Is this normal??

[Proudspirit]

Hi all,
Sorry to be a pain, i will get my head around this diabetes one day i'm sure, until then i'll be pestering you lot 🙂.

Today ive had readings all in the 9's and felt fine until 5pm when i went really shakey and had to sit down, i tested my bloods and it had fallen to 4.7, someone had bought us some chocolated today so i had 1 and within 15 mins felt fine, 1/2 hour later bloods were at 6.7 and i feel fine now.. Is this normal? i didn't think that 4.7 was that low but the chocolate def made me feel better.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Julie x

 

[Viki]

Hi Julie,

Sometimes if youve been running a bit on the high side then you can feel "hypo" at a slightly higher level too. Its what your body gets used to as "normal".

Glad youre feeling better x

 

[diagonall]

Hi all,
Sorry to be a pain, i will get my head around this diabetes one day i'm sure, until then i'll be pestering you lot 🙂.

Today ive had readings all in the 9's and felt fine until 5pm when i went really shakey and had to sit down, i tested my bloods and it had fallen to 4.7, someone had bought us some chocolated today so i had 1 and within 15 mins felt fine, 1/2 hour later bloods were at 6.7 and i feel fine now.. Is this normal? i didn't think that 4.7 was that low but the chocolate def made me feel better.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Julie x

Hi Julie,
Sounds as if you are doing well to bring your numbers down 🙂
The reason you felt shakey is due to what is known as a false hypo.
Your body has been used to running high for quite a while so it has become used to the higher levels.
Now as you come down into the normal range your body thinks 😱 not to keen on this.
After a few days/weeks your body will adjust just fine.
Chocolate makes anyone feel better but is not to good for a hypo as so much fat in it. It takes to long for blood sugars to come up again. You were fine with it as no meds though.

 

[Steff]

dont be silly you're pestering none of us we were all newly diagnosed at one time or another , like viki said you can feel a hypo at a higher level as well , just have yourself whatever you have to treat your hypo and relax a for a little afterwards x

good to hear your better

 

[Vanessa]

Hi Julie. Technically a hypo happens when your blood glucose falls below 4 and that is what the docs regard as a true hypo. However, when we have been running high for a while (and in the 9s is higher than normal) many of us get hypo symptoms when we drop below 5 as you did. As you get lower levels then you will find your hypo symptoms occur more towards the 4s or under but at the moment you would need to manage your symptoms with a small dose of carbohydrates.

At first, you will find that you want to take a lot more carbs in than you really need to - generally about 15g of fast acting carbs will do the trick (a grand total of 3 jelly babies!) and you should start to feel better in a relatively short period of time. Below 4, it is estimated that it takes our brains about 45 minutes to catch up again and that is why the rules on driving stress waiting until you are fully recovered (see threads under driving section)

You will find out what works best for you but our bodies are peculiar. Yesterday I dropped down to 3.6 after some fairly vigorous exercise but had no recognisable symptoms - today I was 4.3 late afternoon having been too busy to have my mid afternoon snack and was shaking like a leaf. Certainly keeps us on our toes!

 

[Proudspirit]

Thanks guys. Good to know its normal to feel like that. Basically i have to load a van at the end of the day and its quite hard work, should i maybe have a little snack before i do? If so what?

Also what would be better to have than a chocolate? I just had a chocolate because i had nothing else. should i keep something with me?

Finding it hard to find things for food with no carbs but will keep as low as poss.

Today i went to buy some bread rolls to have with soup, the nutricion information was written on the back of the label so you couldn't see it. Have passed on information to trading standards ( only because i know someone that works there!) and they are looking into it.. causing trouble already. lol

Thanks again

Julie x

 

[Proudspirit]

Ohhhh just saw the jelly baby thing and ill look at the driving information too.

Thanks

 

[Steff]

maybe a drink ie lucozade and glucose sweets i.e dextros you can get 2 or 3 flavours boots do them and other places i think .

 

[mikep1979]

hi julie,

the high bloods you have had for the past x ammount of weeks/months will be the reason why you felt hypo at 4.7.

dont feel daft for asking questions at all.

mike

 

[aymes]

Agree with what everyone else has said, likely just to be that your body is used to the higher levels, once it's used to the better levels (well done by the way) it will 'reset'!

Also what would be better to have than a chocolate? I just had a chocolate because i had nothing else. should i keep something with me?

I'd say nothing too wrong with chocolate in this case as it wasn't a 'real' hypo, but if/when it is you're best to have carbs that act a little quicker, glucose tabs, sugary drink/juice, hypostop, jelly babies etc, you'd most likely want 15g or so of fast acting carbs followed by similar amounts or slower acting carbs afterwards if necessary.

 

[insulinaddict09]

Hi all,
Sorry to be a pain, i will get my head around this diabetes one day i'm sure, until then i'll be pestering you lot 🙂.

Today ive had readings all in the 9's and felt fine until 5pm when i went really shakey and had to sit down, i tested my bloods and it had fallen to 4.7, someone had bought us some chocolated today so i had 1 and within 15 mins felt fine, 1/2 hour later bloods were at 6.7 and i feel fine now.. Is this normal? i didn't think that 4.7 was that low but the chocolate def made me feel better.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Julie x

Hi, dont feel silly asking this!!, it will probably be because you have had higher sugar levels for a while. I used to feel hypo at 6/7 and be shaking all over the place.. now if i get to 5 i start to feel hypo.

 

[Elfletti]

Hi Proudspirit,
As has already been mentioned here, choc not so great for hypos cos the sugar in it is absorbed slowly. Because the effects aren't immediate you may end up eating more than you need, resulting in a high reading some time later. Better to have glucose tabs (lucozade or dextrose - get them in superdrug) for faster result. Three is the magic number - same as jelly babies - but you might want a bisuit too or some other slow-acting carb to make sure sugar doesn't dip again.