We had a great story on Diabetes News Hound this morning about low blood sugars. The doctor that authored the original article takes a controversial stance, advocating for less strict control to avoid extreme lows and potentially 'dead in bed' syndrome. You can check out the article here:The Real Dangers of Low Blood Sugar Levels
I have two questions:
1 - What's the lowest blood sugar you have ever experienced?
2 - Have you ever passed out or had a seizure due to low blood sugar?
i haven't had any seizures or passed out but i donno what my lowest number was. had to have been below 2 though, cuz once time when i was like..6 or 7, i was so low i couldn't walk..i crawled to the kitchen where my mom was and collapsed in the doorway and she freaked out when she tested me.
I have been type 1 for 25 years. The lowest I ever had, while still knowing what was going on...sorta.....was 27. When I was around 12, I started on two shots a day and I ended up being transported to the hospital because I was slipping into insulin shock. I don't remember what I was then. I was sort of in and out during the ride to the hospital......but luckily I was taken to the emergency room and brought back to normal levels after putting up a good fight with the EMTs. (so I was told)
the lowest i remember having is something in the low 20s or high teens. i can't remember the exact number anymore. maybe i posted it somewhere else on a different thread? meh, too long ago. i was in elementary school, so it was quite some time ago.
i have passed out once. we were in a cemetery planting flowers and i just went down. i don't remember much, but i woke up in the car. we were on the way to the hospital but because i woke up, we didn't go. again, i was probably 8 or 9 years old.
i speculate that i may have had a couple seizures when i was in middle school/high school. i went to bed with normal numbers and woke up really high and the inside of my mouth was chewed up as though i was trying to make meals off the inside of my cheeks and lips. but, we don't know for sure. that happened twice as i remember. but never since then. it's been over 10 years now.
Aside from that, my parents found me unconscious twice, while I was sleeping. They used glucagon both times and I bounced back, but once they did call an ambulance. I woke up right as the EMTs got there, apparently. This was when I was maybe 10 - 12.
This was the days before CGMs, so after this had happened twice, my mom went out and bought one of those pee-the-bed sensor mats that I had to sleep on through most of my teen years (because you pee when you go unconscious). It was the only way they'd know if it was happening while I was asleep. At least it never happened again!
I had a reading of 39 once. It was after running at a different time of day than I had been training for the previous 3 months, so I was not used to how my body would react.
I've never passed out or had a seizure. My body still wakes me up from sleeping if I get below 65 ish.
I woke up once many years ago with paramedics over me giving me an IV of glucose. They said I was so low I didn't register on their checker which went as low as 20. I do remember being 23 once and fully aware of what was going on. As far as seizures I have had many, until I got my pump. I was having them weekly due to not being able to feel my lows anymore. (Been T1 for 30 years.) I had a crappy doc that kept blaming me and saying I was causing it. i had enough switched to a great Endo and got a pump. Still don't always feel my lows til I hit about 50 but haven't passed out or had a seizure in 10 years since getting my pump.
My lowest has been 22 and I was aware of what was happening. I woke my husband as I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through or not. It was only a few months ago. I've started keeping juice boxes by the bed and have a light snack if I am below 130. I still wake up in my goal range, so I figure better safe than sorry because it was kinda scary.
When I'm having what I call "loopy days", I set the alarm for 2 am and my DH makes sure I get up and test. It's really not too bad and until I find a good doc, it'll have to do. I'm trying to find an Endo in this area and hope to be able to get a CGM ASAP! BTW, "loopy days" happen to me when I'm in pms phase, just a day or two when I can't seem to keep it under control. I change dosage at that time, but it's like there is a mid-mid cycle adjustment to be made. I hope I eventually find my formula. Of course, it seems once I do it'll be time to adjust again. ;-)
My lowest ever was 36, but one time when I suspect I was much lower, I told my teacher to shut up and leave me alone. (oops. apparantly I have a potty mouth when I get below fourty or so.)
My lowest on a meter was 27 (4th grade social studies) but I've had at least one incident when I was 9 where I was so low (still conscious though) that my parents didn't test me and just force-fed me glucose gel and food. The worst hypo for me was when I was 13 and didn't wake up one morning. I don't think my dad checked me, and he didn't give me glucagon but used frosting instead, which is not a good idea.
The lowest sugar I have ever had was within the first year I was diagnosed and it was....16. I felt a little low but managed to walk myself to the nurses office. When I checked my sugar I thought the nurse was going to faint to due to the shock that I was still completely aware of what was going on.
The lowest I ever had was a 19. And yet I've never passed out or had a seizure from a low blood sugar. I've definitely gotten close many times, though, where my vision was fading away while having lows in the 20s.
The other day I was 1.7 (about 30) just as I was boarding a plane and trying to put my bags in the overhead locker. Not a great feeling (particularly for take off) but I have not passed out.
THE LOWEST EVER RECORDED WAS IN TH EMERGENCY ROOM AND IT WAS 17. I HAVE HAD TO MANY SEIZURES TO COUNT, HAVE BITTEN THROUGH MY TOUNGE TWICE AND DISLOCATED MY JAW ONCE. I HAVE BEEN TRANSPORTED TO THE HOSPITAL BY EVERY MEANS POSSIBLE IN CLUDING FLIGHT FOR LIFE. SINCE GETTING MY PUMP 2 YEARS AGO I HAVE BEEN SEIZURE FREE BUT STILL HIT THE LOW 30'S WITH NO WARNING. 38 AND 1/2 YEARS DIABETES BLISS.