what does a hypo feel like?

[Patricia]

Hello all

I write again as a parent, as the only role i can be in -- today E had a hypo, measuring 3.1 -- but he was miserable with it, panicky, heart racing, sweating, and fearful. He has been like this a few times, and I know it's the physiology of it. But it's a little heartbreaking to see. He's desperate for it to go away, and feels really quite freaked out. I suspect it was dropping etc. An hour later and 4 glucose tabs later (and some cheese because it was before dinner and he wanted to avoid big carbs), it was only 5.1.

He was also very thirsty at some point; I remember someone talking about this.

What do hypos feel like for you? He and I talked about it. They sound so scary for him. Have they changed over time for you? His was over and done with in the usual time, 15 mins or so, but he was exhausted, and cold. So dreadful for him.

 

[beanz20]

unfortunately i have similar symptoms still 6 years in... just got used to it...i still get the shakes and sweats im afraid but i find the quickest thing to bring me out of a hypo is lucozade drink. the thirst normally comes on when you are too high.

 

[aymes]

What do hypos feel like...?

Interesting one, I guess as I know how they feel for me I've never really tried to describe them. I've managed to have three today (and not managed to get a reading above 4.3 yet today!) so today the overall feeling is that of frustration! For me I tend to feel as if time has somehow slowed down, or rather I've slowed down and everything else is moving at the same speed, almost as if I'm in some sort of bubble and can't quite keep up with everyone else. Very tired and panicked, I feel a sense or urgency inwardly but can't seem to translate that to action as quickly as I'd like. I know it can be very scary for other people but I find that I need to just sit still and quietly for 10 minutes and find having to talk to people confusing, of course sitting quietly worries people even more so they ask me more questions! Post hypo I just feel very tired.
I don't know if I've really been able to describe it properly or not, I may come back in a bit and see if I can do a better, and more succinct job!

 

[coldclarity]

Patricia, I imagine being the carer watching a hypo can be really scary too. I cope best with them cos I know what I'm feeling, I imagine watching and trying to guess what's going on is really hard in it's own way.

I feel off in a way I can't explain very well. My elbows go a bit wobbly and weak. I start to lose concentration. I feel almost feverish, in a sweaty but not really hot kind of way. Then I start shaking and get a bit of adrenaline. My number one sign of a hypo is that when I get my meter out and try to assemble a test strip and lancet I fumble and find it very difficult, in a way beyond my usual clumsiness!

Once I've had some sugar I start to feel more steady and normal, but I do feel scared and vulnerable. I'll feel rough afterwards physically - like I just need to go and sleep it off. I've only been doing this for less than two months, so the fear may lessen with time, but feeling like my body has control over me and isn't working well enough for me to stand up and take care of myself is very frightening.

The initial crash and climb back up is usually over in ten or twenty minutes for me too, but it does take me a lot longer to feel 'right' again. Probably an hour or so, and it takes me a while to shake off the feeling that I might crash again at any time.

I don't get thirsty as such, but when in that kind of state I find it very difficult to swallow anything dry. Not sure if that makes sense. Glucose tablets especially really need something to lubricate them as they go down.

That's just my, very limited (and pregnant) experience. I hope you get lots more, I'd be interested to read too...

 

[Vanessa]

Your description of the panic, heart racing, sweating and fear reminded me of the first hypos I experienced - really was most odd state to be in and it took me quite a bit of time to work out what was going on. Now I still get the heart racing, sweating and the shakes but the panic is less - partly I suspect as I know what is happening. Whilst they are over quickly with carbs the difficulties are (a) not having too many and then going too far the other way (b) impatience with the longer lasting tiredness and (c) waiting for my brain to catch up with my body

In many ways though it is worse for my husband - he feels that it must be awful for me but as a Type 2, my hypos are relatively rare and a price I pay for tight control as I feel much better when my blood glucose doesn't creep up

 

[beanz20]

i must admit, my family seem to worry more when im having a hypo, than i do myself, i know it must be scary to watch but they have got used to it over time, and they even know the signs when im about to have one now!! after i come round from a hypo now...usually after about 15 mins, i feel fine, no further after effects at all, so that may happen after having diabetes for some time.

 

[Tash.x]

Usually when i am having a hypo i get like sweaty, shaky, palpitations or feel like really hungry (the typical signs), i usually treat it with a can of coke and my blood sugars usually goes up to 8 or 9. But if that doesn't work i have glucogel well as much of the tube that i can handle as it tastes disguisting 🙂 but it does the job!

 

[Northerner]

Your description of the panic, heart racing, sweating and fear reminded me of the first hypos I experienced - really was most odd state to be in and it took me quite a bit of time to work out what was going on. Now I still get the heart racing, sweating and the shakes but the panic is less - partly I suspect as I know what is happening. Whilst they are over quickly with carbs the difficulties are (a) not having too many and then going too far the other way (b) impatience with the longer lasting tiredness and (c) waiting for my brain to catch up with my body...

Vanessa has saved me from typing up my experiences of hypos, as they are very similar! I think the ones I really don't like are the ones where I feel I'm falling fast - as described in my previous threads 'Wow, what's happening?' and 'Dropping like a stone'. When I get ones like that I feel like I'm shovelling the jelly babies in to no effect and do feel a little panicky. Most often, though, it is a gradual fall, where I know I am getting low (i.e. below 4.0) but feel I have plenty of time to correct it. My mistake then is becoming blas? about it and finishing off things instead of treating it straightaway, then I will often end up dropping below 3.0. Hope that makes some kind of sense! As has been said, it must be worse for a carer, and in particular a parent as the child may be more frightened by the experience than an adult (especially a 50-year old like me!)

 

[Patricia]

It's really interesting to read all this. Something my son said yesterday also seems to ring true here -- that he never feels safe when hypo. He also wants to run away from it, so that he physically expends more energy than he can really afford by hanging onto me, or holding his head. He too speaks of an urgency to *do something*, like his body is telling him something. The waiting for the glucose to take effect is what really does him in.

I'm also interested to read about the exhaustion -- this is very marked with him in some situations. Yesterday he had to go sit on the sofa, watch television wrapped up in a blanket. Took a long time.

I have told him that there will always be people around him to help him through these if he chooses, people who love him, family friends and partners. It's the adrenaline he needs help with, the reassurance that everything is going to be okay. I'm hoping though that some of what you speak about -- the increased *belief* that everything's going to be okay, does happen for him.

I don't find it as scary to watch as I used to -- but I feel for him so intensely, just want to take it away. I'm sorry he has to go through it -- wish I could instead!

 

[Northerner]

It's really interesting to read all this. Something my son said yesterday also seems to ring true here -- that he never feels safe when hypo. He also wants to run away from it, so that he physically expends more energy than he can really afford by hanging onto me, or holding his head. He too speaks of an urgency to *do something*, like his body is telling him something. The waiting for the glucose to take effect is what really does him in.

I'm also interested to read about the exhaustion -- this is very marked with him in some situations. Yesterday he had to go sit on the sofa, watch television wrapped up in a blanket. Took a long time.

I have told him that there will always be people around him to help him through these if he chooses, people who love him, family friends and partners. It's the adrenaline he needs help with, the reassurance that everything is going to be okay. I'm hoping though that some of what you speak about -- the increased *belief* that everything's going to be okay, does happen for him.

I don't find it as scary to watch as I used to -- but I feel for him so intensely, just want to take it away. I'm sorry he has to go through it -- wish I could instead!

I believe the fatigue felt afterwards is a consequence of the adrenalin, and the adrenalin is a consequence of the brain's distress at not getting enough energy, so they are all connected. Understanding it helps me accept it more (but not like it!)

 

[Patricia]

Yes, I think this is right -- when you think that adrenaline is the 'fight or flight' hormone: once the danger is past, you have to sleep it off!

I always remember being present on a general ward when someone unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest. It was all hands on deck, and the defib machine was wheeled in, etc. Such a scrabble, and intense. The patient in question was saved -- it was impressive -- and right afterward, all the medical team just collapsed with cups of sweet drinks, wiped out for some time.

 

[insulinaddict09]

It's really interesting to read all this. Something my son said yesterday also seems to ring true here -- that he never feels safe when hypo. He also wants to run away from it, so that he physically expends more energy than he can really afford by hanging onto me, or holding his head. He too speaks of an urgency to *do something*, like his body is telling him something. The waiting for the glucose to take effect is what really does him in.

I'm also interested to read about the exhaustion -- this is very marked with him in some situations. Yesterday he had to go sit on the sofa, watch television wrapped up in a blanket. Took a long time.

I have told him that there will always be people around him to help him through these if he chooses, people who love him, family friends and partners. It's the adrenaline he needs help with, the reassurance that everything is going to be okay. I'm hoping though that some of what you speak about -- the increased *belief* that everything's going to be okay, does happen for him.

I don't find it as scary to watch as I used to -- but I feel for him so intensely, just want to take it away. I'm sorry he has to go through it -- wish I could instead!

hi patricia i used to get really tired and headachey after hypos but i dont anymore, i have been on insulin since feb 08. does your son have hypo awareness? i always feel my hypos coming on {so far} even if i am asleep i wake up and dont feel quite right, i always have lucozade next to the bed & have a bottle in my handbag just in case it comes on when im in the queue in asda ha ha. When you are hypo it does make you feel vunerable and as if you are going in slow motion, the worst thing for me is when you feel your sugars dropping fast and you get a panicky feelig and a few times i have " come to" sat at the kitchen table eating cornflakes and crunching sugar cubes with my eldest scowling at me because i have been hypo and talking rubbish and hysterically laughing!! luckily i have never gone unconcious when hypo, that is one of my biggest fears, also the fact that your body can be working on autopilot and your brain/ memory is taking a break, i have apparently done alot of hysterical things while hypo but dont remember any of them! the scariest hypo i have ever seen was my brothers, he's been type 1 for over twenty years, its was frightening- much worse than having one. As your son gets older he will find hypos less frightening and hopefully so will you.

 

[Northerner]

Yes, I think this is right -- when you think that adrenaline is the 'fight or flight' hormone: once the danger is past, you have to sleep it off!

I always remember being present on a general ward when someone unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest. It was all hands on deck, and the defib machine was wheeled in, etc. Such a scrabble, and intense. The patient in question was saved -- it was impressive -- and right afterward, all the medical team just collapsed with cups of sweet drinks, wiped out for some time.

I was on the cardiac care ward when the guy opposite me went into cardiac arrest - the consequent alarms, barking commands, rushing around and tension nearly gave me a heart attack! It scared me half to death and I did wonder at the logic of having a whole ward full of susceptible people then being witness to such trauma!😱

 

[sofaraway]

I feel shakey, usually I find that i can't write properly, then my heart starts racing, if it's a really bad one then i will start sweating. I am also very thirsty, which is my strongest symptom. I can drink a can of coke in one go and still want more. it's different to the thirst of a high.

I find other people having hypos harder than my own.

 

[insulinaddict09]

I feel shakey, usually I find that i can't write properly, then my heart starts racing, if it's a really bad one then i will start sweating. I am also very thirsty, which is my strongest symptom. I can drink a can of coke in one go and still want more. it's different to the thirst of a high.

I find other people having hypos harder than my own.

thats a good point i feel HOT and can be soaked with perspiration, i always get like that when hypo but dont get thirsty when low. I get hot when im running high as well but not as bad as my hypo sweats!! ha ah

 

[sofaraway]

thats a good point i feel HOT and can be soaked with perspiration, i always get like that when hypo but dont get thirsty when low. I get hot when im running high as well but not as bad as my hypo sweats!! ha ah

And then feel cold and still covered in sweat. Makes me glad I haven't had a hypo in 6 months

 

[Patricia]

Wow, how have you not had a hypo in six months? Amazing.

I'm not sure what exactly what's meant by hypo awareness. He will often 'catch' himself at about 4.6 or 4.3 or something; although this is supposedly a 'good' number, he sometimes feels it as hypo coming, and will eat a little something.

I think he does feel them coming, but I don't know for how long...Yesterday he came downstairs saying, need to test, am low, but then we all got distracted by a baby bunny the cat had brought in (another story), only for about 30 seconds,maybe a minute. By that point he then switched on to being desperate to test and get on with it. He wouldn't take glucose without testing, even though I said he should, knew he was hypo etc. In the event he only tested at 3.1, but it felt much worse.

Is there a hypo awareness that sort of keeps a hypo from really coming? Or is hypo awareness just being aware at some point that you are low?

(The bunny, by the way, was taken to the vet's, looks likely to make it. If it's not one thing, it's another!)

 

[sofaraway]

Wow, how have you not had a hypo in six months? Amazing.

Well not strictly true. I've had I think 2 in the 3.6-4.0 range which I have caught before a meal and not felt low. I have tried to avoid hypos' at all since an A&E hypo in October last year.

 

[aymes]

Is there a hypo awareness that sort of keeps a hypo from really coming? Or is hypo awareness just being aware at some point that you are low?

(The bunny, by the way, was taken to the vet's, looks likely to make it. If it's not one thing, it's another!)

It's really just being aware that you are either hypo, or close to it. Some people, particularly if they've been diabetic a long time or had low numbers for a while can become hypo unaware and not get the usual warning signs before they're very low, or at all, which can be dangerous. It sounds like your son is doing well catching his hypos (or near hypos) early which is the main thing.

Sofaraway - I'm also very impressed at the lack of hypos!

 

[Patricia]

Thanks aymes, feel comforted!