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Permalink Reply by Mike Ratrie on November 17, 2011 at 9:22pm

Richard,

You're almost there. Without insulin, or if you eat more than you have bolused for, you become HYPER-glycemic (aka - high blood glucose). With too much insulin (over-bolusing, exercising, etc.) you become HYPO-glycemic.

The normal function of insulin is indeed to act as the key to open our cells so the glucose passes from the blood into the cells.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on November 14, 2011 at 4:11pm

It occured to me that a zombie metaphor might be appropriate...

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Permalink Reply by MyBustedPancreas on November 14, 2011 at 4:12pm

I struggle with this too. When I get low I get grumpy at first, but then I just get confused, ditzy, and unable to talk in coherent and complete sentences. A little lower and I can get weepy, really angry, or just unable to talk at all. I don't like telling people at work about my being a type 1 diabetic, mostly because I hate all the questions and comments that then follow. Or the assumption that every time I'm a tad frustrated or angry it's because I'm low. That said, people not knowing can be downright dangerous, because if I plummet fast, someone won't know what's happening. SO, I've explained my situation to a few close people and have asked them to respect my privacy (which they have). I feel a bit safer with a couple of folks at least understanding what I sometimes go through.

In terms of explaining to people -- Kerri over at SixUntilMe put together a couple of videos about being low. One of them is a video with flashcards, and one was a vlog she did WHILE low. I think the one she did while low really captures just how scary a low can be (links below).

http://www.youtube.com/user/sixuntilme#p/u/36/MPmW5j6SPCY

http://www.youtube.com/user/sixuntilme#p/u/50/YEU3MeL-0bA

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Permalink Reply by barbraann on November 14, 2011 at 5:56pm

I know how it is, I tend to not want to tell people, especially if they are strangers or people I I may not see again. On the other hand, if they are people you see on a regular basis; ie. casual friends, co-workers, then I would say something. I tend to want to explain rather than they think I'm drunk or slow witted or just rude! I'll usually say something after I recover like "Sorry about that but I'm afraid my blood sugar took a serious dive" then I'll say it's suppose to be around 100 and it was 32! They will understand the numbers and might ask if I'm diabetic and then I'll explain and answer any questions if asked. I figure it's better than everyone thinking I'm goofy!
It's surprising how often I run into other diabetics!

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Permalink Reply by VikkiToria on November 16, 2011 at 5:47am

I sometimes get bad lows when one side of my face goes lame, including all the other symptoms. It feels like I am dying. I try to always just lie on my arms, then when someone wants to know whats wrong, I just say: I'm on drugs! and I put my head back down. hee...hee.. lol
At least we have a reason for looking funny, they don't!

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Permalink Reply by Anne on November 17, 2011 at 11:54am

Yes, it has happened to me.
I may have mentioned that somewhere on the forum before: e.g. one time I started crying during a practical course just because I couldn't find the right page in my book... and snapped at my fellow group members.

I wish I had been able to explain why this happened but I didn't.
When I noticed I was snapping at the others for no particular reasons, I forced myself to keep my mouth shut until I was able to talk normally again.

Trouble is: While in the situation, I am rarely able to think clearly enough to actually explain what is happening. Also, I would have to start with the basics in my explanation since none of them knows what a low blood sugar means.

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