Low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia, signifies that your body doesn’t have enough sugar within the bloodstream to fuel your whole body’s cells. This condition is a relentless risk for everybody with diabetes — whether type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes — that uses insulin. Another medicines, particularly sulfonylureas, also carry a risk of hypoglycemia.
A “hypo” may be very scary. Within the severest cases, they can lead to grave damage, including seizure, coma, and even death. Hypoglycemia also increases the chance of on a regular basis situations reminiscent of driving or swimming.
Probably the most popular questions I get asked, and see circulating within the diabetes online community, is, “what does a low blood sugar feel like?” Again and again, the query comes from parents of kids newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes — the younger the child, the less ability they need to discover and describe how they feel.
For a parent, this information may be so helpful in avoiding a really dangerous situation. Additionally it is vital for those of us living with diabetes to be attuned to our bodies and recognize the symptoms before they change into more pronounced and severe. The quicker we will act and treat our low the less of an interruption this can even be on our, or our child’s, day by day lives.
I asked our friends within the diabetes online community if they may do their best to explain how they feel when having a low blood sugar. Remember, everyone’s experience is different and the way it’s possible you’ll react can rely upon how briskly or slow you’re dropping. It will probably also vary every time so ensure that to remain in your toes and stay vigilant!
“I feel like I’m within the Matrix, every part is slowed down. I feel super floaty as if I’m drunk and all I can take into consideration is how sweaty and hot I’m.”- Jesse, 28, NY
“Mostly I don’t feel them but after I do it’s like having run a marathon while having a panic attack followed by exhaustion.” – Jessica, age 32, PA
“Normally after I’m low I get the chills and cold sweats. I will likely be drenched in sweat. People around me notice I get somewhat hyper, especially with my talking. I used to be having bad lows in my sleep for some time and would wake as much as someone putting juice or soda down my throat. My wife could tell I used to be low on account of the large amount of sweat.” – Bradley, 34, TX
“Weak. Fatigue. Dry mouth. Sweaty. Grumpy. Hungry.” – Briana, 26, UT
“It seems like someone is deflating your energy like a pool float.” – Matt, 25, NC
“I truthfully feel drunk. Not the ‘fun’ drunk however the confused and dizzy kind. Plus, it’s like I’m having a hot flash. And sometimes I get that ‘sense of impending doom’ where it’s like ‘omg I believe I’d actually die this time’.”- Abby, 27, OH
“If it isn’t a terrible low, I just feel somewhat off, woozy and shaky. A foul low will make me sweaty and tingly after which confusion sets in. Once I realize I’m low, all my symptoms get magnified. I can feel my heart race and the drops of sweat construct upon every inch of my skin. Sometimes this comes together with mild panic attack symptoms.” – Vonda, 21, NZ
“It makes my knees go weak. Also, my depth perception gets distorted.”- Maria, 38, TN
“It’s like my whole equilibrium gets thrown off and it seems like I’m on the very top of a rollercoaster right before you come down. Apart from that, I feel sweaty, shaky, disoriented, and sometimes numb around my lips and tongue. I’m also irritable, emotional and somewhat bit snippy.” – Allison, 35, TX
“I all the time compare it to being outside all day, without eating anything, and attempting to walk home uphill.” – Jim, 35, PA
“Every low is somewhat different, but overall it seems like circuits in my brain are breaking, the lower I drop the more broken circuits there are. Hypoglycemia starves your brain, so that you’re sure to feel weird!” – Paige, 29, CO
“Rapid drops cause sensory overload. Light, sound, touch change into overwhelming inputs. Panic sets in, inability to form coherent thoughts, cold sweats then rage. By this time fight or flight has kicked in and I normally remove myself from other people and like to remain in the dead of night with earphones in but no sound playing until my blood sugar returns to baseline.” – Rodney, age 37, TX
“I even have an excessive amount of energy and craziness after I’m low. I feel invincible and haven’t any shame.” – Jeroen, 24, Belgium
“Like those music videos where the singer is in regular motion when everyone around them is in super fast speed. Brain fog, illogical and irrational thoughts. Like my limbs weigh 100 lbs. each and moving them causes me to sweat.” – Nicole, 40, NC
“My first symptom is all the time that feeling once you’re on a plane that has taken off and it drops a bit and seems like the underside has dropped out of your skull. I don’t know the way else to explain it.” – Cat, 35, NZ
“Feeling like your body is shutting down.”- Lauren, 22, WY
“After I am just barely low I feel mostly shaky. As I’m going lower I get sweaty, irritable, lose my vision and may’t make decisions. Bad lows feel like your brain is melting after which it hits that impending doom feeling where it’s like ‘eat to remain alive’.” – Nicole, 31, DE
“A foul low seems like donating blood then running a marathon.” – Eustacia, 42, CO
“I start feeling hungry and drained if it’s a slow approaching low. I feel sweaty, zonked out, and if I start seeing spots, it’s a quick dropping one.” – Cally, 39, CA
“It seems like I’ve spun around really fast (like little kids do) after which suddenly stopped.” – Lela, 41, NY
Knowing how your body and brain react to low blood sugars can allow you to to correct them quickly and avoid a scary situation. For folks of kids living with type 1 diabetes, it’s so vital to know what signs to search for. Asking your child to explain how they feel will likely be helpful in detecting lows.
While we will do our greatest to discover and treat low blood sugars, it’s not all the time possible to treat your individual hypoglycemia. Some individuals with diabetes suffer from hypoglycemia unawareness, a particularly dangerous condition by which the body doesn’t give any of the common symptoms of hypoglycemia (until it’s too late). When you or a loved one uses insulin, hypo preparedness is job primary.