42 Comments
Which of these symptoms of hypoglycemia do you frequently experience? Please select all that apply. (This is part 3 of a 3-day understanding hypoglycemia series)
You must be logged in to post a comment.
© 2022 T1D Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
One of my other symptoms that is not listed is anxious thoughts and paranoia.
Uncomfortable feeling in the gut…I know what’s coming and must react before it gets worse.
I have a gut feeling and know it is hypoglycemia and usually being irritable goes with it.
65.5 yrs T1. Reviewing this list I realize that I experience more than one of the list as 1st sign. Primarily had shakiness/weakness as a child but primary sx multiplied as adult.
Although I selected “I do not experience any symptoms of hypoglycemia”, as I have done over the last few days of this farce, that is not strictly true. I SOMETIMES feel when I’m about to collapse.
The feeling is hard to describe and I am not sure in our language we have an exact word, but it feels like something bad is impending and I am on alert along with some other vague symptoms to start.
That is the way I feel. It is quite scary and I immediately treat the problem.
Our language may not, but staring at Picasso’s Guernica for 20-30 minutes certainly does! 😱
I put “other”. I just feel uncomfortable. Not shaky, but just “uncomfortable”
Thankfully I have hypoglycemia awareness. I know if going low. Also have CGM and check my numbers a lot. Very few episodes of hypo or hyper. If I do I correct immediately
I didn’t think of this before reading the other comments, but dread and anxiety are definitely part of the experience for me.
Shortness of breath
I don’t always notice any symptoms until my B’s is extremely low. However, recently I have been noticing a new symptom. If I have an upset stomach, usually it means that my bs is dropping.
Tingling lips is one of my prominent signs
I used to have that decades ago. No more. Never saw that listed anywhere so thanks for the confirmation.
I lost all of the usual physical symptoms years ago, other than an inability to stand up. There’s always confusion, an inability to figure things out, but I don’t recognize it as a symptom at the time.
After having a low and dealing with it, I am exhausted and need to sleep.
I answered that I feel all of those symptoms plus others. However, because I am usually hypoglycemicly unaware, I know these only because others tell me so.
As I, and others, responded to the last related question, there is an ‘odd’ feeling within, when the BG is getting lower, that is hard to describe otherwise. When the BG is below 50 (3 mmol/L), often my tongue and lips become numb. Overheating is one that pops up about 3 out of 5 times – so, not consistently. None of my ‘symptoms’ happen each and every time, thus the need to check the BG when any show up…. And sometimes they are for the opposite problem – a high BG. I used to only feel nauseated when my BG was high…. now it occurs when my BG is extremely low, making it next to impossible to chew and swallow glucose tabs (I have to fight not to throw up with those)…. I need to ensure I have either juice, soda, or fast dissolving candy at hand, as they seem more easily acceptable when feeling this way. Also, when my BG is below 30, my sight can seem to go to black out. I haven’t passed out, but my eyes aren’t seeing – it’s as if my eyes are closed, which they aren’t. [Perhaps it is because I have been dealing with these issues for almost 45 years that the body just throws any reaction my way these days to try and gain my attention!]
I think my first indication and most common symptom of a low is a sinking feeling in my whole body. Almost as though I can feel the glucose draining out of my muscles and then I get clumsy. If it is very low I also notice that any light seems extremely bright (almost like snow-blindness) and therefore I can’t see things clearly. I am often hot or sweaty when it is low, but after I recover from a low that reached the 40s, I have a bone deep cold that makes me shake and shiver for some moments after BG is back in normal ranges.
Ohhh. I forgot about the blindness, because that happens to me only if I am in the 30-range which luckily is a rare occurrence.
Candy M – Pretty good description of what I experience too.
CandyM It’s unusual that I have the same symptoms as someone else because they seem to be different that others. The extreme bright light is a circle in the center of my vision, and I had trouble describing the overall feeling but you did it perfectly “sinking” clumsy, weak and the cold comes as I recover.
I’ve experience many of those listed and those written about by others here. One odd thing that happens to me sometimes is my vision becomes very narrow, like I lose peripheral vision. Also, I get a large black spot in the middle of my vision, as though there is a hole in the middle of my retina.
Nausea is an interesting one – I did not include it in my answer because I don’t have it frequently, but I do usually experience nausea if I’m low while riding in a car.
With CGM I am able to deal with a low before I get shaking sweating and confusion that used to be common symptoms.
Along with shakiness, etc, I find I cannot process numbers. This happened to me in the middle of my GRE exam — I realized I had been on the same math question for 15 minutes. Language is slower to go, but I lose my articulateness in speech. And I am likely to burst into tears if I try to communicate.
I’ve experienced all listed at some point, except nausea. However must I no longer sense. I marked the ones I most frequently experience now, but it’s not consistent. Headache is usually a post hypo symptom for me that can last a while afterwards.
I’ve been unaware of any symptoms, lows or highs, for more than a decade. Cynthia Jaworski mentioned the inability to process numbers, experiencing a low in the middle of taking a GRE. I also had a low while taking that exam, a very frightening experience.
As John W states, I can usually catch my BG dropping with CGM. I can avoid most symptoms other than Hunger. I had large hunger pangs and became “hangry” when I was a kid and pre-T1D
Once again, I have hypoglycemic unawareness so I don’t frequently experience any symptoms of hypoglycemia.
When I feel anything, largely a symptomatic until BS drops below 70. Consequently, CGM is set to alarm at 85. When I do go low, the recovery time and rebound takes up to several hours.
I don’t understand the reason for delayed recovery, but I have found one of the foods that brings me up the fastest of all is plain ol’ grapes. That fruit seems to accomplish recovery for me even faster than glucose tabs. Best wishes and happy holidays to you!
Sometimes after a very low event my mouth and lips feel numb and tingle. But that’s after I’ve treated the hypoglycemia
I usually do not know when my sugar is low until it gets to 20 and by then I usually an having convulsions. I am so thankful to have the dex com although occasionally it malfunctions and I don’t get an alert until it is too late and I need help from someone or the paramedics.
My first feeling is hunger. If my blood sugar continues to drop, my head feels somehow cut off from the rest of my body, like I’m suffocating but different than dizzy. If it continues, some of the other symptoms come on besides irritation, nausea, fast heartbeat or sweating.
I don’t usually experience any before symptoms of a hypo, except maybe I’m extremely cold depending on how low I am. (I was diagnosed with autonomic neuropathy and have a hard time regulating my body temperature.) But as my bg rises I start sweating immensely. I haven’t really had many symptoms in years. But I also do tend to be extremely hungry when treating it and can easily overeat. Afterwards I usually jump into a very hot shower to bring up my body temperature back up.
I do that hot shower thing too to deal with the shivers from sweating and cold chills after a hypo episode.
Several of the above in addition to that “sinking” feeling that others have mentioned.
I have nearly all the symptoms listed, except headache and nausea. Symptoms not listed that I experience are, 1) an ‘odd’ feeling just below/around my eyes… kind of a tingling, but more of a slight pressure. I normally talk very fast (type A personality), but during hypoglycemia, my speech speed doubles and my thoughts go very, very fast. I solve more complex problems when my BG is 50-70. I go into Energizer Bunny mode. Once below 50, then frustration, aggravation and confusion set in.
After 52 years it is interesting how the feelings change. I used to always get a cold nose first lol. During the pandemic I have had worsening depression and anxiety. And strangely, as my BS drops I have developed scary anxiety and dread and am flooded with very intense fear. It’s a huge relief when BS comes up and they calm down.
When I was on beef/pork insulin injections, the symptoms were more pronounced. Today on GMO insulin’s like lispro and glargine, symptoms are not so obvious. If bg test confirms going low, I take 3 sugar cubes (12 grams sugar). Wait 15’ and test again. If exercising, be prepared to lower insulin doses before and after. I used to eat one half.cinnamon bagel (1.5 oz) before jogging 3 miles or swimming laps for 40’. Then I’d eat the remaining 1.5 oz immediately after. Plus reduced insulin. Worked pretty well. You might try Luna Bars or similar bars. Convenient, don’t need refrigeration. Look for a bar with protein, with fat, and complex carbs with fiber. A bar with over 230 calories is too much for me.