HYPO!

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Thingbobby

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Had quite a scare this afternoon, whilst out and about.

Was driving and fortunately, just pulled into a carpark when I came over all peculiar, sweating profusely, with shakes and dizziness!

Only after my wife went to get me a drink and sweet stuff, did I realise it was a Hypo and started to recover.

Lately, I'm in the 7-8 range with my sugar, but have been 12-14, giving little thought to hypos!

On returning home, I tested 5.9, so it must have been well below, before my sugar intake.

Since then I've also had quite an upset tummy.........is this usual?
 
Stress can cause stomach upsets
 
I have to ask why you had no hypo treatment in the car and why you didn't test before you started your car journey?
Due to the medication you are on it's a legal requirement to do so.
 
Hi. So sorry to hear you had a hypo, especially if it was your first or you have them very infrequently as it can be really scary and unpleasant. I appreciate that you have been diagnosed a few years and I believe you are on Gliclazide, so if this is the first time you have had a hypo, then it is worth thinking about your day yesterday and if you did anything different to usual.... perhaps skipped a meal or took your tablet at a different time or did a bit more exercise/physical activity than usual? Figuring out a possible reason why it happened can help you to prevent future hypos and if you have them more frequently then you need to speak to your GP or nurse about reducing your medication.

As others have said, you should be carrying hypo treatment with you at all times and ideally your test kit too. I am not sure that there is a legal requirement to test before driving whilst on Gliclazide but now that this has happened, it would certainly be a sensible precaution and if your levels are under 5 when you test before setting off, then have a couple of sweets or a biscuit to raise them before you set off.
I can appreciate that if you have been taking this medication for several years and not ever had a hypo that you might get a bit complacent and thankfully this hasn't resulted in an accident or medical emergency, but hopefully you will learn from it, see what you can do to prevent it happening again and most importantly, ensure that you are prepared by having hypo treatments with you in the car and in your pockets in the future and especially by your bed in case you hypo through the night..... The last thing we diabetics should be doing is waking up hypo and wandering about the house wobbly and half asleep looking for hypo treatments because it is a recipe for disaster.
I hope you feel fully recovered now and it hasn't knocked your confidence too much.
 
Sorry to hear about your hypo @Thingbobby

Now that you’ve had this experience, this page on gov.uk suggests you should speak to your Dr about whether you need to mention your diabetes to the DVLA.

www.gov.uk

Diabetes and driving

You may need to tell DVLA if you have diabetes, depending on the treatment you're getting
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

There’s more information about driving with diabetes treated by tablets and non-insulin injectables here:


which (if I’m reading it right) suggests that having had a hypo, you need to tell DVLA.

Always wise to have treatments readily at hand - especially as having to send someone off to fetch something because you are feeling too wobbly to go yourself could be taken as ”requiring 3rd party assistance” which would define the hypo as a severe hypo (which the DVLA takes far more seriously)
 
Many thanks for your advice/assumptions/admonishments.

Incidentally. when I turned 70, the DVLA did exhaustive due diligence on my extensive medical history.
 
Thingbobby said:
Many thanks for your advice/assumptions/admonishments.

Incidentally. when I turned 70, the DVLA did exhaustive due diligence on my extensive medical history.
Click to expand...
The checks they do at 70 are different. There isn’t a requirement to tell the DVLA about diabetes if you’re on gliclazide only so you won’t have had diabetes restrictions on your licence before. But, now that you’ve had a hypo whilst driving, and particularly this sentence below, means that this likely counts as a hypo you needed assistance for. Someone fetching you a treatment by itself wouldn’t have counted, it’s the fact that your wife had to do this before you were able to realise it was a hypo. You would be best not to drive again until you’ve spoken with both your doctor and the DVLA about the incident to find out where you stand with your licence.

“Only after my wife went to get me a drink and sweet stuff, did I realise it was a Hypo and started to recover.”
 
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