low blood sugar Type2 diabetes

[Playtowin]

My  husband 80yrs old diabetic for fifty years.  Has had 2 episodes where BS is not really low 114 but is talking gibberish.  pulse difficult to get and BP only palpable.  Takes a couple of tubes of glucose to bring him out of it.  He does not answer appropriately but responds to commands such as stick out your tongue, squeeze my hand after BS is raised to 170 is completely fine.  Is this considered Hypoglycemia even though BS is 114 and if not why does he recover after an increase is sugar., and what can it be?

[eddiemc]

Hypo symptoms at 114 does not compute.
Feeling okay at 170 is normal even though 170 is considered hyper.
The glucose measurement certainly sounds suspect.
Eddie

[JDRF-VOL-SG]

This is not something I have ever seen happen, although I have noticed that if my glucose levels are in the middle of dropping quickly, I can FEEL hypoglycemic, break out in a sweat, etc. even though the numbers are not below the normal range at that exact time. So I suppose it is possible that this was the case. When I show symptoms of hypoglycemia but the number on my glucometer shows me to be in the normal range, I have learned to trust the symptoms and treat it like hypoglycemia. If I don't take some carbs in but test again just a few moments later, usually the number has dropped fairly quickly. So if this happens again, maybe you should give him some glucose in case he is dropping quickly and is reacting to the sudden drop rather than to actually being low. A small rise in glucose levels from that normal 114 isn't going to hurt him temporarily, and it is safer for him than being low or being in need of carbs ezspecially if pulse is weak and BP low.

However, the symptoms you write to us would lead me to advise you to make an appointment with his doctor just to make sure that he has not had some small stroke or something like that, and even more important, to have the doctor send you to a lab so you can compare the results of his glucose meter with one in the lab or with lab results. It is possible that his meter is not accurate right now for some reason, and it may need to be either calibrated or replaced.

One more suggestion... could there be some residue of food he has eaten on his hands that caused the glucometer reading to be off? Such as sugary remains of fruit or something like that? That could explain a false reading, and his glucose may actually have been severely low. In any case, it seems to warrant some lab tests being compared with the glucometer, and maybe an overall checkup just to make sure everything is OK. I wish both of you the best.