Low sugar for 7 hours

[Skeyeu]

I was just wondering if anyone else has run in this problem. Once like mabe 6yrs ago. I checked my BS and it was low in the 30s but I was still aware of what was happening so I drank some Oj and had a penut butter sandwich. Waited and hour still felt bad and rechecked and it was 22. My vision started to get blurry and I couldnt see out of one eye. So I drank a LOT more Oj ate another Pb and J and then waited. and checked agin it remained in the 20s. In fact it was 28. So I was rushed to the hospital were I remained with an IVand gluclose was stuffed into me. I was there for 5and 1/2 hours before my blood sugar finnally came up. They checked it every half hour. It went from 75 to 314 in half and hour. They didnt want to send me home yet with my blood sugar so low. They check my blood to see if I had mabe to much insulin in my system but every thing was normal. They said sorry we cant exsplain what happend and sent me home. Has anyone else had anything this crazy happend to them?? Later Man Skeyeu.

[KevinHarney]

also need to consider if you had any unusual exercise anytime prior to the episode as long as 1 day before it.  Or were you sick before it.  Any kind of infection will mess with BG levels as well.

[Cococay7]

Two thoughts I have come to mind.  First is it possible that you had accidently switched you long and short acting dose, that can cause an accute low like that.

Second you said the hospital measured your insulin to see if there was too much but came back normal.  Was that after the glucse drip and you BG came back up.  I would think that if is were after you were no longer low, then the current inslul level would not be high since whatever insulin was there had been used by the blood sugar you drank and recieved via iv drip.  That info would have only been useful if it was based on blood drawn when you first got there not when you were finally stabilized.

[JDRF Volunteer SG]

I wonder how long you have been a type 1 diabetic -- could you still be honeymooning, occasionally producing some insulin of your own? What preceded this event -- did you participate in anything stressful (good or bad stress can cause me to drop low)? Also, how old was your insulin -- if you use a long-lasting insulin like Lantus, if it is older than 1 month old, it can misbehave. I notice that I get "dumps" of insulin and will drop low during its peak time at about 4 hours after injection, or at about 5-6 pm, when I think its crystals just give up the ghost and cease to release slowly when my insulin is old.

Your situation WAS extreme. The questions above may help you figure out what happened, or maybe the drop was due to something else that affected the endocrine system. So much is inter-related. Did you take some allergy meds earlier (my sister will have severe drops after taking allergy meds or coming inside during allergy season)? So much can mess up our routines. If you can figure out some possibilities,  maybe you can protect yourself, but if not, then you may need to keep lotsa juice handy for awhile to see what happens.

If it happens again, it may be time to stay at the hospital and have your endocrinologist notified so more tests can be run. Good luck!