[Tiggletaggle]

Is it possible to have a hypo without your BG dropping...

This afternoon I got all the symptoms...Dizzy, shaky, woozy, foggy (It's like the 7 dwarves of diabetes *LOL*)...tested but my BG I was 6.9...... so well within normal limits...

I ate a quarter of an apple and the symptoms disappeared within several minutes....

If it's not a hypo...Am I going nuts??

 

[Shanny]

If it doesn't make sense, always wash hands & test again. And tell your meter you mean business this time!

 

[onlymep]

hi TT... speaking from experience of having too many of the damn things lately... you did the right thing to treat it, although an apple is not a quick acting/high GI carb. You actually need real sugar... eg. fruit juice, lollies, cool drink, whatever has lots of sugar you can get into you quickly. Ratio is usually 1/2 glass of juice/drink, up to 7 lollies, 3 teaspoons sugar/honey. You can buy glucose tabs too but I don't use them myself. You would then eat your apple (or any other low acting/low GI carb) 15 minutes later if you're not due your next meal. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours to recover from a hypo... it probably depends on how quickly you treated it and how low you actually went. If your meter said 6.9 it could be you had something on your hands as Shanny has already mentioned.... but what I find too is that it can be when you're coming out of a hypo. The reason I say this is because your liver dumps glucose if you drop too low to save your life. How long did you feel weird for? Hypos can happen very quick. The key is to recognise the symptoms and treat it fast. You're safer to go higher than too low in the short term (as my diabetes clinic reminded me recently). Going low (<4) is no good on our bodies... I've been reminded of that recently due to my daily hypo issues. Well there's my lecture for ya. lol. I hope it makes sense.

 

[fgummett]

As Shanny suggests: if in doubt wash your hands and test again. Not only does this help to rule out a contaminated reading but a single BG reading is just a snapshot in time and does not tell you if your BG is stable, rising or falling. Some experience these symptoms when the BG is rapidly changing -- as onlymep suggests you may have been on the way out of an hypo already.

For myself I find that refined Carbs lead to the most reactive BG changes while Fat and Protein lead to more stability.

The other thought is that if you are only recently establishing more normal BGs after many weeks (months, years?) of living with high BGs, your body may have become accustomed to the higher levels and it may take time to readjust to "normal".

 

[jwags]

What you are experiencing is a False Hypo. Over the last 4 years I have had lots of them. In the beginning I would get them at 150 or 160 because my body was not use to lower bgs. I would eat something small like nuts or cheese but not something high in glucose . You really don't need to treat with glucose unless you are below 70. It takes awhile to get your body use to normal numbers. Actually with most Type 2's as you are falling into dangerous levels your pancreas will usually produce glucagon which signals liver to convert stored glycogen into available glucose. If you are using Insulin you need to be more aware of hypos.

 

[Tiggletaggle]

Thankyou everyone for your amazingly thoughtful replies......

Things got worse tonight.... I started with a headache about 5.30pm....but more like a presure in my head than a pain... Then driving my wonderful son to youth group tonight....I got dizzy, nauseated, my speech got slow and a little slurry...and I got really hot.... I seriously thought I was going to die..... (this all got really bad in the car park where I started retching and bawling my eyes out....)....

I told my wonderful hubby that I thought I was going to die (slightly dramatic ) and he ran off and got me some smarties (candy coated chocolate) which I ate half and handful of....
In 15 mins I felt like I could walk again and he drove me home and made me eat tea...

Right now (about 2.5hours afterwards) I feel slightly odd, fizzy almost and wiped...

You have all provided me with such great information and I think you might be spot on about the BG levels changing......
Also I wrote earlier today that I had forgotten to take my metformin last night (sustained release)...so I'm sure that didn't help.... I am not sure if I should take it in the morning if I forget the night before...

ONlymep... thanks so much for the details on what to eat if it happens again... I didn't know any of that and I"m really thankful...

And finally, thank you all so much for such caring answers to (not just this) but all of my questions. I really appreciate the time you all take and the wisdom you all share.

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou

 

[moon]

When my bg was dropping, my body also struggled with lower numbers but nothing like what you are going through. Since this is happening often, I'd keep your meter with you and test so you know.

If you're taking only metformin, it's pretty hard to go low. Metformin won't take you below where your body should be. To go low you have to have excess insulin which can/does happen when you're on insulin or one of the meds that stimulates your pancreas to produce more.

Good luck with this - hope your body stabilizes soon!

 

[onlymep]

you're welcome TT it's a good idea to test your BGLs though as you need to know what's happening. Jwags mentioned about false hypos... but to be honest I never experienced that at all... I experienced real hypos right from the beginning. My very first hypo I hit my head on a wall (and then tested at 4.2). You're much better to be safer than sorry. Also chocolate is low GI, but the sugar coating would've worked on those smarties. I generally carry soft lollies with me at all times in my handbag (mentos works well too). You need to be able to get the sugar in quick. When I'm at home I prefer to go for the fruit juice as it works quick (I prefer apple/blackcurrent). When I have hypos at night I have the juice, then I have some milk (milk is low GI)... I do this as it saves time prepping food at 2am or whatever it is and I can get back to bed quicker. Some may say protein is good... but for me having a hypo your body is screaming for energy immediately. Keep testing though as it's the only way to read what your body is doing and learn how to read your symptoms too. I now know when I'm in the 4 range now during the day (as a result of testing and knowing how I feel)... when I test now I'm usually right. I can't go below 4.5 during the day as that is danger zone for me... I start getting hypos. You will learn this for yourself as you go... also everyone needs to know what is too low for them too. Discuss with your endo also... I have been advised by my endo that he wants me to stay above 5 and that's because he knows I get hypos <4.5. We just need to be safe about it too as much as it's important to keep numbers in normal range.

 

[onlymep]

@ moon - I had my first hypo on metformin... so it's very possible.

 

[fgummett]

To be clear: I wasn't suggesting Protein or Fat as an emergency treatment for an hypo but as a way which works for me to avoid them in the first place; by maintaining stable BGs.

 

[Tiggletaggle]

Frank you're absolutely right...the higher protein and fat has helped me to stabilise my BSLs

Onlymep...You're a sweetheart! Thankyou!

Moon... I missed my metformin last night so I was without it today.....so possibly a combination of that and as Frank suggested, my body getting much lower Bg levels than it's used to...

Again... thankyou all!

 

[SandraO]

Good morning,

Just to let you know, Tiggletaggle, that I experience the same thing. I don't get quite as severe as you, but I do experience the shakes, dizziness, headaches, etc. and when I test my BG I am right around the 6.5 to 7.0 mark. I thought it was just me. And yes, I wash my hands everytime before checking my BG. I have even rechecked it several times when I'm feeling this way and get the same results over and over.

I just assumed that it was my body's way of telling me that it's not used to being at a lower number and over time it will adjust. I am also on Metformin 500mg x 2.

Hope you are feeling better.

 

[jwags]

It is important to differentiate a real hypo , under 70 and a false hypo. A lot of time if you are eating a higher carb diet, you may spike quite high and then your body produces an overabundance of insulin which hits all at once and you crash. Sometimes the speed of the crash causes this feeling. I know when you are going through this you don't feel like testing, but you need to. Our body's are designed to prevent hypos by the liver converting stored glycogen into glucose and raising bgs. So even if you go hypo your body usually will take care of it. The general rule is to test, if below 70 treat with pure glucose, like glucose tabs or smarties, wait 15 minutes and test again, if you are still below 70, treat again. If you are getting false hypos the best thing to do is look at what you are eating at your meals and maybe adjust the carbs so you don't spike. How long after you ate, does this happen?

 

[SandraO]

I actually had this happen to me this morning. Had two egg whites, 1 pcs. of bacon, 1/4 c. blueberries and a pc. of cheese for breakfast. Two hours later, I started feeling kind of fuzzy, headachy and shaky. I immediately took my BG and it was 5.7. So all I did was had a glass of water and sat down for a few minutes and it passed. I also took my blood pressure and it was 105/69, so that wasn't the issue.

Not sure what causes it, but it does happen occassionally.

 

[moon]

@ moon - I had my first hypo on metformin... so it's very possible.

Are you saying metformin was responsible? If yes, how does that work?

As I understand it, metformin acts by helping insulin sensitivity, and as a glucose-release inhibitor in the liver (would this somehow trick the pancreas to release more insulin...?) Is there another action by metformin that would cause increased insulin?

 

[onlymep]

Are you saying metformin was responsible? If yes, how does that work?

As I understand it, metformin acts by helping insulin sensitivity, and as a glucose-release inhibitor in the liver (would this somehow trick the pancreas to release more insulin...?) Is there another action by metformin that would cause increased insulin?

Well I couldn't tell you the science of it... although walking sideways and hitting my head on the wall is pretty serious (and scary for my first time hypo and I was on my own). By the time I found my glucometer I was sitting on 4.2 (I probably did drop lower). I had several hypos on just metformin and in my opinion it was probably a combination of low carbs and exercise at the time that possibly caused this. I guess everyone is different. Also my body didn't agree with metformin either... so I was perhaps very sensitive to it. My doc told me that metformin is supposed to stop the liver releasing too much glucose... so I probably needed more energy at the time and didn't get enough of it released into my system. I've had a lot of hypos and I now recognise the symptoms very well (although I've recognised hypos right from the start and my intuition of what's happening is usually right when I test).

 

[Tiggletaggle]

Today I'm sitting at 6.1 this morning which is great! Feeling much better

Thanks everyone for all your input

 

[Rosa]

Well I couldn't tell you the science of it... although walking sideways and hitting my head on the wall is pretty serious (and scary for my first time hypo and I was on my own). By the time I found my glucometer I was sitting on 4.2 (I probably did drop lower). I had several hypos on just metformin and in my opinion it was probably a combination of low carbs and exercise at the time that possibly caused this. I guess everyone is different. Also my body didn't agree with metformin either... so I was perhaps very sensitive to it. My doc told me that metformin is supposed to stop the liver releasing too much glucose... so I probably needed more energy at the time and didn't get enough of it released into my system. I've had a lot of hypos and I now recognise the symptoms very well (although I've recognised hypos right from the start and my intuition of what's happening is usually right when I test).

I've had a number of low sugar attacks and they're a nightmare. If I go below 80 lately, it's too low for me while technically I don't think that's usually considered too low, is it?

The last low sugar episode I had was one of the nights my husband was undergoing one of two sleep apnea tests and I was here by myself. I knew I had to get something with sugar quickly, but I was stumbling around my kitchen like a drunk (I don't even drink) and I was really out of it. It seemed to take all my strength to get a slice of break w/margarine but somehow I did it. After I eat something with sugar in it, the attacks go away in about 20 min. or so. They almost always start with profuse sweating and shaking.

I'd forgotten to keep a supply of glucose tablets in my purse.

 

[Rosa]

I've had a number of low sugar attacks and they're a nightmare. If I go below 80 lately, it's too low for me while technically I don't think that's usually considered too low, is it?

The last low sugar episode I had was one of the nights my husband was undergoing one of two sleep apnea tests and I was here by myself. I knew I had to get something with sugar quickly, but I was stumbling around my kitchen like a drunk (I don't even drink) and I was really out of it. It seemed to take all my strength to get a slice of bread w/margarine but somehow I did it. After I eat something with sugar in it, the attacks go away in about 20 min. or so. They almost always start with profuse sweating and shaking.

I'd forgotten to keep a supply of glucose tablets in my purse.

I had to edit this - never did that before & I hope I did it right. I had mis-spelled "bread" as "break".

 

[onlymep]

I've had a number of low sugar attacks and they're a nightmare. If I go below 80 lately, it's too low for me while technically I don't think that's usually considered too low, is it?

The last low sugar episode I had was one of the nights my husband was undergoing one of two sleep apnea tests and I was here by myself. I knew I had to get something with sugar quickly, but I was stumbling around my kitchen like a drunk (I don't even drink) and I was really out of it. It seemed to take all my strength to get a slice of break w/margarine but somehow I did it. After I eat something with sugar in it, the attacks go away in about 20 min. or so. They almost always start with profuse sweating and shaking.

I'd forgotten to keep a supply of glucose tablets in my purse.

yes, that sounds very much like a hypo... glad you treated it.
When you treat the hypo quick, you usually feel better in 20 mins, although I was told that it's really a minimum of 30 mins as the last thing to go is your judgement. So basically you shouldn't be driving within 30 mins of having one. I was stupid one day as I had a hypo shopping and then quickly shoved lollies I had in my mouth and kept moving and headed straight for my car and drove home as I had no other food on me... I wasn't feeling the best at all. I told endo and boy did he tell me off! lol. That's when I learnt about stuff mentioned above as I got lectured about effects of hypos. For me the number to not go below is 4.5.... but if I wake up in the morning sitting on say 4.3 I can feel fine (obviously haven't used much energy sleeping). I just tested 4.7 now and so I know I have to eat as my BGLs can drop very quick. I think you soon learn what your minimum is and what line you shouldn't be crossing. Have a chat with your endo too as they are usually good at advising what is the 'safe' number you should be staying above. My endo did that with me... as I've previously mentioned. Everyone is different and although they say above 70 or 4 here is within normal range... it still may not be safe to sit on say 4.5 if you're going to drop below the 70 within minutes.