It is dark. Black, really. There is no light anywhere. And there is no sound. There is nothing. Nothing but nothing.
This stunning blackness, this lack of light and sound, scares me concious. And I am in my bed. With an empty glass of juice in my hand. My right index finger slides, slimey, against the plastic cup, wet with blood.
Nothing makes sense. Bob's voice is the first thing I'm able to hear. "You need to test."
"I already tested," I answer, "Can't you see the blood?"
"You poked yourself, but you didn't test," He replies, "Come on, it's been about twenty minutes since you finished that juice."
"Was it bad?" I ask.
"Not as bad as it's been. You took the juice fine, no spitting, no screaming, no fighting. It was scary though, because you didn't say a word. It was like you were asleep with your eyes wide open."
"Yeah" I say, wiping my bloodied finger on my sweatshirt and poking myself again. 5-4-3-2-1. 22 mg/dl. After 10 ounces of juice and twenty minutes.
I don't remember any of it. Don't remember "flopping around like a fish out of water" and waking Bob up. Don't remember taking the glass of juice, sitting up in bed. Don't remember poking my finger.
All that I do remember is the pitch darkness and the intense quiet that brought me back with a start. How could my eyes have been open through all of this? How could I have been awake and not remember? How could I have been asleep and accomplished any of it?
And how did I survive? At 22 mg/dl after juice, my bloodsugar had to have been impossibly low. Beyond that, my body seemed to be functioning without my conciously telling it to do so.
These are the best and the worst of times with this disease. The times that scare me most, deep down to my core. But that remind me how resilient, how strong, my body can be. I am at once resentful and grateful - angry and relieved - stunned and reassured.
How exactly do our bodies do this?
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November 20th, 2009
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01-10-2008 5:44 PM EST by Nicole Purcell
Categories: Type 1 Highs & Lows
Tags: Highs Keeping On lows
Views: 1834
Categories: Type 1 Highs & Lows
Tags: Highs Keeping On lows
Views: 1834
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Kim Doty
Kim is a computer systems administrator for a major food manufacturer
and lives in Colorado with her husband, Steve, and their children. She
currently battles the bulge and tries to develop an exercise habit to
better manage her blood sugars.
(Read More)
Kim is a computer systems administrator for a major food manufacturer
and lives in Colorado with her husband, Steve, and their children. She
currently battles the bulge and tries to develop an exercise habit to
better manage her blood sugars.
(Read More)Scott Marvel
Scott lives an active life with type 1 diabetes. Aiming to stay on top of his unexpected diagnosis, he puts a strong foot forward to stay in control.
Living life in the sun and fulfilling his dreams, Scott tries to educate himself, and others, on the unquestionable possibilities of a life with type 1 diabetes.(Read More)
Our Other Bloggers: Lindsey Guerin, Brenda Bell, Carey Potash, Michelle Kowalski, George Simmons, Nicole Purcell, Kerri Sparling, Julia, Scott lives an active life with type 1 diabetes. Aiming to stay on top of his unexpected diagnosis, he puts a strong foot forward to stay in control.
Living life in the sun and fulfilling his dreams, Scott tries to educate himself, and others, on the unquestionable possibilities of a life with type 1 diabetes.(Read More)
Wow. My post the other day on my late night low wasn't nearly as intense as yours. Thank you for reflecting so honestly about your low sugar experience. Scary stuff Nicole. I hope you dont have another experience like that anytime soon. -Andy
Oh my god! So glad you're OK. Frightening!
You should know that the meter companies routinely ensure that test strips are accurate up to 800 mg/dL, but NONE ... NONE ... NONE are really accurate below 60 mg/dL! (read the package insert if you don't believe me), so when people say it is 32 mg/dL, you should know that it may be higher, or lower, the fact is that low readings simply aren't very accurate on most meter brands (the notable exception being Agamatrix WaveSense).
Andy - Thank you. It was a tough one. I'm usually belligerent and loud during lows had straight out of sleep... This one was very scary.
Carey - Thanks... I'm glad to have come out the other end.
Scott - I don't know how accurate the test was - but given that I pretty much blacked out - I'm pretty sure my bloodsugar was impossibly low.
WOW, lows like that are just almost undescribable. Glad you are ok.
I have not had one like that in awhile . Hopefully it stays that way.
Charlotte
I hope you don't have another one like that.
(And I'm really glad nothing like that has ever happened in the middle of the night here. I don't know what I'd do.)
It seems that we all work hard to keep our diabetes under control, BUT, when we crash, the only thing we can do is pump ourselves up with sugar. Kind of defeats the purpose, Huh. I have been having severe lows(crashes) darn near every night. Some times as low as 28. Talk about scary,I'm usually a nice guy, but when the crash starts so does the bad attitude, talk about Jeckel & Hyde. I have contacted my Doctor, and we are trying to find out why this keeps happening. This its the worst part of diabetes. Hopefully the Doctor gets the meds straightened out.
Well, thanks for listening everyone.
i had a friend of mine that dropped to the 20's and was on a ambulance bed strapped down and he broke the strapps and threw the bed it took 4 police officers and two emps to hold him down
I had a low blood sugar when I was in college that made me realize how strong my body is. I was in bed and at some point got out of bed with a low blood sugar and fell on the floor. I "woke up" because I was banging my head against the linoleum floor. I was embarrassed by the black eye and told everyone that I had been in a car accident but, was comforted by the realization that my body/brain was able to save me from a certain coma.
Just curious...did you contemplate getting a shot of glucagon?
I went to my Dr. last week and came home and they called to see if I had made as the lab called them to say I had a 29. I don't remember driving home. I am really lucky to have made it home in one peice.In Oct. 2007 I had a low which put me in the intensive care unit of the hospital for 4 days and they had to restrain me as I was violent.So be very careful of lows they can be dangerous.
Great post. Our bodies are amazing aren't they?
Incredible.
That sounds incredibly scary. Not only do I think, "How do our bodies do it?" but moreover, "How is it that after something like that are we walking around the next day, normal as can be?"
If you've got diabetes, you've got strength. You are one resilient woman.
--Hannah
Hey Nicole,
Thank you so much for your blog!!! I know exactly how you felt. I have had 3 eps like that but I do not get mean but I was told that I do get a little loud when not able to speak during these crashes. I would like to tell one of my eps in full detail but do not know how to open a new post...lol
But reading this blog and also Andy's reminds me of one of my crashes to where I was at a friends house for house warming/Bday party and afterwards check my BS (Blood Sugar) before I went to sleep on her couch. It was 175, so I was like I should be ok! Right?! Well, in my dream I saw that what was taking place was going to cause me to die and I pulled myself out of my dream because it scared me that much! When I woke up I felt my heart racing a little and something (God) told me to go & check my BS. I calmed myself down to asure myself that I was ok and went to the bathroom. My BS read 57. I walked briskly into the kitchen and downed roughly 10oz of OJ. Sat back on the couch and waited 30min to check and it was 126...then was able to go back to sleep.
HELLO EVERYONE.I HAVE HAD MY BLOOD SUGAR DROP TO 46.THAT IS MILD IN COMPARSION TO NICOLE,I REALLY DON'T WHAT TO EAT AT BED TIME.CAN ANYONE HELP ME WITH THIS.THANK YOU
I don't know if this will help you but my experience is that I usually go to bed around 11pm. So I would take my reading and see where I am at. For example I could be at 158 at 11pm but I would eat like 3 ritz crakers and wake up to a reading of 124 or so in the morning. This happens with me because the lantus that I take is still working on my blood sugar while I sleep, so I know that sometimes I have to push it up a little just to be ok in the morning. Sucks but it's helped me a great deal.
Ive been able to function with a 34 if i have rest but if I'm tired, a 34 can mean sweating and inability to stand up. Juice really is an amazing thing to have around.
HI EVERYONE I AM A NEWBIE HERE SO BARE WITH ME. I HAVE BEEN A TYPE 2 DIABETIC FOR A FEW YEARS NOW. I LEFT MY EX-HUSBAND AFTER YEARS OF MENTAL ABUSE TO MYSELF AND MY SON. I SAY THAT TO TELL YOU THE STORY OF MY DOWN FALL WITH DIABETIES. IT IS HARD TO TRY AND LIVE WITH LITTLE MONEY COMING IN AND YOU PAY ALL YOUR INSURANCE PREMIEMS AND CAN'T AFFORD TO GO TO THE DR AND GET YOUR MEDS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO PUT A ROOF OVER YOUR SON'S HEAD AND PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE . CAUSE PEOPLE HAVING DIABETIES IS EXPENSIVE. I WORK AT A CLOSE SECURITY PRISON AND WE HAVE PEREMITER VEHICLES THAT I GOT STUCK IN. WELL I HAD BEEN TELLING MY SUPERVISOR I DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT AND I DIDN'T THINK I NEEDED TO BE IN THE VEHICLE THAT DAY, WELL HE DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME. AND AS THE DAY WENT ON I WAS FEELING STRANGE THE NEXT THING I KNOW I AM IN THE BACK OF AN AMBULANCE WITH AM IV IN MY RIGHT HAND. MY SUGAR DROPPED TO 30 AND I PASSED OUT. I HAD AN ANGLE ON MY SHOULDER. I HAVE BEEN HOSPITALIZED 3 TIMES FOR EITHER MY GLUCOSE LEVELS BEING TO HIGH OR TWO LOW. I AM ON TWO DIFFERENT INSLINS. BUT I STILL CAN'T GET MY GLUCOSE LEVELS IN A NORMAL RANGE, I HAVE LOSE CLOSE TO 75 LBS FEEL BETTER THAN I HAVE IN YEARS. ANYONE GOT ANY IDEAS WHAT ELSE I CAN DO