Induced Hypo when newly diagnosed

[Marc]

I noticed a few threads about first time people hypo now it got me thinking to when I was diagnosed in Jan 1989 while I was in Hospital a few days before I left they tried to induce me into a hypo. This involved giving me my normal injection of human mixtard and not giving me any food. Basically it took till about 14:30 from breakfast for them to get me below 4.5mmol back in the days of the charts on the side of the BM strip bottle. This was after running up and down the stairs in Wordsley Hospital near the childrens ward and giving me extra insulin so they gave up as I didn't really shake or anything.

The first day I went to back to School I had my first real hypo but as School was just down the road the teachers drove me home and Mom and a friend took me back to Wordsley Children's ward and they sorted me out with buscuits and milk. That was a real bad one lost control of me limbs etc. But I learnt.

I saw a doctor friend who works a lot with Child diabetics and she said they never do that now and ion some ways I agree because just giving normal insulin with no food was a bit nasty and was one of my most horrific childhood memories. But surely with MDI a big dose of short acting insulin could be used to bring on a hypo and easily treated in the controlled enviroment of a hospital ward? What do people think?

Marc

 

[fencesitter]

Maybe it's not necessary any more because of bg meters? In the bad old days you couldn't test at home to see if you were low so you needed to be extra aware ... at least now you can do a finger stick if there's any doubt at all?

 

[shiv]

Yep my mum has told me when I was diagnosed in 1991 they induced a hypo so my parents could look for the symptoms. It sounds totally barbaric but a tiny part of me can kind of understand why they would do it.

 

[Copepod]

Like others, I can understand why it was done in the days before "home blood glucose meters", but support the policy of no induced hypos these days.

But I do think it's worth a person with diabetes (and parents if person is a child) estimating the blood glucose level and then checking - so that they can build up a picture of what certain levels feel like, so they have the confidence to treat a hypo even if they can't test.

 

[Marc]

Yeah I can kinda understand it but perhaps if they overdosed with short acting insulin and people could then learn their hypo signs in a controlled enviroment.

Marc

 

[Violetrose2004]

I had an induced hypo in hospital when diagnosed. At the age of 10 (Almost 30 years ago now!!) it was useful as I was able to understand more about what I was looking for, as well as mum and dad experiencing it too. Found it helpful rather than looking for what the doctor thought I should feel. Consequently I have 'wobblies' rather than hypos as that was how I felt!

 

[Robster65]

I had an induced hypo in 1978 but I was in hospital for a full week (despite no DKA), but I'm guessing it's usually a much shorter stay and the staff seem to be a lot busier nowadays.

I was made to wander round the ward corridor until I felt any symptoms. After a couple of hours I felt hungry and told them I could feel the symptoms so I got my late breakfast.

Symptoms were a bit more vague on the old insulins too I think. Or maybe they've changed in me.

Rob

 

[MeanMom]

Im really glad they don't do it now!

Say a child was admitted with really high BS which they had clearly been experiencing for some time (like my K). Next day you purposely give them a huge dose of short acting which brings their BS plummeting down. IMHO there is a real chance this would do all sorts of damage? Physically and mentally. Most children would find this pretty scary and some of them would then associate the insulin with feeling really rotten and resist further injections

Far better to bring levels down a bit more gradually, and experience first hypo 'naturally' - K had hers about 2 weeks after Dx, and, yes it did take us a while to realise what was going on, and it was still a bit scary, but from the second one onwards K has got it right everytime - so much so that she doesn't always test before treating.

Giving a small child an injection and saying what amounts to 'that will make you feel very poorly soon, make sure you tell someone when it does', is asking for trouble, IMHO.

Thank goodness someone invented home test meters!

 

[trophywench]

They didn't do it with adults, TG. In fact I remember being appalled a few years back when someone on other DSF was recalling it, as she'd been DX as a kiddie. And in fact Marc - she still lives in the Stourbridge area so it could well have been at Wordsley ! (She attends Russells Hall now)

Karen Flutterby would likely know if they did it at Kidder (where I was DX), as she was in the children's ward there round about the same time I was upstairs in adult ward C3 ! - and they had a consultant who sounded like a right old battleaxe, whereas adults had a lovely, lovely man who mainly worked at the QE but lived in Bewdley, called Professor Malins. (sometime Chairman (?) of the BDA)

I wouldn't really like anyone doing it to me now - if I didn't properly understand why.

 

[MCH]

I was diagnosed in 1974 age 9 (well a week before my 9th birthday) and did not have a hypo induced before I left hospital. I don't remember having a hypo while I was there either.

Mind you it was a long time ago and I can't ask my mum now.

 

[Tina63]

I'm really not sure if I think it was a good thing or not. The only fault I could ever find with our team was the lack of explanation about hypos. We were told what they were (ie low blood sugar) and told '4 is the floor', but with my son only in hospital 48 hours and the full-on information overload we went through, we didn't really have much of a clue of either how or when they would manifest themselves. It could well be that we were told properly what to expect, but I can't remember that. I know when he did have his first few we treated them wrong too, giving him coke and a cereal bar at the same time. It was only a while later I re-read the information sheets and probably discussed it with our DSN that we learnt we should wait before giving the cereal bar.

I lived the first few weeks dreading him collapsing to the floor without any prior warning. I am sure this caused him loads of stress too, just not being too sure what was going to happen and whether he/we would recognise the symptoms in time. It maybe would have been more beneficial to witness one in a controlled environment, but I agree with MeanMom, it would also I'm sure cause unnecessary stress - as if there isn't enough immediately after diagnosis. Difficult one!

 

[HOBIE]

I feel i have had excellent treatment for big D & have never never been made to have a hypo. Dont agree to being done T1 45yrs