very bad hypo

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MCMarc_4

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Type 1
Hello everyone im new to this and would like to share a very scary experience which happened today.

So me and a couple of friend decided to go out for a meal for an early birthday treat for myself. Everything was good had a great meal stuffed our faces so much we could barely move. Took my normal doze of insulin like i always do even had a wee bit of cake for dessert. We paid the bill and made our way home. after 5 minutes i started to feel weird at which i thought it was just because i was so full. Next thing i remember im lying in my bed with cloths all over my bed. Looking at my phone i had texts from my friends ask me what was that all about earlier? I had no idea what they were talking about but i lost 3 hours of my life not knowing what had happened. I go downstairs to check my sugar levels and its at 2.2! After stuffing myself with sugar i went to see 1 of my friends to ask what happened and he just said he was trying to talk to me but i wasnt responding i was just looking right at him not saying a thing and went home not even saying saying good bye or anything.

This experience has shook me up bad. Why did i get a really bad hypo after just 5 minutes of eating even with a dessert and that i done the worse thing i could of done by going to my bed.
 
Hi, welcome to the forum 🙂 Very sorry to hear about your experience. How long have you been diagnosed? When you say 'your usual dose' of insulin, does that mean that you take the same dose each time for your evening meal, whatever you eat - and what did you have to eat? Did you drink any alcohol? Sorry for all the questions, but all these things are possibly relevant to your experience. I have had hypos despite having eaten a full meal, partly because the peak of my food digesting and turning to glucose has not coincided with the peak of my insulin activity. This can happen sometimes if you have eaten out and there is a lot of fat in the meal, perhaps in the sauce if it was a curry or Chinese, for example. Alcohol can also cause a steep drop in blood sugar levels. Do your friends know that you are diabetic, and have you discussed with them what signs to look out for when you have a low blood sugar (like acting weird)?

Another possibility is that perhaps your insulin absorbed too quickly from where you injected, or you injected far too much for the carbs in your meal. Do you know about carb-counting? It's very difficult to say without knowing lots more information about your situation.

I do hope that you are feeling much better by the time you read this, it certainlt sounds like a very scary experience. Please let us know how you are, and if there is anything we can help you with.
 
Hi MCMARC and welcome! Northerner has some very good suggestions there.

Have you ever read Ragnar Hanas' book on Type 1 diabetes? I read it last year and it was very informative about all sorts of things. One thing I learnt was that the carbohydrate in your food doesn't get broken down and absorbed as glucose until it has passed from the stomach into the small intestine, and so when you are stuffed after a large meal it might not cause a glucose rise for several hours. If I go for a curry or fish and chips I tend to inject about 75% of my novorapid at first, then the rest several hours later.

Also I learnt that if you have a hypo when you're still full then a fizzy drink is the best thing to have as the bubbles help to encourage your stomach sphincter to open up and the glucose is absorbed, wheras something like glucotabs might just sit there on top of all the other food and so take longer to work.

I hope you're feeling better now, and you can work out something to prevent this happening again!
 
i have been diabetic for 5 years now. yes i always take the same amount of insulin for my evening meal and i take nova rapid. i know i should really count the carbs i eat but i dont. i had an indian buffet so kind of hard to count the carbs 😛. i think it might of been because i ate to much like you said and the food wasnt broke down. thanks for the advice
 
MCMarc_4 said:
i have been diabetic for 5 years now. yes i always take the same amount of insulin for my evening meal and i take nova rapid. i know i should really count the carbs i eat but i dont. i had an indian buffet so kind of hard to count the carbs 😛. i think it might of been because i ate to much like you said and the food wasnt broke down. thanks for the advice
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Have you been on a carb counting course then? I think with a buffet style meal I would split my injection. Did you inject it all before or after? I think you are probably making things much harder for yourself if you don't carb count - once you get into the swing of it, it's not so difficult. I've developed a pretty good eye for my food now and can vary the amount I inject without having to be too precise about checking all the carb information and working out a ratio, but if you never do it then you won't develop the skill andyou are laying yourself open to a lifetime of either poor control or lack of flexibility. I can't imagine always injecting the same novorapid whatever I ate I must admit! 😱
 
Hi mcmarc_4. Welcome. 🙂

I used to just try and guess my insulin dose for years but with some inkling of the carb content. I wasn't too successful but got away with it until last year.

I now carb count and wouldn't want to go back. Do you test very often or just when you feel high or low ?

It sounds like you were close to being hospitalised and I wouldn't advise you take any more chances with it. I'm assuming you don't drive ?

Rob
 
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