What happened, was this a low?

Type 1 and LADA
#1

Hello Everyone,

Friday evening at some point after dinner I dropped to 66 which is a mild low for me. I was feeling a bit fatigued and having trouble concentrating which has been ongoing. I treated it with 10g carbs (glucose tabs and smarties). I planned to retest as I usually do but for some reason I went upstairs, started to feel better and forgot to retest and had left dex downstairs. I was typing something when I very suddenly felt severely dizzy to the point where I felt I would pass out. I managed to get downstairs said I need help and drank 2 glasses oj. I had already gobbled 2 glucose tabs. My heart was pounding and I had palpitations so it seemed like a bad low. I started to feel better pretty quickly and tested maybe about 5-10 minutes after. Bg was 115 and then 119 but when I looked at dex it had me at 55 low I think but I'm not sure now when that alarmed. This sensor has been having tons of really off numbers.

Do you think this was a low that dropped more? How could I have gone back up that quickly? Could it have been a glucagon reaction? I have never responded that quickly so I'm assuming maybe this wasn't low bg. My pump trainer thought it could be a thyroid issue but my numbers have been ok on all my tests. I plan to visit a doc soon to see if I need to do blood work, my endo bloodwork is due pretty soon anyway.

#2

I find that lows can sometimes bounce back very quickly once treated.

And I find that I often get the intense hypo symptoms not on the way down to the low, but as my body bounces back from it. It's almost like my body, on its way back up, suddenly realizes it was low, and freaks out. That seems to fit your situation.

#3

I don't feel my lows. I do, however, acutely feel low symptoms when my BG#s are are on the rise after treating the low. It's sort of like the whiplash of going from low to quickly rising freaks my body out. Maybe it was something like that?

#4

I guess it could be, it really scared me, I have had symptoms like that before with lows but never so suddenly after already treating a low, feeling better and coming back up. I usually feel good once I get past the rise part, but this felt more like the I'm going to pass out stage before I treat. I need to make sure nothing else is wrong with me too because I haven't been feeling well and have been having more palpitions etc. since being on insulin. I get them nearly every time I lie down to go to sleep. I went to a cardiologist last month who did testing. I don't have the results yet but she said she thinks it's an endocrine issue.

#5

I'm not ruling it out but I have never had that happen before. If I'm that low to feel that dizzy, this was the worst for me maybe, I usually take a lot more time to get back to those numbers.

#6

When I had Thyroiditis in 2010 I had palpitations, restlessness and feeling warm after about an hour of sleep at night. Another thing I noticed was muscle weakness doing everyday activities like climbing stairs at work, which would also lead to difficulty catching my breath. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, but a few months later actually had the reverse--hypothyroidism which remains today. My endo thought it was likely Hashimoto Thyroiditis, but I tested negative for antibodies then. It sounds similar to me so maybe you should have your thyroid hormones checked (FT3 and FT4) TSH is produced by the pituitary to signal the thyroid to produce the needed amount.

#7

Thanks bjm I have a lot of those symptoms for years including getting out of breath and palpitations after climbing stairs, but I can garden for hours sometimes and be fine, it is very strange. I think I have those checked every 4 months with my endo blood work and they have been normal though. Let me check them again and see if they are changing. My grandfather had Graves disease so there is a family history of thyroid issues, but he is the only one as far as I know. Do you take anything for this? I remember you telling me something about that a while back.

Did you notice if your bg went up or down with these events?
#8

When I had the hyperthyroid stage I was on a beta blocker due to the palpitations. When I became Hypothyroid a few moths later I started Armour thyroid and the symptoms disappeared except for a few adjustments here and there. I just had my dose adjusted about 6 weeks ago and did see a slight increase in my glucose readings..mainly fasting, but I'm not sure that it was the meds. It could be from trying this Mediterranean diet that has more carbs. My average went from 114 (on lower carbs) to now 124! I'm going for an A1C test the end of the month and I'm expecting higher than the 5.5 I got it down to in September.Good luck and I hope they find the cause..dealing with the symptoms can be awful.

#9

Thanks :-) Yeah it is, especially when you're not sure what is going on- I'm hoping this was a low and not thyroid issues but I will discuss it again with the docs and review my blood work. My trainer told me to get something else tested too, but I've forgotten what- I will have to look up the tests online. I'm sorry your average is up, maybe your endo can start you on something so you can eat that diet?