First time low. Quite scary for us.

JeremysDad · #1 01-05-2010, 09:19 PM

This evening we experienced our first low BG. Jeremy had all the symptoms. Dizziness, sweating, heart racing, saying that he feels like he will pass out. His BG was 52. I gave him a small bag of fruit snacks (19 carbs) which brought him back up to 121 after 15 minutes.

I had visions of breaking open the glucogon and calling 911.

It's good that it happened at home and not 30 minutes earlier when he was walking in the mall with his friend. Now we know what the low feels like.

nmco123 · #2 01-05-2010, 09:22 PM

Glad to hear he was home and that he noticed. My son is only 6 and he was 49 the other day and said he felt "fine" I dont think he can recogonzie lows....scary to think of him being a teenager and going out to the mall....

We treated with 4 oz of juice and it was up to 143 in 20 mins.

Nicole-- Phila.
Son, Colin 6yrs dx 12/24/09

buggle · #3 01-05-2010, 09:25 PM

I remember Brendan's first low and we were both terrified. It happened right after school as we were walking to the playground to let him hang out. He told me he felt like he was going to die. It was so, so scary.

I'm so sorry that you guys have to go through this. Just believe us when we tell you it will get easier over time.

nmco123 · #4 01-05-2010, 09:32 PM

Thank you Rella for the continued encourgement....It means a lot to hear others know what we are all going through and to know that this will get easier over time is encouraging

CButler · #5 01-05-2010, 09:32 PM

It is good he recognized it. It's scary to think what could happen, but you handled it well.

JeremysDad · #6 01-05-2010, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CButler

It is good he recognized it. It's scary to think what could happen, but you handled it well.

It's amazing how quickly Jeremy has adapted. What had helped was the 3 training sessions we went through although no amount of training can take the place of experiencing low BG firsthand. I still got my folder out and read about low BG as I was giving him the fruit snacks. There is no visual clue when BG is high but when it is low, you know right away.

wilf · #7 01-05-2010, 09:52 PM

Well done in making it through your first low. You see now the importance of having carbs to treat lows ALWAYS handy. It is good that he could feel it so strongly, with a little practice he'll be able to feel it earlier when it is first coming on so you can catch it and treat it then..

sooz · #8 01-05-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeremysDad

It's amazing how quickly Jeremy has adapted. What had helped was the 3 training sessions we went through although no amount of training can take the place of experiencing low BG firsthand. I still got my folder out and read about low BG as I was giving him the fruit snacks. There is no visual clue when BG is high but when it is low, you know right away.

Lows are so scary! I have to say, Hailey does not always know right away when she is low. Sometimes I can tell by looking at her because her eyes look sunken and she just looks different to me and is more quiet..but today she had a super low..39

..and I was watching her the whole time. She had been 181 after school and we were headed to her little play/gym class..181 was a good number for her to go into that class but she wanted to eat a yogurt which was 18 grams..so i bolused her, but I backed the pump back to just cover the food and not the correction factor..at the gym she was much more active that usual, running for a straight 15 minutes plus jumping on the trampoline and being very excited and happy to be playing..about 30 min later she came and asked to be tested..39!! We immediately gave her 15 g. of juice and an 18g. 100 calorie bag of cookies..she was 105 20 min later..and 149 at dinner

it may get easier it some ways to treat the lows, but I can tell you, I was shaken to the core..I asked Hailey what her low felt like today, because she didnt slow down at all until she came to me, I said "did you just run out of energy?" and she said "no, I felt like I was going to go to sleep"..

Jeremy sounds like a really smart boy, and the fact that you are working together to figure things out is HUGE..I know Hailey will get better at things as she gets older but right now it appears she mostly recognizes her lows when they go below 50..her lowest ever so far was 32..thankfully we keep a good watch on her and they are not common.. I totally understand how you feel !!

sam1nat2 · #9 01-06-2010, 12:42 AM

Something you will figure out soon is also that different methods are necessary for different types of lows.
I find that fruit snacks are good for a low that isn't too alarming, but one of those OMG lows, 50's and below, that we use something more fast acting such as soda.

At night when he is low, I don't use the fast acting as much as I know that when he is sleeping he shouldn't be dropping as fast as if he just came in from running around. I just found him to be 78 at 11:30 pm so I gave him some "strong" chocolate milk in hopes that it will keep him where he needs to be the rest of the night, alhtough I'll be checking agin at some point

Gracie'sMom · #10 01-06-2010, 06:24 AM

We were lucky enough to have our first low in the hospital when the endocrinologist was standing right there. She was so calm, my dd's dinner had just been delivered and she said, "She needs to start eating now," and she ate and she calmly just talked about what to do with the lows. They can be scary, though. We are struggling with trying to leave her home for periods of time with her brother who is turning 13, because of the lows. Once he's had a few, and his friends have watched him, they will be able to help him in the future also in the event that he's super-low and can't help himself.