In this article, we will explore what low blood sugar feels like for different people with diabetes. We will look at the symptoms, how they can change over time, and how they are often different from person to person. We will look at planning ahead, and the treatment of hypoglycemia, hereafter referred to as “low blood sugar.”
To get started, patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes were interviewed and asked the question:
Melissa’s story
Melissa is usually gung-ho and ready to go for the day, but when she is handed the low blood sugar agenda, it takes all the wind out of her “cells.” They feel wrinkled up and emaciate.
Here is how Melissa describes her low blood sugars:
I imagine you, (you wrinkly old emaciated cell with no food in you), as a grumpy old man. I scream at you, though I can’t move. No, I won’t take your stifling agenda! I have to work after all. My kids need me to take them to dance class after school.
I’m reluctant to take your agenda, packed with the helplessness that is my poison pill of the day. If I believe those positive self-help type blogs, then I would know that to decide you are happy determines your destination for the day. If you have diabetes, that’s a crock. With diabetes, your low blood sugar determines your agenda, and ultimately what you will be able to do for the day.
When it gets below 70, or dips severely low- it begs and screams to be addressed! Especially if it dips fast, then I’m in trouble. Every cell in my body screams out. If it’s too low, I can’t move to do anything about it! Often I get a little dizzy feeling, and then I know I have to treat.
I will get the shakes so bad that I can’t get a pack of glucose tablets open. That’s when I might as well hang it up for the rest of the day. I know that my concentration level will be off, and I will be so tired. I know this when I continue to stare at the page and read the same thing over and over again. No matter how many times I read it, I can’t seem to comprehend it.”
Now let’s hear from Jim
A few days after I received nutritional education and began watching my carbohydrates more closely, I realized quickly that my insulin dose was too high. On those days, when I went in to work, I quickly went out. I became lucid and unresponsive at one point. I had just recently started work there, and so no one really knew what to do.
I had felt it coming, but I was in the middle of work with my new project, and my boss needed it turned in by the end of the morning. I kept working, thinking my breakfast was still digesting, and it would counteract my low feelings.
I had a slight headache, but attributed it to sinuses. I chose denial of a little weakness and some mild sweating over succumbing to the low blood sugar. I had left my glucometer at home. The drink machine at the office was not working, and I had left my cooler pack with drinks and snacks on the counter in a rush out the door.
It was as if the universe was conspiring against me, and handing me the low blood sugar agenda that I didn’t want or need.
I sat unable to speak or move. I heard the administrative manager calling for EMS. I shook my head, but again I could not speak-confusion taking over. I reached for her desk where she had an unopened soda on one corner, but I was too weak. Too confused…Lights fading…Going down…Goodnight!”
Let’s hear also from Brendon, who had a very difficult time with low blood sugars recently:
When I worked the graveyard shift at the chicken plant, I have no choice but to accept the low blood sugar agenda handed to me nightly.
With a rough swing shift schedule, it was so difficult with type 1 diabetes to work this way. I was in DKA three times in six months while working there. This was shortly after my pump failed and put me in DKA the first time. Then the doc put me back on four shots a day.
After that, it seemed downhill to get my insulin doses regulated with my crazy work schedule. I couldn’t take a break when I needed to. I kept some snacks and things in my pockets, but I was always starting to sweat and feeling confused in the middle of the night. I was finished with my snacks and still having symptoms, with no way to check my blood sugar.
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The plant operator didn’t understand diabetes, nor did he want to. I was in trouble every night, until I decided to quit the job.
Then I was on unemployment for a while. But at least I could get my diabetes straightened out and get on some kind of a schedule where I didn’t always have this dangerous agenda lurking ahead of me every night of my life.
Thankfully, I could move in with my mother. She cooked meals for me, and supported me. She also was quick to help if I was trending low. When I worked there, it was such a hopeless and depressing feeling to know it would just happen again. I was starting to fear I wasn’t going to get up from one of these lows, and something had to give.
Next, people with diabetes were interviewed and asked, “What are your most common symptoms? How have they changed over the course of your diabetes?
Jenny’s story
That’s the problem. So often I don’t have symptoms of my low blood sugars until it is too late.
My job keeps me busy, and sometimes low blood sugars creep up on me like a thief. I will sometimes have a very slight and mild headache, which is difficult to distinguish between a sinus headache and one from low blood sugar.
I will get the slightest perspiration, but it’s hot and humid where we do the screen printing at work, so it’s hard to tell what’s what. The first few times it happened after I was diagnosed and started on insulin, I didn’t take heed of the slight signs I was having. This resulted in EMS having to come to me at my job, which was extremely embarrassing for me. Now, I’ve learned to keep everything on me. I’ve got quick carbohydrates at all times, including glucose tablets, and I also keep a glucagon pen.
If I start to feel even the least bit ‘off,’ I have my glucometer and check my blood sugar. I’ve learned that sometimes, I need to eat the quick carbohydrates right away, and then check my blood sugar to confirm. Often, if I wait until I check my blood sugar to consume the carbohydrates, I’m too low to treat myself.
So I’ve learned what my lows feel like and how fast they come on, and that has changed the way I react to them. I don’t play, because over time I get less and less of a low blood sugar reaction. I have to be in touch with subtle cues that tell me I’m trending low. Then I have to react with speed before I get the cloudy-headed feeling, the irritability, and the dizziness.
If I don’t get some carbohydrates in me before then, I’ve lost a few friends from yelling at them. What’s worse is, I’m going down for the count and won’t be worth anything the rest of the day.
Now let’s hear from Jessie
My biggest sign of a low blood sugar is that of impending doom. I start to feel a weighted amount of anxiety that is greater than at any other time. I start to shake, and find it hard to concentrate. If I’m feeling hopeless, depressed and anxious about something, I check my blood sugar. I am most always trending low when I feel the nervousness set in.
At other times in my life, I have not felt a thing. I will not feel the least bit tired or off, and I will feel like I have some energy. Then, boom! Out of nowhere it hits me, and I have little time to react. I go straight to confusion, not being able to move, and having big floaters in my field of vision. I’m grateful to my husband when it hits like that. He knows exactly what to do. It’s rather scary.
I’m late for things all of the time because of my diabetes, and low blood sugars. Sometimes I’m afraid people may think I am just using it to get out of things, but it’s really quite severe.
Hope has a milder experience
I have a low blood sugar on occasion. It usually only happens about once a year, and for that I am grateful. It has only gone as low as 58 (mg/dl). I had to treat it with carbohydrates. It started out with a feeling of apprehension, and then I got pretty shaky. I noticed the beads of sweat starting on my forehead.
I had been to my diabetes classes, so I knew exactly what to do, and I had glucose tablets ready in my purse. I took 3 of them, and I waited 15 minutes and checked again. That time it was 80, so I had a snack coming up. I ate that, and then two hours later, I was at 120 (mg/dl).
So far, my few lows haven’t caused me too much of a problem. Maybe it is because I don’t wait too long, and I always keep my glucometer, supplies, and some quick carbohydrates to deal with a low blood sugar.
Tanner’s tale
“I can’t believe what happened the last time I had a low blood sugar. I was sitting in the library at college, and there was a girl sitting next to me at the table studying. I started having my usual signs of low blood sugar. I got sweaty; my heart was beating faster which made me appear nervous all of a sudden.
I started fidgeting in my chair and was a bit confused, trying to remember if I had my glucometer and snacks, and where they were located. I stood up and lost my balance. At that point, I fell into the female student that was working next to me.
By then I was sweating all over, and I was trying to talk, but only slurred words were coming out. I tried to apologize that I fell into her, but I don’t think that came out quite right either.
I was about to get into the pocket in my book bag and get my glucometer, when she jumped up from her chair. Disgusted, she said angrily, ‘Well, I never!’ She took off in a huff before I had a chance to say anything else. Not that I could have said anything anyway. I was in the throes of my low blood sugar, and having trouble moving or talking. I guess she thought I was just all worked up over her, and it offended her somehow. So if you sit next to me in the library, and I start to act a little funny, sweating and looking nervous, it’s not because I think you are hot! If she had waited long enough to see me get my glucometer out to check my blood sugar, she might have thought different of me. Sometimes my diabetes gives the wrong impression.
Donald Ray’s story (Rest in Peace)
I’ll tell you what a low blood sugar is like.
It’s like your blood and the sugar in your body are getting together for a party, and you’re not invited. If the tag team is lucky, they will surely take you down in a drooling, slurring mess.
When I was losing my vision and my home health nurse couldn’t come to draw up my insulin, I used to do it by my knuckles. This caused me quite a few problems as you can imagine, so I had to quit it.
If I drew up to my first knuckle, I could likely sit up straight and talk to you pretty well. If I drew up to my second knuckle, I was slurring my words and likely saying some choice words to you, or calling your mother some names. I fired my share of home health nurses in my day. I kept one once, because he brought me what I wanted, which was Little Debbie cakes. He said he would bring me some to have if I would promise not to draw up my own insulin. That seemed like a fair trade to me.
Then there were those times when I wanted the Dry Dock Seafood buffet, so I went and ate it anyway even though I knew I shouldn’t. Then I drew my insulin up to my last knuckle, which almost had me taking my last breathe. Just before the lights went out, I was feeling my lips and tongue go numb. I had been sweating clean through my shirt. The next thing I remember is waking up in the emergency room after doing this, thinking I will never do it again. The doctors said I had a seizure.
I’ve had Type 1 Diabetes since I was six years old, and they told me I wouldn’t live past age 30 back then. I’ve made it 25 more years than I was supposed to. But I’ve come close to taking myself out on occasion by using some pretty unsafe practices.
As I’m going down for the count, I can think inside my head clearly, but I can’t for the life of me tell someone anything. I get stuck. I can’t really move. If I’m standing up, I’m liable to topple over like a webble-wobble that won’t bounce back. Sometimes my balance is just off like that when I get a low blood sugar. Sometimes my heart beats so fast that I hyperventilate. It’s no fun, and I aim to avoid it from now on.
What are all the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar?
There is a long list of low blood sugar symptoms, which we have listed below. Some lists overlap symptoms of high blood sugar with symptoms of low blood sugar. That is because some people will have certain symptoms with low blood sugars, while another person with diabetes may experience the same type of symptom with a high blood sugar. Here is a fairly exhaustive list of symptoms of low blood sugar:
- angry
- light-headed
- anxious
- nauseous
- blurred vision
- nervous
- chills
- nightmares
- clammy skin
- sad
- confused
- seizures
- decreased coordination
- shaky
- delirious
- sleepy
- dizziness
- stubborn
- fast heartbeat
- sweaty
- fatigued
- talking or crying in sleep
- headaches
- tingling lips or tongue
- hungry
- tired
- impatient
- unconsciousness
- irritable
- weakness
Universal hypoglycemia “faces”
The “faces” of low blood sugar have been around for a few decades. They are an oldie but a goodie. The faces are universal, and most anyone can look at a picture of the cartoon that is “shaking” and know that it stands for shaking, etc. This is a good thing to put on your refrigerator if you have diabetes, so that someone may be able to look at you sweating, and see that sweating is a possible sign of low blood sugar. Then they may also provide the treatment listed at the bottom of the flyer. It lists the most common symptoms of low blood sugar. There is also a “Faces” flyer for the signs and symptoms of high blood sugar.
Autonomic failure in diabetes
The main thing is that you are able to recognize your own signs and symptoms of low blood sugar. Not everyone experiences all of the symptoms listed above all of the time. Symptoms have a tendency to change over time.
As the natural course of diabetes is played out, the tendency for autonomic symptoms to fade out is a problem. Especially if there are many episodes of low blood sugars in a recent period of time, the person with diabetes may stop feeling many of the symptoms that signal a low blood sugar. If they cannot feel it coming on, they cannot treat it with fast-acting carbohydrates.
This places them at a greater risk of severely low blood sugars, seizure, and sudden death. If the body doesn’t have an appropriate autonomic response to the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar, defense against it is lessened. In one study, the researchers hypothesized that recurrent hypoglycemia or low blood sugars, would result in a “vicious cycle,” where one episode would cause the next to be more severe by virtue of decreased recognition of symptomatology. The researchers concluded that “a single episode of afternoon hypoglycemia results in both elevated glycemic thresholds for autonomic and symptomatic responses to hypoglycemia and impaired physiological defense against hypoglycemia the next morning in IDDM.”1
If you want more information regarding diabetes see below:
I am unable to feel the signs and symptoms of my low blood sugars. What can I do to make sure that my low blood sugar does not get so severe that I need outside help or EMS?
The inability to recognize symptoms of a low blood sugar is called “hypoglycemic unawareness.” Since it is dangerous to have severely low blood sugars, and your body may not be warning you about them, consult with your doctor. If you have insurance that covers it, your doctor can order a Continuous Glucose Monitor or CGM. This will help to alert you when your blood sugar is trending low, so that you may treat it with the appropriate amount of carbohydrates. A CGM can be literally a lifesaver in this situation. If you are unable to get a CGM, make sure to have your doctor order a glucagon pen. Make sure that family and co-workers know the signs and symptoms you may display when you have a low blood sugar, and how to administer glucagon.
I think that I over treat my low blood sugars. What would be the correct treatment for when I drop below 70 (mg/dl)?
15-20 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates is needed. It’s really not the time for a candy bar or a honey bun. It takes a while to digest those foods. Instead, pick one of the following quick-acting carbohydrates to correct your low blood sugar:
- 3-4 glucose tablets
- 4 ounces fruit juice
- 5-6 ounces regular soda, such as cola
- 1 tablespoon of sugar or jelly
- 7-8 lifesavers or similar size hard candies
- 5-6 ounces of milk
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- if unconscious, a glucagon injection pen if available
- 15 gram tube of gel icing from the cake aisle at the grocery store (bystanders can work into the inside of your cheek if you are unconscious after calling 911)
After you have consumed 15 grams of quick-acting carbohydrates, wait 15 minutes, and then recheck your blood sugar. If it is not up over 80 mg/dl, then consume another 15-20 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate and recheck again in 15 minutes. Repeat these steps until blood sugar is over 80 mg/dl. If the person passes out, call 911 first thing to make sure that help is on the way. Bystanders should not try to force feed or pour liquid into the person’s mouth; otherwise it may enter the person’s lungs. While waiting on EMS, you can put the tube of gel icing between the teeth and cheek. Hopefully, enough will be absorbed into the skin of the cheek to revive the person at this point. If not, you will have already called EMS and they will be on the way.
How many carbohydrates should I take in if I plan to exercise to prevent a low blood sugar?
Consult the chart below when deciding how many carbohydrates you need to avoid a low blood sugar during exercise2:
Exercise Duration & Intensity | <100 mg/dL | 100-180 mg/dL | 180-250 mg/dL |
< 30 min. at low intensity | Eat 15 g carbohydrate | N/A | N/A |
30-60 min. at moderate intensity | Eat 15 g carbohydrate | 100-120: Eat 15 g carbohydrate. 121-180: N/A | N/A |
30-60 min. at high intensity | Eat 30 g carbohydrate | Eat 15 g carbohydrate | N/A |
> 60 minutes at moderate intensity* | Eat 15 g carbohydrate per hour of activity | Eat 15 g of carbohydrate per hour of activity | After 1 hour of activity, eat 15 grams carbohydrate |
Further reading:
Over to you
What is it like and what do you do when life hands you the low blood sugar agenda for the day? Share it in the comments section below. Also share the article with anyone with low blood sugar.
TheDiabetesCouncil Article | Reviewed by Dr. Sergii Vasyliuk MD on June 03, 2020
References
I had hypoglycemia for a long time ago i that it was under control but 10-14-2016 i went for the tilt test that came back postive for hypoglycemia and i still have it
Tilt table is for dysautonomia and POTS, which can affect blood glucose levels in nondiabetics.
Thank you for these stories. This past few weeks I’ve suddenly developed several severe lows (52-75) with barely any physical warnings like I’ve always gotten for the past 5years. Your stories here have just educated me that I need to be watching out now, especially at bedtime. It is very scary for me as I live alone and I have woken up at 3am at 54bg…. I’ve always depended on my low bg warning signs, but now I now they may stop and I can’t depend on them to show themselves. Your site may have just literally saved my life!!!! I will be asking my Dr to see if I can get the constant bg monitor and the glucose injection for an emergency. Once my bg was 43 and I couldn’t even hold the sofa to drink it. Many times when I got low, I couldn’t chew the glucose tablets. Thinking is time to get a roommate, living alone, also wroth no neighbors and not having signs of low bg is terrifying . THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ENLIGHTENING ME WITH INFO THAT MY DR’S SHOULD WARN ME ABOUT, BUT HAVEN’T
Thank you very much for the information and people’s shared stories. It’s been a help and gives me some things to think about.
My fiancé is visiting and had an instance of low blood sugar that seemed to come on suddenly. He was complaining of a headache hours and hours before, when we were out. He said he wanted food (fast food), so we went. I try not to fuss at him about his food choices but they are not good in general. He ordered a burger and fries and the really big soda. He wanted a refill of the soda before we left the place but I talked him out of getting it. We’d been home a few hours and he took his insulin (a short acting one with a long acting one). Then he took his other meds. (Sadly he’s on very many of them.) He mentioned his headache again and I asked if he had something to take for it. He said yes and I assumed that he’d taken whatever he needed along with his regular meds.
A couple of hours later he said his sugar was dropping. I know he’s diabetic but he’s never told me that we need to have a plan for an episode like this and I didn’t know to ask. it was frightening. I’ve heard him say that he drinks a soda or eats pastries or similar for low sugar episodes but I don’t generally keep those things at my place. My first thought was to give him honey but I wasn’t sure how much would be too much or enough so I gave him about 1/4 a spoon.
He drank lots and lots of water then asked for an orange. More water and I asked if he wanted a banana which he ate. Then I sat down to research online and found this page. When he felt better he dug into a bag he’d brought with him and ate two donuts. Well that pissed me off. I know it’s hard to change old habits but come on! After maybe another hour, I got him to bed. He asked for an orange a few minutes later and I got him another. I don’t think he’ll get much sleep because I hear him tossing and turning. (I’m in the living room.)
It upsets me that every time I attempt to ask him questions or make positive suggestions about his health, he gets defensive and says he knows his body/what he’s doing because he’s been “doing this” for over x amount of years. I finally heard that one too many times and I told him it was obvious he did NOT know what he was doing because he’s been getting progressively worse (neuropathy, glaucoma, and some other issues) with time. He’s a relatively young man and this is just awful to me. 🙁
Now I’m afraid that he’ll have to go to hospital during his visit or worse and his family will be upset with me. Also, my health is important to me. I love my fiancé very much and I want his health to be important to him too but sadly I can’t force him to make better choices for his own well being.
But I’m still thankful for this site and this page. I see that there were some symptoms earlier today that could have possibly prevented this and I now have a better understanding of what symptoms to pay attention to. I’m glad my instinct about the honey was correct and now I have an idea of how much to give him as well as other options for helping him bring his sugar back up.
I am exhausted so I’m going to lay down. I’m praying to get some sleep but I know I’ll keep waking to monitor him. 🙁
Any way, thanks again.
I know this is an old comment, but for anyone reading later, Type 1 diabetics need to test their blood glucose and treat with a fast acting sugar if they are experiencing a low blood glucose episode.
Eating a donut when you are low is completely reasonable, much better than eating an orange. I know that sounds unhealthy, but a diabetic low needs to be treated with sugar that is easy to eat and will get into the bloodstream quickly.
Always test to make sure the blood sugar level rises.
Also, Type 1 diabetics can eat fast food and drink soda, they simply have to dose with the proper insulin. It’s harder to do that with some foods than with others, but as long as the insulin matches the carbohydrates it doesn’t matter if they are carbohydrates from an apple or from a soda. If you stop someone from drinking soda he has given himself insulin for, you will cause a hypoglycemic event possibly resulting in loss of consciousness or seizure.
Never stop a person with diabetes from eating food or drink he has been given insulin for.
My wife has noticed that I will yawn excessively when low, this has helped me to watch for it.
Want to know how low sugar causes coma. I was asleep when my sugar dropped to 40. I woke up couldn’t move or swallow lot talkl. How long until it killed me? My granddaughter came home heard me gurgling and told my spouse to call911
I wonder how low most people are when they slip into a coma too. I’ve been up and alert, talking and everything, when my blood sugar was at 19. Ironically, it happened while I was making toffee to send as Christmas presents. My only symptoms were profuse sweating (a typical low symptom for me) and shakey hands. I was able to check and treat the low on my own, no problem.
I wonder if the length of the low plays a big role in going unconscious. I have experienced much worse symptoms (trouble talking, nausea, lethargy, general confusion) from blood sugars in the 40-60s first thing in the morning. My guess is running a bit low all night screws me up more than suddenly running low in the day after accidently taking too much insulin for a meal.
I don’t have diabetes, however apparently I am suffering from hypoglycemia, usually only while sleeping, which results in grand mal seizures. I had seen specialists after specialist.. No one could come up with an answer. After suffering this for several years and dealing with toxin exposure (mold) and infection, my last blood test helped me figure it out.
My body, particularly my spleen and liver, have been so overwhelmed, my liver can’t handle the sudden drop in sugar (fungus loves sugar) and can’t dump the emergency glucose into my system. Then the seizure comes on. I don’t get the seizures when I take my antifungal meds.
Diabetics beware of mold! You’re at risk for hypoglycemic emergencies because diabetics can have a lot of glucose in their system and are prone to chronic infections.
I have had Type 1 for 45 years. I have always worked outdoors, mainly manual labor. I used to routinely drop into the 40’s sometimes 30;s, and always helped myself. I have been in most of the situations described. I am married have 3 daughters and a wife. I do lots of yard work, and regularly drop into the 50’s, which is not that low. Twice in my life I went unconscious because of Low blood sugar “when I was on NPH and R. I went down quick and paramedics said that I was at “0”. Their was no time for sugar, honey, maple syrup etc. it was too late. Paramedics gave me a Glucagon injection. I came back with in 10 minutes, and was feeling better in 45. I never went to the hospital because of LBS. Now I am on Lantus and Humulog for coverage, and have much better control. Now I just get wiped out for hours when I deal with a Low Blood Sugar reaction. This is just my story.
Thanks,
Steve
Amen brother, I am a type 1 have had it 24 years and 50 to me isn’t that low I have literally made my self a sandwich at 1
20 before, I have never ever heard of anyone going to the emergency room for a lbs.
I can tell you, a blood sugar of 3 sucks when you are conscious. I don’t know how to describe it other than when you try to control a puppet but the strings are tangled.
For the past two years I usually only shook in my hands, felt sick to my stomach and got dizzy. I figured it was because I don’t eat on time or a lot in general, so just did my best to keep up. Then I had a sudden episode at an arcade where I almost passed out on top of hyperventilation. I thought I was dying. My chest felt constricted. My friend bought and brought me mcdonalds and I literally downed it all in a minute once I smelled it. Felt normal fifteen minutes later.
Half a year before that, and it had happened, this time walking in a store I just collapsed involuntarily. A stranger brought me a soda and instructed me to drink and I did. My parents were called and they came. I was dizzy after but I could go home.
About five weeks ago (from today) I was at a church fundraiser helping. At random I felt overwhelmed with heat and thought I was tired from standing. I suddenly was fearful of death for no apparent reason. I went to the restroom, used it and my vision went black a few seconds. I scrambled to unlock the door, and then went to find help but I couldn’t think to talk to anyone so I laid down where they were, unnoticed, hyperventilating. I took two big bites of an apple from my bag (it felt like my arm was bashed with a baseball bat when grabbing it) and felt my body rejecting my surge of hopelessness. Staring at the ceiling, my mind screamed “help me” but my mouth was drawing to the right side and my limbs were curling in. I was petrified and thought “this is how it ends…pathetic…” my entire body shook, someone found me, ems was called I went to the hospital but since I had bitten the apple I was labeled as having only anxiety because my sugar was better. They gave me Valium to ease my muscles. Nothing was fixed- no helpful diagnosis made. The thing is- you Have to find a Doctor willing to listen to your symptoms who won’t say it’s in your head. It’s your own responsibility to care, no one else will as much as you do. Life is worth fixing this for. Thank-you for reading, and thank-you for Taking Care of yourself.
My Sugar have neverDrope below 70 I have never experience a low blood Sugar I don’t know what it feel like I have been a Diabetes over 20 plus years .
Thank you for all the information.I am tipe 2 diabetes.Seem to be the dawn fenominon
I think I handled the simptons good.
Would love to know what is a high reading and whats a low reading.
As I am from South Africa I do not understand the unid how readings are presented.Like eg 70,100, and 140 .
I am used to readings presented as eg. 6,8,10 or 15
Did anyone eventually answer your question about the US system? I realize this was years ago…
I just have a thing where I feel like i need to move mountains to help someone learn something new when they are genuinely interested. Knowledge should ALWAYS be given to those actually seeking it.
Feel free to ignore this entire rambling if you already found your answer.
I feel low and symptoms at 70 and I don’t have diabetes
Please do not let your body drop below 60. My brothers body got used to running low and he usually could help himself. The doctor told me that because he is running below 60 so many times throughout the year that he has lost his awareness to know when he’s low, because 60 seems normal now to him. I kept a close eye on my brother,many times giving him honey, glucose tablets and also called 911 for a dextrose injection. I saved my brother many times, but on May 18, 2018 I couldn’t find him. Not knowing he was low, he drove his truck, missed his exit, hit a tree, the truck burst into flames and he died trapped inside. Please get a monitor to alert you when you are low, also tell family to watch for your low signs. Its up to a loved one to identify your low, although you think you can run low at times, there will be a day when you cant. Spread the word, someone will one day need to help you the day you drop so low you cant move. Good luck to you all, my heart goes out to you all, diabetes is a very misunderstood.
Thank you for this page, but if possible *please* remove the note in the hypoglycemia chart about treating with hard candies. If a person is severely hypoglycemic a hard candy becomes a choking hazard. I’m sure most with Type 1 have heard this already, but if a teacher or coach is given this chart he or she won’t know better.
As a side note, many hypo charts now recommend eating with symptoms and then testing, rather that testing first. I assume this is because in a school setting it takes time to recognize and address a low and spending more time digging out a test kit (or going to the nurse’s office) creates a hazard.
Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your experience as a Diabeteds and information.