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Hypo

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Tattoogirl

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Type 2
I am taking insulin injections for the first day today and all the leaflets are rather daunting regarding typos. I understand it all however but am a little concerned I want given a pen for if severe hypo happens. Is this normal? Especially since it's still in the early days and still regulating the doses. Do I get from the doctors or do I have to buy one?
 
Hi tattoogirl. You are right,the info around hypos does sound daunting, but I'd like to reassure you that severe hypos where you do not have time or do not notice the drop and therefore require extra help with a glucogon injection thing are rare. I didn't even know such a thing existed for a long time. My partner has never used ours.
As you are just starting out on insulin, I imagine you are being advised to start in quite a conservative dose. Usually they don't want to see huge drops in your blood sugar to start off with. Also, you will most likely have amazing hypo awareness and notice your body changing if you were to drop anywhere near four.
I think a useful thing to have may be a libre which may give you piece of mind as to which direction your blood sugar is heading.
 
Should have said, obviously make sure you have done good hypo treatments all around you and readily available. Jelly babies, fizzy drink (not diet) high sugar sweets etc.
You would have to have the glucogon thing prescribed and I seem to remember my husband had to be shown how to use it before we got it. Although that probably differs wherever you are.
 
Hi. Most people would not have or need the glucagon pen. You just need easy access to some quick acting glucose and the best and cheapest form is Dextrose tablets. I have some in my pockets, by my bed and in the car. Typically you will be aware of a hypo by feeling spaced-out, hot and sweaty and so on. It varies from person to person and a few people have no awareness and have to take greater care.
 
Hi.
Which insulin(s) have they given you? Have they given you 2 different ones or a single mixed insulin?

It is important to carry normal hypo remedy like Dextrose tablets or jelly babies with you at all times but as others have said the glucagon injection is not something that most of us would have and is generally to be administered by a third party if we have lost consciousness..... which is an extremely rare occurrence. It is usually prescribed to people who have lost hypo awareness and cannot tell when they are getting dangerously low. As @stephknits says, you should have a very strong warning that your BG is going low because you have been running very high for a while and your body gets used to that level and starts to panic if you drop lower..... you are even quite likely to feel like you are having a hypo when you are in the normal range (false hypo) and there is quite a lot of safety margin below that, so please be reassured. They will also have started you on a very conservative dose to bring your levels down slowly, so you shouldn't have a hypo unless you perhaps make a mistake and inject too much..... but even if you do, it is easily treated.

I can remember my first few hypos felt absolutely horrendous, even when my readings were not that low. I came down from 15 to 5.5 one morning whilst I was travelling away for the day with my partner and felt so bad that I was thinking about where I might find the nearest hospital..... total overplay although it didn't feel like it in the moment.... but it washed me out for the day and I slept in the car most of the afternoon and my day away was wasted. It is actually the body's adrenolin response to the glucose levels dropping which makes you feel worse than the actual low BG. Now that my body no longer panics, I can function reasonably well at 2.7 whilst my hypo treatment kicks in, although I don't feel great obviously, but after half an hour I am feeling normal again with no ill effects.
What is amazing is how quickly the body can metabolise the sugars in your chosen hypo treatment. It starts in the tissues in the mouth before it even hits the stomach, so it gets to work remarkably quickly and certainly quicker than your BG is likely to be dropping.

It may be that you don't experience a hypo for months or even years, if you are really lucky, or you may have more than one a day..... and all options in between. The more you have, the less scary they become, but that doesn't mean that you can be complacent. What I found helpful was to know that there is such a huge variation in frequency of them because everyone responds differently and so many other factors can affect your BG levels. I naively thought that I would not get more than 2 or 3 a year and panicked when I had 2 in a week. Now I very occasionally have 2 in a day but don't worry too much about it other than trying to figure out why it happened and how I might prevent it next time. It is just an everyday part of my new life, that it may happen.

If you do hypo it is important to know how much hypo remedy to take. I didn't realise that I would need 3 dextrose tablets, not just one, as no one had told me that. It is likely that you will over treat your first few because the body makes you crave food when it gets low but that can lead to yo-yoing so best to take just the right amount if you can restrain yourself.
 
Tattoogirl said:
I am taking insulin injections for the first day today and all the leaflets are rather daunting regarding typos. I understand it all however but am a little concerned I want given a pen for if severe hypo happens. Is this normal? Especially since it's still in the early days and still regulating the doses. Do I get from the doctors or do I have to buy one?
Click to expand...
I'm on the mixed one. First one this morning but still reading 26 so gp frantically trying to get me some ketone testing strips to me. All a learning curve I guess thank you for your help folks.
 
@Tattoogirl - there isn't only one mixed insulin! Which one are you one and what dose of it, at what times of day?
 
Sorry didnt realise that. Its Novomix 30. I take 14 just before breakfast (15MINS before) and 8 before evening meal.
 
Sorry to hear you have been made a bit about the risk of hypos.

Do ask your GP or nurse about a prescription for a glucagon pen, but as others have said it’s unlikely you will need one any year soon.

In the meantime, any low bg can be treated with the 15 Rule - take 15g in carbs of fast acting glucose*, then wait 15 minutes and recheck/retreat if necessary.



* lucozade, dextrose tablets, jelly babies, skittles etc
 
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