OK, so I’m sitting here and really wanting to go to bed, but I am having a hard time getting my levels to come up and stabilize so I can catch some zzzz’s. It got me to thinking about my worst low. I was driving to take my college teaching exams and all of the sudden I almost blacked out driving. I pulled over, started devouring candy, then checked my levels and they were 23! I have never passed out, but I think I came close that time. What is the worst low you have had?
I am 67 years old and was diagnosed last December. I have had many lows up to this point but they are getting fewer and fewer. My last serious low was at the grocery store here in San Francisco about 2 months ago. I had just about finished my shopping for the holidays and I started feeling pretty weak. I thought I could make it out the door and home before I would have to sit down but that was not happening. I sat down on a bench in the store and took my blood glucose. It was 30. I quickly ate a bunch of candy I always carry with me and headed for the drinking fountain. After a half hour I checked out, walked home but could not function for the rest of the afternoon. I was tired and weak even though I managed to bring my sugar levels back up. It was not a good day for me!
Natalie and Barbara -
Oh goodness, 23 and 30! I’ve been 37 before and thought I would die - literally. And yes, lows just sap all your energy. I have experienced lows when I try to overdo a big family gathering at our home. As an RN of many years, those readings are incompatible with life, although not sure what brand BS monitors you have. Home BS devices can range 15 points up or down. A suggestion - ask your endocrinologist to order glucagon kit and carry it with you at all times. They do expire after one year and are not always covered 100% - I am on Medicare and had to pay $36 for one recently. But that is minimal if having is saves your life one day. If I were alone away from home and my BS was that low, I’d give myself the injection. If you live with someone, teach them how to mix and inject it.
Thanks
Cyndy
Hi Natalie,
After 35 years of T1D I have experienced many lows. My lowest was 19. I was not breathing well or at all. My cat alerted my daughter who called EMS. It took about 1.5 hours to get my BG up to a normal. It left me really weak, nauseated and so cold I shivered for 3 hours. It was really scary. That happened about a 18 months ago. All my T1D life I have had trouble with serious lows and highs. My internist, endocrinologist, nutritionist and my own experimentation have not really made it better. I take Humalog and Lantus and several times a year adjust my dosage (I count carbs and adjust dosage according to BG reading and carb amount). Very frustrating, especially when it takes a long time to get you BG back up after a low. I did find that eating popcorn, which digests slowly and does not spike BG, is a great before bed snack. Cyndy is correct, glucagon is a good way to go. It is easy to mix and inject even for an inexperienced person.
Are you on a pump?
Hi Cyndy,
You don’t look old enough to be on Medicare. I have not had medical insurance for years and was told that I might be able to get Medicare. Would you know if this is true and where I might go for more information. I’ve been told that I don’t qualify but, this was after being interviewed and asked one question, “How old are you”?.
Thank you for your help.
Joyce
Hi everyone! This is my first time posting. Checking out the group for the first time. I do not know anyone else with T1 so it’s nice to find a group!
I was walking around the neighborhood with a boyfriend in my 20s and didn’t carry anything with me. I started to feel my legs go numb and I couldn’t think straight. He gave me a piggy back ride back to the house and helped me test. I was 17. I drank a lot of orange juice and slowly came back up.
Another time, in my 20s, I was having trouble going to sleep after a party and I thought it was because I had been drinking Baileys and coffee, so I just kept trying to fall asleep. I was low and didn’t know it. The next morning I woke up to a bunch of people standing over me doing things I couldn’t identify. Things were muffled and fuzzy. As things became clearer, it was an ambulance crew. The first thing I could say was, “Do I have brain damage?” I eventually realized what happened.
I was walking in the mall to return something and left my purse in the car because it would be a quick trip. I became so low that I asked someone at the Auntie Anne pretzel counter if I could have some soda because my BG was very low. The person told me I had to pay for it. I was really fuzzy and just kept walking around. I tried to tell a woman at a make-up counter what was wrong, but I couldn’t talk. Thankfully, she recognized what was happening and got me some juice.
I was driving to work and was running a little late. I don’t remember much of the drive, but I do recall having a hard time staying in my lane. A woman followed me and called the police because she thought I was drunk driving. The police came to my work and I had to tell them I wasn’t drunk but I did have low blood sugar.
Today, I rarely go lower than the 40s and I will wake up if I am that low at night. I do wear a pump, but the false alarms wake me up half the night on the CGM so I do not use them. I will always pull over or check if I feel even slightly off because I have some unawareness until I’m really low.
I’m 39 and have been T1 since I was 21. These are some scary stories, looking back on them again. I always have a glucagon kit in my purse and in the sideboard at home. Does anyone have information on the effects of repeated, very low blood sugar effects on the brain? I worry it’s negatively affecting my brain’s health.
I was curious about the effect on the brain as well, so I started searching the internet. I found info that stated that hypoglycemia can cause loss of brain cells. I am curious if this is an effect after several years of lows, or if this is what could happen as a result of a serious low. Of course my husband told me, " So that’s what’s wrong with you!" Ha!
I am also on humalog and lantus. I have recently started wearing a CGM (Dexcom), and I love it. I haven’t had any severe lows since because I catch them as soon as they begin happening. I do however still have times ( like last night) where I have a hard time getting it to come up. I do my best not to over treat myself. Every 5 minutes the alarm would go off and my levels would be about 10 points lower going from 80 to 70 to 60 to 50. Then I gave in after treating the low twice and drank some milk. Of course then it began climbing fast! I get a little panicky when I see the dexcom dropping fast. Its really hard not to over do it when that happens.
I think the lowest I’ve ever tested without passing out was 23. Growing up I had a lot of seizures due to lows (at least 1-2 a year for about 18 years), but it’s now been more than 12 years since my last one. I can remember the moments leading up to my very last seizure. My dad woke me up and was trying to feed me juice and cookies. He kept asking me what his name was. In my head I thought “that’s the dumbest question ever–you’re my freaking dad why wouldn’t I know your name”. However, I couldn’t for the life of me verbalize any of those thoughts and ended up just staring at him. That’s the last thing I remember until I woke up after the glucagon.
Hi Huckleberrie (Joyce)-
You may be able to qualify for Medicare even if under 65 if you are disabled. If you are unable to work because of your health, you can apply for disability.
And thanks for the uplift, but I assure you, I am Medicare age - 66. That said, I need to disclose that I’ve had a bit of “work” as my work involved being in front of audiences doing presentations. I was taking great care of my physical appearance, but my A1Cs were in the 8-9 range. Then I met Dr. Miloy, my internal med doc in Kerrville. He convinced me my priorities were misplaced, so I purchased my Dexcom 4 G at a cost of $1100 and a box of 4 sensors at $349 in September, 2014 and my last A1C was 7! My next goal is 6.5.
Better to live long in health than look younger…
Thanks
Cyndy
I’ve been as low as 22 when I treated myself without outside assistance; and the 22 was after I had already had about 8 oz. of orange juice. My lowest, I think, was 10 and that took EMS, with an ampule of D-50, about an hour t get my eyes to flicker. I don’t recommend that anyone try that; since then I struggle to keep my HB A1c at 6.3 or higher.
As far as going to bed, be on the safe side and reasonably overeat before closing your eyes and set an alarm to wake you. I set my pump “auto-off” and the vibration from the pump and then loud alarm wakes me.
Dennis
I’m not sure what the answer is-- cumulative or with each event. It seems like that latter would be true, but that’s a guess. Your husband is quite the jokester, eh?? 
I can confirm after 43 years of T1d and being diagnosed with"severe hypoglycemic unawareness"it doesn’t get better it gets worse! Your body learns to function at low B.S. levels. I have to rely on a service dog to stay alive. I do believe it damages the brain.
I am 35 and I have been type one since I was 8. I have been low many time I have hypoglycemia unawareness now. I don’t know when i go low anymore until i get to under 30 but sometimes i can feel normal and be holding a conversation at 25. I have gone as low as 17 but the blood test aren’t that determinable once you go under 60 which is what you have to get to not to be taken to hospital. I wish service dogs where not so expensive I have looked at them but can not afford it.
I know of a website called gofundme where you can get donations towards a cause such as a service dog. We use it to help raise funds for field trips at the campus where I teach. I have noticed type 1 diabetics have pages for service dogs and pump funding. You can put it on your Facebook page and others can share the link. It may be worth looking at.
I experienced 2 lows in the single digits when, at the age of 38, I was revived by medics. I continued working as a lawyer until the age of 50, when my brain (frontal lobe) started to disintegrate. My husband is younger than me and he continues working in a job he enjoys, thank goodness. I’ve been keeping busy with volunteer work, but so many of the opportunities require some form of multitasking, which is very hard for me. I am easily distracted, like I have ADHD. I read every day, but my brain is like a sieve. I have obtained some solace from the book, “Boost Your Brain” by Majid Fotuhi, specifically his recommendations for vitamins and healthy brain food.
I’m on antidepressants, which keep me on an even keel…without them I am tearful. It is hard to accept that my once razor-sharp brain has lost about 75% of its sharpness.
I had my first blackout about a year ago - I woke up and got to the fridge but went down with the door open. I can’t remember now, but I don’t think I bothered to test. Often if I feel it, I will test - usually it is high 40’s.
Hi Everyone. My lowest was 32. Sitting at the kitchen table, I thought I was seeing stars. Weird feeling! I just kept guzzling my kool-aid and kept telling myself that I have too eat the toast with sugar on it! I don’t want that too happen again.
I have been at the store and I just started wandering around, couldn’t make a decision on a color for some washcloths. Then the shakes finally showed themselves and I started eating my glucose tablets. Found a seat and waited till I felt better. I also noticed that as we age and the longer we have diabetes, our low symptoms start to change.
Oh dear, those lows when we need help getting back. I hadn’t needed EMS assistance until two times in the last two years; T1D for 58 years. I too have found that hypo symptoms have gradually changed over time and now are much more sneaky. The two times when EMS revived me my wife had found me unconscious - the first time on the kitchen floor with a lancet in my hand and glucose meter waiting for a drop of blood for about two hours. The second time, I was sitting in this desk chair completely unresponsive and the firefighters who got here first laid me out on the floor thinking that I was gone. Upon arrival, the paramedics started an ample of D-50 through an IV, then tested my blood and got a 9; an hour or so later my eyes opened.
It was after that second incident that the endocrinologist convinced me to ease up [yeah, took minimal convincing] to let up on my control and not let my BH A1c go below 6.5. I find now that I must be especially careful the day after cycling and I no longer will cycle two consecutive days.
If I have another “serious” low, I will probably commence CGM - right now I do finger stick tests at least 7 times each day, including one between 2 and 4 AM.
Lowest I have seen after checking was 26. I didn’t feel great but could function. I had lots of blackouts when I was a kid and there was nothing but Tes-tape for glucose testing, but haven’t passed out since I was in high school 30 years ago.