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Blood sugar warnings over time?

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L

Lady Willpower

Active Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello there fellow carb counters! I have heard that, over time, your low blood sugar warnings disappear. Mine have become the same warnings and I wondered if anyone has had the same thing happen to them. All the signs that I used to have for a very high blood sugar were some of the typical ones e.g. thirst, eyesight blurring, feeling sick, muscles feel like they are running on acid, are now the signs I get for a low and a high blood sugar the only difference being I get pins and needles down my arms and painful ones in my fingers. It has caught me out once or twice and I have given myself insulin thinking that I must have really miscalculated my insulin and carbs and then very quickly I am severely hypo. I am so very pleased that after all this time I still get warning signs though 🙂
 
I haven't had problems with warning signs, although it is true that if you run your levels very tightly then you will usually start to get the symptoms at a lower level. But I would never inject insulin without verifying first that my levels were indeed high. On the other hand, if I felt low and couldn't test I would take some sugar and test at the earliest opportunity - you can live with a high level but it's a big risk not to treat a potential low one.
 
Almost 47 years on insulin for me and I still have full hypo warning. But they are different to when diagnosed as a young child in the 60's. I have just learnt to adjust as the years have gone by. 🙂
 
Hi Northerner. I know what you mean about the warnings at a lower level, when I ran high a fair few years ago I would feel hypo at 6.0! Now I have much tighter control and feel hypo at 3 and often can still function at 1.something and yet years ago I would have been near death at that! The trouble was, at that time, I had been diabetic for over 40 years and so I knew, almost to the point, what my blood sugar was and so when I got thirsty enough to drink canal water I just assumed I was high as a kite!! I never do that now and always check 🙂
 
Likewise, I get the full hypo and hyper warning signs, but the levels do vary as to what I'm doing and how fast they're dropping/rising.

My first ever hypo signs were the classic tingly lips and tongue and a bit confused, but now it's just the washed out feeling and the confusion is pretty much the norm these days !🙄

I felt high at just over 10 a while ago. Thought I must be wrong but I had a good couple of days, so it does vary. Use to be about 18 before I'd feel any different.

As you say, long may it continue. Must be awful when they just go.

Rob
 
Hi Sue! I am going to sound rather silly here but I am so pleased to see your post, are you sure you aren't my twin?? lol I have also been a insulin user for almost 47 years and was diagnosed in the sixties at birth! I now know to test straight away no matter where I am because it may be that I am very low indeed and need to eat before I pass out! I really notice the difference on here with how my diabetes was run compared to what it is now e.g. we were told to eat a decent amount of carbs for every meal but they don't seem to tell newbies that and keep their carbs down very low.
 
Robster65 said:
but now it's just the washed out feeling and the confusion is pretty much the norm these days !🙄
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That's prob old age Rob :D

hiding.gif
 
Hey Robster! I spend my days feeling confused, washed out and tingly but I swear it's nothing to do with being hypo lol Thinking about it, it may be my age 🙂
 
Lady Willpower said:
Hi Sue! I am going to sound rather silly here but I am so pleased to see your post, are you sure you aren't my twin?? lol I have also been a insulin user for almost 47 years and was diagnosed in the sixties at birth! I now know to test straight away no matter where I am because it may be that I am very low indeed and need to eat before I pass out! I really notice the difference on here with how my diabetes was run compared to what it is now e.g. we were told to eat a decent amount of carbs for every meal but they don't seem to tell newbies that and keep their carbs down very low.
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Hiya,
I suspect I still have full warning due to the fact I use animal insulin. It's known for better hypo warning signs.
 
Pumper_Sue said:
Hiya,
I suspect I still have full warning due to the fact I use animal insulin. It's known for better hypo warning signs.
Click to expand...

Dunno Sue, although I used animal for the first 12/13 years, we had no choice !! - and I did lose hypo warnings entirely on Humulin - as soon as I was able to chuck that and got onto Novorapid and Lente they came straight back.

I didn't know whether to be pleased or not at the time, thought it was horrid - all over again! - LOL

Of course I am pleased really, but how can you say you're pleased when you feel 'bad' LOL
 
I can vouch for humalog. Been on it for 10+ years and it's given me no problems. But I always was the exception.:D

Rob
 
Oh Sue, are you sure you aren't my twin?? lol I am also still on animal insulin due to having such bad effects of the human that I found my own supplier for the animal one after my doctor lied to me and said that they weren't making animal any more and that I had to go only human. If I had the money I would sue him for the cruddy time human put me through lol
 
Lady Willpower said:
Hi Sue! I am going to sound rather silly here but I am so pleased to see your post, are you sure you aren't my twin?? lol I have also been a insulin user for almost 47 years and was diagnosed in the sixties at birth! I now know to test straight away no matter where I am because it may be that I am very low indeed and need to eat before I pass out! I really notice the difference on here with how my diabetes was run compared to what it is now e.g. we were told to eat a decent amount of carbs for every meal but they don't seem to tell newbies that and keep their carbs down very low.
Click to expand...

Does your daughter have similar problems with insulin as you do ?

It's an interestign scenario to test for genetic/environmental differences. I do wonder how much our different reactions are down to our genetics and how much to the way our diabetes has developed.

Rob
 
Robster! How long were you on animal or were you always on human? I think that human effected me so much because I had been on it for almost 30 years and my body just reacted rather badly. I am very proud to announce that I am also one of a kind and always the exception to the rule lol 🙂
 
Lady Willpower said:
Robster! How long were you on animal or were you always on human? I think that human effected me so much because I had been on it for almost 30 years and my body just reacted rather badly. I am very proud to announce that I am also one of a kind and always the exception to the rule lol 🙂
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I was on 2 or 3 porcine over the early years. Can't remember what year I swapped to humalog but must have been about '97 or thereabouts. It could have been later.

So on animal for about 20 or so I suppose.

Rob
 
Lady Willpower said:
Oh Sue, are you sure you aren't my twin?? lol I am also still on animal insulin due to having such bad effects of the human that I found my own supplier for the animal one after my doctor lied to me and said that they weren't making animal any more and that I had to go only human. If I had the money I would sue him for the cruddy time human put me through lol
Click to expand...

Lol, I'm a few years older than you as diagnosed aged 4 1/2.
Animal insulin is freely available on the NHS and don't let anyone tell you it isn't. If any insulin is withdrawn they have to give a years warning I think and also issue notices to say it is being withdrawn so just smile sweetly and ask to see the withdrawal notice.
I use bovine neutral insulin in a pump and it works very well :D
 
Robster! My daughter is a law unto herself! She has learning and behaviour problems and has been in intensive care 5 times because she refuses to look after herself so if she has a problem I never know if it is because of that or that she is having a problem, she seems to be ok on it though as she has taken human for a long time now. I have tried everything to get her to look after her diabetes but I keep getting told to butt my nose out lol I tried to get an enduring power of attourney so that I would be able to 'make' her look after herself but I am told it is her choice even though she has a mental age lower than her age. It drives me nuts that I can't help her, upsetting doesn't even cover it but I am hopeful that one day she will realise that it isnt so bad being diabetic. These things are sent to try her so they say lol
 
Lady Willpower said:
Robster! My daughter is a law unto herself! She has learning and behaviour problems and has been in intensive care 5 times because she refuses to look after herself so if she has a problem I never know if it is because of that or that she is having a problem, she seems to be ok on it though as she has taken human for a long time now. I have tried everything to get her to look after her diabetes but I keep getting told to butt my nose out lol I tried to get an enduring power of attourney so that I would be able to 'make' her look after herself but I am told it is her choice even though she has a mental age lower than her age. It drives me nuts that I can't help her, upsetting doesn't even cover it but I am hopeful that one day she will realise that it isnt so bad being diabetic. These things are sent to try her so they say lol
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I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's problems. It must be very difficult to accept that your body has malfunctioned without some of the necessary emotional maturity needed. I hope you can manage to persuade her before she does any damage to herself.

Must be very worrying for you.

Rob
 
Sue! Now I am fuming lol The hospital told me that I couldn't use a pump as my porcine insulin does not come in vials that fit the pump!! I think that I will come on here to get the real facts in future lol I decided not to ask for a pump as I am due for a pancreas transplant when I have lost the weight but I might do now. Thank you so much for the info lol
 
Hey Rob! Yes it is the suff that nightmares are made of lol I thought that, as she was born with it, it would just be a way of life as she knows no other but she hated it right from the word go! I am sure that the damage has already been done but I am at my wits end sometimes. I have lots of the problems associated with diabetes, including a rare form of arthritis, and yet she doesn't think it will happen to her just like we all do when we were teenagers (her mental understanding is about 11) although she is high functioning. At least I am not on my own though as lots of the mom's on here seem to find it difficult to cope with a teenager with diabetes but now I know where to come so I no longer feel alone, it's great here isn't it lol
 
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