Hello All
I am new to this site and to diabetes. I was diagnosed on May 19th this year. I wasn't feeling very well and ended up in the hospital for 3 days. My blood glucose was 820 and my A1c was 15.3. I had not been feeling well for a while but had things to do and no time for a doctor visit. For six weeks before I ended up in the hospital I was so thirsty, I was drinking over 6 liters of water a day, and then urinating constantly, so I didn't get much sleep, I was exhausted and tired all the time, and I lost 53 pounds in those 6 weeks. I was diagnosed with Type 2 at the hospital and with my MD at the follow up visit. I am on Lantus, Humalog, and Metformin. I have stopped the Metformin by my Diabetes Dietitian's recommendation, because it didn't seem to be having any effect on my numbers. My Diabetes Dietitian thinks I have LADA and not Type 2, because of my symptoms I mentioned earlier. I have a dr appt this Friday and I'm going to ask him to test me for the GAD, etc, that I have read about on this site.
Anyways, long story short. I have been high on my numbers, lately in the 145 to 150 range, but today I went low. It happened so fast. One minute I was fine and the next minute I was shaking, luckily I was carrying my diabetes bag with me and took some glucose tablets and got something to eat. It shook me up a little because I have never in my life been hypoglycemic. I tested my levels before the glucose tabs and it was 78. I thought 78 is ok, but below 70 is bad. Is that normal to drop so fast and get hypoglycemic at 78? I was an eye opener for me.
I appreciate this site so much. There is so much good info on it. But after these last 3 weeks I feel like I am on information overload.
Happens to me a lot, sorry to say. There are many factors that can lead to a low and we always have to be prepared. I no longer feel my lows and this weekend was not a fun ride had a 36 and a 50. Diabetes is not an exact science and every day is different. I do know I go low pretty much every day at 4:30 p.m. and still cannot figure out how to adjust my insulin......long story and have tried many things, so I just snack at that time. Test, test, test.
Thanks for the reply. Sorry to hear about you having so many lows.
This has made me think, what happens if I pass out and can't eat anything to get my sugars up. Does anyone make some kind of shot I could carry that would be a injectable glucose shot that my wife could give me.
You should get a glucagon emergency kit and have a CDE teach you and your wife how to use it. Having said that, I have never had to use glucagon in almost 23 years of diabetes, although I've had a few close calls.
If you have been running high a lot lately then your body will feel lows at higher levels and (probably) feel them more intensely than usual.
Thanks. Are those glucagon emerg kits covered by insurance? Can I pick one up at my
pharmacy?
Only a month ago your bg was 820 and A1C was 15.3, your body had acclimated to high numbers so now "78" seems hypoglycemic to your body.
As you get adjusted and your body gets used to more normal bg's, then your "hypo sensitivity" range will get closer to the textbook numbers.
Yes, hypo shakes can come on strong sometimes! In my first decade or two of having diabetes, the hypo shakes were by far the most common and reliable symptom.
I'm not sure - I'm in Canada and they have always been covered for me. I assume it would depend on your insurance plan.
Hey John11:
Hypoglycemic sensations are usually relative to where your average BG levels have been for a while before they occur. In other words, if someone has been running in the mid 100's, and suddenly drops to 90 (which is not dangerous), they will experience the sensation of hypoglycemia. Fortunately, your 78 is also OK, but it suggests you've been running high for a while.
If you can normalize your numbers in the 70-120 range, that hypoglycemic sensation you experienced will kick in at lower numbers. Maybe 60, 50, 30... For me it's around 50. What gets really dangerous is if you become "hypo-unaware." This can occur after repeated hypoglycemic episodes and you ultimately lose the sensation of going low. This can result in disastrous consequences if there is no one there to assist, or you're behind the wheel of a car, for example.
You can get a glucagon emergency kit for the worst case scenario. This is used by others on you in the event you pass out. I carry one in my briefcase and have a couple strategically locate in my house. People closest to me know where it is and how to use it. https://www.google.com/search?q=glucagon+emergency+kit&client=firefox-a&hs=svq&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=0xmVU46JNeOU8QHQ8oEo&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=848
I follow a very low carb diet, so I use small insulin doses to normalize which result in small BG swings. I also use a continuous glucose monitor which gives me excellent advance notice if I start to go low.
Going low can feel terrifying. Fortunately, there are good tools and precautions you can take to mitigate them as much as possible. You're very smart to keep a ready supply of glucose tablets always within reach.
Christopher
You learned something valuable today. Hypoglycemia can come on rapidly. It's one of the things that keeps us on our toes. Don't ever turn your back on that possibility. When in doubt, do a fingerstick check. Always do one before you drive. Don't ever assume you "know" where your BG is. Never go anywhere without a quick acting source of glucose in your immediate possession.
You have a brand new job and one you never wanted; manually doing the job of a human pancreas. The challenge is to live life fully while never losing sight of the fact that you can go hypo. And hypos can sneak up on you at any time of the day or night.
Your job is to outwit the human metabolic system in manual. It can be done and you have an abundance of modern technical tools and techniques. Your most important assets are curiosity, tenacity, and a good attitude.
Sorry you got this diagnosis. You can survive and live well. This site and its members are an awesome resource. It appears that you already appreciate that. Good luck with getting your diagnosis confirmed and perhaps corrected. I wish you the best.
Thanks everyone for the replies. This is an awesome site with great people. Thank you.
They should be? I think mine was as it was only $25 for one. You can get them at the pharmacy if your doctor prescribes you one.
I’ll never forget my first hypo experience almost 30 years ago. It happened about 10 minutes after my first insulin dose.
What Tim said. You are having what we term, "false hypo".
I went through the same thing a year ago, after chronic sugars in the 300's. When I got busy getting things under control, my D team wanted me to take 4-6 weeks to gradually bring the BG down to normal, precisely because of the FH phenomena.
I wouldn't cotton it. I decided to slam my BG back down to normal ASAP, and just suffer through the re-adaptation to normal BG. I went through about a week of dealing with hypo symptoms below 150, that gradually got better; within a week of normal BG, my FH was over.
This happens because the nervous system, brain in particular, do not use insulin for access to blood glucose. Neurons are fully permeable to glucose. So, whatever the level of sugar in your blood, that's the concentration in your neurons too. Over time, they get used to being bathed in syrup, and when you take it away, they react as if they're being sugar starved, even though there is plenty of available glucose for cellular metabolism and function.
FH is harmless, but very uncomfortable. Be assured that as long as you're above 70 you're fine. Get your BG down below 100 and tightly keep it there as much as possible and the FH will go away. I don't even sense any hypo now until I start to dip below 70.
One more thing though, John: When you weren't hypo, my God, didn't you feel like a million bucks when you got those sugars down? Clear headed; lots of energy; nausea gone; apetite; food was really good and satisfying again!; the thirst and peeing out the volume of the Colorado river every day, GONE!; etc. etc. etc.
Please share that with us too. I want to hear that you had that really great experience, like I did, when I got the chronic BG down. For me, it was instantaneous -- first day of using insulin. The next day was even better.
Unfortunately, like the false hypo, that charge doesn't last at that level either (dang!). You continue to feel much better and more "normal", but that first few days of being under much better control is about the best I can remember feeling physically in a long long time, including even now when my BG's been under awesome control for a year.
Good words, Terry.
A long those "learning" lines, John, I'd highly recommend searching and then reading through some of the discussions here on TuD about people's worst hypos, symptoms, etc. This was very helpful to me in being hyperaware of what to be looking for, and various strategies for preparing and protecting oneself from the hypo boogeyman.
Yeah, definitely. All in all, going on insulin therapy brought some semblance of normality back to my life. It wasn’t overnight, but I did begin to notice things that I had missed. My eyesight cleared up, I could think clearly again, I could workout again, food tasted good again, etc.
The sad thing was letting all that go through really bad management and being reminded, again, after getting things back under control.
Welcome to the club John. At first your body will probably be sensitive to even a level of 78. You might ask your dr. about the Lantus dosage - unfortunately, once injected the Lantus continues to be released whether you need it or not. My dr. had me do a 24 fast and if you go hypo without eating or taking Humolog the Lantus dosage is probably too high. I also did a day this last week where I only took glucose and humolog after I had set the correct basal rate. In the end, I had to increase both the Basal and Bolus by over 30%. I have been hypo so often that I don't even feel it when I'm down to 40 or lower. My CGM has saved my life more than a dozen times over the past year. I have been in 3 hypo "comas" with epileptic seizures - not fun. Sudden hypos can also occur if you happen to hit a blood vessel, You also need to be aware of heat, exercise (lows) as well as illness and stress (highs.)
Dave, I did feel great after my bg’s came down. Not having to drink water every 10 min and not peeing every 30-45 minutes was awesome. I do feel really great, that is probably why the hypo took me by surprise. I’m back at the gym putting in 60-90 minute workouts. The only disappointment to me was that my eye sight went very bad after I came off of the very high numbers. My glasses didn’t work for me anymore. If been to the eye doctor and he said it is normal for that to happen. He said that the vision I have now will probably be the vision I end up with, but my vision will probably settle down in a month or so. He did give me contacts so at least I can see. So now with me being able to see correctly I would say I feel like a million bucks.
Thanks again everyone, you all and this site are really making things easier for me. I am so thankful for the support. I have always been healthy and never sick, so this was quite the shock to me, but like I said this site really helps. As far as I’m concerned this is the best and most insightful website on line for me.
Thanks for the info, glad you have a CGM.