Sunday, September 21, 2008

When is the real hypo?

My symptom of knowing when hypo kicks in is when I can feel that my heart beats faster and I am short of breathe when that happens. My vision will be slightly blurred and I feel weak. If hypo happens in the middle of the night, I will usually will have cold sweat even if I am sleeping in air-conditioned room. These are pretty obvious symtoms which I will immediately grab something sweet to eat without checking how low I am.
Few days ago, I experienced something pretty similar, but mild ones, a few hours after my meal. I have my doubts this time. Reason is, I did not inject more units of insulin and my meals are the usual. At that point of time, I really thought hypo is coming after me again! But when I am in doubt, to play safe, I better check my glucose level. After another painful poke, the meter showed me 6 mmol. Hmmmm.....that is pretty normal. Why do I have that strange feeling? Is that a sign telling me that I will have it when I am deep in my dreams again. I took the decision to eat a little bit of cheesecake which was still left in my fridge. Everything was fine and the next day reading is normal.
Today, went grocery shopping with mom after lunch. I took porridge for lunch and inject my usual amount of Humalog. Around 3 plus, I can feel it again!!! But still not very sure if this is the real or fake one. I really have the urge to buy something sweet (like ice cream) to eat. Yeah!! I can indulge in sweet stuff! But since the feeling is mild, I am just worried that this is another false alarm. Damn, no meter with me and I cannot check. Can only do it when I am back home. That is the inconvenience of not having a meter around with me. Someone must invent some small and compact meter which will not create a stir when diabetic patient is testing their blood at public places. The best is, no blood can be seen.
When I am back home (It's around 4 pm and I still can drive myself home), quickly rushed to get my blood tested. The meter showed 3 mmol! Oh, it's the real hypo! Quickly took the piece of Prima Deli pancake which I bought earlier. I know I should eat something sweet and fast reacting but I really feel like eating the pancake eventhough I know it will be slow to react to my hypo. Well, I know the pancake will not create a super high as compared to drinking coke. So, I can tell that my pre-meal readings will be safe as well. Glad to say, my pre-meal is 6 mmol when I tested.
Maybe this might not be the right way to treat my hypo. But it seems like I still know my body well. What I need is a compact and blood-less meter so that I can test in public and eat safely.

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