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Hypo symptoms

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Dylans mom

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Parent of person with diabetes
Hi my son has been diagnosed for 2 months now with type 1. We are managing quite well but recently he has been getting sympathy of a hypo but no hypo when we check his bloods. Hes getting shaky and it's really annoying him and causing him to be angry. Nurses have said there is nothing I can do. Any help is appreciated please
 
Hi

It may be that he is experiencing a false hypo. Ie his blood sugar is decreasing quickly from a high level and even though it is not reaching a hypo reading of less than 4 his body/brain detects that glucose levels are dropping sharply and starts to shut down non essential functions. If this is happening 2-3 hours after food it may be that experimenting with timing his bolus insulin would be worth while.
For instance, my breakfast insulin takes ages to get going but I am very efficient at digesting food, so unless I jab my breakfast insulin an hour before eating breakfast, my BG goes very high for a couple of hours and then comes crashing down after that. This is particularly bad if my fasting reading is already high. If I wait between 1hr-1hr10mins between injecting insulin and eating breakfast, the insulin release and glucose from breakfast meet each other at just about the right time and I don't get a huge rise and fall. Lunchtime and evening meals don't need as much pre bolus time at about 20 mins for me but it is different for everyone so a certain amount of experimentation is needed to find the correct timing for each individual...... Some people with slower digestion would hypo after waiting 10 mins so take it carefully.
If you think this may be the problem, slowly increase the time between the injection and food by 5 mins each day or monitor his BG levels and give him his meal when his BG just starts to drop. This is obviously much easier if he has a Freestyle Libre Sensor than if you are finger pricking, but I have figured my timescales out by fingerpick tests. Breakfast time is often made more difficult by Dawn Phenomenon so his BG may rise after his fasting reading even before he eats anything which just makes it worse.
Hope you are able to understand what I am getting at, but if not, say so and I will try to explain it better.
 
rebrascora said:
Hi

It may be that he is experiencing a false hypo. Ie his blood sugar is decreasing quickly from a high level and even though it is not reaching a hypo reading of less than 4 his body/brain detects that glucose levels are dropping sharply and starts to shut down non essential functions. If this is happening 2-3 hours after food it may be that experimenting with timing his bolus insulin would be worth while.
For instance, my breakfast insulin takes ages to get going but I am very efficient at digesting food, so unless I jab my breakfast insulin an hour before eating breakfast, my BG goes very high for a couple of hours and then comes crashing down after that. This is particularly bad if my fasting reading is already high. If I wait between 1hr-1hr10mins between injecting insulin and eating breakfast, the insulin release and glucose from breakfast meet each other at just about the right time and I don't get a huge rise and fall. Lunchtime and evening meals don't need as much pre bolus time at about 20 mins for me but it is different for everyone so a certain amount of experimentation is needed to find the correct timing for each individual...... Some people with slower digestion would hypo after waiting 10 mins so take it carefully.
If you think this may be the problem, slowly increase the time between the injection and food by 5 mins each day or monitor his BG levels and give him his meal when his BG just starts to drop. This is obviously much easier if he has a Freestyle Libre Sensor than if you are finger pricking, but I have figured my timescales out by fingerpick tests. Breakfast time is often made more difficult by Dawn Phenomenon so his BG may rise after his fasting reading even before he eats anything which just makes it worse.
Hope you are able to understand what I am getting at, but if not, say so and I will try to explain it better.
Click to expand...
Thank you I'm still trying to get my head around it all lol my hubby understands a bit better so will mention this to him. My son is only 13 and he just gets so fed up
 
What are his numbers like generally? Has he been running over target for a while and now back in target? Sometimes your body gets used to being high and so being in target but lower than the body expects can give false hypo symptoms. You can also get hypo symptoms when being hyper so it may depend on the numbers when you test. A sharp drop is also possible. Teen hormones can have a big impact on glucose levels and on his emotions so he has a lot going on. If there’s a psychologist attached to his team then it’s worth having an appointment. We found the first month or so after diagnosis was ok as everyone was concerned about the practicalities but it soon hit my daughter that this is now permanent and we had a rough few months (plus everything always seems to change).

We’re here to support you through the frustrations and up and downs.
 
Thebearcametoo said:
What are his numbers like generally? Has he been running over target for a while and now back in target? Sometimes your body gets used to being high and so being in target but lower than the body expects can give false hypo symptoms. You can also get hypo symptoms when being hyper so it may depend on the numbers when you test. A sharp drop is also possible. Teen hormones can have a big impact on glucose levels and on his emotions so he has a lot going on. If there’s a psychologist attached to his team then it’s worth having an appointment. We found the first month or so after diagnosis was ok as everyone was concerned about the practicalities but it soon hit my daughter that this is now permanent and we had a rough few months (plus everything always seems to change).

We’re here to support you through the frustrations and up and downs.
Click to expand...
We have managed to stay between 4-7 few hypos at school , thought his hormones could be to blame too, we have saw the physiologist once and have another appointment in march. Cant say it has been easy as he was taken to hospital with dka then our whole lives changed, his hair started to fall out but that's stopped thankfully, he has said he would rather not be here , he has meltdowns and has become quite clingy. Life is pretty hard some days hes ok some days he is not. Thank u
 
It’s a huge thing to happen and take on board and any hypos or hypers can leave a hangover of symptoms after them. You all have a lot to take in and it is a huge adjustment. I think probably harder as a teen than the age my daughter was diagnosed (just before she was 9).

Don’t forget you can self refer to CAMHS if you have concerns about him being depressed, suicidal or self harming. This would be on top of not instead of the psychologist attached to the diabetes team. It’s good to keep your GP in the loop too. We found the GP supportive through the time my daughter was struggling.

It will get easier.
 
Do you have a freestyle Libre or are you relying on finger pricks for testing? If the latter, I wonder if a bit of tech would pique his interest and maybe make it seem a bit "cooler" by being able to swipe his arm for readings and get a graph of the results, rather than one off finger prick tests which only shows you a moment in time. This might shed more of a light on what is happening on the occasions when he is feeling unwell and therefore help you to find a solution. You could certainly discuss it with your DSN. ...It is a sensor which goes on his arm and lasts 2 weeks.
 
Thebearcametoo said:
It’s a huge thing to happen and take on board and any hypos or hypers can leave a hangover of symptoms after them. You all have a lot to take in and it is a huge adjustment. I think probably harder as a teen than the age my daughter was diagnosed (just before she was 9).

Don’t forget you can self refer to CAMHS if you have concerns about him being depressed, suicidal or self harming. This would be on top of not instead of the psychologist attached to the diabetes team. It’s good to keep your GP in the loop too. We found the GP supportive through the time my daughter was struggling.

It will get easier.
Click to expand...
Thank you for replying and helping.
 
Sorry to hear about the symptoms your lad has been experiencing. Diabetes is tricky enough to manage already without the body and mind playing tricks on you!

Hope these non-hypo hypos disappear in time.

Sounds like you are doing an amazing job all round.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sorry to hear about the symptoms your lad has been experiencing. Diabetes is tricky enough to manage already without the body and mind playing tricks on you!

Hope these non-hypo hypos disappear in time.

Sounds like you are doing an amazing job all round.
Click to expand...
Thank you that's very kind we are trying our best, hes really getting frustrated though with the shaking and it's not a hypo, he said he has just had to stop playing his computer as his hands were shaking I'm at a total loss and dont knowhow to make it better
 
Hello Dylans Mum what insulin does your lad use? I ask because I wonder if he has an allergy/adverse reaction to the insulin he is on. I know at one time there were many reports about Lantus causing problems.
 
Dylans mom said:
Thank you that's very kind we are trying our best, hes really getting frustrated though with the shaking and it's not a hypo, he said he has just had to stop playing his computer as his hands were shaking I'm at a total loss and dont knowhow to make it better
Click to expand...

Sounds like it is happening quite frequently and affecting his quality of life.

It would be worth discussing with his clinic/DSN if you’ve not mentioned it already. Do you have contact details?
 
Pumper_Sue said:
Hello Dylans Mum what insulin does your lad use? I ask because I wonder if he has an allergy/adverse reaction to the insulin he is on. I know at one time there were many reports about Lantus causing problems.
Click to expand...
Hes on nova rapid and lantus
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sounds like it is happening quite frequently and affecting his quality of life.

It would be worth discussing with his clinic/DSN if you’ve not mentioned it already. Do you have contact details?
Click to expand...
I mentioned it to a nurse this morning and she said there was nothing I could do... gonna wait til my favourite nurse is back off annual leave and ask her, if not I'm going to try and get a doctor's appointment for him.
 
Dylans mom said:
I mentioned it to a nurse this morning and she said there was nothing I could do... gonna wait til my favourite nurse is back off annual leave and ask her, if not I'm going to try and get a doctor's appointment for him.
Click to expand...

how frustrating for you. Hope you get more practical suggestions from your favourite!
 
You can request he tries a different basal. My daughter moved from Lantus to Tresiba because she said it stung her.
Don’t be afraid to call the out of hours numbers you have for the team over the weekend. We got some different ideas that way when we were having difficulties.
 
Thebearcametoo said:
You can request he tries a different basal. My daughter moved from Lantus to Tresiba because she said it stung her.
Don’t be afraid to call the out of hours numbers you have for the team over the weekend. We got some different ideas that way when we were having difficulties.
Click to expand...
Ok thank you very much
 
Hi
Dylans mom said:
Hi my son has been diagnosed for 2 months now with type 1. We are managing quite well but recently he has been getting sympathy of a hypo but no hypo when we check his bloods. Hes getting shaky and it's really annoying him and causing him to be angry. Nurses have said there is nothing I can do. Any help is appreciated please
Click to expand...
Hi my daughter is 13 and been diagnosed with type 1 two days before lock down how is your son in coming to terms with everything, telling friends ect. My daughter is only getting phone calls from everyone due to covid. She suffers with hypos but dont always recognise them. Its hard i know.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi sorry to hear of your daughters diagnosis it's such a hard thing to come to terms with and takes a while, he seems to be coming to terms with it a bit better at the mo but I think that's probably because he is at home in his safe space. He hasnt and wont tell anyone at school to be honest he doenst like anyone enough to tell them and believes he will get bullied anyway so at the moment it's his choice. He still gets the odd hypo where he doesnt realise but hes managing ok at the moment it all takes time we are now nearly 5 months in and it does get slightly easier x
 
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