A few years ago, I once registered a 12. I thought there was some kind of error, so I tested again, and the result was 14. How I was conscious at this level, I do not know, but I sure got to the juice in a hurry. :)
My glucometer only goes to 20mg/dl then gives me "Error 1" messages. I've gotten a couple Error 1's in my time :)
I think my lowest blood sugar was 23. It was after I went swimming when I was still on regular and novalog insulin.
I get lows almost every night after hitting the gym which is about 4-5 times a week.
Last night, I dont know what woke me in the middle of the night and prompted me to check my sugar, I registered 35 mg/dL. The scary thing is I am loosing the sensitivity.
30. Ironically this was during a pump training class at the hospital, while I was still on Lantus/Novolog. Even more stupid, the classes (there were more than one) were from 4-6 and it took an hour to get home because of traffic, so my usual 5:50 or 6 pm dinner turned into 7:30, hence the lows. "Always eat on a schedule when you're on shots" "to get a pump you have to push your dinner later" hypocritical much?!?
[quote user="Amanda"]
30. Ironically this was during a pump training class at the hospital, while I was still on Lantus/Novolog. Even more stupid, the classes (there were more than one) were from 4-6 and it took an hour to get home because of traffic, so my usual 5:50 or 6 pm dinner turned into 7:30, hence the lows. "Always eat on a schedule when you're on shots" "to get a pump you have to push your dinner later" hypocritical much?!?
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i never eat on a schedule and i'm on shots, lantus to boot. (pump didn't work for me).
my lowest in a while has been 2. my very lowest was when i was just diagnosed, had to crawl into the kitchen cuz i couldn't walk to get my mom...tested at i think she said 1.2...might have been like 1.5 or something. it was a long time ago and it's been a while since we talked about that, so details are fuzzy. but i remember losing feeling in my arm and then my legs as i tried to get to my mom in the kitchen and collapsing in the doorway.
Yeah since Ri got off NPH she does eat on a schedule. We were told to for a week or two to track patterns and stay on the same carbs she had been eating on the nph for the same thing then she was good to go and eat when she wanted too.
Her lowest was 32. I had to ask her. I always want to say it was in the 40's but yeah 32 and that was when she was on evil NPH.
I guess we're lucky. Kevin's lowest low was 43 (I think). I guess that's part of being new. I think that anything below 30 would cause me to freak out.
32 made me freak out lol on the inside but she felt fine and wasnt even sure she was low. She gets pale with darker circles under her eyes when low so I had just told her to test and yeah 32. So we juiced her.
I noticed that 9 out of 10 times when I am actually in a state where I fumble for a meter, the number comes up with 43. It seems to be a magic number on the OneTouch.
I have been low enough where I lose my grip on reality, especially if I was sleeping/dreaming when I suddenly got myself up to walk in a zombie state to the frig to get something.
For example, one time I thought I was going to the frig over and over. I was aware of it, but to my frustration, I could not stop myself. My senses during this time were extremely acute. I saw, heard, and smelled everything sharply. I even saw and remembered the price tags on all the products in the frig. My father was in the living room at the time that I past on the way to the kitchen, and he swears I went to the kitchen but once!
There was another low where I woke up in the morning with my hands all covered in something sticky. I just happened to be at my brother's up in Boston on a visit. He asked me if I remembered anything. I said "nope." He said that I had wondered into his kitchen and starting moaning (I guess I just did not know his house well enough to get myself the help I needed). He tried to help, but I kicked and thrashed about. I even kicked his kitchen table across the room. He said he wrestled me down, and his girl friend helped get a jar of honey, which he then poured in my mouth. This was the sticky stuff on my hands.
(I must say, nobody was testing at those time, so my lowest is "Unknown." Fortunately, in the 37 years I have been diabetic, I have had no more than a handful of these experiences.)
The most common reason for these bad experiences I suspect is related to poor insulin absorption. I think the insulin pools at the injection site (pumps as well by the way). I would keep giving adjustments until my sugar level finally panned out. However, I did not realize that the majority of insulin was not getting absorbed. At some point in the night, perhaps from rolling about on the bed and push on the injection sites, the insulin suddenly all gets absorbed at once! Pow! You get a really nasty experience.
Have you noticed that you seem to always get up and get something on your own? Have you had an experience where if nobody was there, you might have been a goner?
There have been a few times where I needed assistance when low, and every time involved me waking up from sleep. A couple of dangerous episodes occurred when I was younger and my folks found me unresponsive in the morning. In one of those times, my dad tried to get me juice, but apparently I wasn't aware enough of what was going on to swallow it correctly, so my mom had to break out the glucagon kit. She was in a panic and couldn't get it to work, so she called 911 and had the paramedics arrive to bring me out of my low blood sugar.
My only odd adult episode with low blood sugar occurred when I got up and suddenly started speaking about abstruse morality topics to my beloved. He knew something was up because he found my tone strange, but I didn't test my blood sugar until a little later. I have a memory of this, but I remember feeling like I was in some alternate spiritual universe or something. He now understands that if I ever start acting really strange like that again, my blood sugar is probably involved, so he will remind me to test. :)
I've passed out twice since I was dx, which has been almost 20 years. Both times I was below 20 and the lowest I've tested at while being concious was 23. I was shaking so bad that I got more juice on the floor than in my mouth, the muscles in my neck started restricting causing my head to jerk back, and I saw lots of black spots in my vision.
My lowest beside "Lo", was 24. I don't know how I even was able to get up and get a drink, but, after I saw that number I started panicing a little. I would say that I go down to 40 once a week, so i think I am used to that. It still amazes me how I wake up when I am low in the middle of the night with out help.
I've only been at this about 2 years. My lowest was 41 and my vision was messed up could not see straight in front of me.
23 at breakfast, when I was taking levemir at bedtime. I always had very bad lows on that particular insulin. I don't have too much trouble with Lantus.
mine was 10... i was verrrry out of it lol
Any lower than 28 and I have trouble figuring how to use the bg meter. I've been low more times than I can count. I sleep so soundly that I don't wake up. I'm so thankful for my husband. Before the pump it would happen 2 or 3 times a month. Once, my eyes had rolled back and he was so scared he'd lost me that he called 911. He had dosed me with sugar but had not seen a response and so when the paramedics came I think I tested in the 20's. When I used to work, retail store, and I wouldn't eat dinner (I'm never hungry when low) there were a couple of times I hurt myself, throwing myself into things. I was babysitting my grandkids (1 1/2 & 3) and I didn't know what to do, literally. At one point I found myself under the highchair. The pump has been my saviour!!!!!
My lowest has been 27, and that was just in the last week. About 95% of the time my lows hit in the middle of the night, anywhere from 2-5am. It has always woken me up, thankfully because my husband sleeps so soundly. This may sound weird, but I am greatful that my last cat was scared of the dark (he would wake me up so he would have someone there while he was eating). Because of that we put those flat nightlights all around the house. When he passed, we never removed them. If it weren't for those I'm not sure I would find my way to the kitchen when I had a low... I just follow the lights. :)
My lowest was 23 also. I remember sitting on the floor in my kitchen with the fridge open and eating something on the floor. I remember laying down on the floor because I was sweating so badly and couldn't move. a few hours later I woke up and took myself back to bed. Scary feeling but I am still here ticking!