As a diabetic hypo's are to be avoided at all costs!
This is where the blood sugar drops below the healthy zone and can result in coma and worse. The healthy zone is 4-7mmol so there are not huge margins to be worked with here. Once below 4mmol it is a quick slide down. Like a lot of diabetics I have experienced a number of hypo's and during the normal day they are manageable. A couple of glucose tablets to spike the blood sugar and then a decent snack to level things off. Symptoms are easy to spot initially with sweats, shaky sensations and blurred vision.
I have been lucky in that I have not had many hypo's overnight. Last night was an exception and a strange experience. I woke up with sensations that I knew were hypo yet could not respond to them. I laid there knowing what was happening and not able to do anything. I was half asleep, aware, but it felt like a dream.
It was only when Sue stirred that I woke up enough to do something and I grabbed some glucose tabs that were on my bedside cabinet, I ate a couple and stayed in bed.
Sue then asked me if i was ok and did i need food, she was clearly awake and thinking for me. This prompted me to get out of bed and go and get some cereal, something I should have done maybe an hour earlier. I went back to bed and slept just fine!
This morning was then incredibly difficult, I could not get myself out of bed and felt battered. Breakfast kind of helped but I struggled with tiredness and a sense that my body was not right. Nothing specifically wrong just not right. Even now as I type I feel I could go back to bed and sleep easily! The hypo took more out of me than I realised.
This is a very real problem for people with diabetes and one I know that some diabetics struggle with. For me it was a rarity and something to learn from. When in that state I need to snap out of it quicker and deal with the situation. What could happen if I do not does not bear thinking about,,,
