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New to all this, hopefully it’s going to get easier!

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runningoutoffingers

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Type 2
Hi all!
i’m new to all this and I could do with some advice.
Has anyone ever had a phantom hypo, earlier today i had what i thought was my 1st hypo whilst in asda. I felt very weak, dizzy and shaky.
I tested my blood and it was 7.5.
since being diagnosed as type 2 about 4 weeks ago i’ve lost about half a stone and really cut down on the carbs. i’m taking 80mg of gliclazide every morning.
Is it possible that i’m cutting down to much?
thanks i’m advanced
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear you hade a nasty episode whilst shopping. Obviously 7.5 is if anything a little high rather than low (hypo) but if your levels have been running very high for a long time and then perhaps the Gliclazide cause your pancreas to produce a little extra insulin earlier today which caused your levels to drop suddenly, then that can cause what is refered to as a "false hypo" but I can assure you that it can feel just as bad as the real thing and you certainly did right to test your levels.
7.5 is quite high for a false hypo so I am wondering what your levels are normally like? Did this happen within an hour or two of having a meal and if so what did you have for that meal? What can happen is that the meal pushes your levels a lot higher than usual and then the Glic triggers the pancreas to produce more insulin but it happens later than it should so levels go really high and then plummet and it is the sudden massive drop in BG levels which causes that really unpleasant sensation.

Interestingly shopping is renowned for causing hypos and it is hard to understand why because it isn't overly strenuous or taxing, but I have been stranded in the carb park with my frozen goods defrosting for an hour on a warm day on more than one occasion waiting to recover from a hypo so that I can drive home and now I check regularly whilst I shop and top up with the odd jelly baby when I need to to save the aggravation.

It is unusual to be started on Gliclazide straight away so I am guessing that your HbA1c was pretty high at diagnosis..... Do you know what the actual reading was?

How easy are you finding the weight loss and do you have much to lose if that is not too personal a question? The reason I ask is that a very high HbA1c at diagnosis followed by easy, rapid or unexplained weight loss (I appreciate you have cut carbs which may well be responsible for your weight loss) can be an indication of Type 1 rather than Type 2 and it is not unusual for a misdiagnosis to occur as many of us can testify.

Could you tell us how your diagnosis came about? ie routine blood test and out of the blue diagnosis or symptomatic. If the latter did the symptoms hit you suddenly or had they been slowly developing for a while and what symptoms did you have.... This information all helps to build a better picture of your circumstances so we can give more appropriate advice.

Also, how rigidly have you cut down on carbs? It is best to make slow steady changes, especially when you are on Gliclazide, but in any case as the fragile blood vessels in the eyes particularly are at risk of damage from dramatic changes is blood glucose levels and a low carb way of eating can be a very powerful tool in lowering BG levels.

Anyway, I hope you feel better now and look forward to reading any further information you can supply to the above questions.
 
Sounds about 100% like a phantom hypo to me. They still feel lousy though even though! Glic can cause hypos anyway - so you do have to be careful exactly how low carb you go!
 
I’m still unsure as to my usual levels, i’ve been told by the nurse to keep them below 9 during the day, usually i’m getting between 7&9 but occasionally i’ll get 6.
Today i’ve barely had any carbs. i think i definitely need to slow down on the cutting down i needed to lose about 2 stone, already lost 1/2 in 4 weeks.
I had a week of metformin but the diabetic nurse put me straight onto Gliclazide. I don’t know what my HbA1c was, think i was told but there was a lot to take in at the time.
I got my diagnosis after requested blood test after not recovering from covid, generally feeling pretty low and need the loo every 5 mins think i’d had symptoms for a while and just kept ignoring them‍♂️
 
If you are regularly getting levels between 7 and 9 then it is extremely unlikely that the episode you had in Asda was a false hypo. If you were getting regular readings in the 15-20s range and then suddenly dropped to 7 you might feel hypo but if your levels have been pretty stable in the 7-9 range then a false hypo with a reading of 7.5 doesn't make sense so I suspect something else may be causing that episode and it would be wise to discuss it with your GP.

Do you take blood pressure tablets? Sometimes following a low carb way of eating and reducing your Blood Glucose and losing weight can all lead to lower Blood Pressure and if people have previously been medicated for that, the medication may become too strong, so that would be something to consider.
 
rebrascora said:
If you are regularly getting levels between 7 and 9 then it is extremely unlikely that the episode you had in Asda was a false hypo. If you were getting regular readings in the 15-20s range and then suddenly dropped to 7 you might feel hypo but if your levels have been pretty stable in the 7-9 range then a false hypo with a reading of 7.5 doesn't make sense so I suspect something else may be causing that episode and it would be wise to discuss it with your GP.

Do you take blood pressure tablets? Sometimes following a low carb way of eating and reducing your Blood Glucose and losing weight can all lead to lower Blood Pressure and if people have previously been medicated for that, the medication may become too strong, so that would be something to consider.
Click to expand...
The diabetic nurse did say my blood pressure was not great but was more concerned about my sugar levels, ive never had medication for blood pressure, i think i’ll probably have to try and get an appointment with the gp.
 
Sorry to hear you had a bit of a turn in Asda @runningoutoffingers

Hopefully a chat with your GP can put your mind at rest. 🙂
 
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