This seems to happen to me quite often. Earlier today I checked my bg and I felt fine/was expecting it to be normal but was at 49! but I had no symptoms of being low/did not feel low at all and if I hadn't checked my bg, I wouldn't have known. That's a little scary to me. And sometimes I may be around 70 but feel like im 40! Just feeling a little frustrated about it.
Sometimes I also find out I'm low but do not feel that I'm low. It happens sometimes. Sometimes I feel that I'm low when my bg is 120! Treat it as you would if you have the symptoms of low blood glucose. You will be ok. Hang in there.
That's a very scary situation for me.. I worry about that constantly with my daughter. From what I've read the longer you have diabetes the less adrenaline the body will produce making you less aware of low blood sugar. My daughter has definitely been low without realizing it and it really scares me :-(
I hope others will offer a bit of insight.
I have heard that the more lows you have, the less you will end up being able to feel it. Not sure, but have heard it from a few Diabetics, and figure....they are the experts!
We are lucky (so far!) Our girl (8 yo) always seems to know when she is low or high. She is hardly ever wrong, and I am grateful every day about that!
*Waving at Mar*!!! Take a look around.. I'm learning sooo much!!!
A great group of people here at Juvenation :-)
I had this problem in the past, but after using an insulin pump for a few months I rarely had a hypo below 60. My body adjusted and then I could always feel lows even when I was in the low 70s. I am still that way. A CGM will also help since you can see your lows as soon as they are developing and you can stop them sooner, before they become much worse.
I usually can tell when it is dropping, but it seems to be the more extreme ones like in the 40s that i have a hard time feeling. I do have a pump and have had much better control using it. i am considering adding the cgm as well.
Christina-
This happens to me sometimes too. Unless this becomes a pattern, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Also, during the type 1 talk on Sunday, they talked about "hypoglycemic unawareness," which I'd never heard of before. Now just because you've had some lows you haven't felt doesn't mean you have it, but I found it interesting. Here's some more info on it: http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes_control_tips/hypoglycemia_unawareness.php#axzz15hgnRSj3.
If you haven't talked to your endo about it, I would. And I agree that CGM would help. Good luck!
I have this. My wife though does sometimes notice things when I'm not aware and ask me if I "need a snack". I test and BINGO, she's right. But, sometimes I do recognize it. Not sure it's that big of a deal. I'm not really worried about it.
A CGM would probably help. Maybe someday I'lll get one. I'm thinking about it. Not real hare, but still.
This is pretty normal for a T1D who has had alot of lows on a regular basis. As some noted it is hypo unawareness and is a subjective diagnosis.
It is not about loosing it, it is about your body getting used to it and tolerating it in a different way.
After 40 years of T1D my hypo awareness had diminished substantially. However, as noted, the awareness will return with more stable BGs and avoiding lows. For me it took a CGM and 8 months of more stable normal BGs.
After some 10 years, it came back, and out came the sweat when the low started. It was kind a funny thing to celebrate. But I celebrate success in any form it comes in. I want to scream..."It's Back!!!" but I just quietly had a little celebration party in my virtual world. Thank you CGM.
The feelings of lows is certainly a very variable thing. I ALWAYS know when I running high, but knowing the generally range of lows is sometimes difficult.
There are times when I am sitting at my desk at work and am in the 50s, but have no symptoms at all. Thinking is clear, body is functioning normally, nothing unusual. On the flip side if I am in the 80s and on the bike, I can feel like I am in the 20s. Like I am falling apart.
It's funny how when I am cycling I much more aware of real symptoms of lower than desired BGs. The first thing I notice is that my heart rate goes much higher than expected for specific units of work. Then of course the speed and power output begins to slide. My legs will then begin to cramp and twitch weird as well. You would think it might be a 30, but it could just be in the 70s.
Of course the use of better, more dialed in basal and bolus techniques, and the Navigator CGM has pretty much headed off any real BGs that are out of the desired range. These occur now only when something really unusual happens.
I have heard of some folks "resetting" their low feeling sensation by running 150+ for a week. I am not sure I completely buy that, but it might be something you could have a discussion with your Dr. or CDE about. Again, I don't think it is a good idea to do this, but it is something I have heard from a few folks.
[quote user="sjwprod"]
This is pretty normal for a T1D who has had alot of lows on a regular basis. As some noted it is hypo unawareness and is a subjective diagnosis.
It is not about loosing it, it is about your body getting used to it and tolerating it in a different way.
After 40 years of T1D my hypo awareness had diminished substantially. However, as noted, the awareness will return with more stable BGs and avoiding lows. For me it took a CGM and 8 months of more stable normal BGs.
After some 10 years, it came back, and out came the sweat when the low started. It was kind a funny thing to celebrate. But I celebrate success in any form it comes in. I want to scream..."It's Back!!!" but I just quietly had a little celebration party in my virtual world. Thank you CGM.
[/quote]
This is exactly what happened to me. So much so that a co-worker could tell something was wrong and told me to check my sugar only to find it was 39! Then a couple weeks later I woke up to a couple paramedics in my bedroom. That was the scariest moment for me. I was in and out, couldn't talk, and felt so very bad for my family having to see me like that. One month later I was on the pump.
About a month on the pump I was sitting watching TV and thought, hmm I feel low. I was shakey and sweating. Tested and I was 55. I called my husband over to celebrate. Celebrate that I was 55 and felt low! Seems crazy, but I was so thankful. I'm going to be getting the CGM soon and really looking forward to it.
I've found that if I'm dropping very quickly, I can really feel the symptoms, but if it's a gradual drop, I sometimes don't even know. The CGM really helps me to know which one it is. I really feel your frustration though. I've been frustrated lately too...diabetes is such a guessing game!
[quote user="Erica1710"]
I've found that if I'm dropping very quickly, I can really feel the symptoms, but if it's a gradual drop, I sometimes don't even know. The CGM really helps me to know which one it is. I really feel your frustration though. I've been frustrated lately too...diabetes is such a guessing game!
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I agree with Erica 100%. Feeling lows, personally, is such a variable thing for me because it matters more on rate of drop rather than simply on the number when I test. For example if I were to drop from 120 to 70 in an hour, there is no doubt that I would feel pretty crappy. However, if I drop from 120 to 40 over the course of say 6 hours, I probably would not feel it. I would most likely pick it up through a blood test, but maybe not if I was sleeping.