Drunk without the Alcohol, Type 1 Diabetes and the Hypo

#DiabetesBlog #Hypoglycemia #DeGlucofied How does it feel ?

"Drunk without the Alcohol" by a #T1D

Sugar is not the cause of #Diabetes. Without sugar people with diabetes would be in serious trouble. #Sugar is treatment for #Hypoglycemia #Hypos, People with #Type1Diabetes and some people with #Type2Diabetes need sugar just like they need #Insulin to survive. Sugar to a #Diabetic is just as needed and just as important as our insulin is. 

De-glucofied ( my new word )  "What happens in the hypo stays in the hypo" 

Whenever I meet parents of children, not long diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, especially parents of young children one of the first questions they ask is, "what does a hypo or a low blood sugar feel like" of course they read the symptoms, but what it actually feels like is a whole other thing.

Sometimes children don't seem to have listened to what's been said to them, sometimes they just sleep for hours after a low, maybe have a tummy pain or upset tummy, they might be weepy, or feel a bit emotionally soft, seem confused, seem awkward, uncordidated  or can't remember. Well this is how I feel during a low, after a low, and sometimes for quite a while afterwards.

I woke up during one nights sleep and I knew straight away this wasn't good, I actually felt confused making my way to the kitchen and tried to maintain my balance while keeping the wall real close. 

Because I was more than a tad disorientated when I got to my meter I spilled the tub of test strips on the floor and they seemed to have taken flight. There's a visible flush going on, with a trickle of sweat running from my hairline, my clothes feel damp, o wait they are damp with sweat, and I know that someone is talking to me because their lips are moving, but Iv no idea what they're saying. I treated that low heavily, my reading was 2.3 and I slept deeply for hours after it.

Nobody can understand that "no mans land" that I am in when my blood sugar is low, except another person with diabetes who's had a low or hypo.

Totally deglucofied, and because of that, strangely unresponsive, and when I say unresponsive I don't mean unconscious.

One moment I am walking around, chatting and laughing, thinking things through, planning, working, or just cooking the dinner, when i slip silently into, not thinking and just doing. 

I go from walking with purpose and direction to walking and not knowing why or where Im going.

I go from chatting and laughing to seeing people around me chatting, i hear sounds but they don't make sense, it's like quite noise and my brain can't figure out where it's coming from. Afterwards when iv treated the low BG with glucose or sugar of some sort, I find people saying "remember I told you that" ? Mmm NO. Because "what happens in the hypo stays in the hypo" and does not get remembered.

For all the following reasons hypos or lows can be very frightening and bit dangerous.

It would be easy to fall and hurt myself. 

It would be easy to say or do something and have no recollection of it afterwards.

It's easy to put something down and not be able to find it.

It's easy to eat for survival and not measure, count or care about portion size or carb count.

It would be easy to walk out in front of a car when crossing a road, because judgment is gone.

if im walking there's a strange but not nice feeling of walking on air, like the ground beneath my feet just doesn't exist, impact as I walk is gone, tripping and falling would be so easy

Because all of these things are completely out of our control when our blood sugar drops too low and that's just one side of the coin.

The treatment (not treat ) is sugar / glucose in the form of a full sugar drink or lucozade, jelly beans, jelly babies, skittles, basically anything high in sugar or glucose.

It's important to remember that when you treat a headache, a hangover, or something else that's making you feel rotten, you don't just pop a pill and feel instantly better, the same applies to popping in the glucose for a hypo, it's not an instant "feel better" it takes time to come back to normal.

Treating a hypo in no different, yes we treat it, and get those blood sugar numbers back within range, but the "feel good" feeling dosent return instantly because there's an aftermath. The fact that you'v dropped low means it's effected all of your body and it takes quite a while for the sugar rush to reach everywhere and get us back on track. 

If your anything like me all of this is followed with a dreadfull headache, an upset tummy, and a feeling of exhaustion that leaves me fit for nothing but sleep.

It's actually worse than being very drunk, it's downright frightening. 

My Balance, sight, & sense of direction are all effected, 

Davina.

Because of the vast amount of information requested we built a website www.diabetest1ireland.com where we can keep information in the one place and we keep it updated regularly. 

Diabetes

Diabetes Information

Diabetes affects people from all walks of life - from the very young to the very old - and is now considered an epidemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

What is diabetes?

Diabetes occurs when the sugar (glucose) level in the blood is too high. 
This happens when the body is not burning up carbohydrates properly due to a defect in the pancreas, the gland that produces insulin.  Insulin is the hormone which keeps blood sugar levels within the normal healthy range.  Diabetes may be present either when no insulin is made or when insulin is made but not working properly.

There are two types of diabetes - type 1, formly known as insulin dependent diabetes, which usually occurs before the age of 35, but can
happen at any age in reality, as Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune
disease, there is no known cause and no cure.
A person with type 1 diabetes makes no insulin and therefore needs to inject insulin to regulate blood sugar levels and remain healthy.  

Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin depdendent diabetes) more commonly occurs in adults after the age of 40 and is 
extremely common in old age.  In this case, the person with 
diabetes makes some insulin.  Usually associated with 
being overweight, but can also be caused by other medical conditions and medications,  this condition responds well to weight loss through dietary regulation.  Sometimes weight loss is not enough and tablets are required to help the person's own insulin to work or additional insulin may be required.  This type of diabetes is also known as adult-onset or maturity-onset diabetes.

With an average of seven years between onset and diagnosis, the earlier the condition is detected the easier it will be to manage.  Early
detection gives the ability to protect against heart attack, stroke and vision loss which is due to high blood sugar levels over years.

Symptoms of Diabetes

Symptoms of diabetes vary in intensitiy but may include:

• Lack of energy
• Tiredness
• Excessive thirst
• Frequent passing of urine
• Weight loss - in the region of 7-14 pounds
• Blurring of vision
• Recurrent infection

Diabetes is detected by a simple blood test that detects how much glucose is in the blood.

The onset of type 2 diabetes is gradual and therefore hard to detect.  
Some people have few early symptoms and are only diagnosed several years (3 - 12 years) after the onset of the condition and in half of these cases various complications are already present.

Risk factors of Type 2 Diabetes

Some people are more at risk of developing diabetes than others.  The known risk factors inlcude:

• A family history of diabetes, Being overweight (80% of people with diabetes are overweight)
• Age (the likelihood of developing diabetes increases with age)
• Lack of physical exercise
• Having had diabetes during pregnancy or having had a large baby

In Ireland, it is estimated that there are 200,000 people with diabetes with many unaware. The majority of these people will only be  diagnosed through an acute medical event of the complications of long term untreated hyperglycaemia. A further 200,000 people have impaired glucose tolerance or "pre-diabetes" of which 40% will develop diabetes in the next 5 years if lifestyle changes are not made.