I’m so sorry to hear you had such a severe low. Those are very scary and stick with you for a long, long time. I’m pretty sure I’m still somewhat traumatized by similar lows I experienced as a child.
Once, within the first year of diagnosis (so I was perhaps 10), I threw up from a severe low. I think that’s the only time I’ve thrown up with lows, but I’ve had other lows that caused nausea. When I was about 13, I passed out from a very fast drop, even though I wasn’t all that low. I’ve passed out (or been nearly unconscious) from many other lows as a kid, too.
I would definitely, definitely get some glucagon (if you don’t already have some) and train your family in how to use it. I’ve also trained my close friends in how to use it. Sadly, it’s not something you can likely use yourself if dropping fast, but they are working on an auto-injector version (like an epipen) that will hopefully be a two-step process, which is something you’d have a better chance of being able to use yourself. When I travel, I also put two small 30 unit syringes in the glucagon case, just in case I want to mini-dose.
You can also buy glucose gel that someone can squeeze into your mouth and rub into your cheek. It’s not as fast or safe as glucagon, but it’s something anyone can use. It can’t be used if you’re unconscious, though, because in that case you can’t put anything in the mouth. I keep some glucose gel around. I’ve also used it on myself when I’ve felt like I was dropping really fast and might pass out. I just squeezed the whole thing in my mouth and sort of let it absorb/dissolve. Doing that is a bit nasty, though, and wouldn’t help if you’re nauseated or throwing up.
Also, my and my family’s mantra for severe lows growing up was, “Treat first, test later.” There is no time to test if someone has passed out from a low. I would train people to just treat and then test after I’d recovered. It’s this reason that, while I’ve had many severe lows groing up, I don’t actually know how low I was during most of them. I would also train people to call 911 if you don’t start recovering from treatment right away, or for people not trained in glucagon (work colleagues) I tell them just to call 911 immediately.
That’s what happened here for us. Your sharing led to a great discussion.
Honestly, a year and a day ago (pre-FUD) EH and I didn’t really have any of these plans, or an insulin horde, or a pump, or even wear the Dex regularly! (actually, I went to the pharmacy and got an new glucagon kit, and the pharmacist and I learned how to do it together. So FUD has educated 2 people on the central coast! He didn’t know how to use it either and was embarrassed - but I was like - no worries, let’s bust this thing open and figure it out right now!)
And I think being able to enjoy birthday brownies (or even everyday brownies) are something that FUD would embrace as UNLIMITED. Which is kinda the point.
Boy, you are organized. I really am on the right track and am working my way, at turtle’s pace, to becoming a knowledgeable and prepared diabetic, but when I see a real one out in the wild like that, I realize how far I have to go…
I’m not glad to hear you are familiar with this, but I’m also glad to hear from someone else who understands it. It’s a new development for me, but if this is the way of the future, I’m going to have to be more prepared. I’m also going to have to start rolling with people who can stay cool under pressure. These people dropped the BALL.
Thank you for the excellent information. I think sharing your message with my family might be a great starting point…
Wow, scary! So glad you had your family around to help you through it. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good advice to treat a low when vomiting. I’ve experienced myself and was very scared, too. For me, I eventually was able to keep some banana down. But man, I guess the only solution is glucagon otherwise esp when one goes unconscious. You need to keep it accessible. Easier said than done
After posting and reading others responses, I realized that there was one time when I vomited while low, and it was after a crazy, terrible drop (while in the hospital with stupid doctors a long time ago).
I know you said that it’s been sometime since you’d calibrated, but is there any chance that you may have experienced a significant drop?
That is the only time I’ve been nauseated/vomited while low.
I think that’s exactly what happened. And that’s what I’ve been experiencing lately. I get nauseated with fast drops or severe lows… but maybe it’s not the severe low part. On Thursday I really went hard on the insulin with temps and extended boluses… I wanted to eat brownies for my kid’s birthday. And the brownies made me spike, but then I went out and danced on top of everything else… I think it caused a fast turn around. I was lying on the couch later and didn’t feel great. It was late, and I was dozing off a little. But then all of a sudden I was SICK. I stood up to test, worried about being high from the brownies, but was surprised to see a 36. I was already getting so sick so fast the IDEA of putting anything sugary in my mouth was too much. I still had 4.2 units on board PLUS whatever was happening with the temp. I made myself eat a bag of welch’s Fruit snacks which I needed, obviously, but made me feel far worse. I could barely get down the hall. By the time I was in my room, I just had absolutely no idea what to do to fix it. I could no longer stand. I had my meters but couldn’t remember what I was doing with them. I finally ripped off my pump. I tested again at a 26 and then LO. Then vomited… then went out. All of this in front of my kids…
That was a long story. Sorry. Yes, I think it was a fast crash, and now I think that’s what caused it. Ive never been aggressive with insulin before recently. I wonder if I’m not experiencing more of it because of that change. Looks like it’s not going to be good enough to just jam insulin…I’m going to have to learn how to do it right after all.
Ah well, I won’t pretend that’s not my jam. Late amount of glucose (e.g.brownies) equates to big spikes. The trick is to dose well before the brownies start to digest (as difficult as that sounds).
Otherwise, the trick is to have sugar ready for the lows you might experience from over correcting from the highs (due to lack of prebolusing). Unfortunately, it appears to be one or the other.
Well, I won’t soon forget this. I’d like to say that what I learned from it is just to skip the brownies, but I just passed through the pantry and saw a box of brownies up top… and it actually made me want one.
Glucose is absorbed in the small intestine, in the intestinal villi. In order to get there, it has to pass through the stomach first. Liquids are processed faster than solids, because liquids do not contain any structure that needs to be broken down physically.
Liquids only need to be broken down chemically, compared to solid foods which need to be broken down both structurally and chemically - not only in the stomach, but by chewing too, which also takes time.
So liquid will bring your BG up faster than something like fruit snacks.
If you can have a can of Coke or Pepsi or some other sugar soft drink available, that will bring you back much faster. And if your kids know to put a straw in it , that will help prevent you from spilling it all over yourself when you are trying to drink it.
So this is probably something you’ve all known for ages, and I probably also knew if I dug down far enough to try to retrieve it, but why would I ever treat with a solid then? Just for the opportunity? And if no sodas, then OJ?
This is not wasted effort on all of your parts, you know, exploring these things with me. You’re helping to build a hardier diabetic.
Some people do always treat with liquids like juice or pop.
I like solids because they are easily portable and easy to measure exact amounts. But I do keep some of those Dex4 liquid glucose shots around for when I travel.
When I’m at home and I have one of my extended lows in the middle of the night that won’t come up, I’ve found a good treatment is to mix two spoonfuls of straight dextrose with water and chug it down. It’s kind of nasty, but it’ll make my blood sugar finally budge when it hasn’t budged for the past four hours.
Don’t get me wrong. If you are not in bad shape, if you can stand and take care of yourself, then treat with whatever is delicious and you are in the mood for! Candy, chocolate, ice cream - enjoy!
But I am saying that if you are on death’s door, and have only a couple minutes of consciousness left, please don’t waste it chewing a fruit snack. Chug something.
Are you really a diabetic? Or are you like some kind of corner candy-pusher in disguise?
I will remember this. I promise. And I’m off to order things from Jen’s post like nasty dextrose liquid glucose shots () and glucose gel, and will grab a Garmin while I’m there.
And I’m low now with too much insulin on board… so i’ll go enjoy something special. But little. There’s a lot to remember.
Oh so sorry Nikki Ghaleb! Yes lows make me barf all the time. I lived my life a lot lower than I am now. it was my ploy to delay getting wheeled in to surgery. Just kidding. Yes you do feel nauseous when your sugar is very low. For me pomegranate juice works when I’m nauseous. I find it very tart but it works really well. just three swigs of pomegranate juice. it has that much sugar in it. When I used to train horses, I treated when I felt low, without testing, I was on a horse out in the back 40 somewhere. I figure if I messed up and my sugar was high what’s 15 g of carbs going to really do to me at that point. If I still felt crappy, I would treat again in 15. Then, I would get back from my ride and test and square everything away. So. I feel like it’s better to treat if you feel nauseous and like you’re gonna pass out and then square things away a little bit later. The glucagon is a must especially for your family if you pass out… Although I’ve never had to take it
, that will help prevent you from spilling it all over yourself when you are trying to drink it.
) and glucose gel, and will grab a Garmin while I’m there.
