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    • 14 hours, 34 minutes ago
      Jeanne McMillan-Olson likes your comment at
      If you have been hospitalized for a reason unrelated to T1D and you were alert during your hospital stay, were you allowed to manage your own insulin dosage? (If you have been hospitalized for reasons unrelated to T1D multiple times, please select the option that describes your most recent hospital stay.)
      The hospital made me disengage my pump and promised to monitor my BG. After 10 hours with an incorrect basal my BG was high and going up. No nurse or doctor was available to administer insulin. I finally reinstalled my pump and forced the hospital to acknowledge that they could not monitor my BG. After appealing to the hospital Board, after my stay, they started using CGM's in all the wards for diabetic patients.
    • 14 hours, 35 minutes ago
      Jeanne McMillan-Olson likes your comment at
      If you have been hospitalized for a reason unrelated to T1D and you were alert during your hospital stay, were you allowed to manage your own insulin dosage? (If you have been hospitalized for reasons unrelated to T1D multiple times, please select the option that describes your most recent hospital stay.)
      During my hospitalizations for cardiac issues, my endocrinologist (who does not do hospitals) told the attending endo that I was capable of managing the diabetes. I was allowed to mange pump and CGM without any problems. For one stay, I had a pump-using T1D nurse. This was the premier cardiac hospital in the western part of my state, so their handing of diabetes may be more advanced. There are two rules for handing the type 1 diabetic in a hospital setting. 1) Never separate the Type 1 diabetic from his or her insulin. 2) Let the expert in the room handle the diabetes. And bring your own supplies, because the hospital will not have pump supplies, CGM replacements, or your insulin.
    • 15 hours, 26 minutes ago
      Jan Masty likes your comment at
      Have you (or your loved one with T1D) been diagnosed with retinopathy?
      No retinopathy... But AMD both eyes last 2 years...No treatment available... Unable to wright... bareley able to read only large type... use the talking guy hideing in my computer to read for me... Almost 91 years OLD.... 70 years T1D...
    • 15 hours, 53 minutes ago
      mojoseje likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      I didn't have a stopwatch out, but it was about 12 to 15 minutes. There was a lot to go over (new devices, etc.). I probably got everything I needed, but, for some reason, I always feel rushed at this office.
    • 16 hours, 6 minutes ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      It was so long ago, I don't remember...
    • 16 hours, 59 minutes ago
      Janis Senungetuk likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      It was over 20 minutes but since my Endo has me so well Regulated (A1c 5.4 - 5.6) even Medicare is allowing a Visit every 4 Months. Dex 6 and Tandem CIQ is my Cure!
    • 17 hours, 5 minutes ago
      Judy Hampton likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      My A1C is normally in the 5 to 6 range also, but I am lucky to have an Endo who answers any questions I may have and discourse on new technologies. He also checks my feet and eyes. He spends up to 40 minutes with me. I have been T1D for 59 years and have been through a pregnancy (hellish) also. I still have many questions about this disease and it’s effects on the rest of my body as I am very active.
    • 17 hours, 27 minutes ago
      Patricia Dalrymple likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      I believe if you have good control and your A1C's prove it, maybe 10 to 20 minutes is enough. My A1C's are in the high 5's / low 6's so my session is usually complete within minutes tops, but there are probably other patients that should require a little more time from their endo to get them on a 'well managed' A1C path.
    • 17 hours, 30 minutes ago
      cynthia jaworski likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      I believe if you have good control and your A1C's prove it, maybe 10 to 20 minutes is enough. My A1C's are in the high 5's / low 6's so my session is usually complete within minutes tops, but there are probably other patients that should require a little more time from their endo to get them on a 'well managed' A1C path.
    • 17 hours, 36 minutes ago
      Anneyun likes your comment at
      If you are an adult with T1D, how much has type 1 diabetes affected your thought-process and decision to have/not have children?
      I was diagnosed at age 12 and I don’t remember anyone talking to me about having or not having children. I married at 23, had an unplanned pregnancy that began when I was 24. I was not seeing an endocrinologist at the time (in 1979), but my OB doctor sent me to one. Both of the doctors made comments to me about maybe ending the pregnancy, but my answer was a definite NO!!! It was a hard pregnancy without the better insulin and technology that is available today. I went into labor approximately 6 weeks before my estimated due date. Since a Caesarian had been planned, no one had explained anything to me about going through labor, so that took longer and was harder on me than it should have been. Anyway I delivered a 7 pound, 11 ounce boy. He had jaundice and a slight heart murmur at first , but that cleared up after a short stay in the hospital. My son is 42 now and bloodwork has indicated he will not become a T1D. Same with his 2 children. That was my only pregnancy. I am now 67.
    • 19 hours, 1 minute ago
      Joan Fray likes your comment at
      During your most recent appointment, about how much time did you spend with your main T1D health care provider?
      It was so long ago, I don't remember...
    • 1 day, 10 hours ago
      TS likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      InsulinPumpers.com does a great job of distributing supplies to those in need.
    • 1 day, 14 hours ago
      jo likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I have decided to give them to my endo's office. They have a nice supply closet of donations, that they give to people in trouble. Since i have had to dip in that closet once, I now know how important that can be.
    • 1 day, 14 hours ago
      jo likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      InsulinPumpers.com does a great job of distributing supplies to those in need.
    • 1 day, 15 hours ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I tried to donate them to my healthcare system but was told they were not allowed to take them. I tried a couple of other places- same story so I now will have to put them in the garbage
    • 1 day, 15 hours ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I'm still looking for someone to give them to.
    • 1 day, 15 hours ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I would love to learn of places to give/donate supplies!
    • 1 day, 15 hours ago
      KarenM6 likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      My other was gave them to the Endocrinologist office to give to people who needed them
    • 1 day, 16 hours ago
      Trina Blake likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I have decided to give them to my endo's office. They have a nice supply closet of donations, that they give to people in trouble. Since i have had to dip in that closet once, I now know how important that can be.
    • 1 day, 16 hours ago
      Amanda Barras likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I have decided to give them to my endo's office. They have a nice supply closet of donations, that they give to people in trouble. Since i have had to dip in that closet once, I now know how important that can be.
    • 1 day, 16 hours ago
      Richard Wiener likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I would love to learn of places to give/donate supplies!
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      Janis Senungetuk likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I gave insulin to a friend for her cat who used the same as I did.( she also checked with her vet).
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      pru barry likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I gave insulin to a friend for her cat who used the same as I did.( she also checked with her vet).
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      pru barry likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      I have given most to my doctor to give to someone in need. Some I gave to my chiropractor for his son.
    • 1 day, 18 hours ago
      Sue Martin likes your comment at
      If you have ever had extra supplies from a device you no longer use, what did you do with those extra supplies? Please select all that apply.
      My unused diabetes supplies like meters, that I was given but don’t use, just sit in a drawer. I wish there was someplace to send them. Any ideas, folks?
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    In your own words, how would you describe the feeling of a severe low?

    Home > LC Polls > In your own words, how would you describe the feeling of a severe low?
    Previous

    At the time of your T1D diagnosis, did you already personally know anyone who had T1D?

    Next

    If you’ve lived with T1D for 20 years or longer, how would you describe the difficulties or challenges you've experienced with T1D over the years? Please pick the statement that best fits your experiences (even if it's not a perfect fit). If you’re comfortable, please share more about your experiences in the comments.

    Sarah Howard

    Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community 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. Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.

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    199 Comments

    1. stillarobyn

      The world becomes cold and distant. I’m in my body, but never feel more like a mind. The hormones flicker the alert to my brain, and my brain tries to tell me that I am dying. My body reacts, but my mind doesn’t. The sensation of missing a step, falling through an unexpected bit of air, swoops through my stomach and chest, but I am sitting still, lying down.

      5
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Lenora Ventura

        Yes. This covers it perfectly

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    2. PamK

      I only get scared when i am with people who either don’t know that i have diabetes or don’t know how to treat it. if i am at home or out with friends/family i know that I’m in good hands.
      I’ve read a lot about people being scared of low blood sugars. For me, I only get scared when treatment is either unavailable or not being offered due to lack of knowledge.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    3. Molly Jones

      My head starts to feel disconnected from my body like a balloon in the beginning (70s-50s). When it becomes very low (below 40) and people are helping me, even though I am capable of (improper) speech and actions, I am no longer that aware of my sensations.

      4
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    4. Margie

      Scary! Shakey, sweaty and hot.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    5. Steven Gill

      Beyond the generic way I feel (numb lips, sweats) find my mind wanders. I’ve had weird dreams, one time in arrogance questioned “Who determined low blood is below 70?” as I was sitting at 40. Thankfully my habit of drinking a sugared drink kicked in.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Lori Selsberg

        Yes I’ve had the weird dreams

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    6. sweetcharlie

      No energy… A bit woozy… find the candy and OJ..

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    7. Lori Smith

      I have been Diabetic for over 45 years, and it seems it’s getting harder to bring my Blood Sugars up. Now I start to feel weak and dizzy, and feel like I can’t think. I hate the feeling.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Sherrie Johnson

        Going on 62 years for me I take a mini Coca Cola saved me so many times fast 26 carbs.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    8. Lenora Ventura

      Not grounded at all. Like I’m not ALL there. I can have the juice right next to me and my brain just sits & stares. At other times, I am fully coherent and can treat without any outside intervention.

      5
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    9. casey shane

      Any diabetic will tell you something different depending on the severity however the main concern(s): quick onset of symptoms: lackadaisical, unrest, unease, sweat, confusion,discomfort, dizziness, fatigue, faint, tiredness, trembling, shaking, stressfulness. Quick acting carb, 15grams of carb. a donut!! eat something! Be safe.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    10. RegMunro

      I’ve experienced many times when I have felt nothing at all because I’ve been almost unconscious, though appearing there to others. My wife often had to bring me back from hypo! Now my CGM has almost totally prevented hypos getting bad

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    11. juliasayrie

      The feeling is crippling. I’m shaky, I can’t focus, heart beats fast,

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    12. Jan Masty

      Horrible panic and the inability to answer even a simple question. You feel like you’re losing your mind.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    13. Jeff Perzan

      Inability to focus and concentrate – if very severe, difficulty in walking.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    14. Jen Farley

      I get confused or angry. A lot of people have described me as drunk. How do I personally feel? It is like I have lost my mind and cannot remember anything. Sometimes I cannot remember the lows, like blocks of time are missing. I do not feel my lows coming so I get a very attached to my CGM.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    15. Ahh Life

      It’s hard to find the baby in bathwater that deep.

      But perhaps the best is Joseph Conrad’s simple four words: “The horror, the horror.”

      4
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    16. Rob Smith

      Confused, irritable.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    17. Nevin Bowman

      Low – a weird feeling like there is no blood in my arteries
      Very low – vision starts to have blank areas
      Dangerously low – nothing makes sense or works right anymore

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    18. Sarah Austin

      It’s like my brain no longer works, no logic or reason. it’s a matter or survival. Fight or flight

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    19. Joan Plog

      I feel unsteady and sweaty.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    20. Liz Avery

      Holes in my vision, inability to think coherent thoughts and a feeling of being in danger, anxiety, argumentative. My husband used to ask me a simple math question if he thought I was low, I was unable to answer. Hypos are much fewer with CGM use, thank God!

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. cynthia jaworski

        the math difficulty is something I share. I had been taking the GRE exam and eventually became aware that after quite some time, I was still on the 1irst question of the math portion. (Usually I am very good at math.) That’s when I realized that I had begun to go low. This was before the days of glucose monitors…..

        1
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    21. Ernie Richmann

      Confusion, inability to decide/ act.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    22. Robin Melen

      It feels like falling off a cliff – it comes on so fast. Numbers are fine, fine, fine and then suddenly, CGM is alerting at 70, then 60 and lower. Shaky, sweaty, weak.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    23. Nikki McDonald

      Shaking, starving, not thinking straight, brain feels fuzzy. Luckily I’ve never experienced I low low enough for emergency intervention.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Gary Taylor

        My symptoms are very similar to yours. Thank you.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    24. Claude Laforest

      I feel sorry to have affected people who saw me act like a brute, I feel distress inside me, how could such a thing have happened to me?

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    25. Kristen Clifford

      Having absolutely no idea where I am, how I got there, or where the time went. Sometimes I feel as if I’m even out of my body, that I’m in another place.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Lawrence S.

        Exactly!

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    26. Lori Selsberg

      So hard to describe to anyone else because it’s a feeling only for low blood sugar. It hits different body parts differently. When it hits the head, it feels like a swirling in the brain sometimes hard to focus. The face, tingling in the mouth. In a bad situation, the body with difficult mobility and balance.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    27. Lawrence S.

      Blacking out. You have now entered the Twilight Zone. I am no longer aware of my surrounding. But, I am still trying to function. Wait, there’s a touch of reality. But, it’s gone. I am struggling to work my way back. But, it’s gone. I cannot focus, I am in a void. Was I eating breakfast? Was I cooking at the microwave? My mind is not working. I fall, but don’t know it. I get up again, but don’t know it. My wife is talking, but I don’t hear it. I don’t know what she is saying. I am sitting in a catatonic state.
      Finally, I am aware that my wife is sticking the Gvoke pen in my belly. I feel the sting. Immediately, I am alert. “What happened?” I am back. But, have no memory of the past 20 minutes. My mind feels foggy. Slowly, I return to myself. I become self aware again. My breakfast dish is on the floor. There is a mess of food on the table and the floor. I have to clean it up. I feel guilt, try to act like all is normal.

      4
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Greg Felton

        Good description. I have also experienced these blackouts where I was functioning but people who know me recognize something is off.

        1
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    28. Gary Taylor

      As many have said here, it starts with nervousness and being a bit shaky. If not treated, it moves into muddled thinking and the inability to communicate coherently.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    29. betsy valian

      It feels as if all the energy in my body is slowly draining away …. numb lips, clumsy, pouring sweat and shallow breathing… but I tell myself it won’t be long till it will change. Hopefully. And just keep breathing.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    30. Robert Kovalik

      Sweating, confusion, hunger.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    31. Phyllis Donahue

      Feeling confused, thoughts are so messed up. Thank goodness haven’t felt that was in a while.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    32. Mae Anson

      It is absolutely terrifying! I can’t speak, think or see when my sugar is severely low.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    33. anj1832

      It is as if the world is moving on with their life like normal and I’m in slow motion. Unable to move or interact with it. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a dream and can’t wake up or “snap out of it”

      5
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    34. Lisa Anderson

      I have severe hypoglycemia unawareness. I don’t feel anything. Post-hypo, I feel confused, excessively tired, may have a headache, may be starving, always have temporary aphasia.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    35. Janice Bianchi-Lurati

      Extremely blurred vision, sweating head and upper body. Can only concentrate on getting food or drink until very foggy thinking begins to clear. Only talk in short direct conversation about what’s happening and what I need. Usually chilled and fatigued as blood sugar levels rise.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    36. Greg Felton

      Like watching a movie of myself without realizing I am the main character and that I wrote the screenplay. There may be better ways to explain it, but it can be like an out of body experience.

      5
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Greg Felton

        I’ll add that the movie is like the first act of a horror movie, where there is a sense of anxiety and dread.

        1
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    37. Mark Wilson

      Dizzying. At times, dreamlike. An out of touch with realty feeling. Other times feeling like being in the middle of a panic attack. Frustrated.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    38. AimmcG

      I don’t know exactly how to describe it. I definitely become a bit sleepy so sometimes I nod off to sleep if I’m just watching tv. If I’m active though, sometimes Sometimes I get confused and sometimes I stumble and fall like a drunk person or I become combative which is when I black out. My recall is more pleasant but my family says I become really bad/nasty. I am usually super sensitive to lows so bad ones don’t happen often.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. AimmcG

        Oh and anxiety!! My anxiety goes through the roof.

        1
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    39. James Hoare

      After so many decades I can find myself functional and often euphoric and creatively thoughtful when I am as low as 35mgl. What follows is sudden realization coupled with deteriorating abilities and the sudden realization that I might have only a minute or so to start correcting this. Even with my cgm I can be taken by surprise but the alarm alerts that start at 70 most often keep me safe.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    40. M C

      A severe low has consistently through the past 46 years caused head to toe perspiration, eye black out (eyes open but only seeing black), and unsteady hands. More recently, as in the past 5-10 years, I get numbness in my mouth (tongue and lips), and an overwhelming sense of nausea (making it next to impossible to get the chalky glucose tabs chewed and swallowed – juice is the preferred item).
      It also takes much longer than the prescribed “15 minutes” to see any turn around of the BG levels. Often takes more carbs and more time to finally see the arrow starting to level off on the CGM.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    41. Britni

      I’ve had lots of severe lows (54 or below) that felt no different than mild lows and that I was able to treat myself. To me, the “severe lows” were the ones I couldn’t treat alone, and the only word is “disorienting.” After-the-fact they’re terrifying – realizing how lucky I am to have survived, that is. Lucky that my teacher knew what to do. Lucky my sister had an extra candy bar. Lucky my neighbor was driving by. Lucky my roommate was home. Lucky my low-blood-sugar-drunk brain saw the chocolate bar on my bookshelf and decided to eat it. Each of my severe lows was different, too. Once I went blind (but was still conscious), twice I blacked out, once I passed out, and once I had a grand mal seizure. One time I was fully conscious the whole time, and knew something was wrong, but couldn’t focus long enough to do anything about it. I left my apartment in my pj’s for some reason that made no sense (made it all the way to the first floor and back) and got locked out. I panicked and just rang the doorbell over and over until one of my roommates woke up and answered the door. Then I went back to my room and started watching cartoons as if nothing had happened. Eventually I noticed that chocolate bar I mentioned above, ate it, and then came to my senses long enough to realize what was happening and act on it. I told one my friends/neighbors about it later and she told me that if it happened again I should come find her. I thanked her but then explained that it’s hard to ask for help when you don’t believe something’s wrong. That’s the part people can’t seem to understand.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Sherrie Johnson

        I use for extreme situations a mini can of Coca Cola it’s saved me so many times. Works for me just a suggestion. Best to you.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    42. Cjosborn80439

      Feeling of weakness, shaky hands, darkened vision, lack of clarity of mind

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    43. Randy Campbell

      When I drop into the 50s, I become frantic, shaky & sweaty. I have to stop everything and just hold still until I can get it stabilized. For about 30 minutes after I’ve returned to the 80s or 90s, I’m exhausted & lethargic. Often, fixing the low sends me into a high. What a rollercoaster it can be!!! It’s hard to judge how many glucose tabs or how much orange juice I will need. In a frantic mindset, I just want my blood sugar level higher!

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    44. Meerkat

      Confusion and impending doom!

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    45. Rosalind Kopfstein

      It feels as if I have been beaten up – all worn out and need time to recover.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    46. mojoseje

      I’ve never felt the nervousness that some are describing. My reactions fall into separate categories. Sometimes I start feeling weak and disoriented. The most common symptoms are feeling weak and sweaty and hard to do anything. My heart starts pounding. Sometimes I feel nothing unusual until my vision dims and I feel outside myself. More rarely, I go low for a long time and became uninhibited and flirty. Sometimes I am grouchy and defiant. I always end up sweaty. The worst reactions are when I’m asleep and dreaming and I sink below 40. Those feel like I’m caught in a never-ending nightmare and feel like I’m dropping and dropping—like when you have a misstep on a shallow step.

      4
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. George Lovelace

        Scary that is, haven’t had such a Severe Reaction in quite some time but it brought a Recollection of a time when I was going in and out of ‘sleep’ in that reaction. Thank you for Sharing Mojoseje

        1
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    47. Robert Wilson

      After 26 years I have zero sensations that I am going low. Completely unaware.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    48. Kathy Hanavan

      It is an absolutely terrible feeling, like I am going to die and if not die, then pass out. I am shaky, sweaty, incredibly weak, confused and unable to function at any level. I had one a couple of evenings ago after many years without one and never want to experience another one.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    49. jenn velez

      Everything is in slow motion.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. cynthia jaworski

        Yes!

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    50. Jason Lynch

      Ravenously hungry, sweaty, confused, uncomfortable.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    51. Aprilrupe@gmail.com

      It is scary has a mother of a Type 1 my daughter gets very silly and all I can think is if I can’t get this under control she can slip away

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    52. cynthia jaworski

      Shaky and losing control. Of everything.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    53. Debra Nance

      A severe low for me at this stage in my life consists of first my vision starts going. I do not get shakey after 60 yrs as a type1. I do not answer questions when someone asks me one as I zone out.
      I have only woke up to 8 Mets around my bed once for a low and that was 2 yrs ago. I gave insulin via pump during the nite somehow. I went into convulsions at that time according to my husband. Debbie Nance
      Type1. 60 yrs

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Sherrie Johnson

        Going on 62 years for me. I can’t fall asleep if I’m low. Gues that has saved me much grief. Best to you.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    54. Carl Robertson

      Metallic taste in the mouth, vision distortion, confusion, feel like laying down

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    55. Karen Mielish-Clausell

      Very scary and confusing

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    56. April Bailey

      The best way I tell people how it feels to go low is when you get gas at the dentist! Floating feeling, in and out of it.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    57. rick phillips

      it is an overwhelming need to eat, coupled with loss sof control over aspect of my perception. i cannot see, i do not smell, or feel, my focus narrows until i only see blackness. its awful. i used to shae violently, i no longer do that.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    58. kilupx

      Sweating, shaking and making poor decisions. If someone else is with me, I can’t stop talking.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. kilupx

        Oh, and I’m famished and overeat carbs.

        3
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    59. David Walton

      Bad hypo or severe hypo or I would just use the number to those around me who know a little. “ I’m at 47”

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Sherrie Johnson

        47 g carb ?

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    60. Sherolyn Newell

      I get shaky, hot and sweaty. I feel weak like I can’t get up and walk, but I can. The most significant difference between a low and severe low is that my brain feels wrong. The last time it happened, I started eating glucose tablets. After a couple of minutes, I knew I needed to eat them but didn’t know why. Needless to say, I ate way too many, but better than the alternative!

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    61. james zellerhoff

      Knowing that correcting the “Low” needs to happen right away !!
      & usually Over Correct —-& then deal with
      “Highs “
      Jim Zellerhoff

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    62. KCR

      A little over a year ago I had a moderate low, with the shaking, sweating, anxiety, etc., that did not respond to glucose tabs. I became very nauseous and had diarrhea, too, and couldn’t take in any more glucose by mouth. I was so lethargic and spacy and unable to move. I sort of felt like I didn’t care what happened to me anymore. Somehow I managed to ask my husband to give me a microdose of Gvoke (I could not have done it myself) and 30 minutes later I was back in the land of the living.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    63. Francisco Varea

      Like stepping off a cliff

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    64. Carole Ludwig

      I start by feeling “out of body”, sort of dizzy and need to sit down. Sometimes i get sweaty but not often. Mind fog. This is at about 60BG. I always do a finger stick at this point to make sure the reading is correct and compare the finger stick and pump readings. The I treat accordingly.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    65. Wanacure

      Before CGM, if asleep, a frightening dream may presage a low bg. E.g., I dream I’ve missed the last bus from downtown to home, windup walking on the empty dark freeway slowly becoming aware I’m being pursued by gigantic malevolent steam shovels and bulldozers. Pre CGM, if awake, I might not be aware of a slowly declining bg. If distracted or really involved in an event, I might not realize my excitement is due to rapid bg decline. Excess sweating & mounting anxiety used to accompany every really low bg especially when on beef NPH insulin. Switching to human analog insulin I noticed much less intense warning symptoms. Sometimes I’d notice an aura.

      1
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    66. S Hernandez

      Shaky, clammy/sweaty, vision starts to go black from center of vision outward, difficulty thinking and speaking, tongue numbness, sometimes toes are numb/cold, but the scariest part is the sleepiness.

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      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    67. Jane Cerullo

      As not happened in a long time. But sweating, confusion, impaired thought process,shaking, lack of coordination. Not fun

      1
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    68. Teresa Carlile

      Extremely scary

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    69. John McHenery

      Depends how severe. At worst and having been revived, complete panic and worrying I had brain damage as mobility and speech were impaired.

      1
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    70. Lori Lehnen

      If I’m active, starting in the low 60s, I feel like I’m melting from the inside, (legs and torso) very much a sense of weakness. I don’t notice this feeling if I’m sitting or sleeping. In all cases around mid 50s, I start noticing I’m hungry. From low 50s and lower, I warn those around me I will make bad decisions so stay near. I also switch to finger pricks instead of relying on a CGM. I feel very hungry and shaky. I also make sure that I’m sitting on the floor or laying down in case I pass out- don’t want to fall too far. In the 40s, I’ll start sweating – sometimes have the flash bulb effect (I say sometimes because I know it will happen so I close my eyes). I’ve only been in the 30s once, but I forgot how to chew, so had to spit out the glucose tablet and yelled to my husband-JUICE NOW! That was the scariest, not knowing how to chew. Since that day, I make it a habit to calculate the rate at which my blood sugar is dropping, estimating where I’ll be in 5, 10, 15 minutes, when my insulin on board will stop working, and when I’ll bottom out and at what BG. Real life math equations are so much fun.

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    71. Missy Kirchem

      Foggy brain, feeling like something is pressing you down.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    72. Jan Brooks

      When I’m having a low bg (in the 50s or less) I feel very desperate, weak and shaky, I’m sweating and have lights flashing visually.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    73. Thomas Cline

      Mental Parkinson’s Disease. In Parkinson’s, one can’t initiate motor programs. With a blood sugar low, if I am engaged in a line of thought or speaking I can continue, but it is difficult or impossible to decide on a new line — my brain just freezes up. For me, the first indication of a low besides a general feeling of unease and grumpiness is a loss of central vision. While the symptoms of an adrenaline rush from a low have long since disappeared, the brain and vision problems haven’t changed a bit over 20 years. Fortunately with a CGM I now very rarely get below 65. It is ironic that the only unpleasant symptoms of diabetes for me are lows caused by “over-treatment” — easy, since my insulin sensitivity seems to vary from day to day. In contrast, my blood sugar can be monstrously high and I have no obvious short-term symptoms. In fact, I actually feel better if I am running somewhat high.

      2
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    74. Susan Brinkhaus

      Confused, agitated, sweating

      2
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    75. Cyndee Brazill

      It’s hard to describe. You feel very shaky, like you might pass out and you can’t always think straight. I totally hate the feeling and try to avoid it at all costs.

      1
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    76. Angela Naccari

      Disconnected from my brain and self!

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    77. RegMunro

      Sweaty and falling asleep

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    78. Debbie Dallmann

      Usually, I didn’t know when I was having a severe low. I was usually out of it, didn’t realize what was going on. Since being on a new pump, I haven’t had that trouble, which is truly wonderful.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    79. Scott Doerner

      Sweat, rapid thinking and movement, able to understand, and know what to do.

      2
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    80. Kim J

      Sometimes my tongue goes numb/lips…I can’t think, I sweat and or I feel dizzy.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    81. Amy Sczepanski

      A severe low blood sugar drains my body. I begin to sweat, feel shaky, and lose focus. I can feel my brain shutting down. I know what is going on around me but I don’t have control of my body.

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    82. Sherrie Johnson

      Rather mixed up. Not making sense hand’s don’t work well, get anxious and irritable. Then I completely crash. Always over correct then I’m truly wiped out.

      2
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    83. BARRY HUNSINGER

      The WORST feeling in the world. Nausea, shakiness, confusion and a overall feeling of panic. I do tend to over treat lows. I just keep eating glucose tablets or what ever I have until I feel better, then my BG is way over what it should be. I find he only way to fully recover is with a nap.

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    84. Pauline M Reynolds

      My most severe low came just sitting down after cooking dinner. I missed my usual symptoms of nervousness and sweating. Instead, I realized I could not pick up a fork in order to eat. Some sugar soda saved the day, but my husband had to get it for me.

      1
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    85. Janis Senungetuk

      Loss of control, first my central vision dims with amoeba like blobs of light obscuring my vision, followed by loss of mental clarity, inability to coordinate movement, muscle spasms in arms and legs, unable to process/respond to language, progresses to being unable to stand or sit upright and very cold.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    86. Brittany Janes-stewart

      Tired, grouchy, sometime delirious and very shaky.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    87. Ramaswamy K.

      I have not been able to detect the lows. My wife has helped me most of the time to detect the lows.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    88. Vicki Andersen

      When I am extremely low I feel confusion and my face feels numb. My husband tells me I get really quiet. I have been doing this for 40 years, so I don’t feel the symptoms until I am in trouble. I am thankful for my DEXCOM CGM.

      1
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    89. George Hamilton

      Disoriented and very slow to address or complete even basic routine tasks. I find that both physical and mental activities become almost impossible to carry out. Sometimes I feel very warn. Years ago I would perspire profusely, but that symptom is rare for events in the last 20 years.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    90. Patricia Kilwein

      Weak, shaking, dripping sweat, unable to think, extremely hard to focus. After recovery very sleepy.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Patricia Kilwein

        I have to have a bg of 30 for these symptoms to manifest.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    91. Mary Ann Sayers

      Unfortunately, I don’t experience symptoms because of hypoglycemic unawareness!!! My CGM is a miraculous gift along with my control-IQ pump helps me to stay close to acceptable range.
      I really don’t too many symptoms now. Some sweating at times. When the hypoglycemic unawareness started I would be walking home and my legs would give out from under me. Or I wouldn’t make any sense when talking. I’m naturally pale, but in a reaction, there isn’t much difference between my and white sheets! I could describe more, but I think you’ve got the idea.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Rafaela

        I learned relatives recently about the unawareness experienced by long termers. I didn’t know for a long time why it would get so bad for me before I realized it.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    92. Russell Buckbee

      It’s a crushing weakness that leaves me feeling flattened and exhausted.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    93. Jennifer Beck

      shaky, sweaty, flashing dots in vision, feels like I’m going to die

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    94. GiGi

      The only severe lows I have had in my 50 years of T1D happened in 1989 when I was changed from animal sourced NPH and Regular to humulin NPH and Regular. My hypoglycemia symptoms were very strong with animal sourced insulins but all symptoms disappeared on humulin. My initial symptoms were drowsiness and confusion, then unconsciousness because I wasn’t able to treat it. I had fewer severe lows when I got my first pump in 1996. It was a relief when analog insulin was available because I was then able to feel very subtle symptoms of lows before them progressing to dangerous levels. My lowest reading when on humulin taken in the emergency room was 17.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    95. Mick Martin

      I wouldn’t. I haven’t felt a severe low in about the last 20 years. I normally ‘come round’ after being given a glucagon injection, either by my wife, paramedics, or after being admitted to hospital.

      From what I recall, however, was becoming extremely sweaty, confused, and incredibly tired.

      These days I only know that I’ve experienced a severe low …. which I class as a hypoglycaemic event where I lose consciousness … after I come round and can feel where I’ve been injected, and feeling nauseous.

      1
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    96. Yaffa Steubinger

      I feel like I’m walking through quick sand, I’m shaky, can’t think clearly, and my tongue feels numb.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    97. Zuriel Anne Bagui

      It feels like I’m losing touch? Weak, disoriented, and at times even anxious.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    98. Lisa Ann Felton

      As to the question about the feeling around a severe low…
      I am in a state of panic that I can’t escape from until I get to a more acceptable range.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Greg Felton

        Yep. Hey, we share T1D and a last name!

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    99. Luigi Meneghini

      Brain numbing

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    100. Andrew Carpenter

      Tingling around my lips and chin is my first warning. Then it starts to feel like my intellect and ability to move, is draining out of me like a dripping faucet…

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    101. Bob Durstenfeld

      1. Loss of control.
      2. Social numbness.
      3. Craving calories.
      4. Isolation.
      5. Emotional exhaustion.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    102. Amy Clemens

      Apathetic and fatigued. When the world starts closing in on me, I check my blood sugar.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    103. Kim Davis

      If it wasn’t for my Dexcom G6, I wouldn’t recognize a severe low 30mg. Then my vision would have yellow big spot& I would be shakey. Thankfully I have Baqsimi, but then I would go to 350.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    104. Bonnie Lundblom

      Freezing cold, shaking, scared, and confused.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    105. Dale Norman

      Sweaty, shaky, flashing patterns in my vision and confusion. I have been told I get a bit ornery as well.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    106. Becky Hertz

      Severe low defined as 54 or below. Sometimes nothing, sometimes weak, light headed, fuzzy headed, spots, exhausted.

      1
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    107. Kris Sykes-David

      Since a severe low was not defined, I will say that I never have experienced a low that I needed glucagon. When I get in the 50’s, I feel spacey, have “lights” in my eyes making it difficult to see, get shaky, and sweat.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Greg Felton

        I would define it as a low where the assistance of another was required. It’s not your everyday low with classic symptoms, this includes blackouts, slipping out of reality and total confusion, while remaining conscious and often without the normal low symptoms. If someone with T1D doesn’t know what I am describing then they are fortunate to have never experienced a severe low.

        1
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    108. cmangels

      confusion, upset, shaky, easy to become irritated, sometimes sweaty, clammy, super hungry (at times), nauseasted, nervous.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. George Dear

        Great description.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    109. George Dear

      Ive been T1D for 62 yrs and severe lows haven’t changed. You know your in trouble but your brain is confused and has a hard time figuring out what to do about it. Plain and simple.

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      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    110. Jillkdubois

      It feels like my arms and legs are very heavy, and I want to close my eyes and lay down.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    111. Janice Bohn

      Sweaty, lightheaded, not clear headed.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    112. Elissa Macher

      Shaky; ravenously hungry; confused; sweaty; weepy

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    113. dholl62@gmail.com

      Sweating ,faster heartbeat, feeling of passing out

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    114. Linda Pease

      I get them and if day time I might feel a little shaky and hungry and once in a while it’s bad enough that I even sweat and can tell something is wrong and that is it. Most of the severe lows last 2 to 4 hours for me and the hardest part is trying not to over great because I don’t communicate well and those around me force me to drink or eat even past enough because it takes so long to bring it up. Scarier for them then me but their here eat over rides my ability to say no I have enough

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    115. Carrolyn Barloco

      Sweaty, shaky, can’t think straight, general sinking feeling.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    116. James Cheairs

      Running on empty.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    117. Irene Blanchard

      Confusion, lack of awareness

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    118. Randell Cole

      Awful, weak, can’t thing, just want lay down, an go to sleep.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    119. Merry Woolsey

      Anxious, tunnel vision. My only thought and I only see my way to get what I need, whether that’s juice, food or glucagon.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    120. Bruce and Audrey Coleman

      Dizzingly and out of control are the first two words which come to minnd.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    121. Ronald Troyer

      Normally starts with slower responses, slower thinking and family members usually recognize this by my speech. If I’m by myself and don’t do something about it soon there comes a point I call no return. For me that point is around 49-55 bs. Sometimes I start doing strange things like take off running if I’m outside. Very strange. Probably what some have described as panicking, knowing that you need to take care of it but basically being past the point of doing it yourself. After 25 years I’m much more cautious about getting to that point after experiencing some serious consequences in the past.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    122. Marsha Miller

      Complete lack of control.
      Extreme anxiety

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    123. Brian Vodehnal

      Lethargic. Trouble completing a thought. Jittery and numb to stimulus. Mentally displaced and detached.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    124. Steve Rumble

      Confused, generally sweaty, shaky, concerned that the remedies I am implementing won’t get me out of it!

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    125. Rafaela

      Nothing short of terrifying. I often go into seizures, having no idea where I am, who anybody, or even if I’m alive or dead. I’ll feel like I’m falling or hurtling toward something. At home I feel like my house is tilting. Im leaving a lot out but these are some of the scariest things.

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      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    126. Jneticdiabetic

      Terrible! Shaky, weak, confused, panicked. With severe overnight lows I’ve had bizarre dreams and have woken up paralyzed on one side of my body. I’ve feistily fought off helpers who wouldn’t just let me slip into a coma in peace. Afterwards, there’s the lingering hypo headache, rebound highs, and exhaustion. I’m typically a “glass half full even if I need to bolus for it” personality, but my lowest moments (BG-wise and emotionally) have been after such severe lows. Stark reminder that there’s a fine line between a life-preserving insulin dose and a life-threatening one.

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      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. ConnieT1D62

        Jneticdiabetic stated: “Stark reminder that there’s a fine line between a life-preserving insulin dose and a life-threatening one.” Oh so true! And unfortunately nobody quite understands that fine line unless one lives with T1D oneself.

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        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    127. Teri Morris

      Scary.
      Shaky.
      Worrisome.
      Unsteady.
      Like being on the verge/transition to another world.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Teri Morris

        Also affects my facial muscles; I make faces that I usually don’t, my jaw sets unnaturally.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    128. Maureen Helinski

      A severe low is undesirably horrible. My mind goes first. Don’t know where I am. I can’t move. I want to close my eyes and leave the world, but after 40 yr TID I know in the background I must do something. I have passed out a few times in the past and my husband was around to try to give my orange juice. Glucagon pen was solution.

      2
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    129. Rex Franklin

      I feel normal when I’m in the low 20’s.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. beth nelson

        That’s scary! My doc is always telling me to worry more about the lows than the highs; I would try so hard to correct highs, I would plummet down into the 40s or lower. That may be an approach you should consider?

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
      2. AnitaS

        I have had that happen too. One time I felt slightly shaky so I tested my blood on a glucose meter (before I had a CGM) just to make sure if my sugar was low. Yep, in the 20’s.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    130. Nicholas Argento

      One part panic, one part bone crushing exhaustion, and 2 parts impending doom…

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    131. Hieromonk Alexis

      It’s like experiencing a hallucinatory experience. There is always a feeling of being in an alternate reality, frequently accompanied by paranoia.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. Beckie McCammitt

        It feels like this for me too! Almost reassuring to hear other people have had a similar experience. It completely freaked me out the first time it happened and I had anxiety for the next few months about it

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    132. JeremyW

      That bad ones have no warning. Bam the world starts to spin and then sheer panic “oh no I killed myself” thoughts. Panic guzzle soda and stare at the dexcom praying it reverses soon. Then the shakes and sweats and weakness comes.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    133. Ken Raiche

      Most of the time I just feel sluggish and if I go beyond that I usually end up on the floor flopping around like a fish. The latter I haven’t had happen in over 6 or 7 years.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    134. AnitaS

      Severe lows have given me many different types of feelings. I may just move extremely slowly. I have fallen to the ground and couldn’t even crawl without falling over. I can sometimes sweat like a pig. Sometimes I am talking super slowly and incoherently. Sometimes I am wobbly. Many times I just feel extremely uncomfortable. Sometimes I just can’t think. Luckily with a CGM, those super lows have not taken place and a mild low just causes an uncomfortable feeling. I have a problem with severe lows being defined as needing help from someone else. The times I fell to the floor and barely could crawl and it took me 20 minutes to crawl to my glucose tabs, I managed to help myself. But to me, that is a severe low.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. ConnieT1D62

        You have described the dilemma of severe hypoglycemia very well. I have experienced everything you have so aptly described.

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    135. ConnieT1D62

      Several times in the past before CGM with CIQ severe lows happened with a sinking feeling that I am falling down a rabbit hole like Alice in Wonderland. Altered states of perception … out of body experience as I perceive my self awareness being disconnected from my physical body, but still maintained by a luminous silver chord, and I am floating in space like a helium balloon looking down at myself lying in bed, or on the couch, or at me desk, or trying to walk from my office to get some help … body jerking in near seizure movements … I would struggle hard to hang on because I wanted to get my consciousness back into my body and I keep missing the gateway or portal to get back inside my physical presence. When at at home waking from sleep or when in presence of other people I would incoherently try to call out for help and somehow manage to give myself a glucagon shot because sometimes other people don’t hear my call for help or don’t know what to do to be helpful. Sad but true. Once back inside my physical body, I am freezing and shivering with cold seats, experiencing jerking movements as my physical and energetic bodies make contact and blend with each other again. Then I am cold and clammy drenched with sweat. I take a hot shower for about 20 minutes to regulate my body temp and then crawl under warm bedding and sleep for the next 4 or 5 hours after leaving a VM for my job that I had a severe low and am recovering.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. vbaum1956

        Very good description.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
      2. BonL

        That is a great description of being attached by a cord.

        1 month ago Log in to Reply
    136. Vicki Breckenridge

      I feel like I’m dying.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. beth nelson

        I’m so sorry! That’s awful!

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    137. KarenM6

      With hypo unawareness, feeling the low is all in my head.
      I wrote a poem about it for a class almost 10 years ago and then revised it in 2017… it is below:

      Low Blood Sugar by Karen Mehren

      I just want to get to…
      The bread board? huh?

      I am

      not sure.

      Brain fuzzy, ambiguous.
      Thoughts vague, obscure, far away.
      Like Dali’s clocks, time bends strangely.
      Not dreaming.
      But not inattentive.

      Where am I?
      Large space of nothingness.
      Why can’t I get there?
      Control excised.

      Am I biking up the block
      To a friend’s house?
      I need to eat.
      Am I driving home?
      I need to eat.
      Am I vacuuming the living room?
      I need to eat.

      Where did the cake go?

      I yell and scream with
      No realization of creating
      A rather awkward situation.
      Articulateness ejected.

      I huddle beneath a veneer of inscrutable, erratic agitation,
      Unremembered turbulence. Incoherent words.
      Disjointed and struggling for normalcy.

      In a moment of clarity
      I wonder about the friendly barbarians
      Working on me;
      talking to me.
      The visions like controlled explosions
      Noticeably altering the color of the sky,
      Closing the gap between life and darkness.
      Slow fragments and slowed down,
      Distinctness engulfed by unconsciousness.
      Certainty removed.

      Stuck for more than an hour.
      I’m waiting on anything I can get.

      Unpublished work All rights reserved © 2018 Karen Mehren

      PS – the “friendly barbarians” refers to the EMTs in an ambulance.

      3
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. beth nelson

        Love the poem! Look for writing contests that come from Diabetes sources. I see them every so often, but can’t remember how you’d search for them. Maybe “Diabetes” and “Writing Contests”?

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
      2. KarenM6

        Thank you, Beth! 🙂
        I will look for somewhere diabetes-related to submit it.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    138. KarenM6

      I forgot to describe my last severe low…

      It was very early in the morning and I woke up because my Dexcom was screaming at me. It said I was something like 42… maybe 30s…
      I couldn’t scream for my husband… I knew I needed to get up but I couldn’t move my limbs properly. I somehow got to the bathroom and my legs went out. I fell onto the floor and had a great deal of trouble getting up. I was breathing quite heavily aswell. My mind, strangely enough worked _enough_ (it usually doesn’t) to know that I needed my Baqsimi ASAP.
      So, I found the strength to get up and grab the box of Baqsimi. Then I fell down again and the box went skittering across the floor.
      I crawled to it and got it open but I have no idea how I got it in my nose, but I did.
      Then, I don’t remember what happened next…

      I was fuzzy in the head, it felt like I was dying and I couldn’t even yell loud enough to be heard by another human. (And I’m lucky to live with another human.)
      Once my blood started to come up into the 60s or 70s, then I started to feel like I was low (although, again, I have no (or not many) physical symptoms to tell me)… my brain’s fuzziness and my body’s complete, total, utter exhaustion told me.

      It’s not an experience I would wish on anyone… but I know my fellow T1Ders feel it, too… and, I’m sorry for us all!!

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    139. David Perry

      It just happened less than 6 hours ago I woke up feeling shaky when I have a severe low I can’t My vision I see a flash of light and I can’t focus

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    140. Beckie McCammitt

      I’ve only experienced a severe low twice, both in the middle of the night- both times I feel like I am in a terrifying, altered reality- colors are sometimes different, I can feel every bead of sweat and it feels painful, everything looks and feels off and I don’t have the awareness that I’m low, so both times this has happened to me I screamed to try to escape this reality and someone thankfully has come to help me each time, convinced me to drink juice and then I slowly came back.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. KarenM6

        Oh my gosh, Beckie! I used to scream, too! I am so grateful that you said that… it helps me understand those experiences.

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    141. beth nelson

      Pounding heart, confused, visual issues, sometimes to the point of nearly unable to see, mostly as if I was walking in from bright sunlight and couldn’t adjust my eyes. I get impatient as I’m falling into the low. As I’ve aged, I find myself getting more severe lows more frequently, as I’m not as quick to notice the low coming. Once the pump alerts me, I keep falling after taking carbs for quite a long time. It’s a panicked feeling and sometimes, though not frequently, descends to fear for my life.

      2
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
      1. beth nelson

        I just remembered my worst low. By the time emergency vehicle arrived, my BS was 15. Yes, 15! This was long before days of pump and good ways to test BS. First, I had a seizure, according to my hubby. When I woke, I began jumping on the bed, swearing like a sailor (again, according to David). When ER came, I was telling them things like “I love you!” or “You look like a movie star!” and other things. Yes, I even flirted while near death. YEARS later (this year, as a matter of fact), I learned I’d had a cerebellar stroke, likely that day according to my research. These kinds of strokes are rare. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW: hypoglycemia can cause what is called glutamate excitotoxicity in the brain. This is a hallmark of some neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. I believe high glucose can also cause this, but I haven’t researched that topic.

        2
        2 months ago Log in to Reply
      2. KarenM6

        Thank you for your posts, beth nelson!
        Oh goodness, yes! 15 is crazy low!!
        I also had a number of seizures at night until the one where my husband couldn’t wake me up. Finally got to an endocrinologist who changed my life!
        But, the glutamate excitotoxicity is something I will look into!!!
        (My Dad had Parkinson’s dementia and my Mom has Alzheimer’s… so, I have to be as proactive on these things as is humanly possible.)
        Thank you for your posts!!!! 🙂

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
      3. KarenM6

        Oh! PS – I bit my husband during one of my seizures… he was not happy.
        #theembarassingthingswedowhenlow

        2 months ago Log in to Reply
    142. vbaum1956

      I guess my best response would be impending doom, like I may be helpless soon so I’d better take action. I then wait until the BG comes up, sometimes forever, with a tingling mouth sensation, to go resume what I was doing.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    143. Twinniepoo74

      I feel very sleepy and I start shaking from head to toe. Plus I am very moody

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    144. Ardnfast

      Debilitating.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    145. Don (Lucky) Copps

      Awful. It is scary as I know where I’m heading. The most nervous is behind the wheel of a car. Have also had this on golf courses & tennis courts. I carry hard candy with me in the driver’s door/golf bag/tennis bag but have on occasion forgot to refill. Stopping at the nearest gas station and eating whatever they have is nerve racking. I’ve eaten the food while standing in line to pay on more than one occasion.

      It has gone away with the alarms and monitoring devices on my phone and watch but prior to those technologies it was difficult to predict w/o bs checks every 1/2 hour.

      Thank God those days are behind us. But, they could easily return.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    146. Don (Lucky) Copps

      Try telling these well said horror stories to a non diabetic. Most don’t get it. I identify with all your stories and I’ve lived through most myself.

      Another super scary one was being given beta-blockers after a heart stent in 2008. Come to find out beta-blockers also block the experience of an insulin reaction. So, after falling once and on a 2nd occasion just checking my bs to find it was 29!$#%& I began to read the label of my beta-blocker. Clear as a bell deep into the 15+ page description “can cause blocking of hypoglycemic episodes”. I fired the cardiologist on the spot! Lesson learned, now I read everything about all drugs, supplements and food before I eat it.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    147. Don (Lucky) Copps

      This question begs the another question “What is the fastest foods to reverse a low blood sugar?” T1D Exchange should blast this information to all T1D’s. Also T1DS, don’t hide behind the statement “must consult with your CDE. I use hard candy, orange juice and M&M’s when at home. I sometimes refer to an app on my phone called My GI.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    148. Donna Condi

      Before Dexcom it was in the middle of the night and my husband woke me up because he said I felt very clammy to him. I was sweating profusely. I could barely think to get out the words to him to go get my bottle of juice from the fridge. I asked him to get my meter so I could check my bs. And it was no surprise that the number 21 came up.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    149. Kelli Christiansen

      My thoughts are everywhere, non stopping, but making no sense. Confused. Unbalanced, if I try to walk. Cold and sweaty. Jerky movements and involuntary movements sometimes.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    150. Kelli Christiansen

      I get confused. My thoughts are racing. Making no sense. Unbalanced and uncontrollable movements. Sweaty and cold.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    151. Eric Johnson

      I feel hollow and have not ability to concentrate

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    152. Sheri Marcus

      I start getting a bit dizzy, hot, shaky, confused and very hungry and thirsty.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    153. Eva

      I classify a severe low as one where I become completely stupid – it affects my cognition first and then my peripherals – like shaking, and fast heart beat etc…

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    154. KMcKeon

      I’ve never had a very severe low — only been T1D for 7 months. But if I am dropping very fast, I usually get this weird tunnel vision where I feel like everything is converging and I feel unsteady. Then the shaking, clammy feeling starts. Usually takes 25-30 mins to feel normal again, even when my blood sugar returns to normal.

      1
      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    155. Samantha Hunter

      What’s interesting is that I’ve begun taking Adderall for ADHD, and my doctor and I are still trying to find the right dosage. Lately I’ve found that 20mg XR is just too much for me, and describing how uncomfortable and out of it I felt, my ex-cocaine user boyfriend said that’s exactly what coming down from speeding feels like. But what’s interesting is that it also feels exactly like a low blood sugar. I kept checking my CGM but my blood sugars were all fine, but I still felt shaky and spacey. So apparently a low blood sugar has the same feeling as coming down off of speed/drugs.

      2 months ago Log in to Reply
    156. qachemist

      With severe lows, I feel hot and start sweating.
      Otherwise, I do not know when I’m going low except from the signal that the CGM monitor provides.

      1 month ago Log in to Reply
    157. Brad Larson

      Very frightening. At least now we have Baqsimi, or inhalable glucagon. I think that anyone can die from extreme low blood glucose.

      1 month ago Log in to Reply
    158. T1D4LongTime

      I have an odd low-grade pressure/feeling behind my eyes. A slightly panicky feeling. My sense of touch and vision are ‘off’. Wood doors feel like fabric or non-wood. Things that should not be work are fact. Example, I can deliver insulin on my pump without touching it. I feel like I’m floating across the room. I can walk through walls or the floor moves as I walk across it. I often get obsessed with the pump menus and continually cycle through the menus and don’t eat. Usually, one item (like my husband’s arm will feel ‘real’ and as long as I continue to touch it, I can tell myself to eat. Once I eat and BG starts back up, I get shivers and feel extremely cold.

      1 month ago Log in to Reply
    159. Michael Andrews

      Unfortunately, I get very irritated and have an almost nervous feeling (maybe manic), which is fine, except that I have a wife and small kids who have to deal with me and tell me to figure my Sugar situation out. If I get too low, close to 40 I see spots and get a little woozy.

      1 month ago Log in to Reply
    160. BonL

      It feels like a stroke. I have never had a CVA but this inability to think and help yourself or form words is what I see patients experience. Its being trapped in your head that’s not thinking correctly and you mainstream your energy to do what you can to notify your spouse or kids that you are in trouble-yell/grunt help without saying the words until they hear you or you have no energy and its over. But I’ve had this for almost 50 years so….thank you malfunctioning Minimed for knowing this fact.

      1 month ago Log in to Reply
    161. Abraham Remson

      When I was first diagnosed with T1D my lows where textbook. Shaking, sweats, these where after I ate something to combat the low. Now I don’t feel anything so I usually pass out

      4 weeks ago Log in to Reply
    162. Amy Schneider

      Rapid heartbeat, nervousness, weakness

      3 weeks ago Log in to Reply
    163. Lisa McBride

      First, a severe low can feel differently depending on the cause. In my case, severe lows have only occurred when either I did something that caused it OR the circumstances of life did …or a combination of the two. Example, I had a seizure due to hypoglycemia that was caused by my inability to awaken (due to a 30 hour business trip back from Singapore) when my BG was starting to fall AND having eaten a yogurt and given 1 unit of insulin when I returned home at 2 am and was very hungry. I normally need at least 1 unit of insulin to eat a yogurt but not that night. I awakened in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and ended up having a seizure. I don’t even remember being low and feeling any symptoms before the seizure. Other severe lows over the last 45 years have included being hungry, being nauseous, feeling confused and disoriented. Fortunately, I’ve not had many relative to the number of HOURS I’ve lived as a T1D since diagnosis on 9-1-1977.

      7 days ago Log in to Reply
    164. Holly Middleton

      Sweating, shaky, weak, confused. But, signals are not as obvious, the older he gets, and on occasion there is almost no warning.

      6 days ago Log in to Reply

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