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New to type 1 and hypos

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.

Raynerd

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi i was recently diagnosed as type 1 and had my first big hypo last night although my blood sugar was only 3.9 which is only just a hypo but i normally start feeling the symptoms at 4.9. I was very close to fainting and today although my blood sugar has stablised i still feel very woozy and light headed and hungover is this normal.
 
They won’t always feel that bad, but if it was your first hypo you’ve probably been running at much higher bgs so a 3.9 will have felt worse to you, than it will when you’re used to having good bgs all the time. Hypo hangover is a real thing, but I only get it after bad hypos not after them all.
 
I had a similar incident not long after diagnosis but my BG was actually 4.2. I was out for a walk and my legs turned to jelly felt rubbish for hours afterwards. Not sure if the first few are worse or not but put mine down to bringing my BG down to quickly to soon after diagnosis. Had a few 3.9’s since and have felt fine after a few jelly babies and a biscuit or 2.
 
Yes, those first few hypos can be really shocking. I can certainly remembers a couple where I broke out in a cold sweat and had to battle not to pass out and that was after I had taken hypo treatment and was waiting for my levels to come back up. The urge to drift off into unconsciousness was really strong and so alluring it was hard to resist it.
I usually have about 4-6 hypos a week and whilst I have good awareness and can sometimes pick them up at 4.3, some do get past the 3.9 threshold and I have been as low as 2.8. Now I can usually just chew a jelly baby or two and continue what I was doing, even if that is quite exertive like mucking out my horses.
I believe that it is actually the adrenaline released by your body in response to it panicking about BG dropping low, which makes you feel so unwell. Once your body gets more used to those lower levels, it doesn't panic so much and pump out the adrenaline and you get less of those shock and adrenaline rush symptoms which makes you feel so rotten.
 
Thanks everyone i also believe migraines can be caused by hypos and im really susceptible to migraines anyway and take daily medication to control them so that might also be why im feeling so fuzzy today
 
believe that it is actually the adrenaline released by your body in response to it panicking about BG dropping low, which makes you feel so unwel
My understanding is that adrenaline is an insulin inhibitor. It sends a message to your pancreas to tell it to stop producing insulin so you can fight or fly.
It works really well unless your pancreas is broken. Then your body produces more adrenaline because insulin is not stopping.
Then you have the hypo panic possibly producing more adrenaline. But the main release is as an insulin inhibitor
 
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis @Raynerd , but pleased that you have found the forum.

The early hypos are scary, and feel a lot worse as your body is adjusting to your lower glucose levels that you will Have had for a while. It is common to feel wiped out for a while afterwards. Now that you are injecting insulin, your levels will be coming down and hypos are likely to kick in at lower levels. Having said that I am fourteen years in and still pick mine up at about 4.2, so not a true hypo.

I am sure that you have been told to stop and treat any hypo. It is good to test before you treat as some are false hypos but if you can’t find your test kit just eat/drink your hypo treatment. Better to be safe than sorry. You can sort out a high later if necessary. As time has gone on I can now adjust the number of jelly babies to match my levels, and I no longer get false hypos.

It would be worth talking to your team about Libre sensors. These show you your glucose levels at all times and show the direction in which your glucose levels are heading so it enables us to head off hypos, before they become a problem. To do this I have pots of jelly babies everywhere in the house, so that I don’t need to go in search of them.

After a hypo your body has work to do to get stores of glucose topped up, and to deal with the Adrenalin release, …. (Other more biological stuff that others know a lot more about).

This is a great place to tap into the wealth of experience on here. Whatever your questions just ask. Nothing is considered silly.
 
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis @Raynerd , but pleased that you have found the forum.

The early hypos are scary, and feel a lot worse as your body is adjusting to your lower glucose levels that you will Have had for a while. It is common to feel wiped out for a while afterwards. Now that you are injecting insulin, your levels will be coming down and hypos are likely to kick in at lower levels. Having said that I am fourteen years in and still pick mine up at about 4.2, so not a true hypo.

I am sure that you have been told to stop and treat any hypo. It is good to test before you treat as some are false hypos but if you can’t find your test kit just eat/drink your hypo treatment. Better to be safe than sorry. You can sort out a high later if necessary. As time has gone on I can now adjust the number of jelly babies to match my levels, and I no longer get false hypos.

It would be worth talking to your team about Libre sensors. These show you your glucose levels at all times and show the direction in which your glucose levels are heading so it enables us to head off hypos, before they become a problem. To do this I have pots of jelly babies everywhere in the house, so that I don’t need to go in search of them.

After a hypo your body has work to do to get stores of glucose topped up, and to deal with the Adrenalin release, …. (Other more biological stuff that others know a lot more about).

This is a great place to tap into the wealth of experience on here. Whatever your questions just ask. Nothing is considered silly.
Thank you for this i was given a libre 2 since the off only downs side is it murders my phone battery have to charge my phone twice a day now could be worse though
 
I
Thank you for this i was given a libre 2 since the off only downs side is it murders my phone battery have to charge my phone twice a day now could be worse though
You may want to review the settings on your phone. I have been using Libre 2 for the last year and not noticed any affect on my battery.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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