How Low Can You Go?

[kevin_standlee]

I went out for my usual post-lunch walk around Campus Drive this afternoon (with a bittersweet air to it because it's my last time doing the 3km lap around Campus on account of the new assignment next year). Shortly after getting back to my desk, I started feeling odd. Shaky. Slightly disoriented. I took a blood sugar reading. 52!

Yeow! Normal readings are 70-120, with 100 being ideal. Above 140 is high. Below 70 is low. Below 60 is edging into danger. I was having a blood sugar crash. That's the lowest blood sugar reading I've ever clocked.

Fortunately, I'm usually prepared for these sort of things. To some extent, it's a cause for minor celebration, because it meant I could have orange juice (I normally avoid it because it spikes blood sugar high), and I ate one of the food bars I keep in my computer bag for times like this. After maybe twenty minutes or so, I started feeling more or less normal again.

Thank goodness I recognized the symptoms before they got worse. It probably wouldn't have been really dangerous (as a Type II diabetic, I have to worry about highs more than lows), but it was still unpleasant.

Comments

[travelswithkuma.livejournal.com]

Bears ands Girls Worrys sos. Yus takes cares . Freshers Fishs Perhaps.

[travelswithkuma.livejournal.com]

Ohs Girls says rembers thes waters jugs withs screws caps ifs yous cans.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I'll try to hunt some down.

[rebecca817.livejournal.com]

I'm familiar with what you experienced because instead of being hyperglycemic, I tend towards the hypoglycemic. I've never thought of the OJ, I usually just go for protein. A nice slice of cheese if I'm home or like you, a protein bar to bring BS back up.

[rebecca817.livejournal.com]

Oh, and drive safely during your traveling.

[howeird]

as a Type II diabetic, I have to worry about highs more than lows
No. The definition of Type II is your Hgl level never gets up into an immediately life-threatening level. Typically people with untreated Type II live for 20 years or more with the disease before the symptoms become life-threatening.

A low like 52, OTOH, puts you into a state of shock, your decision making capacity drops way down, and you become a danger to yourself and those around you. Much lower than that and you would probably faint.

The chances of you going that low are pretty slim unless you combine exercise with not eating, unless you are on a diabetes medication. Insulin alone could also get you there (I lost a friend to a malfunctioning insulin pump a few years ago).

Take care of yourself, my friend!

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I had just had lunch -- a small serving of spaghetti -- before going out for a 3 km walk, something I do regularly. I wouldn't have expected to go low like that from exercise I commonly do after a meal I commonly have. But fortunately I realized how faint I was feeling and took corrective steps.

I'm not on any medication; I've been treating my diabetes with diet and exercise, and in fact my A1c levels are non-diabetic and have been since six months after I was first diagnosed. But yesterday was strange, and fortunately I have learned enough to deal with it.

[howeird]

That is seriously strange. And scary.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

Take care over there. Good thing you constantly monitor your blood sugar and so have a tester available.

I wish Harold would let me keep a small eye on his blood sugars. Big Harold's randoms are in the 90-110 range. But one fasting was down in the 60s. Needless to say, he could hardly wait to eat after that one. He has never had any variant of high blood sugar, and we are constantly fighting the doctors on what they say should happen to Everyone!
But since his blood sugar does tend to go low easily, I would like to see what it is doing over a typical day, just to be able to say "See, This is Harold. Do Not confuse him with anyone else."
Yes, his body continues to annoy doctors, who are so positive they know how his body works.