Hi alliecat – the textbook symptoms of hypoglycaemia (very low blood sugar) fall into 2 categories and have different causes. Sometimes adrenalin can mess with the glucose levels and include anxiety, palpatations, sudden hunger, sweating, trembling, going really pale. These can lead people to think you are drunk as you lose the ability to think straight or to coordinate your thinking with your actions. The second set of symptoms caused by the brain not receiving enough fuel (glucose) are neurological symptoms such as confusion, fatigue, headache, loss of concentration, irritability (including temper), visual disorders like blurred vision or double vision, then unconsciousness and/or convulsions and finally coma. You do not have to have not eaten enough, it can be caused by many things like infection, stress (the adrenalin response), hunger, too much exercise and not enough food. I have only experienced 2 full black outs in 12 years. First when I was newly diagnosed and had a terrible toothache and didn’t eat, went to a restaurant and managed a sip of soup and blacked out in the soup bowl. Of course, everyone thought I was drunk. Second time there was absolutely no reason. I had just finished my pre-BSD breakfast of 2 Weetabix with milk and sweetener. I was sat in the chair and I felt myself go very strange. I shouted to my husband to bring me my testing kit but only managed to say ‘can you bring…… and wham, I was vomiting fresh Weetabix, mildly convulsing and unconscious. As quick as that. That is why sometimes a quick sweetie or chocolate is needed before your brain cant tell you what to do.
For me, now knowing my body very well, I used to run with BG around 5 to 6 which is okay. Now I run at around 4 to 5 which I like better. I test first thing in the morning then again around 7pm just before dinner. Sometimes my evening test is very low at around 3.8 and I know I am starting to get shaky but not feeling very much else by way of symptoms so I just say ‘dinner will be in 10 mins’ and it doesn’t bother me. When I get regular lows under 4 I start reducing my insulin, which is what this diet is all about. Other times I can feel myself getting shaky, weak, hot sweats, blurred vision and numbness in the lips – that is when I grab something quick. It is a risk I take as having many low’s can make you ignore them with the risk of missing the big one coming but then you have to really know yourself and know how to take care.
Big risk factors for hypoglycaemia are – taking insulin or other meds, particularly sulphonylurea meds like glicacide (I take both). Metformin is a much lower risk drug but makes me sick. Other risk factors are old people who forget to eat or forget to take meds, people who dont eat at regular intervals, people who fast, alcohol (what a shame), too much exercise, very low HbA1c’s, previous regular hypo episodes (my last one was 10 years ago).
Hope that is enough to inform you without boring you to death.