hypoglycemia symptoms in a type 2

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LilLady

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Type 2
Hello, hope everyone is well. I am a type 2 on metformin twice a day, today I experienced my first hypoglycemic episode, I was feeling tired so had a little sleep, woke up shaking with awful stomach ache, dizzy, shaking, with heart palpitations, checked my bloods, they were 4! I know that isn't danger zone or anything but ive never known them this low. Had a typical morning, ate some cereal, took my meds, so I was surprised. I panicked a bit and ate 5 penguin bars to try and stop the shakes, checked my bloods after to see that 1 probably would have been sufficient lol as they were then 10.3!! Any thoughts, should I speak to my nurse or is 4 good and a sign I am well controlled, it probably made me feel so rough because I am not used to having such low levels, I just can't understand how they got that low!
 
I belive we can get false hypos. Maybe 5 penguins was too much! The T1s usually have 5 jelly babies, then retest after a quarter of an hour.
Have you changed your diet at all? I had what I suspect was a false hypo about a month after I was diagnosed, and I'd cut back drastically on my food and carbs. I had a cup of tea and some fruit and felt more human after, but felt ghastly.
Can you have an emergency snack next to the bed in case it happens again?
Hope you're feeling better now.
 
If you experience lows (or false lows) they need to be treated with fast acting carbs so you recover quickly.
The fat in chocolate and biscuits slows down the carb absorption.
Something like jelly babies or fruit juice or dried fruit works much better than 5 penguin biscuits.
 
Windy said:
I belive we can get false hypos. Maybe 5 penguins was too much! The T1s usually have 5 jelly babies, then retest after a quarter of an hour.
Have you changed your diet at all? I had what I suspect was a false hypo about a month after I was diagnosed, and I'd cut back drastically on my food and carbs. I had a cup of tea and some fruit and felt more human after, but felt ghastly.
Can you have an emergency snack next to the bed in case it happens again?
Hope you're feeling better now.
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Not really, I try to be careful and watch the carbs, I had sweet cereal for breakfast, under 47g carb, so really suprised they got down to a 4.
 
helli said:
If you experience lows (or false lows) they need to be treated with fast acting carbs so you recover quickly.
The fat in chocolate and biscuits slows down the carb absorption.
Something like jelly babies or fruit juice or dried fruit works much better than 5 penguin biscuits.
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thanks, Don't really know anything about it, as I am normally fighting to get them down, not up. Il try a sweet drink next time.
 
If you aren’t on medications that can cause a hypo, so only on metformin, then you aren’t going to go dangerously low. I’d probably have just had a snack, or my normal meal if that was due. A piece of fruit or small amount of dried fruit or something like a coffee and biscuit would probably be enough to nudge it up a little bit rather than needing glucose tablets. If a meal was due, I’d just have the meal. Nothing dangerous is likely to happen if your bg does go under 4, if you’re only on metformin, you just felt ill because your body isn’t used to being there.
 
Was that your normal breakfast as it is a very high carb meal especially in the morning when people are often more sensitive to carbs. Having high carbs can lead to over production of insulin which then drops your levels too low so you get the hypo symptoms.
A more balanced breakfast with some protein and healthy fats may be a wiser choice than a high carb cereal.
 
Lucyr said:
If you aren’t on medications that can cause a hypo, so only on metformin, then you aren’t going to go dangerously low. I’d probably have just had a snack, or my normal meal if that was due. A piece of fruit or small amount of dried fruit or something like a coffee and biscuit would probably be enough to nudge it up a little bit rather than needing glucose tablets. If a meal was due, I’d just have the meal. Nothing dangerous is likely to happen if your bg does go under 4, if you’re only on metformin, you just felt ill because your body isn’t used to being there.
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yes I agree and something small would have been totally fine. I was a bit panicked to be honest, I was working, fell asleep in my lunch break, woke feeling awful and just wanted to try and and feel better asap to continue working. I know for next time now. Thanks for your advice.
 
LilLady said:
yes I agree and something small would have been totally fine. I was a bit panicked to be honest, I was working, fell asleep in my lunch break, woke feeling awful and just wanted to try and and feel better asap to continue working. I know for next time now. Thanks for your advice.
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It’s totally understandable to be panicked! I find having a plan, so picking a set routine you use to solve it, and always having that with you, helps me to be less panicked next time.

Last night I treated my bg in the 5s, I had all the symptoms of a hypo but knew I wasn’t in danger, it was just that I was panicking causing the shaking (mainly panicking about the amount of insulin I had still working). I had a graze reduced sugar flapjack because I needed a small snack for the insulin still working (8.6g carbs, from home bargains in a multipack), and a glass of icy cold water (of no use to the bgs but helped me calm down), and sat and focused on my breathing. Panic and hypo have the same feelings so focusing on keeping calm is important for me.
 
Leadinglights said:
Was that your normal breakfast as it is a very high carb meal especially in the morning when people are often more sensitive to carbs. Having high carbs can lead to over production of insulin which then drops your levels too low so you get the hypo symptoms.
A more balanced breakfast with some protein and healthy fats may be a wiser choice than a high carb cereal.
Click to expand...
I didn't know this, but really makes sense.
I must admit I've skipped breakfast a lot lately, so could be it.
 
Lucyr said:
It’s totally understandable to be panicked! I find having a plan, so picking a set routine you use to solve it, and always having that with you, helps me to be less panicked next time.

Last night I treated my bg in the 5s, I had all the symptoms of a hypo but knew I wasn’t in danger, it was just that I was panicking causing the shaking (mainly panicking about the amount of insulin I had still working). I had a graze reduced sugar flapjack because I needed a small snack for the insulin still working (8.6g carbs, from home bargains in a multipack), and a glass of icy cold water (of no use to the bgs but helped me calm down), and sat and focused on my breathing. Panic and hypo have the same feelings so focusing on keeping calm is important for me.
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It is scary, I just felt so poorly. I know logically id be fine but still I panicked and ate way too much chocolate. Oops
 
I agree with @Leadinglights. I think you have had a touch of Reactive Hypoglycaemia due to your breakfast cereal pushing your levels high. High BG levels make you sleepy, so would tie in with you having a nap ..... then your pancreas kicked in to late and too strongly and the sensation of rapidly dropping from a high BG to a lowish one makes the hypo sensation that much worse.
Of course the nature of a hypo, or a common symptom, is to make you hungry and sometimes it is difficult not to "eat the fridge" ie everything within reach. Once you get used to hypos and learn not to panic it is much easier to just take the allotted amount of fast acting carbs which is 15g (usually 3 jelly babies or 4 glucose tablets). I remember my first few hypos made me feel absolutely shocking and yes I felt like passing out, but now that I have gained confidence in treating them I don't panic and they are so much easier to cope with and often I just need 1 or 2 jelly babies to bring me back up and I can continue to work, even doing something quite physical. The panic really makes them so much worse.

I did have a bit of a giggle at you eating 5 penguins!! Real overkill but I understand why and it is very compulsive to over treat a hypo. They would have put my levels up above 20, so you were lucky if you leveled out at 10! You do need to be careful though because if this was a Reactive Hypoglycaemic incident then those penguins could easily have triggered another high and then another reactive low, so you could end up on a really nasty rollercoaster.
I would choose a lower carb breakfast in the future and make sure you have a portioned out 15g treatment handy in case it happens again, so that you are not temped to overtreat. Reactive Hypoglycaemia is not very common but it can happen when people are just developing Type 2 diabetes I believe and it can in fact drop you well below 4, so it will be particularly important for you to avoid high carb foods in case it triggers another episode. Most people with RH control it by eating little and often and avoiding carb rich foods or just having very small portions of them at any one time.
 
LilLady said:
I didn't know this, but really makes sense.
I must admit I've skipped breakfast a lot lately, so could be it.
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Reactive hypglycaemia is a condition in itself.
it's very unlikely you would develop it suddenly.

It's far more likely your liver would simply release glucose to bring your BG back to a normal level as a type 2.I
Having said that, 4 isn't that low, although sometimes I notice it at level, but sometimes I dont.
 
In my case I was getting that almost every morning, and since I have had a meter I know I can get quite bad hypo symptoms at not much below 4.
I stopped eating carbs for breakfast (from Weetabix just with milk to low carb (plain) yoghurts), plus nuts and seeds or a slice of wholemeal toast or cracker with plenty of marge/butter/ Becel on it at around 10 or 11.
Also made sure I had b'fast very soon after I woke up - even when I 'didnt feel like it'
Sorted it for me, might not for you but at least you know it happens to others too

I dont miss the weak legs, swimming head, palpitations, anger, and frenzy of trying to get ANY food stuffed into my gob RIGHT NOW with madly shaking hands. I must have looked crazed.
Penguins - are they still around? I remember them from my 70's lunch boxes at school.
 
rebrascora said:
I agree with @Leadinglights. I think you have had a touch of Reactive Hypoglycaemia due to your breakfast cereal pushing your levels high. High BG levels make you sleepy, so would tie in with you having a nap ..... then your pancreas kicked in to late and too strongly and the sensation of rapidly dropping from a high BG to a lowish one makes the hypo sensation that much worse.
Of course the nature of a hypo, or a common symptom, is to make you hungry and sometimes it is difficult not to "eat the fridge" ie everything within reach. Once you get used to hypos and learn not to panic it is much easier to just take the allotted amount of fast acting carbs which is 15g (usually 3 jelly babies or 4 glucose tablets). I remember my first few hypos made me feel absolutely shocking and yes I felt like passing out, but now that I have gained confidence in treating them I don't panic and they are so much easier to cope with and often I just need 1 or 2 jelly babies to bring me back up and I can continue to work, even doing something quite physical. The panic really makes them so much worse.

I did have a bit of a giggle at you eating 5 penguins!! Real overkill but I understand why and it is very compulsive to over treat a hypo. They would have put my levels up above 20, so you were lucky if you leveled out at 10! You do need to be careful though because if this was a Reactive Hypoglycaemic incident then those penguins could easily have triggered another high and then another reactive low, so you could end up on a really nasty rollercoaster.
I would choose a lower carb breakfast in the future and make sure you have a portioned out 15g treatment handy in case it happens again, so that you are not temped to overtreat. Reactive Hypoglycaemia is not very common but it can happen when people are just developing Type 2 diabetes I believe and it can in fact drop you well below 4, so it will be particularly important for you to avoid high carb foods in case it triggers another episode. Most people with RH control it by eating little and often and avoiding carb rich foods or just having very small portions of them at any one time.
Click to expand...
This all makes sense now.
Also PMSL thinking about the 5 penguins. What was I thinking ha ha
 
travellor said:
Reactive hypglycaemia is a condition in itself.
it's very unlikely you would develop it suddenly.

It's far more likely your liver would simply release glucose to bring your BG back to a normal level as a type 2.I
Having said that, 4 isn't that low, although sometimes I notice it at level, but sometimes I dont.
Click to expand...
It probably isn't all that low, but I think my bg's have been so high for such a long time it's a shock to my body. To add a bit of context my HBA1C was 119 in June last year. August 3 months later it was 51 and my next one is in March.
 
Essex said:
In my case I was getting that almost every morning, and since I have had a meter I know I can get quite bad hypo symptoms at not much below 4.
I stopped eating carbs for breakfast (from Weetabix just with milk to low carb (plain) yoghurts), plus nuts and seeds or a slice of wholemeal toast or cracker with plenty of marge/butter/ Becel on it at around 10 or 11.
Also made sure I had b'fast very soon after I woke up - even when I 'didnt feel like it'
Sorted it for me, might not for you but at least you know it happens to others too

I dont miss the weak legs, swimming head, palpitations, anger, and frenzy of trying to get ANY food stuffed into my gob RIGHT NOW with madly shaking hands. I must have looked crazed.
Penguins - are they still around? I remember them from my 70's lunch boxes at school.
Click to expand...
You described it perfectly.
I am hitting the cereal on the head.
I had yoghurt and a bit of fruit this morning and my BGs have been good all day.
Penguins are still a staple in most cupboards I believe lol. I buy them for the kids (ok I eat most of them) ha ha
 
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