkey bacon; covering correctly the carbs to bolus right my bG an hr after it could be from 134 to 200. This is not having any low bg episode the previous night, not having a high Bg either. That is my story 24/7 but having diabetes for 25 yrs it is part of my life and I do not fight it anymore; I try to learn from every situation to understand my diabetes better. I am blessed with a very supportive family that are there for me all the time. They call me at different times of the day to check on me also a very supportive, loving husband who is my pillar above all. I do not have to work so taking care of the diabetes it is easier for me. It gives me time to take care of me, our child, the home etc…Another example of support i get: this morning our 4 yrs old son woke up earlier than us and came up to our room with a juice box just in case mommy needed it and I did! That is the kind of support that keeps me going and no matter how crazy my Bg is; it is amazing to know/feel that I have a cheer-leading team who really get involved with my diabetes willing to learn as much as me so together we can walk through this path of unexpected bgs every single day.
Thanks Elaine for the good question and you have a very good day!!!
-Ann =D
Ann…you are a lucky woman!
About a month ago I was in my garden weeding. I had been weeding for about 2 hours. Before I started I tested and was in the normal range and ate a snack of cabs and protein. I did not bolus for it. I received a phone call and my friend immediately asked what was wrong. I said nothing, why? She said you just do not sound right. So I decided to test. 25 came up on my meter. I said this can not be right and tested again…25 again. I had no symptoms of a low that I felt. Normally I can go to 40 and not have a clue, but I have never gone that low without knowing. Freaked me out. I did not have my CGMS in at that time. For about the last 10 years I have had unawareness. When I do have symptoms which is rare the symptoms vary. Sometimes different parts of my body go numb. The scary one for me is when my mouth goes numb. I hate that. Sometimes I get very colorful spots in my eyes…hate that one too. I will more often then not get a migraine afterward. I should have bought stock in Glucose Tablets because I have them everywhere and consume them on an almost daily basis. I test on average 11 to 15 times a day.
WOW you and I must be long lost twins!!! Just kidding!!! LOL =D It is good for me to know there is somebody like me out there… I have experienced all those symptoms as well but in my case I do not mind the numbness of my mouth that is the signal to act fast when ever I get it. Most of the time I suffer from Hypo or Hyper unawareness too. Like you I test many times a day from 10 to 14 times a day depending on how my Bgs behave. Wow, so many questions!!! The one I am most interested to know about is the following one:
I saw here that you have a cgm: what kind and how does it work for you? I have the Medtronic pump 722 and its CGM and it definitely can not keep up with the constant changes. How do you manage to make it work for you?
Looking forward to chat more often with you!!!
Your new found friend,
-Ann
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If you use a MM CGM and you test often (10 times daily) you do not have to send the update to your CGM sensor. When I spoke with MM they told me to calibrate 4 times daily and any other times I test should not be used to update the CGM. You should calibrate before breakfast, wait 4 hours and test before lunch, wait 4 hours and test before dinner, wait 4 hours and test before bed. Those 4 test results will be used to calibrate your CGM sensor. The other 6 tests throughout the day can be used to verify that the CGM sensor is reporting the correct numbers to your pump but should not be used to calibrate your pump especially right after your eat. Hopefully this will help with the use of your CGM.
On the topic of low BGs. I get the usual shakes, cold sweats, dizziness, numbness. I feel helpless sometimes where I am so weak that I cannot even open a pack of crackers to eat or pour myself something to drink. I wish everyone the best in avoiding extreme lows and highs.
I do have CGMS, but sometimes my sugar drops so fast that by the time it catches up with me I’m in the low 40’s or lower. Good times.