Something ODD happened today.......

[Guest guest]

Hello Friends,

I had the most awful thing happen to me today, and I was so scared

and I was so " out-of-it " that I didn't know what was going on! Today

was the first day back to school for my twins (boohoo!!) and I got

them there without any problems...I come home, take my morning meds,

and for once, this doesn't happen very often, I decided to eat a

bowl of cereal. Then I came upstairs to rest for awhile, until it

was time to take Amy to work at 11am. I get her to work, and I come

home & I was feeling a bit " woozy " , a lil' bit like I do when my b/s

is low. So I lay down, and I'm thinking it was around 12:30pm or so

I wake up totally disorientated and I got out of bed, I couldn't

walk straight! I was stumbling around like I had a case of beer to

drink or something! I barely remember this now, and I had to really

stop & think hard about what happened later on. But any-who, I

remember turning on the TV for some reason, I remember how blurry it

looked, I grabbed my cellphone, but I don't know why. And I must

have had enough sense about me to check my b/s, but I barely

remember doing it...when I looked at my meter later on this

afternoon it read 51. Then I remember making my way downstairs..I

don't know HOW I didn't fall down them!....and I went into the

kitchen & got a can of grape soda out & started drinking it.

Whenever my blood sugar is really, really low I know I can drink a

lil' bit of soda & it brings it back up really quickly. I have

never, never felt this way before, never! It was the strangest

thing, and after I came back upstairs I started freaking out because

I thought I had forgot to pick up the girls from school, but it was

only 1:00pm by then. I remember having to really stare & concentrate

on the alarm clock by my bed to try to comprehend the time, and when

I was satisfied it wasn't time to get the girls yet I must have set

my alarm because next thing I know it is 2:45pm and the alarm is

ringing & waking me up. I wasn't very " woozy " when I was driving to

school, but I just felt kinda " weird " and I was really trying to

figure out what had happened earlier. Today is my mom's b-day & we

stopped over there for a few minutes & I was telling her about what

happened & she freaked out on me! She YELLED at me! Said, " see! I

keep telling you to watch your sugar more closely, YOU ARE GOING TO

GO INTO A DIABETIC COMA! and no one is going to be home to save

you! " Now, here is my question...is that what happened to me? I

honestly don't know WHAT happened! And WHY it happened. And HOW I

can prevent it from happening again! It sure did scare the living

hell out of me, thats for sure! Nothing like that has ever happened

before! And now I'm scared! And I need anyone & everyones advice

about this situation! Thanks to anyone who reads this. I'm so

scared right now!

Lots of Hugs,

[Guest guest]

,

I was writing a very lengthy email to you and it is gone. Argh! I

wanted to let you know I am thinking of you. We all have our days

and this is yours!

Dear ,

I don't know much about the blood sugar questions and concerns.

When I went to the ER last Monday they found out that my BS was low

and they gave me orange juice. It certainly helped!

***Have you taken a new medicine? A new dose?

***How about something over the counter? (Cold meds, tylenol, etc.)

***Could the blurry vision be from a medicine? (Blurriness is an

issue with me when I take dilaudid).

***Are you under a different amout of stress now that the little

ones are back at school? Is it more demanding than normal?

***I've heard about people taking meds that make them sleep walk?

Could that have been the case with your trip downstairs? (I took

cold meds that made me hallucinate, I wound up in a funny place and

I couldn't figure out why I was there. Kind of like talking on the

phone to someone while your sleeping you don't remember anything.

Again, thinking of you!

Sincerely,

[Guest guest]

Hi .....Yeah, I hate it when I write a big ole' long reply and

then it disapears like THAT! It happens to me quite a bit, and most

of the time I don't have the energy to write it all again. Its not

fair at all, thats for sure! Thanks for your nice reply. I do

appreciate everything you are trying to help me with. I have

answered your questions below.......

***Have you taken a new medicine? A new dose?...No, I haven't

started anything new. My doctor did give me a script for glucophage

because my blood sugar was so high at night time, but I only took it

once a few weeks ago because it made my blood sugar take a very big

dive, and went pretty low, I never had an episode like today, but I

knew it wasn't right for me to take. This is a good question

though! Thanks!

***How about something over the counter? (Cold meds, tylenol,

etc.).......nope, nothing new at all..I wish the answer could be

this simple! Oh how I wish!

***Could the blurry vision be from a medicine? (Blurriness is an

issue with me when I take dilaudid).....Every one of the medicines I

take I've been taking for at least 3 yrs. I've been told that you

can become allergic to anything at anytime, maybe this is happening

with one of my old meds?!?!? Probably not. But I have a short

story.... I was giving dilaudid when I was an inpatient at Ohio

State back in 95 and I had horrible hallucinations, I thought my

girls were in the hospital with me, I wandered the halls all night

long, I took like 5 showers, and I called my husband (now ex) at 4am

and told him to come get me, they were trying to kill me. But

this " episode " I had today was nothing like I had back then.

Completely different experiences.

***Are you under a different amout of stress now that the little

ones are back at school? Is it more demanding than

normal?....haha..I had to laugh at your reference to " the little

ones " because the twins are 15, and sophmore in high school. BUT my

oldest daughter is 18, and she is leaving for college on friday...I

am a bit stressed about her leaving, but she has done nothing but

give me hell this last year, I'm not sure if I'm feeling relief or

panic.....time will tell.

***I've heard about people taking meds that make them sleep walk?

Could that have been the case with your trip downstairs?

Huh....now I have never sleepwalked before, and I really didn't feel

like I was " asleep " at all. It was just so weird to me, expecially

now when I think back on it. It was awful, thats all I can say.

But I do appreciate all your help you are giving me to try to figure

this out. I do appreciate your friendship & your concern. Thanks

for being YOU!

Lots of Hugs,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

,

I was writing a very lengthy email to you and it is gone. Argh! I

wanted to let you know I am thinking of you. We all have our days

and this is yours!

Dear ,

I don't know much about the blood sugar questions and concerns.

When I went to the ER last Monday they found out that my BS was low

and they gave me orange juice. It certainly helped!

***Have you taken a new medicine? A new dose?

***How about something over the counter? (Cold meds, tylenol, etc.)

***Could the blurry vision be from a medicine? (Blurriness is an

issue with me when I take dilaudid).

***Are you under a different amout of stress now that the little

ones are back at school? Is it more demanding than normal?

***I've heard about people taking meds that make them sleep walk?

Could that have been the case with your trip downstairs? (I took

cold meds that made me hallucinate, I wound up in a funny place and

I couldn't figure out why I was there. Kind of like talking on the

phone to someone while your sleeping you don't remember anything.

Again, thinking of you!

Sincerely,

[Guest guest]

,

It's no wonder you were scared, what you experienced was terrifying,

confusing and something that all diabetics try to avoid whenever they

can. While you didn't go into a diabetic coma, it does sound as

though you went through an alarming episode of hypoglycemia caused by

having a low blood glucose level. An episode of hypoglycemia would

cause you to have disorientation, blurred vision, a stumbling gait

and moments where you felt whoozy or dizzy. Too low blood glucose

also causes a patient to feel confusion, and when it becomes very

low, the patient is often unable to speak or communicate.

One major mistake was to lie down when you were feeling whoozy and

low......at that point you should have checked your levels and

immediately tried to raise them, either by eating some glucose

tablets, or drinking orange juice or some other sweetened beverage.

The official level for low blood glucose is anything less than 65, but

most doctors prefer to use 70 as a cut off point for determining low

blood glucose. Whenever the blood glucose slides below this point,

the patient should take immediate steps to bring it back up.

Another serious mistake was to get behind the wheel and drive while

undergoing an episode of low blood sugar. This can be VERY

dangerous, because you don't know if your sugars are going to drop

more, even to the point of unconsciousness. Additionally, a patient

experiences poor coordination, blurred vision, mental confusion, and

impeded reaction times while undergoing low blood glucose conditions.

You should never attempt to drive unless your blood sugars have been

showing stable levels of 80 or above, and you should always check

your blood glucose right before you get in your car to drive.

Low blood glucose levels that cause a " hypo " , affect each patient

differently, and at varying levels. Many patients have hypo

awareness, which means that they can judge when their blood sugar

has gone below acceptable levels and react accordingly. Others have

a condition called hypo-unawareness, which means that their blood

glucose can drop down to dangerously low levels before they are even

conscious of any change. Because you were asleep when this happened,

it's difficult to say whether you were aware of the hypo or not, but

you certainly were immediately upon waking up, and that's when

action should have been taken. Some people experience these hypo

symptoms at 50, while others can go as low as the 30's before they

have awareness.

To avoid these type of complications, a diabetic should check their

blood glucose levels several times throughout the day. It's

important to check first thing upon rising in the morning, before

each meal or snack, and then again about 1-1/2 hrs. after each meal

or snack. You should also check immediately upon waking up after a

nap, and immediately before going to bed every night. If you did

that alone, that would be approximately 9 times per day. This is

especially important for new diabetics who aren't accustomed to the

changes in BG levels and the different ways a person feels as the

blood glucose levels fluctuate.

You should also carry glucose tablets with you at all times, and

learn how much of an increase your BG will rise with each tablet.

Once you've done this, in the future when you experience an episode

of hypoglycemia, you'll know how many tablets you need to take to

raise your blood sugar levels to an acceptable level. This most

likely won't be the last time something like this will happen, we've

all suffered through these incidents and been terrified just like

you, the key is to understand what's happening, and do what you need

to, immediately, so you don't go down any further.

If you are feeling " whoozy " , or a little bit low, as you said, you

should never lie down for a nap without checking your BG levels

first. If your levels are less than 80, eat a small snack with some

protein before lying down. A few crackers with peanut butter, or

some fruit and a handful of nuts, would be a good example. That way

your BG levels won't drop too low while you are resting.

Never go to bed with a blood sugar level less than 100. As the body

rests and liver activity slows down, people's blood sugar levels

often decrease. This is especially true when sleeping at night, but

it also effects people who rest during the day.

Do as the TV actor sitting on the horse says, " check your blood

sugar levels, and check 'em often " ...... If you are aware of where

your levels are throughout the day, scary incidents like this

shouldn't happen. You have every right to feel scared, what happened

to you was terribly frightening.....but it could have been avoided if

you were checking your BG levels as often as you need to. Promise me

that you'll check more often in the future, , okay? Or else I'll

have to send our friend Nurse Kawasaki over there to read you the riot

act........

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

SC State & SE Regional Representative

Pancreatitis Association, International

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should

not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

[Guest guest]

Sorry I couldn't help you place any pieces of the puzzle. Sometimes

I have unexplainable pains and they never happy again. Hopefully,

you just had one bad day and that this does not turn into a daily

occurence.

That is some crazy Diladid induced nightmare. I would wake up very

startled, scared every time I took Roxicet (I would put the liquid

down the J-tube). I remember having a few big nightmares from that

stuff. A lot of people I talk to have had problems with one major

narcotic or another. Definately not stuff we want to play around

with.

15 and 18 year olds, that is funny. I teach and I always refer to

my students as " the little ones " . Sorry to hear your daughter's

been giving you a run for your money. I can't quite remember all

the things that happened on your strange day. Stress has a strange

affect on the body, especially if it is all bottled up on the

insight. As for the 18 year old going to school, she'll be fine.

Know that she is going to college with the values you've taught

her. Things will all work out one way or another.

Hope your doing better.

[Guest guest]

,

yes what happened to you sounds exactly like a very low blood sugar

reaction (Hypoglycemia). Please, before you go take a nap from now one,

take your blood sugar first. I've had this happen a time or two and it's

very scarey. It's even worse when you go into convulsions (I know

because I've a long history of having violent low blood sugar episodes).

Kimber

--

Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

Note: All advice given is personal opinion, not equal to that of a licensed

physician or health care professional.