I joined last spring (I think… spring and summer kinda melted together) looking for other diabetics that I could talk/share with. Things got a little crazy between work (I teach high school math) and school (I’m finishing the prereqs for my grad program… Including anatomy and physiology 1 & 2 this summer in 12wks).
Now that things are settling down a little, I really am interested in meeting up with some diabetics who are willing to listen and brainstorm. Last spring, I noticed that I was not able to tell when my blood sugar was low any more… This summer, my primary helped me get a DexCom so that I can tell again and avoid those lovely 20s in the middle of the night… I live between Baltimore, DC, and Annapolis. This has been an emotional battle of trying to get tighter control while keeping my numbers away from the lows…
Emily
I don’t live anywhere near you but happy 21st! Your D can legally drink now. Mine can only vote.
I’ve had similar issues with hypo unawareness. CGM has helped to a smaller degree, mostly just waking me up before I get too low…
LOL! I hadn’t thought about that! I can take the D out drinking with me 
Hi, Emily. I suffered from hypoglycemic unawareness for quite awhile before I got my pump (2007). After improving my control, I have regained my awareness of low glucose. Hopefully you will, too.
Maintaining control is always such a challenge!
Gerry
Hi Emily! Welcome back. So first thoughts are what is your eating plan like? How about exercise? Insulin regiment? All three of those (as Im sure you know) are both factors in hypo awareness and control. If you can elaborate, Im sure youll receive the best TuD has to offer. =^)
I live in the nova/dc area. There is a group for the area on this site. I know they’ve tried to arrange meetings before, but I’m not sure if it ever happened.
I also got a dexcom particularly for lack of awareness. One thing that is suggested here on the site and I’ve had endos who suggested it was to let your numbers run higher but steady and no lows for some time (I can’t remember exactly but I think I’ve seen from a few days to a few weeks but not for a super long time). Then you steadily lower your average which is supposed to increase awareness. It’s something to try/look into.
Personally, I didn’t have a lot of success but the more I was thinking about and reading other people’s descriptions of lows, I usually didn’t have very noticeable (to me) physical reactions to lows. So that method might work better for people who used to have such a response but now it’s weakened/gone.
Thanks! I finally found the MidAtlantic community!
I actually tried keeping my numbers between 150 and 200 for a month with no success. “Larry” (my DexCom) keeps me company and is helping me find out all sorts of stuff that I was not aware of (like annoying my cat at 2am!). “Curly” is getting his rates adjusted on a weekly basis at this point as we try to straighten out some of the numbers… Like how I skyrocket when I teach my B-day classes, but not my A-day.
I too have hypo unawareness which started over 10 years ago. I started pumping over 10 years ago and that helped solve the problem of passing out. I found that when we are unaware of hypos it has to do with having too many lows which makes us less aware of symptoms of lows. Not having lows for 2-3 weeks will bring back the sensitivity to lows.
I’m sorry I did not respond earlier. I live in Northern Virginia, not too far. I help run a support group out of NOVA that has a few T1s, but you might be better served by some other groups in the area. One resource I would suggest checking out is the JDRF. There is a capitol chapter with social networking (http://at1jdrfcapitolchapter.ning.com/) and a list of support groups (http://www.jdrfcapitol.org/support-groups/). Although some of the groups are certainly focused on kids (this is after all JDRF), there are certainly some that are adult focused and may be helpful.
Yes, about 20 years in I started having some issues with overnight lows and especially hypo awareness too. For me the wake-up call was my wife calling 911 and getting an ambulance trip to the ER when my wife couldn’t wake me up in the morning.
It may not be “politically correct” here to suggest it but backing off in control just a teeny little bit, and accepting some slightly higher bg’s, will help get your hypo awareness back. It helped me a lot.