today is the first time this has happen to me but i guess i took a shot and fell asleep with out eating, i was upstairs alone when this happen but all i remember is feeling really weird in my bed and not really knowing what was going on it was like everything was upside down i cant really explain it then i remember getting up and going down stairs i dont even know how i made it down them, and sitting in a chair and my aunt asking me am i ok and i said i dont feel good… the next thing i know medics and a bunch of people are standing around me when i first woke up i couldnt talk but i could see them i wasnt sure if this was really happening or if it was a dream, i kept hopeing it was a dream and id just wake up then i realized it was real and i looked up again the first person i seen was my dad and i still didnt know what they were saying but i thought i was going to die (still didnt really know what was going on at this point but i knew it was because of my sugar) then slowly i started to understand what they were saying and what was happening asking me questions like what is my birthday etc etc, they said i was out about 30 minutes before they even got me awake… how many times has this happen to any of you if at all?
That’s never happened to me and I hope it never does. I got scared just reading about it.
Next time, eat FIRST, THEN bolus!
Mike, this happened to a good friend of mine recently (who also had type 1). It was indeed a very scary experience. In addition to being low, your blood sugar was dropping extremely fast, which makes it more likely that you lose consciousness.
I bolus early (15-25 minutes before eating) and I found that I NEED to do this to control my blood sugars, but I put myself at risk for the type of experience that you had. I have a kitchen timer and as soon as I take my bolus, I set the kitchen timer that way no matter what I am doing I will eat in time.
Hope that you never have to experience that again!
The closest I’ve come to your situation was when I was on multiple daily injections – and mixed up Lantus and Humalog. My BGs were like a roller coaster for five hours while I kept drinking regular soda and eating candy to keep it high enough. Yuck.
Side note: I called the doctor’s office right away and got the on call doc. He said to drink orange juice and that I’d be fine. He even said that it was okay for me to drive! Glad I didn’t believe him, even though I was pretty newly diagnosed.
when i was in 2nd grade my blood sugar was low and i kept running into stuff then i woke up in the nurses office it was weird. and in 5th grade i passed out during class and woke up in the nurses office. its wierd cause my blood sugar has been 16 and i could walk and talk and everything.
Very scary, Mike. I had one scary low in April which wasn’t quite as bad as yours as I was able to treat it myself, but barely. But I live alone so it’s a good thing I could. I might have lost and regained consciousness, I’m not sure. But it felt very unreal like you describe, as I took my blood sugar and gobbled glucose tabs (which I kept both upstairs and down) I felt like I was moving underwater. Never want to feel that way again. Actually, thanks for the idea, Kristin, I just put kitchen timer on my shopping list. I usually bolus and then move about the kitchen getting my meal together, but I can be a bit spacy and I wouldn’t want the cat or the phone or door to distract me.
Glad you’re okay, Mike!
That has only happened when I would overcorrect.
Why CGMS (that are continuous and accurate) would be so helpful. I had one this low only once and the doc thought it was a malfunctioning of my pump and we replaced it. I was so low that I could not speak and was hearing things in my head…like “who is that”…looking at my mom… and was sorta dream-like experience. Well…maybe I should take that back…have been “fogey” many mornings in my 30 years of diabetes. For all I know I have dipped into the 40’s or 20’s during the night and then pulled myself back up w/ glucagon dumped from my liver. I know the episode during the day was scarry…I could not operate my pump or blood sugar meter and my sister disconnected my pump and called the doctor’s office. I understand your experience was different…taking shots, but imagine if you had a CGMS that would have alarmed to get your attention that the blood sugar was dropping…irregardless of why it was dropping. Although my really low experience was on the pump…I had a lot more lows on shots than on the pump and if I tried for reallllly tight control like most of you guys get…on shots, I would have been gettting really low during the night and would have damage today as a result. Wish CGMS was incorporated into the pump site, much more accurate, continuous (24 hrs a day…no need to calibrate), and all T1’s at a minimum could have it:) Best control can only be achieved for those w/ no insulin production…by knowing what the blood sugar is pretty much all day and night long.
I have learned… for me, I have to eat then bolus. Too many lows by injecting and then trying to eat. I would rather be a bit high then too low.
Glad that you are okay.
AND WHEN YOU USE A KITCHEN TIMER, TAKE IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU EXIT THE KITCHEN! Smile. The NYT is just SO good to read!
kristin, thats a good idea about useing the timer im gonna try it i have to take my shot about 15-20 minutes before i eat to
janet, ya that has happen to me a few times then i was up all night drinking juice and makeing sure my blood sugar didnt drop to low
Dave, i hate to hear that i hope he wakes up its a good thing i didnt stay up stairs or i could be in the same position once i got down stairs in the chair i was out in like 4 minutes i dont remember much of it
Mike, I’m type 2, but I had experiences like the one you describe (without the medics) when I started taking Glyburide. When I first started taking Glyburide, my glucose level dropped from an average of 200 down to 80 instantly. One day, I overate at a meal. My glucose level was at 250 an hour after dinner. 5 hours later, I woke up with the shakes, dizzyness, and feeling weak. My glucose level was at 60. Fortunately, I had orange juice in the house and nothing bad happened. But from that time on, I have my room mate come into my room every morning when he goes to work (I work nights) and he wakes me up. Just a precaution in the event things get out of hand. I also sleep with my phone within arm’s reach so I can call 911.
I live in a one-room apartment 
So I can hear the kitchen timer from everywhere One of the perks of living in a small place I guess
Hi Mike, I’m sorry you had to experience this, and glad you’re ok now.
I had a similar experience earlier this summer (see my page for the story) - but luckily I regained consciousness on my own. This was the first time I had a seizure in about 10 years!
I had quite a few seizures in my teens: mostly in bed at night, but also at school, grocery store, club, excercising.
It hasn’t been something I’ve been afraid of, but now that I’m older, more often alone and in potentially dangerous situations (driving, swimming etc) it is definetly something I have great respect for, and which lures at the back of my mind more frequently.
Let’s hope neither of us - and the rest of Tu - has to experience this in a very looong time!
Take care =)
Holy ###$$$@@@! What a scare! We have forgotten to bolus her but not this. I can see where this might happen to an adult. Good lesson to learn: Have the food in front of you before you even think about bolusing. Prebolusing 15 minutes? I might rethink that. You are lucky you made it downstairs and got help. Thank God for that.
hi Mike- I’m glad you’ve made it out of there. Good thing your body can take care of itself (walking down the stairs) even though your brain isn’t functioning properly.
I know this happened a year ago… but you reminded me of a few things.
This has happened to me on at LEAST 6 occasions from using Lantus ALONE. (bad reaction to it i guess. Used to wake up to paramedics and ambulances once a month until I demanded my doc take me off Lantus)
On the other side, I remember a different time when i was 16 (diagnosed for 2 years) and I didn’t feel well, but I hadn’t told anyone around me that I was type 1 (I was ashamed of it and hadn’t opened up about it like I do now) so when I knew that I was slipping low, I just sat quietly, hoping they’d take me home to get something to drink soon. Well, they stopped off at Grandma’s house and I sat in the van, hoping if I was outside that they would hurry up inside. Twenty minutes went by and by the time they came outside, I was sitting in the driveway, picking up rocks and putting them in my lap (I don’t know why). I told my boyfriend that I didn’t feel good. So his mom drove us back to their house. When we got there, I knew that I had to check my BG, but I could barely function. I was shaking and sweating (cold sweat) and my legs felt like they had no blood in them. I stumbled over to their couch and plopped down on it. I was mumbling “Meter, meter, meter” and when I got my meter, I was so frustrated because I couldn’t figure out WHY I couldn’t get the blood strip into the meter. And I ended up dropping the whole bottle on the floor. And then I couldn’t get the blood onto the test strip. I ended up stabbing myself 20 times to get blood out. My blood was so thin. I had blood dripping everywhere, all over my hands, but I couldn’t get ANY on the damn strip. My boyfriend stepped in and held my hand for me. My heart was pounding, I just wanted to sleep, but my mind was screaming NO DON’T SLEEP~ I read the screen that said: 19 and then I passed out. I was lying on the couch, unable to move, but I could still hear everyone talking around me. I was screaming and crying inside, but of course no sound actually came out. It seriously was like an outer body experience. I heard him tell his mom that I just passed out on the couch. Then , I heard her say “She’s probably just tired. Let her rest.” Then a kind of peacefulness came over me and I started to “let go”. So tired, so drained, so scared… and then “peace” I heard him say “I’m calling the ambulance.” Then… I’m missing pieces of my memory after that. I woke up in my boyfriend’s brother-in-law’s arms with cake frosting all over my face. The paramedics are there, my grandparents are there, everyone is crying.
But… that was almost 10 years ago. I have a few more stories like that… but I think I’ve overtaken this discussion enough for now.
That is SO scary! I don’t bolus until my food is right in front of me.
I have a reoccuring nightmare, of going low and not able to take my bloodsugar - stab, stab, stab the finger - not getting the blood in the strip - error reading on the meter - on and on it goes - never finding out how low I am…your story reminded me of this crappy nightmare!
Probably at least 15 times although not every one resulted in EMS being called, just my husband and a glucogon pen. It is like an out of body experience. As you come out you can hear people but can’t react or talk or even move body parts correctly, very wierd. Middle of the night ones are the worst.
oh wow! this totally brings back memories when my moms bs was down to 35. The lowest it went was when the medics got there and it was 21! so dangerous! i hope you’re ok! what was it down to?
my experience was when i was back on my shots and i was doing really good, i think i had eaten that day and i felt funny, weird, dizzy and out of it, i was talking and i didn’t understand myself or anyone else, my bs was 43. I drank and drank and drank oj and it went up to 300 =/ i don’t know what was worse, i panicked tho