How to get brain working again after hypo?

[MeanMom]

Wonder if anyone can give me some advice or tips on this please?

K very often gets hone from school on the borderline of being hypo as she always has to rush for the bus and although she tries to have her snack on the bus it is difficult sometimes. Today she got home about 4.10 as usual and said she was hypo and was going to test - she was 4.1 which she was surprised about as she is hypo aware and felt lower Had a couple of glucose and sat down for 15 mins but she still felt bad so tested again and was 3.6 - more glucose and told her to have her 15 carb snack.

She started to feel un hypo as she calls it but was almost asleep she was shattered. Sat with her til 5.20 when she announced she had better get on with her homework but I could tell her head was still full of cotton wool so I said to get changed first to give her more time . It was 5.30 when she went up, it's 5.50 now (she's Ok I can hear her wAlking about) but no homework has been started and we eat at 6.30!

Any tips please on faster recovery from hypo's - she will be starting to panic any minute now that she hasn't time to do her work and we really don't need another anxiety attack

 

[FM001]

Try liquid glucose such as lucozade as it's faster acting.

 

[Robster65]

Wish I knew Meanmom. Sometimes I cna carry on as normal and others it feels like I've been hit by a lump of wood.

Sounds like she may have been dropping fairly quickly from the numbers, so maybe the faster the fall, the worse the recovery.

If it were me, I'd have a cup of strong coffee and maybe a stroll round outside, but hard to advise for K. Maybe we could all try and do her homework for her

Hope she recovers soon.🙂

Rob

 

[MeanMom]

Thank you Toby - K doesn't like Lucozade to drink - but are you saying the longer you are technically hypo the longer it takes afterwards for your brain/body to recover?

 

[FM001]

Thank you Toby - K doesn't like Lucozade to drink - but are you saying the longer you are technically hypo the longer it takes afterwards for your brain/body to recover?

Absolutely.

 

[Robster65]

INteresting. I'll try and see if this applies to me too.

Does she like proper coke ? It's what I use. Same amount of glucose as lucozade.

Rob

 

[MeanMom]

Thanks Rob - yup Coffee and fresh air would probably be my answer but she doesn't drink coffee (or TeA) (edit: or coke) and as it's dark and she cannot see in low light levels even a walk round the garden would cause more stress not less

 

[Robster65]

Thanks Rob - yup Coffee and fresh air would probably be my answer but she doesn't drink coffee (or TeA) (edit: or coke) and as it's dark and she cannot see in low light levels even a walk round the garden would cause more stress not less

option B then.

Can we do the homework ? 😱

If you can find the little 150ml cans of coke (tesco, etc) then they're perfect for a hypo. I have a few and a pack of straws next to the bed, plus various cans scattered around the house.🙂

Rob

 

[FM001]

A small carton of pure orange juice is fine for a mild hypo, there was a liquid glucose mentioned on the dafne course which came in a very small bottle and was fast acting, can't remember its name for the life of me.

The headaches for me come if I ever drop below 3, they do drain you and can take hours to fully recover

 

[trophywench]

Takes the brain a full 45 minutes to recover from a hypo, so don't start counting until you've treated the hypo and the BG test says unhypo.

At least - that's what it tells us on the DVLA website and I know she's hardly likely to drive! - but the point is if you can't rely on your brain to behave normally enough for driving for 45 minutes after then it must be the same for homework.

And yes also - hypos do feel worse (even if you don't land up all that low - like you'll be 3.5 and feel awful and on Tuesday you were 2.1 and felt OK) when you are dropping quickly.

 

[buckmummy]

Thank you Toby - K doesn't like Lucozade to drink - but are you saying the longer you are technically hypo the longer it takes afterwards for your brain/body to recover?

You say she doesn't like lucozade to drink,has she tried the apple flavour,or any of the other flavours available?

 

[MeanMom]

Thank you but prior to Dx K never liked ANY fizzy drinks and as I am a Mean Mom I was quite happy with this She does like fruit juices and I think we will try them for after school hypo's for speed of recovery as suggested by Toby.

We gave up on the Homework ( she wouldn't let me do it for her particularly as it was French ) She can do it tomorrow, but she will have other homework too then (potentially one and three quarter hours a night) so if she has another hypo tomorrow night ...

 

[Northerner]

I've never liked fizzy drinks either - on the few occasions where I've bought lucozade I've opened the bottle and let it go flat before using it for hypos 🙄 Hope there are no more hypos tomorrow 🙂

 

[trophywench]

I have my Lucozade flat as well, I have difficulty swallowing when I'm hypo and fizz seems to make that worse.

Importantly, have you been able to identify why she went hypo? Does her basal need adjusting? Does she need a snack or a bigger snack? etc etc

Incidentally you'd have to negotiate with the school if she gets a period like this that does delay homework, they would have to make adjustments for her being as she's 'disabled'. In fact assuming this doesn't happen this time, maybe discuss with school what the procedure would be should this occur in the future - if there is an actual plan in place to cover that eventuality, I am sure it would be a safety net for daughter so she doesn't have to worry about her homework being late. And hopefully would stop her panicking about it.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

How about some glucose powder in some squash? I used that as hypo treatment quite often as a youngster.
Sorry I can't remember what routine K is on for insulin. But if it's MDI would cutting her lunch time insulin help the afternoon hypo?

 

[MeanMom]

I have my Lucozade flat as well, I have difficulty swallowing when I'm hypo and fizz seems to make that worse.

Importantly, have you been able to identify why she went hypo? Does her basal need adjusting? Does she need a snack or a bigger snack? etc etc

Incidentally you'd have to negotiate with the school if she gets a period like this that does delay homework, they would have to make adjustments for her being as she's 'disabled'. In fact assuming this doesn't happen this time, maybe discuss with school what the procedure would be should this occur in the future - if there is an actual plan in place to cover that eventuality, I am sure it would be a safety net for daughter so she doesn't have to worry about her homework being late. And hopefully would stop her panicking about it.

Thanks - the school does make allowances for her they have to as she is on SEN register for her eyes as well as the medical one for diabetes. They have a lot of pupils with D in her school ( I think it'd 6 in her year) so they are very good in general I have a meeting with her councillor tomorrow and they are putting some things in place to help her catch up (her attendance is only about 50% since Sept) K is the one who puts pressure on herself I'm afraid it's a vicious circle at the moment
As regards the cause of the hypo - as I said she is quite often borderline when she gets home due to random nature of school day - another day she will be a bit high because a planned activity hasnt taken place (eg PE gets changed from Netball to Gym which involves less running about ) May reduce lunch time ratio a bit tho' Basal OK infact could do with going up a half but we haven't got half units.
Thanks for all your help everyone x

How about some glucose powder in some squash? I used that as hypo treatment quite often as a youngster.
Sorry I can't remember what routine K is on for insulin. But if it's MDI would cutting her lunch time insulin help the afternoon hypo?

 

[AJLang]

To stop the hypo from happening is it possible for her to have a small carton of fruit smoothies during her last class of the day? I know that Lucozade isn't to everyone's taste but after 30 years of diabetes I found it an absolute revelation for dealing with hypos and after 10 years of having it I still can't believe how quickly it deals with a hypo and makes the recovery so much quicker

 

[MeanMom]

To stop the hypo from happening is it possible for her to have a small carton of fruit smoothies during her last class of the day? I know that Lucozade isn't to everyone's taste but after 30 years of diabetes I found it an absolute revelation for dealing with hypos and after 10 years of having it I still can't believe how quickly it deals with a hypo and makes the recovery so much quicker

Thank you- Ks usual routine is to eat a snack on the bus home but this is not always possible if the bus is crowded and she either cannot get to her bag, has no snack in her pocket etc. The last lesson yesterday was English and her group had to give a presentation - you and I might of had a drink or snack during it if the need arose but at school you need to ask for permission and K is not keen to do things like this at the moment.

Good diabetes control and shyness do not mix very well, at school anyway

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Thank you- Ks usual routine is to eat a snack on the bus home but this is not always possible if the bus is crowded and she either cannot get to her bag, has no snack in her pocket etc. The last lesson yesterday was English and her group had to give a presentation - you and I might of had a drink or snack during it if the need arose but at school you need to ask for permission and K is not keen to do things like this at the moment.

Good diabetes control and shyness do not mix very well, at school anyway

K should not be put in the position of having to ask for permission.
Please have a word with her teachers. So K can have a discrete snack ie a drink or a fun size treat. What ever she needs. Making her ask like that just makes her stand out as different in her eyes, which does as you know needs to be avoided.

 

[Copepod]

In a crowded vehicle, I make sure I have a muesli bar and tiny zip lock bag of jelly sweets in my pocket, so I can eat discretely, even if I can't get to my bag. Does she have any pockets in school uniform? If not already there, it might be possible to sew a small pocket into waistband of trousers or skirt.

While I'm not shy about diabetes, there are still situations where NOT making a fuss is the best approach, so don't think too bad of K to want to keep things hidden.