# What happens when you have a severe hypo?



## Tumble (Aug 24, 2011)

What happens when you have a severe hypo?  Do you just black out straight away?  I've never fainted so not sure of the feeling nor have anything to compare it to?  How long does it take for the Glucagon to work, so how long would it take for you to come round?  Should you go to hospital?  How long can you stay unconscious state until it's serious (as in death)?


----------



## Northerner (Aug 24, 2011)

Hi Tumble, I moved this to its own thread as I thought it was an interesting question in its own right  I've been diagnosed just over 3 years and I haven't had a hypo yet that needed outside assistance. I've had maybe half a dozen that were pretty bad though. Once when I was out shopping I felt myself going low  and had some jelly babies but they didn't seem to work. I found I couldn't move without feeling really disorientated by all the people and traffic around me so I just had to lean against a wall for a few minutes until I felt capable of moving safely. Other times I have been at home alone and eventually managed to get my levels back up but it has felt like touch and go.


----------



## Ikey the tinker (Aug 24, 2011)

I've had one which required assistance. It came on over about 5-10 minutes, I just started feeling really faint and nauseous, broke out in sweats etc. I finally thought i was going to be sick so made to go to the toilet but took 3 steps and collapsed! I came to in a couple of minutes and felt right as rain within half an hour. 

I was told on my DAFNE course a few weeks ago that your body will eventually bring you out of a hypo in most cases, which was news to me


----------



## Tumble (Aug 24, 2011)

I've been told that your body sorts itself out when you were sleeping which is why I was confused about needing medical assistance when your sleeping for the driving ban.  How would you know?  Sorry if these are stupid questions!


----------



## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 24, 2011)

I've never gone so low as to fit/convulse but I did have some nastier ones a few years ago where Mrs EDUAD had to feed me sugary stuff. 

I've got rid of an awful lot of low level hypos over the last two years or so, and my warning signs have become much clearer at 'just under' levels (high 3's). The worst I've ever had (years ago) have involved copious sweating and/or trembling and repetitive action and very occasionally 'losing' a few minutes before I came round.

Overnight must be the worst time, as while a hypo can wake you up, it doesn't always (and if it does you can be in a bit of a fog).

M


----------



## Northerner (Aug 24, 2011)

Ikey the tinker said:


> I've had one which required assistance. It came on over about 5-10 minutes, I just started feeling really faint and nauseous, broke out in sweats etc. I finally thought i was going to be sick so made to go to the toilet but took 3 steps and collapsed! I came to in a couple of minutes and felt right as rain within half an hour.
> 
> I was told on my DAFNE course a few weeks ago that your body will eventually bring you out of a hypo in most cases, which was news to me



If you are lucky, the brain sends the right distress signals to your liver to release some of its glucose stores which will help you recover. This often happens to people when they have night hypos but don't wake up with the symptoms - they may then find themselves much higher than normal in the morning because the liver has dumped a load of glucose into the blood to bring levels back up. Not something to rely on though, there is a school of thought that eventually the signals to the liver do not come through in time, so needs to be avoided at all costs whenever possible.


----------



## Ikey the tinker (Aug 24, 2011)

Northerner said:


> If you are lucky, the brain sends the right distress signals to your liver to release some of its glucose stores which will help you recover. This often happens to people when they have night hypos but don't wake up with the symptoms - they may then find themselves much higher than normal in the morning because the liver has dumped a load of glucose into the blood to bring levels back up. Not something to rely on though, there is a school of thought that eventually the signals to the liver do not come through in time, so needs to be avoided at all costs whenever possible.



Yeah - I treated it with a bit of scepticism myself when the Dafne teacher said that, it seemed a bit odd!


----------



## Robster65 (Aug 24, 2011)

Years ago, when my control wasn't as tight as it is now, I used to occasionally wake up with a sore tongue and dried blood at the side of my mouth.

It was night time hypos causing short convulsions until I came out of it, all while sleeping.

For me it's the hypo symptoms, leading to tunnel vision, sometimes with fraction of a second blackouts and jerky movements of my whole body. I liken it to a dread, as if you're hanging on a cliff edge and might slip or claw your way up. A very real fear and panic.
Not happened like that for quite some time. If you've had alcohol or been very active, your liver might not either respond or have enough glucose stored to bring you out. Then it can be dangerous and, in extreme cases, can lead to brain damage or if prolonged, death. Don't know the time scales for either.

Rob


----------



## AlisonM (Aug 24, 2011)

I've had a few nasties in recent times. Only one was LO on the meter, but I've been in the low 1s before. My recollection of events is hazy at best so I only know what I've been told. Emergency services have been called out three times to me in the past two years and taken me to hospital once because I seemed to be fitting. Afterwards I feel as if I've been out partying for a week, really hungover and weak. I'm told I seem very confused and behave oddly, but don't get mean or anything.


----------



## novorapidboi26 (Aug 24, 2011)

Ikey the tinker said:


> Yeah - I treated it with a bit of scepticism myself when the Dafne teacher said that, it seemed a bit odd!



Odd, but true, just not safe or reliable.........


----------



## KateXXXXXX (Aug 24, 2011)

What I have observed in Himself:

Sweating
Palor
Disorientation
Confusion
Slurred wording
Very slow speech/general slowness to respond
Excessive repetition of movements
Fixation on a particular thing - often bizarre!
Occasionally agressiveness
Unconsciousness
Fitting

The last two trigger an instant 999 call, as does anything severe enough that I cannot get him to take the necessary recovery food or drink.  When I had to administer the Glugagon I called them anyway.  I usually observe several of the signs developing.  So far the GMNT hasn't had anything so severe he hasn't caught it himself in good time.

Internal signals have included a tingling in the lips, slight numbness in fingers that goes away when the BG rises, and sweating and vagueness.  If my two feel themselves getting low, they usually test and treat, asking me to make a sandwich or something if they don't think they can do it themselves.


----------



## RHepton (Aug 24, 2011)

*Hypo*

Im lucky so far as ive only been visited by a mildly mischeveous hypo fairy and not a really nasty one.

Lowest ive been is 2.5 and it was only once id seen the number that I felt a little light headed (normally can tell when im getting low - shakes, weakness, hunger etc) but goes to show you can be caught out.


----------



## Natalie123 (Aug 24, 2011)

I read that if you have a hypo and your liver produces sugar it takes hours for depleted supply to be replaced, so does this mean that if you have another hypo your liver wont be able to help? This is a very interesting thread, I haven't been unconscious before but did need some help from my Mum to recognise a hypo once when it was LO.


----------



## Raymond (Aug 24, 2011)

My first was the scariest. I just didn't know what was happening or what a hypo was. Was sitting on a train sweating buckets but it was a warm day. Then started to tremble. Even then it didn't click! It wasn't until I thought I was going to faint that the penny suddenly dropped and I thought "OMG I'm having one of those hypo things!!". At the slightest sign now of severe sweating or shaking I pop a couple of Dextrose tablets.


----------



## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 24, 2011)

Natalie123 said:


> I read that if you have a hypo and your liver produces sugar it takes hours for depleted supply to be replaced, so does this mean that if you have another hypo your liver wont be able to help? This is a very interesting thread, I haven't been unconscious before but did need some help from my Mum to recognise a hypo once when it was LO.



I have heard that Natalie, certainly once the 'store cupboard' is depleted there needs to be some time for the glucose to be replaced, and it can be one reason why hypos come in sequences.


----------



## Northerner (Aug 24, 2011)

Natalie123 said:


> I read that if you have a hypo and your liver produces sugar it takes hours for depleted supply to be replaced, so does this mean that if you have another hypo your liver wont be able to help? This is a very interesting thread, I haven't been unconscious before but did need some help from my Mum to recognise a hypo once when it was LO.



This is one reason why you have to be alerty to more hypos if you have used the glucagon injection. It basically forces your liver to dump all it's glucose stores and it can take up to a day to replenish them. Also, something to bear in mind is that glucagon doesn't work if you are drunk (or so I've heard!) as the liver doesn't respond to it whilst processing alcohol.


----------



## gail1 (Aug 24, 2011)

i have had  severe hypos that needed help one i was already in hospital apparently i tryed to smack the docter who was attending to me and in the end i passed out cold, another i was in a pub with friends (had only diet coke) i went up to the bar and got so arsy with the barman they tryed to chuck me out but i was not having any of that so in the end the police were called and they tryed to arrest me i totally flipped and ended up in cuffs under a pile of officers wasnt untill i got to the station they realised something was wrong. These ones i dont remember a thing at all


----------



## novorapidboi26 (Aug 24, 2011)

Northerner said:


> Also, something to bear in mind is that glucagon doesn't work if you are drunk (or so I've heard!) as the liver doesn't respond to it whilst processing alcohol.



Would be interesting to find out more about that.......

I just assumed that its normal function was cut down but maybe still was trickling very small amounts out.........like, really small............

Interesting......


----------



## Natalie123 (Aug 24, 2011)

novorapidboi26 said:


> Would be interesting to find out more about that.......
> 
> I just assumed that its normal function was cut down but maybe still was trickling very small amounts out.........like, really small............
> 
> Interesting......


Not something to experiment with though


----------



## Tumble (Aug 24, 2011)

I think the worst one that I had was when I was still rebelling against my diabetes.  We went out for the night and I forgot to take my insulin with me so when we got home 3 hours later my partner told me to take some insulin and in a childish huff I took the same amount of insulin (without testing) that I would have done at the time of eating.  I instantly knew that I had taken way too much and thought that if I could get to sleep quick enough then my body would sort it out!  However I didn't fall asleep as I was worrying about my sugars too much and ended up a little while later sitting on the kitchen floor scoffing a packet of jelly babies!  My partner came down took one look at me and headed back to bed.  Lesson learned the hard way.  What a pleb!


----------



## randomange (Aug 24, 2011)

novorapidboi26 said:


> Would be interesting to find out more about that.......
> 
> I just assumed that its normal function was cut down but maybe still was trickling very small amounts out.........like, really small............
> 
> Interesting......



Your liver will still be trickling out really small amounts of glucose but the problem is that's usually not enough to bring you out of a severe hypo, and it won't respond to the glucagon telling it to dump a huge amount.

Glucagon also won't work if you've had a glucagon injection in the past 24 hours, or if you've been doing a lot of intensive exercise (like running a marathon!) because you've used up your stores and have nothing to "dump" in response to the glucagon.


----------



## CarolK (Aug 24, 2011)

can only say what ive experienced in my son, who has had a few severe hypos resulting in  seizures , normally preceded by twitching movements and he says his vision goes strange, and sees flashing lights. The seizures  i  have witnessed with him are quite frightening, and at the time seem to last for quite a few minutes, although it may just seem longer when you are waiting for ambulance to turn up. The last one, he was violently sick, and afterwards , felt like crap. Certainly not to be recommended.


----------



## AJLang (Aug 25, 2011)

Feel like I'm tempting fate when I say that I haven't had a severe hypo for 26 years but when I did before (I was 16 and drunk) I just remember my legs giving way and then people forcing sugar down my mouth - yuk.


----------



## Fandange (Aug 25, 2011)

My 11 yr son has had a few severe hypos requiring glucogon. It has always happened first thing in the morning - he convulses and foams at the mouth, is unresponsive and won't take anything to eat or drink (even glucogel is a struggle). The glucogon takes about 20 mins to work and as he comes round, he is frightened, aggressive and gets a very bad headache, and vomits. It is really traumatic for the rest of us but he never remembers anything. I try to let him run a bit higher for a couple of days to replenish his glucogon stores (but making sure his ketones are under 0.5)


----------



## fencesitter (Aug 26, 2011)

When there's a liver dump, how much sugar does the liver release? Just wondering how high you could expect to be in the morning if that had happened. William had weird dreams last night and said he wasn't awake enough to test his blood sugar, but he was 8.3 this morning which was higher than usual so we did wonder. I'd imagined that a liver dump would result in something higher than that but I can't find any numbers anywhere.


----------



## Northerner (Aug 26, 2011)

Willsmum said:


> When there's a liver dump, how much sugar does the liver release? Just wondering how high you could expect to be in the morning if that had happened. William had weird dreams last night and said he wasn't awake enough to test his blood sugar, but he was 8.3 this morning which was higher than usual so we did wonder. I'd imagined that a liver dump would result in something higher than that but I can't find any numbers anywhere.



I don't know, but I imagine this is one of those very individual things, like many things to do with diabetes. I would think that, having (finally!) got the signal that blood sugar levels are too low, the liver releases glucose until it gets the signal that it is OK to stop. Perhpas the amount of glucose released is dependent on the timing and response to this signal i.e. the longer time goes on until the signal is received, the higher levels will climb.


----------



## Denise Shephard (Oct 16, 2016)

AlisonM said:


> I've had a few nasties in recent times. Only one was LO on the meter, but I've been in the low 1s before. My recollection of events is hazy at best so I only know what I've been told. Emergency services have been called out three times to me in the past two years and taken me to hospital once because I seemed to be fitting. Afterwards I feel as if I've been out partying for a week, really hungover and weak. I'm told I seem very confused and behave oddly, but don't get mean or anything.


Hi my name is Denise I have been a diabetic since I was 18 I'm on 48 units of lanctus and 16 units of nova rapid I'm afraid of hypos am I type 1.5 or type 2 I have been found unconscious on the kitchen floor before I'm scared it will happen again


----------



## HOBIE (Oct 16, 2016)

Hi Denise . Everyone is different but me my head feels like I am in the sky ! . I do not worry about going hypo & always carry Dextrose in my pocket. I have a manual job & two days are never the same. I never know where lunch is & get what's there. Its part of life to me but good luck


----------



## SB2015 (Oct 16, 2016)

novorapidboi26 said:


> Would be interesting to find out more about that.......
> 
> I just assumed that its normal function was cut down but maybe still was trickling very small amounts out.........like, really small............
> 
> Interesting......



I think that the liver can only do one job at a time.  If you have alcohol on board, processing that is its first priority, so if you have a bad hypo it cannot release the glucose as well as processing alcohol.  

I have only had one bad hypo requiring assistance and glucagon jab, which was just after dignosis and I had no  idea what was happening until too late.  Since then I have had lots of hypos, and rarely the repetitive hypos, but that is usually because I have carried on too soon with what I was doing, especially out walking.

Using a Libre has made a big difference as I now find I can often head off a hypo as the reader shows my BG and the direction of travel.  So if I have a 4.5 and a down arrow I know I need to deal with it, a 4.5 with an up arrow I would ignore.  I hope that makes sense.


----------



## mikeyB (Oct 17, 2016)

Absolutely agree with you, SB, the Libre makes a huge difference. A few days ago I had a 3.9 with a down arrow, and a touch of corrective glucose dressed up as jelly babies saw off a hypo. Every bad hypo knocks off a few more brain cells, and at my age I can't spare many more


----------



## Northerner (Oct 17, 2016)

Denise Shephard said:


> Hi my name is Denise I have been a diabetic since I was 18 I'm on 48 units of lanctus and 16 units of nova rapid I'm afraid of hypos am I type 1.5 or type 2 I have been found unconscious on the kitchen floor before I'm scared it will happen again


Hi Denise, welcome to the forum  I'd suggest posting an introduction about yourself in the 'Newbies' section - you can use the following link:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/newbies-say-hello-here.12/create-thread


----------

