Had a bad scare last night


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
So doc had put me on Ozempic last year to help control my A1C and maybe help with weight. Tolerated low doses decently but not terribly effective. Then went to full dose and it did help with A1C and weight since I had lost about 10lbs. But, then the side effects started kicking in. I was miserable and he took me off. In short order I gained back the weight and "then some". Last visit last week he decided to have me try Monjaro (he said does similar to Ozempic but is tolerated better, and give me a CGM to try out. The idea being if I have a continuous readout it will give me feedback and help me know what is happening in real time. Maybe help control things better.
Well thank heaven he gave me that monitor. Yesterday I had skipped lunch, had a light dinner at my dad's and came home thinking I might grab a snack later. I got into a movie on Prime. Forgot about eating, then it was time for my night time injection of insulin.
Not long after I noticed my sugar levels dropping on the app, but thought "OK supposed to do that". Then the warning started "going low". Well I went from "going low" to "you're gonna meet Jesus now" in a flash. Before I could gather my thoughts and realize what I needed to do. Remembered my glucose tabs, ate one. Vision backing out but still tanking, ate another still tanking. Black spots in vision now, sweating like mad, heart pounding. Then went so low it could not read (under 40), all it said was "critical".. 2 containers of apple juice, still nothing.
Long story short, daughter came over, made toast with marmalade and numbers started coming up. But, damn that was SCARY.
 
Glad your OK, Sir.
Old first aid training we were taught orange juice to the person ASAP. But I guess if the apple juice didn't do it likely OJ wouldn't either. Toast with marmalade? I'm thinking the carbs from the bread and semi-sweet food like marmalade is a better combo than just fruit sugar alone.
 
Yah. CGMs are wonderful little gizmos. I've thought about it, and would certainly nerd out on the data stream.

I've self-recovered from upper 30s twice, also been told that's rather uncommon. Cold sweats, vision issues, the whole nine yards. First time I did that, I was in Atlanta on a business trip, alone in a hotel room at 3:00 AM. First floor fortunately, walked down to the front desk, picked up a candy bar and said "Charge to room xyz, please." The 2 gents at the desk were having problems with the PoS system, and when they did finally look my way and realized that I was in a bit of distress, said "On the house. Hang around for a few minutes so we know you're improving." Then there was the crash down to 28, which took EMS and an I/V of 15 grams of glucose.....

Man..... I do know that I really just cannot skip meals like I did 20 years ago. It really messes my system up something fierce, and frequently takes a couple of days to get back on track.

Glad to hear you're still with us and looking at the right side of the daisies.
 
Jay D in Jersey said:
Glad your OK, Sir.
Old first aid training we were taught orange juice to the person ASAP. But I guess if the apple juice didn't do it likely OJ wouldn't either. Toast with marmalade? I'm thinking the carbs from the bread and semi-sweet food like marmalade is a better combo than just fruit sugar alone.
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If I had not had that CGM on me, I might not have realized what was happening. How lucky was that the Dr decided to give me it to try out. By the time I had tried my blood glucose meter, I could not even see the blood drop to get the test strip into! Of course now my levels are a bit high. But, at least I'm still here
 
LMichaels said:
Of course now my levels are a bit high
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Within reason, much better to have a high b/s, than low..... but that's what we've been talking about. :)

Intellectually, it's easy to spot a b/s crash. It's a bit harder personally due to all of the side effects. I'm apparently an oddball, I almost always wake up when I crash down through about 65 overnight.
 
That had to be really scary! Sure glad you're doing okay now. Every time my doctors start messing around with my meds something always goes south on me. Last two times I ended up in the ER and one I had to stay in the hospital for three days to get things straightened out.
Four different doctors all in the same group and they don't talk to each other. One puts me on something and another changes it.
Not Fun!
 
Wow, take care buddy! I’m going to be 69 in a couple of months, I guess I’m lucky to just have constant everything hurts :confused:. 42 years of being a heavy equipment mechanic took its toll on my body.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I’ve not been through that particular scare…yet! Glad you’re OK buddy!
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I have had a couple low episodes. But, they were slow and gradual for the most part. The most serious though was at a time of very high stress. Thankfully my wife noticed me getting disoriented and made me eat. But, this one was really scary because I was alone and could not catch up in time
 
LMichaels said:
2 containers of apple juice, still nothing.
Long story short, daughter came over, made toast with marmalade and numbers started coming up. But, damn that was SCARY.
Click to expand...

I'm happy to read you pulled through this Larry.

I started following Glycemic Index of foods a few years back, and I'm wondering if your body was not able to digest the apple juice quickly enough to get sugar in your blood stream fast enough. AJ has GI of 41, compared to white bread ( index of 100) so it's on the low range of GI.

My .02 of advice is to keep some higher GI food on hand just in case. For example, a slice or two of white bread with honey for example.

Not trying to be a Monday morning quarterback, but it sounds like the toast and jam was a great choice by your daughter.
 
Well finding this out about AJ I guess it was lucky I had the glucose tabs. They're likely what actually got things moving in the right direction
 
There's a dirty little secret about those glucose tabs.... SweeTarts are IDENTICAL, except maybe for a little flavoring.

Glycemic index.... it's a useful measure, for sure. In the case of a crash, anything with free digestible simple sugars is good. Even a spoonful or two of plain old white sugar is good. Liquid form, such as fruit juices or traditional sodas are fast uptake into your bloodstream. Cake frostings or gels are also good (my g/f now keeps a couple of tubes in the kitchen in case I pass out.) Jams & jellies are almost as fast, bread will take longer to digest down. Peanut butter is also pretty good, and adds a little protein for an extra hit.

All of those does take a little time, though. I'm certainly guilty of overcorrecting during an event, I need to take in something and wait at least 15 minutes no matter how crummy I feel before doing anything else.
 
This is all good information which was never broached with me when I was diagnosed! I don’t tend to miss many meals but they do become erratically timed now and then. Larry thanks for sharing the information.
I might need to get some sweetarts!
 
Spoke with Dr office today. Said I set up my own perfect storm. Stressed out, light breakfast, no lunch, very small early supper (thin slice pork roast, a few green beans and a few grilled asparagus spears). basically no carbs at all. Intent was to get some cheese and crackers or some toast when I got home. Then got into a movie, forgot about it. Dr office said I should not go more than 4 or 5 hrs without a meal, and should have protein AND carb otherwise sugar can crash.
I learned something new
 
Hey Larry. Anything carby from fruit eg apple juice is most probably predominately fructose. Your liver will have to convert it to glucose before it has an effect on your blood glucose level, hence the delay.
 
LMichaels said:
So doc had put me on Ozempic last year to help control my A1C and maybe help with weight. Tolerated low doses decently but not terribly effective. Then went to full dose and it did help with A1C and weight since I had lost about 10lbs. But, then the side effects started kicking in. I was miserable and he took me off. In short order I gained back the weight and "then some". Last visit last week he decided to have me try Monjaro (he said does similar to Ozempic but is tolerated better, and give me a CGM to try out. The idea being if I have a continuous readout it will give me feedback and help me know what is happening in real time. Maybe help control things better.
Well thank heaven he gave me that monitor. Yesterday I had skipped lunch, had a light dinner at my dad's and came home thinking I might grab a snack later. I got into a movie on Prime. Forgot about eating, then it was time for my night time injection of insulin.
Not long after I noticed my sugar levels dropping on the app, but thought "OK supposed to do that". Then the warning started "going low". Well I went from "going low" to "you're gonna meet Jesus now" in a flash. Before I could gather my thoughts and realize what I needed to do. Remembered my glucose tabs, ate one. Vision backing out but still tanking, ate another still tanking. Black spots in vision now, sweating like mad, heart pounding. Then went so low it could not read (under 40), all it said was "critical".. 2 containers of apple juice, still nothing.
Long story short, daughter came over, made toast with marmalade and numbers started coming up. But, damn that was SCARY.
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Glad you're OK, Larry. Gosh that's scary.
 
Scary stuff for sure! Our daughter (37) suffers from a rare neuromuscular disorder called Kearns -Sayre Syndrome .She had a stroke back in March which has left her non verbal and with limited cognitive awareness. She has been on a feeding tube and has just recently been diagnosed with Diabetes. She gets 4 tube feedings per day every 4 hours. We were told to stick her 30 minutes before each feeding to check if she needed a dose of insulin. That’s been a lot of sticking! Well we were finally able to get a Libre3 CGM, it’s been a game changer for us! It takes a reading every minute, it’s amazing how fast the levels can change.Thankfully, neither one of us has those issues. It hasn’t been easy, we’re just thankful that we’re both retired now and healthy enough to take care of her.
 
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@DuaneMac ...... You have my most sincere sympathies & thoughts. I cannot begin to conceive of what your daughter, your wife, & you, are going through. My own issues pale in comparison.

@LMichaels.... A friend of mine teaches organic chemistry down in the Chicago area, and on hearing about my struggles, asked if an endocrinologist friend of hers could take a look at my protocols, readings, & insulin usage. She said pretty much the same thing, that I was setting myself up for trouble. We're all trying to solve a single equation with several [independent] unknowns.
 
Duane, so sorry to hear of her condition. That has got to be so tough to go through. I have a cousin with special needs daughter. So much patience is required.
My doc gave me a Dexcom G7 to give a go with. It was like kismet. I had no idea that thing would nearly save my skin. Thanks to it alerting me, I at least knew what to do. Had I not had it, I likely would have not recognized how much trouble I was in, until things really went south.
Oddly when I was in flight training they taught us a lot. But not how to see if a passenger was having a diabetic episode.. They went over so many other things. Even down to how to fight a lithium ion battery fire onboard. But, not that
 
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