What to you consider low?

[Kaylee's Mommy]

and dangerously low.. at what number do you really start freaking out at?

We get asked at Kaylee's endo appointments if she's had an dangerous lows.. and how frequently.. I always answer yes.. and really consider anything under 50ish really dangerous.. I consider anything under 80 low.. (as per her endo, but she never gave me a 'dangerous' point..)

what does everyone else consider low and dangerously low... ?

[Mama Belle]

Low: under 70 (even though our endo says that it is under 60)

Dangerously low: disorientation, combativeness, unconsciousness, seizures (this can happen at 50 or at 19 so it really doesn't depend on the number, it depends upon the symptoms). I am thankful to report that we have only had 1 serious low since dx.

[thebestnest5]

We were given a target of 70-150 at dx.

Anything under 50 gets me nervous. One time in early dx Livi woke up with a 37!! :eek::eek::eek: It was a Saturday morning...she woke up, walked out to the kitchen, tested her own blood sugar, and walked and spoke "normally". I know I was shaking when I handed her the glucose tabs. I remember asking her if she could "...:eek:chew a little faster, honey".

[hold48398]

Same as for Mama Belle.

"Low" for us is <70.
Anything under 50 scares the heck out of me, symptoms or not. We have only had one time where Mia had "severe low symptoms"- she turned white as a sheet and felt absolutely horrible, sweating and obviously close to crashing...and she was 38 :eek:. Oh I don't want to re-live that EVER again...

[Mama Belle]

We have only had one time where Mia had "severe low symptoms"- she turned white as a sheet and felt absolutely horrible, sweating and obviously close to crashing...and she was 38 :eek:.

This was us exactly!!! Except she was 43. A few weeks later she was 38 and was totally fine. I think part of it has to do with whether or not the drop is rapid or slow. I find a rapid drop seems more severe.

[Kaylee's Mommy]

we've had a few serious lows (in the low 30s..) Kaylee's lowest was 32, she couldn't talk (sounded as though she was drunk) couldn't hold the juice box, couldn't keep her head up (she was in the car.. I had just checked her, she was 70 before I had started driving, I gave her TWO glucose tabs and noticed her 'sleeping' 10minutes later.. so I pulled over to check her and got the 32, thank god I pulled over to check her.. ) I just remember yelling at her as I was holding her hands on the juice box and squeezing it in so she would swallow it.. her eyes we rolling up in her head.. the scarriest by far.. I was doing so many things at once (also on the phone to the endo at the time..everyone in the parking lot must have thought I was a nut case!)... next day she was in the ER for serious lows.. she was in the 40s for 3 hours!:eek: and the ER was of NO help.. :mad:

[hold48398]

This was us exactly!!! Except she was 43. A few weeks later she was 38 and was totally fine. I think part of it has to do with whether or not the drop is rapid or slow. I find a rapid drop seems more severe.


Yeah, I don't ever want to go back to that moment...ever. EVER. :( We were walking around a lot at Butterly World, so all the exercise must have done it despite her being fine when we first got there. I would imagine that drop was pretty fast. Now I know to reduce her basal when we go there :rolleyes:.

[Mama Belle]

next day she was in the ER for serious lows.. she was in the 40s for 3 hours!:eek: and the ER was of NO help.. :mad:

How is this even possible!!!!! :mad: I seriously do not get hospital staff half the time. They hang a bag of D10 when the kids have BGs in the 300-400s, but they can't bring a BG up out of the 40s? Seriously, what's the deal?

[Kaylee's Mommy]

How is this even possible!!!!! :mad: I seriously do not get hospital staff half the time. They hang a bag of D10 when the kids have BGs in the 300-400s, but they can't bring a BG up out of the 40s? Seriously, what's the deal?


I had to call Kaylee's endo team and have them tell the ER dr. what to do.. they first tried to feed Kaylee.. we were there for over an HOUR before we even saw a dr... although we were brought into a room right away.. the nurse was helpful.. but they were trying to feed her, that was the problem.. we were feeding her for hours before, with no BG coming up.. she was sitting in the 40s.. we gave her every food that we could image she would love.. right before going to the ER we went to McD's.. and offered her a great big orange hi-c.. her favorite, she hadn't had it since the day she was dx.. and she wouldn't drink it.. nothing.. so thats when we decided to go to the ER.. so the dummy dr. comes in an hour later and says, yup she can eat.. and walks out.. well, no crap She CAN eat, she WON'T eat.. then she promptly threw up all over the place..thanks dr.! finally got her hooked up to d5 when a endo called him and told him to do so.. when Matt asked the ER dr. if they could get an endo there he laughed (literally) and said they didn't have one.. I think they heard matt and I over talking (we were fuming at this point) that we were going to discharge her and bring her else where.. then we had issues with the oncall endo.. who had them give her d5.. but told me to give her way to much insulin to counter act the high (she also had ketones.. and I didn't know what the 'carb' count was in the d5 to check to see what they were giving for insulin was to much or not.. next time, I'll ask first!) and she spiked and then came crashing down into the 40s.. again.. but by this time she was willing to eat.. ugh.. that was an aweful experience.. never again.. thats for sure!

[rickst29]

30s, 20s, and less :eek: are all horrible. A recent article in NEJM said that lows don't cause permanent brain damage, but I think they were only measuring cognitive impairment. There might be, I suspect, CNS damage from lows (although I'm only guessing).

My CGMS buzzes me at NINETY. That's "normal" bG for normal people, and some T1s do fine hanging around, all day long, at levels even lower than that. But lows hurt me a lot, and I work fairly hard to avoid them.

That ER visit seems to have been a 100% travesty. I used to live in a city with an excellent ER, but here (in Reno/Sparks, NV) all of the hospitals are within the bottom 15% nationally for survival of ER heart attack visits. These aren't unusually difficult cases, as a place like Mayo Clinic or a high-quality University town like Madison, WI would see. It's just the same mix which would be seen in any similar "metro center" of roughly similar size. (Omaha NB, Boise ID, Fort Wayne IN, and etc.)

When I keel over, in the distant future, I hope it's not in MY home town-- or yours. :mad:

[kiwimum]

We had a 1.2 (22 for you guys) just last week! I absolutely paniced and I think I went to the hospital with some brown stains in my knickers!
Tyler had got up in the morning, done his bg test and had his shot. Then he waited the 20 minutes for the actrapid to kick in, just as we have done every morning for the last 8 months. While he was getting his breakfast, he called me for help. I entered the kitchen to find cereal EVERYWHERE and milk and plates all over the place. He was sitting in amongst it all telling me he didn't know what had happened. At the point he was showing signs of being seriously drunk, I got him into a chair and did another test. In the space of 15 minutes he had dropped from 9.3 (167) to 1.2 (22).
Crap crap crap! Got him into the recovery position and out came the juice. Spat at me so out came the glucose gel. In the middle of rubbing it on his gums he was going in and out of conciousness, while I yelled and screamed and shook him to keep him awake. After a frantic phone call to hubby, he arrived home to find Tyler and I sitting on the floor crying and looking like winnie the pooh after he has been in the honey pot!
Ambulance came and they weren't happy with him so we got our 1st ambulance ride to hospital. Tyler by then was back to normal and thought it was great. Hospital kept us for 5 hours for observation and plied him with milk drinks and sandwiches. By the time we left his bg was 26 ( 468)!!!!!
Came to the conclusion that he had injected straight into the muscle which apparently just gobbles it all up.
I told Tyler NEVER NEVER do that again! But the upshot is we now know we can do it!
Debs

[Carly]

I treat anything under 5 (90) and start to get a little panicked with anything under 4.5 (81). I hate lows...

I've only had 2 bad lows 1.8 (32) and 1.5 (27), another 1.7 (30) but actually coped okay with it.

The 1.8 I remember waking up because I was really sweaty and could barely move. I had to roll myself out of bad, legs gave way so I crawled to the kitchen - since then I keep my mobile phone beside my bed so I can call my Mum from my room. The 1.5 was my first 'pass out' hypo... yuck
I’m so scared of lows, that's why I now treat anything under 5, I'd rather go a little high than go low.

[Norsewitch]

Anything under 80 I start to keep a close eye on. So far our lowest has been in the 50's.
When we were dx we were told not to bring my son to our local ER (burlington county,nj) but drive him directly to Cooper Medical ER where they have a pediatric ER and special diabetes protocol.

[Tori's Mom]

I consider anything under 70 low. Our lowest has been 37 but Tori was walking and talking like normal. She just said she was tired and wanted to take a nap. That was out of character so checked and caught the low.

[Amy C.]

I consider under 60 low and under 50 something to be alarmed about.

[game2fun]

I consider under 70 low but in the 70's and 80's I'm keeping an eye and planning on a snack anyways but not panic. I start to move a little quicker when we're in the 50's and anything lower I'm almost running, lol.

I know we're suppose to avoid lows but I would love a straight answer on what happens when we have them. Our endo thinks 70's are good numbers but man, 69 is just the other side. Are we doing any damage in the 60's or 50's etc.?

[AlisonKS]

My palms are sweaty just reading these threads! We treat anything over 80, the lowest he had wouldn't even register on the meter. I gave him something sugary (can't remember now) and tested him again and he was 29 (I think, they should just have it read "oh crap"), after 15 minutes he was in a good range. What's weird was he looked fine, this was when he first woke up in the morning but he was honeymooning. A few weeks ago he was 34 and I've never seen him looks so sick besides DKA, a bunch of smarties later he was fine.

[BrendaK]

When Carson was a baby, I would really panic at any reading under 100 because he would crash so quickly. Now that he's older and a tad more stable, I don't panic unless he's under 60.

[momofphoenix]

We consider anything <100 low, Phoenix will be 100 and 10 minutes later be 60 so if he is at or below 100 we give juice, our lowest low was 20 :eek: no symptoms and he didnt feel anything it was lunch time so he got checked, thank god!! He wasnt talking funny, he could walk and everything it took 4 juice box's and his emergency kit and a trip to the ER to bring him up to 90, that was the worst low ever my husband had him at my mother in laws house so he had been running around playing with the other kids.
That was so scary for us all.....

[Nancy in VA]

Our target is 80-180 because she is 2.

I don't worry about anything down to 70 since I know older kids have that as their low range.

I have gotten a 47 twice in the past 2 weeks. Didn't know until I tested her before a meal and got the reading.

Once I got a 29. I tested her twice. She was running around normal and I had no idea she was dropping. We were shocked!:eek:

Only once or twice has some complained about a stomach ache and I've checked her to be a little low, but she has never had unconsciousness, seizures, or shakiness normally associated with a low. Its very disconcerting that she doesn't have any symptoms of low because I'm afraid the symptom will be "pass out and I don't know it"

[game2fun]

My palms are sweaty just reading these threads! We treat anything over 80, the lowest he had wouldn't even register on the meter. I gave him something sugary (can't remember now) and tested him again and he was 29 (I think, they should just have it read "oh crap"), after 15 minutes he was in a good range. What's weird was he looked fine, this was when he first woke up in the morning but he was honeymooning. A few weeks ago he was 34 and I've never seen him looks so sick besides DKA, a bunch of smarties later he was fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
I swear, if I ever test her and get "Lo" on the meter I am going to s_ _ _ a brick! That is a fear of mine, along w/a seizure. We've had the meter greet us w/ "Hi" a couple of times, but if I ever see "Lo" I'm gonna FREAK! I only hope that old Mommy gene will kick in and I'll just do what needs to be done and fall apart later, after my husband is home and we're cruising above 200.

[Illinifan]

In general, low for us is under 80.

Mildly low is something in the 70s.

Anything under 60 is "stop the world and focus on the kid's blood sugar".

Amazingly enough, Zach's lowest low to date was a 29...in the Orlando airport...on our way to the Friends for Life conference last month. Isn't irony wonderful? :)

[Kaylee's Mommy]

I consider under 70 low but in the 70's and 80's I'm keeping an eye and planning on a snack anyways but not panic. I start to move a little quicker when we're in the 50's and anything lower I'm almost running, lol.

I know we're suppose to avoid lows but I would love a straight answer on what happens when we have them. Our endo thinks 70's are good numbers but man, 69 is just the other side. Are we doing any damage in the 60's or 50's etc.?

I don't think you are doing any 'damage'.. non-d people drip into the 60s and 50s during the day, they just don't know it.. the problem is that the 50s and 60s can quickly lead to something dangerous rather quickly.. thats what Kaylee's endo has said to me before anyway.. :cool:

[3js]

we have mild lows often, and i don`t freak out at 3-4 (54-72), but i do treat, even if it`s meal time.

i am anxious for 2`s (36-52) which is low at we`ve had, thankfully.

my son feels shaky and confused and irritable in the 3-4 range. but one time he was reading a novel, feeling fine, and i tested because it was lunch. he was in the low 2`s. :eek: so you never can tell 100%.

[AlisonKS]

~~~~~~~~~~~~
I swear, if I ever test her and get "Lo" on the meter I am going to s_ _ _ a brick! That is a fear of mine, along w/a seizure. We've had the meter greet us w/ "Hi" a couple of times, but if I ever see "Lo" I'm gonna FREAK! I only hope that old Mommy gene will kick in and I'll just do what needs to be done and fall apart later, after my husband is home and we're cruising above 200.

that's probably why I don't remember what I got him, I just remember darting over the babygate in the kitchen!

[Momof4gr8kids]

Per Julia's endo below 80 is out of range, below 70 is low. He never gave us a dangerous low point, but I freak out in the 40's, and that is typically where she gets dizzy, combative, emotional ect... However I have also seen what 20s look like. OMG, if you think 40s is low there is a whole different level down there in the 20s. 28 is the lowest Julia has been, 30s are about the same as 20s, and that is freaky dangerously low.
I think it probably will be different for each person.

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

Our Endo considers a treatable low below 70.

I get nervous below a 55.

Our lowest was a 25. Abby said it feels like I'm losing my brain, like it's getting sucked out of me. :eek:

[ange_mom]

we've only seen a couple 2's with my son. My husband is another story. He's had many seizures in his life, only 2 since I've been married to him. We see lots of 2's and have seen as low as 1.3 a few times. He's usually pretty incoherant and drunk acting. I've wrestled him many times to get orange juice into him. I have found that if he is really stubborn and won't eat, if I leave him a few more minutes and he gets lower he eventually will suck food and drink in because his body finally figures out he needs it even though his brain was telling him he didn't. That may seem terrible but he is a lot stronger than I am and if won't eat or drink.... He is on Humulin N and R and soon we are changing to Lantus and Humulog with him so hopefully we will see less of those:eek:

[3js]

Our Endo considers a treatable low below 70.

I get nervous below a 55.

Our lowest was a 25. Abby said it feels like I'm losing my brain, like it's getting sucked out of me. :eek:

WOW that is a 1.4. i think i`d have a heartattack. :eek: