To rewind a little, it was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and I needed to ring my dad, as I made the decision to do so my Tomato app (this is the app that works with my MiaoMiao) alerted me that my sugars were at 4.2mmol. I got something to eat and also grabbed the laundry from the washing machine and thought two birds with one stone. I can talk to my dad whilst I sort that out. While talking to my dad I noticed that I was struggling to find words and was not able to focus. He probably thought I was distracted and as he needed to go anyway we finished the call after an uncharacteristically short time.
My sugars were showing as 4mmol, I grabbed some glucotabs and ate 4 of them. This finished the open packet on my bedside. I went downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table, Susie was cooking and asked if I was alright. I explained that I was struggling with a hypo, she got me some orange juice and I started on a fresh pack of gluco-tabs. I ended up eating the whole packet and still my sugars were not rising. It’s a waiting game now, my sigars were at 2.7mmol and I started to get the sweats. It was now 5 o’clock, Boris Johnson was doing the Covid briefing, and as we sat at the table, I fell asleep. Or maybe I passed out?
Susie woke me and suggested I go and lie on the sofa. I did so immediately falling asleep again. I had checked my sugars before doing so and they were at 3.7mmol and rising. I think I was asleep for about an hour. When I woke, I was freezing cold, the massive sweat I had sat on my body cooling me. My sugars were 9.2mmol and still rising. I gave myself some insulin and when and had a hot shower. I stayed in there for ages not wanting to leave the warmth. Eventually I had to get out. I don’t think I have ever dried myself and got dressed so quickly! I went downstairs and had some dinner. My sugars continued to rise. The boom after the bust. Topping out at around 15mmol. They started to come down and before I went to bed were at 9mmol. I went to bed early and slept almost immediately. As is the norm I woke about 1am to go to the loo and checked my sugars, they were at 10.5mmol and I had no insulin on board.
I used the pump to calculate and administer a correction dose. My sugars were then stable at around 9mmol for the rest of the night.
I have not had a hypo like that for a long time. When this happens it’s an odd feeling. Like I am somehow disconnected from it and yet experiencing it vividly. I remember feeling a bit confused when I was on the phone with my dad and yet didn’t just say what was happening and that I needed to go. When I was at the kitchen table I don’t know if I fell asleep or if I passed out. Similarly, when I decamped to the sofa. Whilst I can remember the motions, they are clear as I imagine looking down on them and yet simultaneously foggy in that moment. This might be memory playing tricks on me, my recall making it clearer than it was at the time.
Either way it felt like it was happening to someone else with me as a bystander.
The legacy of this is a feeling of dehydration (my skin feels very dry and thin and I feel sticky inside), I have a persistent fog in my mind and a slight headache.
Today is another day though, right?
