Hypo 'addiction'

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Alasdair Martin

Alasdair Martin

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello everyone

This is a bit of a strange one, but hopefully I'm not on my own here.
And before I start let me state that this doesn't happen to me all the time, it happens in phases.

Here goes.... Has anyone ever felt they might at times be slightly, I'll use the word addicted but I don't think that's what it is, to hypos.
The reason I ask is that last week I had a few of those hypos where your sugars come in low, quite fast/soon after a meal, one of the ones that feel particularly strong, and you exit the kitchen having eaten EVERYTHING in site!
After, I found myself wondering am I over counting my units (perhaps sub-consciously) in the hope that I might have a hypo which gives me an excuse to over eat?

Let me just stress that this doesn't happen all the time, and I'm now definitely thinking addiction was the wrong word.
I'd also like to stress that I'm a healthy weight and very active, but I do love to eat!

So, any advice, similar stories, pointers would be good, or just to know I'm not the only person that feels like this sometimes.

Cheers
Alasdair
 
I don’t think you’re alone in that thinking. As I was eating fruit pastilles a couple weeks ago I wondered if I could have managed myself better or if I secretly knew and on some level just wanted fruit pastilles !! I then rationalised and thought OMG no as I feel really sick after a hypo so no BUT I know what you mean completely.
 
I went to a talk about hypos once (it was a medical imaging talk, I was there for work not diabetes) and they said that some people enjoy the feeling of being hypo because it's an adrenaline rush similar to bungee jumping etc!
 
Not addicted to hypos, but I had far less problems when I sailed closer to the hypo range and did have a few hypos, only problem the docs did not like me sailing so close to those levels, which meant more testing to keep and eye on what was going on. Now I am sailing the other way and often end up in the hyper range as my body says meds are not working and it's no fun as in more pain :(
 
Pigeon said:
I went to a talk about hypos once (it was a medical imaging talk, I was there for work not diabetes) and they said that some people enjoy the feeling of being hypo because it's an adrenaline rush similar to bungee jumping etc!
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I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say it's an adrenaline rush, but I can see the link there! My problem is that I love biscuits in particular, and I've been trying to cut back, but having a hypo means I have a valid excuse 😱 I should think it's more of a teething problem that I need to stamp out sharpish!
 
pav said:
Not addicted to hypos, but I had far less problems when I sailed closer to the hypo range and did have a few hypos, only problem the docs did not like me sailing so close to those levels, which meant more testing to keep and eye on what was going on. Now I am sailing the other way and often end up in the hyper range as my body says meds are not working and it's no fun as in more pain :(
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I would definitely agree with you there, I'd had the same issue for a while, as I didn't like the slugish feeling that came with running closer to high levels, so it became easier to swing the opposite direction, but as you say this results in more hypos!
 
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ClaudiaKiwi said:
I don’t think you’re alone in that thinking. As I was eating fruit pastilles a couple weeks ago I wondered if I could have managed myself better or if I secretly knew and on some level just wanted fruit pastilles !! I then rationalised and thought OMG no as I feel really sick after a hypo so no BUT I know what you mean completely.
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It could perhaps be linked to the irrational thoughts that often come with hypos? and as you say feeling a little sickly during the period after could have made me think that way.... I do feel better about it today, and hopefully that's due to a couple of days of good sugar levels! 🙂
 
I think most of us, deep down, have either more of an aversion to highs, or to lows. We try to avoid them both, of course, but I tend to see most people preferring (?!) one to the other and running BGs a little higher or a little lower depending on which that are trying to avoid the most.
 
I have always had an aversion to higher levels and generally don't mind the odd low, as long as it's easily treatable, and I know I am guilty of sometimes being choosy about what I treat with which can lead to a small delay in acting sometimes - brain is irrational, so it has to be reflexive to treat immediately, even if it means green jelly babies - ugh! 😱 😉 It can be difficult not to overtreat sometimes 😱 It is actually an adrenalin rush because the brain is in panic mode - it is partially responsible for stimulating the liver to release more glucose, but this doesn't work very well when you have too much insulin circulating and you need to back it up with some sugar. Normally, the brain would be expecting the pancreas to switch off any insulin production and release glucagon, but it can't switch off injected insulin 😱
 
Can't say i have ever deliberately caused a hypo or over bolused so i could eat more... except when i have been sky high and may have rage bolused o_O I am much stricter with myself than i used to be and only use dextro tabs to treat hypos now. I used to use whatever had, sugar in sweets/ biscuits etc.. but that meant it felt like a treat if i was hypo. I now see it as a medical happening that needs treating with a medicine type thing, dextro tabs are perfect coz they taste like chalk lol. No getting happy about eating those! 🙄 I have had some scary lows over the years and used to pass out quite a lot when i was a kid, maybe thats why i see them differently... more of a medical thing than an inconvenience. I have had a lot that could have easily been very serious and so, although i'm not anxious about lows i would rather avoid them if possible lol. I quite often eat a lot in the evenings especially as i don't eat much during the day, a bad habit. I just bolus for what i want and thats that, want a biscuit .. bolus for it. job done 🙂
 
CosmicHedgehog said:
Can't say i have ever deliberately caused a hypo or over bolused so i could eat more... except when i have been sky high and may have rage bolused o_O I am much stricter with myself than i used to be and only use dextro tabs to treat hypos now. I used to use whatever had, sugar in sweets/ biscuits etc.. but that meant it felt like a treat if i was hypo. I now see it as a medical happening that needs treating with a medicine type thing, dextro tabs are perfect coz they taste like chalk lol. No getting happy about eating those! 🙄 I have had some scary lows over the years and used to pass out quite a lot when i was a kid, maybe thats why i see them differently... more of a medical thing than an inconvenience. I have had a lot that could have easily been very serious and so, although i'm not anxious about lows i would rather avoid them if possible lol. I quite often eat a lot in the evenings especially as i don't eat much during the day, a bad habit. I just bolus for what i want and thats that, want a biscuit .. bolus for it. job done 🙂
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I think you've hit the nail on the head there, perhaps I'm seeing the hypo as a treat as it's linked with eating sweet foods rather than treating with dextrose or glucotabs. I think I'll have to be more religious with my treatments which should help me stamp the hypos out!
Luckily I've not had episodes which have caused me to pass out, but I really don't want to reach that stage! Thanks for the reply!
 
I must admit that sometimes I have a hypo and think "oh good, now I can have some grape juice", but generally speaking they are too much of a nuisance for me to be glad to have one, and I have them far too often for the grape juice to be a novelty. I do feel more comfortable - and less ill - hypo than I do hyper though, so I probably err on the side of over-bolusing rather than under-bolusing.
 
I tend to do the opposite, especially when travelling. I'm scared of hypos at home as I live alone & prefer to run a little high when travelling to cut the risk of hypos.

I've been finding the last 2 years, since losing my mum, that grief can really surprise me & my blood sugars plummet. I hate that racing heart, blood pounding in my ears feeling with hypos & I don't mind so much that sluggish feeling when I'm hyper.
 
Welcome Alistair. I run the other way :D Had enough of them 😱 Good luck but I know the feeling of eating everything in sight.😉
 
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