Aggressive & irritable hypos

[Lauras87]

I'm reading my pumping insulin book & considering copying the parts about hypos due to a lack of knowledge by work & friends (they think injecting me with insulin is the right thing to do)

I had 1 at work where I became very silly & aggressive.

Mum has said when I'm low & she is trying to help me treat them, I've told her to f*** off, become very aggressive & once violent (I hit her once when I was thrashing about)

The more I read in the book about hypos, I'm getting upset.
I know the hypo signs & what to do but if I'm beyond knowing myself then I'm done for.

I'm a very firey person (I can be irritable without low blood sugars) & am stubborn.

How can a person tell if I'm being my usual hot headed self or I'm hypo?

I just don't want to confuse my friends or people I work with by giving them this info

 

[trophywench]

Well I'd think Laura, that most people's hypo behaviour is significantly 'different' enough, to make someone who knows how you usually behave, to actually think, that's funny, he/she doesn't normally behave like this, does he/she?

Presumably belligerence at work would 'normally' be verbal? ie making 'challenging' responses to the other person? Whereas hypo belligerence might be physical aggression, as per hitting your mum.

I mean a lady on the carb counting course I went one, went hypo right in the middle of us going round the table disussing our BG and food diaries, and someone asked her a question like was eating trifle after oizza and chips the best plan? (it wasn't that it's just an eg) - but anyway she had a complete rant about she certainly wasn't going to eat things she didn't like eating just to please this other random diabetic. And the the DSN said 'Well - perhaps what X was getting at was you may have been better off with some slower acting carb mixed in with the meal, cos you know that's helpful, we talked about that last week didn't we, matching the action of your food better to the action of the insulin?'

And she snapped back 'I've absolutely no idea!'

And I was thinking, that's weird, I know she understood it last week so why doesn't she this week ....? By which time she'd tested her BG and the DSN asked her what the reading was - 3.1 or something - so they carted her off and fed her orange juice.

Turned out they were in cahoots. The DSNs wanted us to see how we might behave when we are hypo! - good idea really I though, I've never seen anyone (else) hypo before or since. She'd done it at their request, but it was a genuine reaction on her part - normally a very polite, meek and mild lady!

 

[Lauras87]

Yeah I have a gob on me.

When I had a bad one at work, I got frustrated, lacked concentration, blurred vision & was just silly.
They thought I was messing about, I couldn't say I'm having a hypo, help me please. Someone finally decided I must be having a problem with my diabetes & helped but I now feel awkward at work (one of the girls was going to inject me with insulin as that's what happens to her mates boyfriend as he has the worst kinda of diabetes & didn't get why I kept moving away from her)

I've written a list of signs & what to do (none of the first aiders know about it)

What??? Oh god I think that would freak me out!
I often wonder if I could see me how I'd look as people think I'm drunk, I just feel like I'm in my body but not truly there (it's hard to explain)

 

[AlisonM]

If I have a bad one, lower than 2.5 say, I don't seem to get rorty at all but I do get very distressed, tearful and confused. I can also start stammering quite badly and get all Teuchter *. I can't settle and will likely be moving constantly, in circles or rocking and talking gibberish at 90 miles an hour. Above that and I can seem quite normal and in control, except for the stammering. There were a number of colleagues who were also Diabetics and knew the score so I never had to explain anything.

* Having been brought up all over the planet, I normally sound more English than Scots but when hypo and I'm told I will suddenly acquire a Highland lilt (I wish it would stick!), add that to the stammer and the gibberish and I need a Klingon translator!

 

[Lauras87]

I've done a guide for work so fingers crossed people stop wanting to inject me with insulin during a hypo.

My boss did say on the inability to form words part - that's you on a good day

 

[trophywench]

LOL - I have that 'not there' thing too Laura.

I mean it isn't like some of these accounts you read of 'out of body' experiences people describe who have 'died' on the operating theatre and have described how they seemed to be up on the ceiling looking down on themselves and the docs and nurses doing stuff, not like that whatsoever.

I remember a 999-er I had at work (the only one ever) where I was utterly unable to move or communicate and I either closed my eyes or my sight turned itself off, dunno which - but I could think and understand. And I was answering back, but I knew it was just in my head. eg Office Manager on phone to Emergency Services - she was repeating the questions and the answers, because there were 3 other colleagues there. They were relaying instructions about getting me into the recovery position and she was relaying them to the others who were gonna do this. One thing she said was 'Does she have false teeth?' and there was a short pause, then she answered 'No I don't think so' and then went on. When she said that I thought to meself (cos actually yes, I do!) Anyone who tries to come between me and my denture will most certainly wish they hadn't! How utterly embarrassing would that be? So I shouldn't if I were you. They didn't. Phew.

She said after to me that my mouth appeared to be clamped shut and she thought it wasn't a good idea to investigate that, besides which I was breathing OK so it didn't seem a matter of life and death for me at that moment. Whereas she thought to herself at the time 'Blimey - if someone did that to me - I'd flippin well bite em' LOL That made me collapse because it was exactly my reaction too!

So I was still in there alright, not on the ceiling or whatever, but just not in control of things we take for granted. I was 100% perfectly calm throughout, and I was just totally surprised and perplexed by the fact I couldn't do stuff - but very relieved when someone else - who I knew to be dead sensible - came and took charge. I would have kissed the paramedic when he came and put me a glucose drip up; on the basis I knew then I would be OK. But I still couldn't move at that point so he had a lucky escape !

I think it's like a lot of things in life Laura - you know - you think to yourself well if that (whatever it is) happened to me, I'd probably do this ... and if it does happen to you sometime - you don't react how you always thought you would, at all !