Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
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If your blood sugar is dropping slowly, how low does your blood sugar typically need to go before you feel symptoms? Cancel reply
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Often the people around you notice a low blood sugar drop before the diabetic does. Personality gets irritable for sure and sometimes combative when the diabetic is living with the diabetic police.
One thing about this is that it’s VERY dependent on your overall control and average BG. People who are accustomed to running high tend to experience hypo symptoms at a commensurately higher point. People who’ve just been dx’d or are struggling to get A1C’s down into the 6’s after running 7’s or above for years can feel hypo at levels well above “normal.” 100s, 130s, even higher for some. Before CGM, when my A1Cs ranged in the upper 6s, my threshold for feeling hypo was about 80; I’d get the funny walk and the hunger monster coming on as I got into the 70s. Now I don’t sense anything until I’m in the 50s-60s, which can actually be kind of a problem. But yes, the speed of change is definitely a factor. A fast crash always feels different, almost irrespective of your BG reading at any given moment in the decline if it’s really sudden. That was much more common for me back in the R/NPH days. The Eat Now Or Die regimen–thank goodness most of us are not stuck with that stuff anymore.
It all depends for me. If I have been eating out a lot (live in FLA and have a lot of visitors), then I could feel low in 70s. If I’ve been good, then usually 62 or so. And, it depends on how fast I react to the feeling. Because I’ve never felt a negative affect from my lows, I tend to ignore them longer than I should.
Depends greatly on how rapidly I’m dropping… Last night I started feeling it every time despite having only gotten as low as 45, but if my BG isn’t dropping rapidly, I usually don’t start feeling any symptoms until my actual BG gets down into the 30s or lower.
I have even continued working fully functionally at times when my BG dropped into the SINGLE-DIGIT range back when LifeScan and many other companies used to still make BG meters that were “CERTIFIED ACCURATE giving BG readings ranging all the way from 0 mg/dl up to 600 mg/dl.” But since around 2003 or so, it’s become literally IMPOSSIBLE to find a Blood Glucose Monitor that is certified as able to give accurate readings any lower than around 40 mg/dl up to a high of between 400 and 600 mg/dl.
One caveat–I don’t feel lows coming on while I’m sleeping. The cgm with alarms is literally a life saver.
Other. I lost the ability to feel lows many, many years ago. Thank goodness for my CGM!
I may, or may not, start to “feel” it when I am trending downwards at <62 and I am in a kind of null zone. My husband has deemed it "the twilight zone" he says because I suddenly get irritable with a dazed look on my face as I struggle to make sense of what I am doing or trying to say.
As others have stated, it all depends on how fast it drops and my activities at the time. If my attention is on an activity I can easily drop to the 40’s or 30’s before realizing I need to treat a low. I’m not aware if I’m exhibiting any low symptoms. My spouse is often the first to notice. Fortunately, the Dexcom CGM I wear all the time lets me know I need to check.
It is never consistently the same. Sometimes I feel it in the 60’s, other times, I have no idea when approaching the 40’s. I have had hypoglycemia unawareness for the 36 years of being T1D. Having Dexcom by my side since 2008 has changed my life
I used to feel them in the 40’s. Now, thanks to my DAD and CGM, I rarely, if ever, get to that point. Slow drops suck.
I just received my service dog on 4-21-2021, once she is fully grown she will be used mainly as my mobility dog, she is also my my D.A.D. I’m totally amazed at how she alerts me a good 5 min. before my G6 even.
I put “other” because it depends mostly on the speed in which it is dropping, perhaps my activity level and my mindfulness. I have low unawareness but not always. Sometimes I will feel a low at 60 and sometimes not til 55 or 50. I rarely go lower than that but it can happen. The alarms on my pump become background noise sometimes, or I’ll be walking on the beach or along a road where there is surf or car noise to overcome. I am so thankful for my Dex. When I am mindful, I habitually check but there are times when I forget to look.
70-65
Wow! In spite of significant nerve problems in the legs and the digestive tract (PDN in the limbs, gastroparesis to the gut), I am among the 2% that feels it at 80 and higher. And with ACCUTE intensity. There must be a special one-of-a-kind nerve that goes straight to the brain signaling “Eat the table.” ( ͡❛ ⏏ ͡❛) . ( ͡❛ ⏏ ͡❛)
I said other because it varies a lot. I’ll sometimes start to feel the hunger and fatigue in the 80’s, but sometimes I don’t notice it until I’m in the 50’s.
It has it be below 40 for me feel it anytime, no matter slow or fast it is falling.
I often do not get clear signals. I am using Canadian counts, so it is generally about 2.7 mmol/l before I get definite symptoms. I also find that they symptoms do not go away until 30 minutes or so after I am back in range.
I answered “Other” but I should have chose “Below 40”. The key to this question is “dropping SLOWLY”. A slow drop does not cause symptoms for me until I’m in the low 40s, only the fast drops.