Hello!
Do any of you have problems speaking when you are low? Slurred speech or tongue tied type of problems?
I ALWAYS get that when I am low, but now I feel it happens now and then when I am not low. As if having diabetes for 17 years is having an impact. I tried a google search, but didn't see much. has anyone heard of this or have any insight?
Thank you mery vuch ( I mean very much -- things like that :))
Kari
Typing problems too?
First, welcome Kari! We're glad to have you join us.
Yes, speech issues are not uncommon when low, particularly severe lows. I've had that happen once or twice when I was down in the 40's.
If this is happening to you well above 80-90, that's something else, and you should see a neurologist about it. One thing I'd add before I get you all riled up though: Are you getting enough sleep?
I have slight slurring issues, and reduced ability to say things that require very rapid, precise mouth movements when I'm chronically under-rested. Like many days in a row with 5-6 hours a night or less.
I used to be able to handle this when I was a yute (cultural reference: My Cousin Vinny, perhaps one of the funniest movies ever made and a tribute to Fred Gwynne), but it's become more and more an issue as I've gotten older. I'm 52 now, and have had diabetes for 15 years.
I don't think it has anything to do with the D. I will say, though, that when I'm chronically short of sleep, I'm more susceptible to the problem when I'm low.
Definitely get this checked out with a physician!
I often have that, slurred speech & difficulty putting the words & sentences into a cohesive order. I remember in the good old or bad old days before BG meters when the only way to detect a low was how I felt, my friends would say "Annabella, you are not making sense go & eat something". Now that I keep better track it doesn't happen so often. I've had T1 for over 50 years.
Kari, been there done that got the apple juice. Or something like that. Yes the principal way I can tell if I am low is if my tongue starts to tingle. The worse it tingles the lower i am. It gets worse at about 40 or so I see big black spots, I cannot read, and then I start to babble. Not pleasantly like a brook rather like a fountain that cannot be turned off.
LOL
Good luck
Our brains can not work properly while being low. From that perspective it makes sense that higher functions for visual, linguistic and reasoning are negatively influenced. However the news is that something has changed here. The lows are hitting you harder and there must be a reason for this development. Quite likely you detect the low later than you have before. This later can mean 10mg/dl lower than before. Due to the inaccuracy of our meters this development might not show in your numbers. As a result I would assume you have lost some of the first response signs of going low. Your brain might be that used to lows that it will not trigger adrenalin to cause sweating and a racing heart. A low will also consume much of the adrenalin your body can produce. It will take up to one day to refill these adrenalin deposits. Thus the second low will get a less pronounced reaction.
To some degree this whole process of getting used is normal for all of us. You will have to learn to watch for smaller more subtle signs of being low: feeling weak, hungry or aggressive and visual disturbances or tingling of the mouth. Please make sure that you do not go low at night while sleeping. Overslept lows might be the reason why you are that used to lows now. For that you should question your basal rate and your general stability at night. It is now important to reduce the number of lows significantly to bring some of the first degree reactions to lows back that will help you to catch them earlier. You should also treat the lows more aggressively with glucose tabs and not the slower acting juice or milk. Try to get out of the low as soon as possible.
if i am quite low, like in the 50s, then sometimes that happens. i find that the after-effects of a bad low can include difficulty in FINDING words. one time i had a bad one at night and the next day at work i had to write up the curriculums for classes in spanish and english and i couldnt do it in either, and english is my mother tongue.
Yes! Ha! People usually know I am low before I do, because I start talking weird. I have had quite a few lows the last few weeks from over correcting, so I think if I have a bad low, some of the speech problems linger. I wasn't wearing my CGMS either (big long story about being allergic!), but I think I can also get those speech symptoms for dropping really fast.
I should go to a DR, just to be sure. I hope I am not developing some kind of speech problem! I was always a great story teller, and enjoyed speaking in front of large crowds. But lately I jumble letters and all my words get tongue tied. :(
Kari, if this is happening when you are not low as well as when you are, I would definitely go to a doctor and get some testing. Aphasia (mixing your words) can be a symptom of many things. I know I tend to assume everything is related to D, and often it is, but still needs to be attended to, and sometimes it is completely unrelated (and needs to be attended to).
ugh yes I do can't get what I think out speech problems are a good sing of a low for me typing is another lol u can tell when i'm low by my typing lol we all get it lol
pancreaswanted! Where ya been? We've missed you around here!
I am a speech pathologist. The slurred speech . as many of the posters ha e noted, is correlated with impaired motoric functions controlled by our brain, which is not being fed while deprived of glucose. I,too, have some impaired awareness of lows as of late, but have not had the speech motor problems. When I get to the low 50s,my cognition and rational thinking are more impaired, and I know to test and treat... I get a little loony and slightly ridiculous.
If this is happening when you are NOT low, do see a neurologist or get a referral to one. For a speech pathologist to treat the sudden occurrence of such symptoms, he/she would need a medical diagnosis to determine what is appropriate treatment.
God Bless
Brunetta
Me too!! when I am low I often get confused and anxious and feel like everything is moving too fast.Also my tongue or lower lip will start tingling. I can never read when I'm low either, I just can't focus.
Good luck
I find i can't stop talking when a low is starting, and then at some point i can't speak. I can still do things, move around, get food, but i can't articulate anything. If i do talk it's very slurred and feels like my mouth is drunk, or something like that.
If i need my husband to help me, i have to take things to him and point (i can never work out how much of something i need when i am low- the package will say 100g = xxg carb, but i have trouble converting that into meaningful concepts). Normally i just need him to read it out loud and then i know.
I also notice that our languages mix up in my head - I speak English, he speaks Spanish and we live in Germany - sometimes he will say something to me in Spanish, but i will understand some of the words in German (eg. What are you doing? - Qué haces - Ich hasse es - I hate it) so he has asked me what i'm doing, and i am wondering what he hates. That's early in a low though - the further down we go the less lingual i become :)
hey dave-o! just been skulking the forum recently!
oh so right brunetta
I forgot that the right way of thinking is sooooooo gone too lol
Yes, definitely when I'm low, and sometimes I have problems articulating speech when my BG is normal, which I add up to the cumulative effect of hypos.
I find that's usually fatigue that I'm not aware of.
It happens to me. I feel like I'm drunk, which involves slurred speech XD