Back in high school, I was prone to hypoglycemic episodes as well as anemia. I fainted at school a couple of times before we got everything under control and figured out how to prevent it. There were rumors floating around for a while…I was using drugs, pregnant, or both. Luckily they never went too far because I just wasn’t *that* girl, but it was humiliating. Not to mention scary, because I never knew when it would happen.
As I got older I got a little bit better at recognizing the symptoms and usually managed to take care of things before I actually passed out. I was diagnosed with PCOS (which generally includes a diagnosis of insulin resistance) right after I got married so I have been on diabetes drugs off and on since then. They helped me to get pregnant with and carry all 3 of my kids to term. Right now I’m not on them since I am not interested in getting pregnant and because I don’t have insurance. I thought my blood sugar was being controlled pretty well, but I was really caught off guard today.
I woke up late for church and didn’t have time for breakfast…certainly not anything out of the ordinary so I didn’t think anything of it. It was my week to serve in the infant room, so I was helping set everything up. It was hot, I was bending over, and when I stood up I had tunnel vision. My head was spinning, I was sweating and shaking, and I knew what was going to happen next if I didn’t sit down immediately. Luckily there were plenty of people around to help me…I was given some animal crackers and a bottle of water. I felt well enough after a few minutes to get back up but I still felt disoriented and not quite right. I made it through the rest of set-up and managed to hold it together through the service and help take care of the babies. During break-down, the same thing happened. This time was worse. I got nauseous and my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. It was awful! This time, somebody got me some Coke. That helped a lot and I finally managed to get out of the floor and go out to the car.
I’m nursing a horrible headache right now and fighting the urge to just lay down and take a nap. The physical aftereffects are really awful and the mental/emotional aftereffects are just as bad. Blood sugar crashes not only make you feel bad physically but they do terrible things to your mood. I should have known something was up this morning because I was definitely not feeling like myself. Instead, I ignored the signs and I’m paying big time now.
My next worry is trying to figure out why it happened all of a sudden today. I haven’t been feeling bad lately. If anything, I’ve been feeling better. I’m exercising regularly again and eating a lot better…isn’t that supposed to help with blood sugar? Granted, I’ve been really stressed out. I’m overwhelmed and exhausted, but that’s not really anything out of the ordinary. For some reason, I feel like God is smacking me on the head and saying “Slow down and take better care of yourself, you big dummy!” It was definitely a wake-up call for me. Now I just need to figur out how to prevent it from happening again!
denise
June 13, 2010 at 8:09 pm
I thought with hypo you were suppose to stay away from sweet stuff too, because too much would cause you to crash. Now, I may be wrong. Yeah, you probably should eat a good diet. Now, listen to me talk…I saw you read my post the other day, when I just about left this world. Girl, it was awful. I really thought that I was having a stroke, the way I was talking. I couldn’t get my words out and what was coming out was slurred. I had no control over my legs or arms until my sugar came back up. I had cramps in my legs and they are still a little sore. I never want to do that again. I can usually catch myself during the day, but at night, it is hard to do. I am trying to eat better. You might do some internet searches on hypo and see what you need to do. Take care of yourself.