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Old diabetes, new sympton!

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

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi guys,

Something happened today that really scared me and I was wondering if anyone had had a similar experience and could share.

So, i've been type 1 for 16 years, no complications and very hypo aware. Actually coping very well even when i was at 2.5.

Nothing has changed in my lifestyle lately, except i finished a course of antibiotics a week ago. Had a very restful week-end.

This morning, I had an hypo and I didn't see it coming. I was fine walking to the bus stop and within a couple of minutes i started feeling really weak and started to have a slightly blurry vision. So i did a test and was at 4.7 (so usually something i cope very well with). I ate some sugar like i do in this case, and a couple of minutes later I was kinna of blind. The only thing i could see was light and i was feeling dizzy. It didn't last long but my vision stayed really blurry and full of light for 10-15 minutes. As soon as I could i went to the hospital and they couldn't do anything. Went for an eye test and everything is fine, no diabetes damage.

So i'm really scared cause i don't know if that was a one-off episode or if it's now a given for everytime i'm in hypo. The thing that scares me the most is that the only way i can find out is by being in hypo again so i try not to be below 12 but i know that's not the way to go cause if i do i'll screw up my HBA1c on the longer term!

Has anyone ever had that and did it happen again everytime you were in hypo???

Thanks guys
 
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Heya try not to worry !! You have had your vision checked you know its nothing to do with complications . I have only had vision problems once when hypo , my vision seemed to fog over and it was like looking through a dirty window , I tested and was below 2 , once I got higher it went back to normal and it hasn't happened since so maybe it was just a one off . Don't run high levels if you can help it as you said yourself it will mess things up in the long term if you do.
Welcome to the forum btw :D any questions just ask
 
Hi NSLeeds, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sounds a very scary experience! I haven't had anything similar to that - have only been diagnosed just over a year. I've had quite a few hypos in that time, and most of them have been of the 'slow-drop' kind that are easy to treat. But I have had about three where my levels have plummeted and got into a real state of panic as they didn't seem to want to come back up!

I'd see your doctor and see if it might be explained by something other than a hypo. If you were 4.7 and treated that, then unless it was a really fast dropping hypo I'd wonder if it was maybe some other explanation. How are you now? How often do you test? Maybe test a bit more often to keep at the higher end of your range whilst you investigate. Hope it turns out to be a one off!
 
Thanks that reassuring. I'll just keep the BG a bit up for a couple of days. I live alone so I feel safer making sure i'm not hypo during the night and i've set my alarm up to do a test around 4.

Have a good night

x
 
NSLeeds said:
Thanks that reassuring. I'll just keep the BG a bit up for a couple of days. I live alone so I feel safer making sure i'm not hypo during the night and i've set my alarm up to do a test around 4.

Have a good night

x
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I know that feeling , I live alone and do worry about night hypos too. Let us know how you are , hopefully you will get your confidence back soon . take care 🙂🙂🙂🙂
 
Northerner said:
Hi NSLeeds, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sounds a very scary experience! I haven't had anything similar to that - have only been diagnosed just over a year. I've had quite a few hypos in that time, and most of them have been of the 'slow-drop' kind that are easy to treat. But I have had about three where my levels have plummeted and got into a real state of panic as they didn't seem to want to come back up!

I'd see your doctor and see if it might be explained by something other than a hypo. If you were 4.7 and treated that, then unless it was a really fast dropping hypo I'd wonder if it was maybe some other explanation. How are you now? How often do you test? Maybe test a bit more often to keep at the higher end of your range whilst you investigate. Hope it turns out to be a one off!
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Hi

I've been fine since. I had a bad headache after the hypo, but physically fine. The hedache stopped after an hour.

I test 5 times a day, give or take. I tried to the my GP today but she wasn't in. I really trust and know her so i didn't want to see her replacement. I've got diabetes clinic on thursday so i'll try to give her as much details as i can and see if i need more test.

Every few months i have 24 to 72 hours when i'm in hypo non-stop, but i've got that under control. It's been happening for a decade.
 
I might be misreading things here, but 4.7 isn't hypo! I'm wondering why you say that you don't like to be below 12? Is this a new thing, since this incident (which does sound utterly terrifying, I must admit!), or do you normally run at about that? Because 12 is, I'm sure you know, rather on the high side to be running all the time, and going down to 4.7 from that would probably cause a 'false' hypo sensation, I would imagine?

Just a thought - I may not be reading it right, obviously! 🙂
 
SacredHeart said:
I might be misreading things here, but 4.7 isn't hypo! I'm wondering why you say that you don't like to be below 12? Is this a new thing, since this incident (which does sound utterly terrifying, I must admit!), or do you normally run at about that? Because 12 is, I'm sure you know, rather on the high side to be running all the time, and going down to 4.7 from that would probably cause a 'false' hypo sensation, I would imagine?

Just a thought - I may not be reading it right, obviously! 🙂
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Hiya

No, i usually aim for 7-8. I wanna be at 12 for 24 hours as a safety net so it doesn't happen again tonight. I was at 9ish when i went to bed last night so i'm thinking if i'm slightly higher then there's a better chance not to have one during the night.

And you're not misreading. I was taught that anything under 6 is hypo because it does require to get it higher so it doesn't get lower.

But my hypos usually go down under 4. They just never give me any reasons to panic.
 
Wow....I think it's so amazing the complete range of information that we're all given, and just how unbelievably diverse it is!

I'm recently diagnosed (May this year), and the way I was taught about hypos was that '4 is the floor'. So I shouldn't aim to go below 4.0, but not to worry if I was 4.5 or higher. However, I should aim for no higher than 10, but ideally below 7.

I totally see where you're coming from about wanting to have that safety net, though. Especially since when you've had one hypo in a day, it ups your risk of having another. I'd probably run higher for the day too, I wouldn't want to go through that again!
 
NSLeeds said:
No, i usually aim for 7-8. ...

And you're not misreading. I was taught that anything under 6 is hypo because it does require to get it higher so it doesn't get lower.

But my hypos usually go down under 4. They just never give me any reasons to panic.
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wow, it's terrible you've been told this...

A hypo is less than 4 and you should aim for a level of 4-7 before meals and <9 two hours after meals. Bbviously these are the *ideal* levels, which are very difficult to maintain, but they are what we should be aiming for.
 
When I did the DAFNE course we were told that 3.7 and below was hypo. In fact we were actually discouraged from taking hypo traetment if we were 3.8 or above!

Personally anything under 4 i treat and correct anything 8 and over. But at the end of the day if you "feel" hypo then no rightminded diabetic is just going to sit there and wait! 🙂

I would worry about treated things in the 5s as hypos though. Ideally id like all my reading to be between 5 and 6.5. This is when i feel most well!
 
katie said:
wow, it's terrible you've been told this...

A hypo is less than 4 and you should aim for a level of 4-7 before meals and <9 two hours after meals. Bbviously these are the *ideal* levels, which are very difficult to maintain, but they are what we should be aiming for.
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Yeah i haven't had a proper review of my treatment in 9 or 10 years and i've been pretty much self-managing everything, so i think i'm gonna make the most of thursday appointment to review it and get an update on what is advised to new diagnosed people.

I volunteer at different events and no 2 people i meet get the same information. I find that both amazing and alarming. And quite confusing!
 
I think that could a be good move. It seems advice moves so fast, that if you're not kept up to date with it, things could be going forwards quite easily without your being aware! Which is somewhat unsettling, to say the least.
 
A few of my posts have begun this way lately, but my doctor says normal range is between 4.8 and 7.5. All the reading I've been doing agrees with that. I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it, my best BGL so far was 7.3 yesterday. I'm currently between 10 and 12 most of the time. It's a slow process.
 
Good luck Alison

I was told 7.3 for an HBAC1 is realy good, but now im thinking maybe it'snot. Is it? It sounds ok to me! I usually have around 7.1. The worst I got was 8.2 years ago and was totally my post-christmas chocolate fault!

Anywayz, thanks everyone. I feel much calmer and up for facing whatever happens next!

Take care and have a great night
 
AlisonM said:
A few of my posts have begun this way lately, but my doctor says normal range is between 4.8 and 7.5. All the reading I've been doing agrees with that. I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it, my best BGL so far was 7.3 yesterday. I'm currently between 10 and 12 most of the time. It's a slow process.
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Sorry misread. U were talking about BG and not HBAC1!
Need to go to bed... lol
 
Hi NS, I hope you are feeling better and you are able to sort things out with someone. It may be you had the start of something and it has worked its way out of your system? It is always right to get the things you are worried about checked out.
 
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