So. Long response...sorry...I have had and still have some low blood sugar issues myself. This one doctor thought I was making insulin. I wasn't (duh...sheesh). I take much less insulin than the numbers indicate I should be taking (and by numbers, I mean that I am big-boned, third generation Danish, horsey:-) as in, unpetite).
I still get low a lot. It seems to move in cycles. I'll be fine for a while, and then the next thing I know, I'm getting low a lot again.
I also have the sweating, but it is not a symptom I usually see unless I am asleep. I have horrible nightmares...hideous 'low dreams.' When awake, I notice a sense of adrenaline and a feeling of lightness which almost feels anesthetic in some ways. I hear differently...some things 'speed up' while others 'slow down,' and colors seem dimmer somehow. But the big thing I notice is emotions...any emotion I am feeling gets exaggerated...other times, it's complete lethargy, as if I'm slowed down in time and thought.
My significant other states that I become unresponsive and vacant in my eyes. He says he can look in my eyes and see something 'missing' and know I'm low. A family member stated that the first sign she would recognize was change in skin hue, which she referred to as 'green around the gills.'
I think the pattern is that whatever was the case before my blood sugar dropped, a sudden change in behavior is always present, marked by either a rapid decrease or in some cases increase in certain motions...and if there were any emotional contexts involved, these become extremely exaggerated...or I get dreamy and ditzy.
My thoughts break apart. That's a big indicator for me. But the biggest is probably words. They rearrange themselves on a page, so that I can't get through a passage and end up throwing the book down in disgust. Then I see the cover of the book there, and it hits me that I might be low as I am normally able to read...or something like that.
I also notice a sudden onslaught of severe depression, as in, extreme sadness or 'what's the point' and a loss of hunger or appetite...everything tastes like playdoh (not that I ever, uh, tried it). This lifts the moment some glucose hits my bloodstream. And another thing: I can't taste anything sweet when I'm low. So I'll be drinking a sugar soda and trying (and failing) to make sure there's sugar in the ingredients (which I can't read when I'm low...sigh).
For the parents, some free advice: try to remember a phrase which gets your little one to respond and drink and/or eat what you present during an insulin reaction. A family member used to say, "Drink the coke," to me...I was spoiled and usually had Coke
:-)...so that when my significant other had some other drinkable item, he would say, "Drink the coke," and hand me orange juice, and I would drink it down while grimacing.
I can sink low pretty quickly...does anyone out there notice that? All my life, when I reached 60, I'd dip down fast.
One other thing...I live with six cats and a dog...depending on which cat is where, she or he will launch head first at my arms if I'm low. Something about when I catch them, or try, cues me in. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.
And in terms of hallucinations: whoo. I thought my mother was a big blue dragon once...she had this caftan she's wear. I saw flames coming out of her mouth. Another time, I thought I was a cat, walked on hands and knees and meowed at my significant other. Ah, memories. The low dreams are absolutely horrible. So if a really bad nightmare happens, chances are, if my experience is accurate in other people's cases, it might be a good idea to check. If I wake up crying, it's because the blood sugar has dropped. But then it gets treated, and I can't for the life of me remember what the big deal was at the time.