Early this morning had nocturnal hypoglycemia and almost passed out/vomited when I was awakened by a pounding headache… Was confused, then realized it was low so sat on floor and drank oj. (Ran out of test strips last night). Worst low event I’ve ever had.
Now 10 hours later I feel very weird: numb face, weak, disassociated, blurry vision, cognitively impaired (hard to compose this message), using wrong words, almost like a stroke victim. Is this normal? Please let me your experiences and advice including whether I should see a doctor.
Yeah, sure, the two times I ended up in the ER for a hypo I felt like crud for the entire next day. It’s perfectly normal (if not fun). One of them the paramedics gave me glucagon and that really did a doozie on me (super-nausea) but I’m sure I would’ve felt bad anyway based on my other experience.
Even less-catastrophic hypos have on occasion left me less than 100% afterwards. Sometimes lately even just the adrenaline shakes can be draining.
I would say the opposite. I’ve never had the symptoms you describe in the way you’ve described them, and I’ve had plenty of bad lows over the years. And the fact that they do sound similar to a stroke would make me, personally, want to go get checked out. I would say better safe than sorry and try to see a doctor ASAP. Urgent care, maybe as opposed to ER? I hope you get feeling better and that it’s just side effects from a low and nothing worse.
This is tough Cynthia because your symptoms are so close to a stroke.
Do you usually get pounding headaches with severe low’s? Have you ever had ANY residual effects from a bad low before?
Especially with the severe headache this sounds like it COULD be a stroke. I believe you have to get tPA within 3 hours of the intital symptoms for it to be effective so you already fall outside of this range- no reason to drop everything and rush. At the hospital they would scan you and monitor- perhaps give some Aspirin but you would be in a safe and secure environment where they could tell you for sure if it is a stroke and monitor you for any additional things that could follow.
I would recommend going to the ER vs Urgent care because the only way to definitively diagnose a stroke is from a CT scan or MRI which you will not usually find at an Urgent Care facility. I HATE seeking medical care when I do not need to but this is one case where I probably would.
What is your blood glucose? There is a systemic reaction to hypoglycemia: it’s called the Somogyi effect. Here is a link to Wikipedia’s definition. Your symptoms could be the effects of rebound hyperglycemia!
If you are still unsure, perhaps, as others have already suggested, you should call or see your doctor …
I’ve had some low episodes that were bad enough to thank my husband for saving my life afterwards, but I’ve never had the symptoms you described. I add my opinion that you should go to the ER right away. You’ll feel better in the long run to know just what really happened.
Sometimes I feel sort of “hung over” after hypos like that and treat them the same way, greasy, comfort food, a burrito or a “death breakfast” or something like that. If you didn’t go to the hospital, you probably saved yourself a 250-400+ BG they would inflict on you so you are probably ahead of the game on that.
Cynthia - go to the ER. Your symptoms sound like more than a response to a bad low. I’ve had bad lows and definitely feel pretty yucky all day after. But, not with the symptoms you describe. Get to the hospital and let us know how you are doing.
I think you should get to the emergency room. You might have actually suffered a trans ichseiamatic episode (or mini stroke) and it would be best to check it out. I have had some severe hypos and have not suffered symptoms such as you describe so it would be worth checking out.
I wish you well and hope that the symptoms will die down soon.
I had a low last year (57, which is VERY low for me). I corrected it immediately but I felt sick the whole rest of the day - very weak & tired. Other lows I’ve had around 70-80 don’t affect me after correcting. A severe low does take time to recover from.
As others have said, while a harsh low will leave you feeling sick, the symptoms you describe are generally outside the normal symptoms, but could be a result of a particularly harsh low. And from what you wrote, you actually don’t know whether you went low, you just know that you awoke with a headache and feeling nauseous. I hope you have gone to the doctor and are ok.
In an emergency situation, it is always “safe” to seek medical attention. Even if you did just suffer a harsh low, getting it checked out is still the right thing to do.
It is a stress for your organism in general. If this condition keeps going on further, it would be wise to see a doctor. However, it wouldn’t also be weird to call your endocrinologist on the phone and ask him/her, if possible.
Thank you so much for your support. I took your advice and went to ER last night for extensive testing. The good news is no brain events occurred (they couldn’t find one). However, BG was 450 but that usually doesn’t cause symptoms for me. I believe the symptoms were caused by the harsh low because I’m much better today.
One concern is the differential of 50 points between my Contour meter readings and the hospital’s Sure Step which is calibrated every 24 hours. I know there’s a 20% allowable range so I’m searching for more accurate meters. Any suggestions on that?
Much heartfelt appreciation for all the caring responses. I don’t feel so alone in the batlle.
Glad to hear everything was ok. Better safe than sorry
Up in the 400’s I have not found a single meter that will read consistently. Even using the same one over and over I will get 400-480 mg/dl from one test to another. When I drive myself crazy by doing this I usually average the number and use that to correct. Having blood sugars this high hasn’t happened for a long while so maybe the meters are better but actual “new” technology in meters has not really happened for a while as far as the strips.
I’ve had the same experience as Moss Dog – on the really high numbers, there just seems to be a huge meter fluctuation. In fact, I think that’s why some meters just say HI when you get over a certain number. But when you are up that high, I guess precision doesn’t matter if the thing is 20% off – you know you have to get it down anyway you can.
I am glad that everything worked out OK! I had a bad low last summer and thought that I had a stroke also. My doctor said that it was the lack of glucose to my brain for so long, but it is always better to get things checked out and know for sure.
I have heard other people say that the Contour is not accurate. I like the AccuChek Aviva and that always comes back within a couple points of the lab for me. Here is a link to a study - a couple pages down, it lists some of the different meters & their accuracy.
Good link Kelly! If you look at the scatter plots you can see almost all the meters have a pretty wide variation at a blood glucose >400 mg/dl.
Interestingly all the major players in the meter market have some of the cleanest scatter plots BESIDES Bayer Contour which looks fairly ugly. I was suprised to see how well Freestyle did.
Someone else on TuD originally posted the link and I can’t remember who to give the credit to! My personal theory on the wider range over 400 is that the higher the number, the bigger that 20% spread gets. Fortunately, I don’t spend too much time over 400 (but came very close last night after a rebound high!).
Hi Cynthia. I’m really glad that you went to the ER, and that all is well. For what it’s worth, I really like my One Touch Ultra 2, and always keep two One Touches on hand (actually 3, I also have a Mini One Touch for hiking, etc.). Best luck.
