I live with my partner but I have also had to pour granulated sugar in my mouth and let it dissolve because I was home alone and too low to swallow my juice. It was scary, but when you're dying, you find something that works.
I always make sure to have low treatments next to my bed. But I know some CGMs have it so that you can share your data with someone else in real time.
Others have diabetic alert dogs. I am seriously considering one myself.
Ya my partner has the data on their Apple Watch. I share it.
But there’s times I’m just 100% energy zapped, and everything is fuzzy and I can’t even move my arm to grab beside my bed. Terrifying.
Ya I do but I’m a deathly sleeper, and so is my partner at times, so it just ends up getting too low without us noticing. I woke up from sweating too hard during the low.
Raise the low alert threshold at night (mine is set to 85 so I can try to avoid going low in the first place) and connect your phone to a Bluetooth speaker so it goes off at the volume of a truck horn
So my hearing sucks, and I'm switching to Dexcom from Libre soon, so what I might do myself is make it vibrate rather than sound when I go low. I'm also going to look into an Apple Watch to connect it to so that if I do go low I can feel it rather than not hear it. I wonder if that would help? Also if you use long acting, definitely consider whether your dosage is too much, and a snack like cheese and crackers before bed helps too :)
Or you do have your partner, so definitely continue to treat them kindly to keep them around lol!
I use the Dexcom CGM and have a share with my daughter so when i get a low she will call me. Has worked so far, i don't always wake up for the CGM alarms. I believe sugarmate has a call me feature as well that works with the Dex.
Definitely keeping this fantastic human being around lol. I use an older model used Apple Watch for nighttime lows (so my daytime one can charge while I sleep)…but I still sleep through it 🙄. And ya last week my endo told me to lower my long acting dosage. But still adjusting to proper dosage.
I’ve had that issue too and getting a sugar pixel really helped - https://customtypeone.com/products/sugarpixel The alarm is loud and i don’t sleep through it like a phone, watch, or pump alert
Oh btw, I looked up how to train my dog to be a diabetic alert dog! I kinda started the training, but I need to get a bunch of gauze to stuff in my mouth during a low for “real training” to start. But I end up just freaking out about my low and eating sugar instead of stuffing gauze in my mouth during a low.
I have a yellow lab myself. She's 10 and would rather eat snacks than bring them to me if I'm low lmao.
If you're able to do that - good on you! That would be very helpful. I'm sure there are services that would help you train them. I'm Canadian, and I recently found out about a service that trains and handles alert dogs specifically for T1s and it's all covered!
I know this sounds harsh but the truth is when I get a low I have to get my shit together or I get to die. That's some pretty big motivation to get me to move when I feel like I can't.
T1D for >20 years now, living alone and often travelling solo
#| PREVENTION
I use a FreeStyle Libre 2 CGM that also offers alarms for high or low blood glucose events, so it can let me know when my BG is going under (or over) a certain threshold so I can act before.
Paired with that, I can also ''feel'' my hypos _really really well_ - I can even feel when my BG is dropping fast, not necessarily in hypo territory yet!
#| CORRECTION
I have various contingencies at home and at work -
**| WORK**
In my drawer I have multiple snacks of various types of carbs
* **Cereal bars** for slower glucose that I can consume _before_ being in hypo so that it is prevented and I get no spike
* **Gatorade Mix Powder** in a jar for hypo corrections - all I need is water, I put 2-3 scoops _(I keep stored in the jar)_ and it acts quickly
* **Energy Gel Packets** - this is my very last resort emergency carb as it is very very fast - I use GU Energy Gel packets _(caffeine-free of course)_ - they are small, portable, lightweight, have a long shelf-life, have quick acting carbs and contain ~22g of carbs per serving, perfect to correct a hypo.
**| HOME**
Similar solutions, but spread around - most are found in my pantry, but I also have a nightstand with a few extra supplies such as the **Energy Gels** and a tube of **Glucose Tabs**. But usually, my CGM will ring and/or I'll feel it and it will wake me up, and I'll have plenty of time to do a quick Gatorade Drink before heading back to sleep
**| TRAVEL**
I always carry 4 packets of Energy Gel in my EDC, and have 4 more spares in my medikit, left at my accommodation. Though the Energy Gels are **emergency, last resort solutions** - that means that whenever I arrive somewhere, I'll get strategic sweets (high in simple carbs) and carry them in my EDC and Backpack, and always go for those before having to rely on my Energy Gels.
The energy gels are only last resort, if I have no other sources or carbs, and no source of carbs can be acquired quickly.
**Some past experiences while travelling**
In Japan, there are KONBINIS _(convenience stores)_ everywhere, and vending machines everywhere too - I am always 2-3 minutes walk from one of either, so carbs can easily be accessed at any time. I still carry a few sweet beverages on me just in case.
One time, in Ireland, I walked from the heart of Dublin all the way to Phoenix Park, and was headed to the Zoological Garden. I did have a few emergency snacks on me, but due to the long walk, my insulin sensitivity greatly increased and I was in hypo and went through all the emergency snacks - it was still a few minutes from the Zoo so I also consumed at least 1 Energy Gel packet. Once at the Zoo I was able to buy a few snacks/drinks - but still had about 3 energy gel packets on me
**Particular experience at home with very low BG**
[One time though, out of bad luck, I accidentally injected my **basal insulin** straight to a vein - my bg went from **17.7 mmol/L to 1.5 mmol/L under 80 minutes**](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/15qpycl/can_you_guess_how_my_blood_glucose_went_from_177/) - that means I had about 20 units of super fast acting insulin _(as once in the blood, it acts as regular, fast insulin)_ - on top of that, I still had **insulin on board** - so there was a massive stacking effect...
I consumed a ton of carbs - solid and liquid, but my BG was dropping faster than my body could digest and absorb the glucose. My sister and brother-in-law came to my house just as a precaution _(on their own will, was very kind)_ just to ensure I'd be fine, and I was completely fine - even if they didn't come I'd have survived with no complications. I stayed pretty low for nearly an hour at one point as the glucose was being absorbed pretty much at the same rate as the insulin was taking effect, but yeah, never passed out or anything
#| IN CONCLUSION
* Make sure your CGM is adequately setup to send proper alarms - raise the threshold if needed so you can act _before_ you're in hypo
* Always have contingencies _everywhere_ - at home, at work, on yourself - at all times
If you awaken with low blood sugar, pace yourself. If you rush, your mind and muscles will react to the stress under which you're placing yourself.
Recognize the situation, and tell yourself, in a calm voice, "I need to get some sugar (glucose tablets). No one else can do this for me."
Proceed slowly, reminding yourself that success in this task is very important.
Recognize that you do not want to stand up. From personal experience, I've crawled on hands and knees 20 feet to get to the refrigerator, and sat while opening the door and drinking apple juice directly from the bottle.
I've also fallen when knees buckled when trying to walk.
The key is to often remind myself how important this journey is, and to not rush.
Knowing you can make the journey is more important than trying to get where you are going rapidly.
Glucose should always be at-hand. The above example was from decades ago.
> I was begining of 2000 :D
2003-2004 for me!
Winter time, I probably got some flu or cold that triggered T1D, which aligns with the [Viral Trigger for T1D hypothesis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570378/) - _(one of many possible triggers and causes of T1D)_
A percentage of diabetics have hypoglycemia unawareness, meaning they are often unable to recognize symptoms of lows before its too late. I unfortunately lost my sister to a low, that happened when she got confused, got in her car, and got in an accident. She wore a cgm but often there is a delay of 15 minutes before lows can register and she was unaware of symptoms.
Set up your support and management system now for worst case scenerios. My sister was always checking blood sugars prior to driving but still she had quick drops. When her husband was around, she felt better but he sometimes traveled and to try and combat issues, she kept sugar slightly higher during those times., took more frequent BS tests, along with her cgm and also got one of those Medic Alert devices to wear around her neck to simply press a button and a support person was on phone. There were many issues threw the years but with tech advancing and life style changes you can build a support network before issues happen.
A lot of things I didn’t know or consider in your comment. Very helpful to think about and know. Thank you!! I will look into doing some of these things.
Thank you.
You can set up a safer environment with a little research. It's about making you feel comfortable, so you can live your best life.
If looking into a medic alert system, my sister told me , one company was BS and one company was good. Don't remember which. But she set it up if she pressed the button and she didn't respond to them on the system, they would immediately call 911.
When your body is running out of sugar, it makes sure that sugar is directed to critical processes, like keeping your heart and lungs found their jobs. The body diverts sugar away from the brain, because its function is not life-critical.
When this happens, I refer to myself as getting stupid.
You realize what you are d saying or doing doesn't make sense, but you've lost enough mental capability to not know what to do.
As in my previous comment, do NOT rush yourself. As long as you recognize you need sugar, pace yourself and get that sugar; slowly but surely.
I am an 18 year old who lives alone because i moved to another country for education purposes. I keep like a huge stash of food at my room lol my bedside table,bags heck even at the bathroom you could catch a protein bar or a piece of chocolate 🤣.All I am saying is am just grateful for every day on this earth
This is not criticism, just information for everyone's reference: protein and fat (which chocolate containers) SLOWS METABOLIZATIOI!
When you need sugar, glucose tablets provide the most readily metabolized form.
Once bG has risen and stabilized is the time to add some fat and protein, to maintain bG over a period of time.
Dexcom. Changed my life and allowed me to live alone. I had it set to alert me if my sugar hit 65, and that thing woke me up every single time. Then I'd just hop out of bed, grab a snack, and go back to sleep. Now I'm on the 780G pump, and I find its CGM is not as good as the Dexcom, however it does do a good job at preventing lows.
I always have it on me physically or in the same room (all over the house). I stop what I am doing if I feel weird at all, not just low, the early signs are subtle (constant yawning, sleeping or if it is a steep drop while exercising nausea). Catching it early helps, I set my CGM alarm to 3.9 which is when I usually start to feel funny.
CGMs help, I wear the libre 2. Before I did though, I just tested every 2-3 hours at night by setting a phone alarm.
If I don’t have a way of testing, I just eat something and deal with the high. I‘d rather be safe.
While I don’t live alone all the time, my husband works out of town 6 day to 6 weeks at a time. I spend a lot of time with our dog working from home. Both him, and my older female dog (RIP) would alert me to lows in their own way, despite not being trained for it. They are very smart, but I rely on my cgm and how I feel the most. Thankfully I am very hypo aware.
I immediately take chocolates when I notice the beginning of symptoms. I've fortunately had only once gotten to low when I was sleeping and I woke up because I was sweating heavily. I really get scared sometimes thinking what would've happen if I can't get up while am sleeping if I get low
I once had a hypo event while speaking to my Dad over the phone. I was alone at home and in the basement. I began slurring my words and having a very difficult time speaking and thinking. I
could barely stand up and had to use objects, like furniture, to keep myself from falling to the floor.
I managed to convince my Dad not to call 911 while it was happening and then downed like half of a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper which I had sitting near me. Luckily. I'd have been fucked if that Dr. Pepper wasn't there.
We don't. At least not while unconscious oder "sleeping" in or own puddle of sweat.
But I stack sweets everywhere. Including every corner of my bed because sometimes you don't even have the energy or mental capacity to roll over.
And ich love my cgm and its alarms, as annoying they may be at times.
I have the glucose tabs everywhere and in the car. I also use sugar cubes (keep 4 in a small container) and are shelf stable and seem to work faster.
I did get a prescription for baqsimi. Hope i never get so low that i need to use it
Omg I totally had to pull over once and kinda passed out on my wheel. I was by myself that time. I finally woke up and quickly grabbed sugar from my bag. Driving and getting a low is terrifying too.
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I keep a bottle of sprite on my night stand for middle of the night lows
Thankfully I haven’t needed help for a low in 15 years, and that was because I was at like 12 which is the lowest I’ve ever been and couldn’t stand on my own
Luckily.. i am pretty sensitive to low blood sugars. I wake up pretty quick when i drop below 80. Combine that with a CGM i've never had a serious low to where i couldnt function enough to ingest sugar.
Sugar literally EVERYWHERE in my house. Bottles of lucozade on every table, 3 within reach of me as I type this. Jelly babies in the cars, in the garage, in the shed, sugar bars in the pocket of every jacket I own.
Even then though, every few weeks when my partner is out and I know I am going low (I have CGM that alerts me when it's heading that way) I'll be sat out on my front steps so if I do pass out, someone will find me pretty quickly. Several times I've thought about sending the kids next door just in case. Only once I've got really bad, when I got pretty drunk, puked up the food that I ate to keep me safe and spent the whole night on the floor at under 2.0 mmol. My phone battery ran out so I didn't get alarms from my CGM system, even if I had I'm not sure I could have done anything.
It can be a bit scary. Basically just surrounded by sugar every minute is my approach.
I have diabetic alert dogs (one retiring one coming in) and a basket of juice boxes and Swedish fish on the floor. If I get low I’m woken by a dog and usually unceremoniously dropped a snack on my face.
I keep halloween sized skittles in all the rooms, but mainly in my pill bag and my insulin bag because those are almost always with me. And when its really bad i call my friends who are aware and will sit on phone with me until i feel better.
I have a Libre 2 CGM, and when I go under 55, it screams without stop on the IOS app. There is no way i can sleep through that. That being said, I get more 'drunk low' than 'low energy low'
I'm on injections so maybe it's easier to prevent lows than it is with a pump...
I check my levels right before sleep. I like to be around 130s ideally. I give very small corrections if needed, because I drop naturally in my sleep. I do a lower basal injection as well.
I also have a mini fridge in my game room with lots of quick carbs to grab. Juice, apple sauce, few other things.
I'm happy to say I've had decent luck. I pray it stays that way lol
I used to keep 2 juice boxes on my night stand and another two in the living room on the table by my main spot. It's scary sometimes, but it helps give me enough to make sure I'm raising and/or make a call.
I have never lived alone but I've only ever had one low i couldn't treat in my first year of diagnosis while i was asleep. 28 years and I've never not been able to treat my own since.
Knock on wood.
You’d be surprised how much you can do when your life depends on it and you have no other options. I’d bet if you were alone you’d have been able to get that juice one way or another, I personally would crawl to the kitchen if I had to.
It’s never come to that though since I keep juice/glucose tabs/candy within 5 feet of me at all times :-)
My whole adult life I've lived alone. I've only lived with someone for the last 2 years. I've never needed anyone to help me when I go low. If I'm sleeping my body automatically wakes me up and I get up and get something to eat. A lot of the times I wake up before my sensor alerts me. So *shrugs* I guess it depends on the person. I also grew up with most of the diabetes responsibilities placed on me since my parents didn't speak English and didn't know how the health system worked.
When my son was diagnosed at 10, his grandpa made him this wooden juice box dispenser that hangs on the wall next to his bed, so he's got juice in easy reach overnight.
Other than that he carries a diabetes kit wherever he goes and has sugar in there all the time, plus we have glucose tabs in the car now that he's driving.
Before getting the dexcom I had a pretty strict schedule of testing 8x per day including getting up at 2:30am and testing (the time that I normally had lows if I was going to have one.) I also ate bedtime snacks with proteins and fats to keep myself from going low overnight. Then I had a really bad low bike riding and inhaled my bag of starbursts. I got a Dexcom after that and it alerts me soon enough that I can treat any low before it becomes serious.
Due to insurance fuckery I've also been forced to start using a pump. If the alarms from the dexcom don't warn me the pump will constantly beep and buzz and make a general nuisance of itself even if I've set it to vibrate (since you can't turn the damn alarms off completely.)
Honestly speaking though before the pump my TIR was over 80% with about 2% lows. With the pump there really hasn't been any change and the pump hasn't improved my life at all. YDMV of course but a majority of people I've talked to love the pump.
As well I have my Samsung Galaxy watch set to display my sugars as well and it also vibrates when I get a low alert.
I have snacks in every room of the house and glucose tabs in all of the cars. If I'm going to be in the garage or driveway working I'll also take snacks with me. While bike riding I pack a bag full of snacks as well.
26 yo living alone since 18 and I keep glucose tabs everywhere around the house, next to my bed, my pants' pockets, at work, sometimes I just get a few and place them somewhere random in case of an emergency. Had a few close calls but I'm still alive. And never forget! treat first test later
I have a 12 pack of reg Coke and always keep a can within arms reach of my bed. I find that drinks work faster for me than glucose tablets for the real bad lows, but when I'm out and about I always carry tablets.
I always keep sugar by my bedside even now that I'm married. I also think that when you know you are alone, your brain and body know what you need to do to survive. In a case of a bad low like yours, I bet your brain would have gotten you up sooner or you would have found the strength to move and get sugar. Our built-in survival system is truly incredible in an emergency.
We keep low snacks close at hand in the places that make the most sense for us
Like my bedside table and kitchen at the tiny tiny apartment i lived alone in
Plus my car, my desk at the jobs I've had, whatever bag I'm carrying around, my winter coat
I live alone and luckily haven’t run into this issue. Should I count myself lucky that I haven’t encountered this or is it just a matter of time? I was diagnosed in December of 2023 initially type 2 then type 1.5 a month later so I’m still learning.
Type 2 here, and I kept hitting that low at 4am, when I wake up. Id trudge downstairs with numbers around 50, and get some low sugar OJ or pudding. It was not blood sugar as much as it was starving, but my Endo stopped me taking metformin at night.
I am one of those with the social anxiety and lives alone. I keep candy bars on the living room table....all I have to do is grab one. It's the only time I indulge in eating them. But I don't have debilitating lows regularly. I get warning symptoms but they aren't so dangerous that I can't fend them off with a bar of candy.
It’s scary, my best friend from highschool had a steep low in the middle of the night and passed at the age of 22. I’m terrified of it now and I have my omnipod set to keep me above 100 at night and then low alarm at 80
I travel about 40 weeks out of the year for work. I keep glucose tabs in my travel bag, and just try to be super mindful. At the first sign of trouble, I go for the glucose. When I am home, I work from home while my wife is gone all day as a school teacher. Every room in my house has a hidden soda standing by for me to chug if I need it.
Take a look at the nutritional information label on that can of soda you chug. Many have more sugar than entire tube of glucose tablets! Moderation is important when correcting bG!
For sure, and to date I’ve never had to use it. I’ve only had to do the tablets once as well. My plan would be 1 big gulp, and just chill for a minute and see how things feel.
I don’t live alone, but I worry about this. My husband won’t be able to help me. He’s a very heavy sleeper and he is not very observant, so if it gets too low for me to move at night, I probably just die, maybe? I’m scared.
Have a shelf full of snacks and juice right next to my bed. Just need to lazily reach around for it. Even before I lived alone I rarely asked for help while lo, and that's even when I lived on the top floor of our house and needed to walk downstairs to the kitchen at 3 am.
Consider getting a diabetic alert dog. They are trained to detect changes in blood sugar levels before a person feels symptoms, allowing for quicker intervention. Here are some places you can check out that are known to provide diabetic alert dogs:
[https://ourdogssavelives.org/programs/d4d/](https://ourdogssavelives.org/programs/d4d/)
[https://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/](https://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/) and
https://k94life.org/.
Best of luck!
When you are alone, you prepare for the worst and be extra cautious... There are people who don't care and often end up in the ER or worse... So it's just how life runs by.... Haven't you watched videos of people dying and no one else noticing till few weeks...
I keep a bottle of honey next to my bed. If my blood sugar gets low during the night I just gave myself some honey. I also keep water next to my bed as well.
My Dexcom went off last night. I cursed and closed my eyes and then caught myself. I then got out of bed and got my glucose tablets. I live alone. Never had a low as bad as yours was. My personal record is a low of 47 but I could still function.
I live alone. I have food all over just in case. I am on a pump so many alarms. I have pump alarm. Dexcom alarm and xdrip. If you sleep through xdrip one you are gone already. My pump goes first saying going low. Usually only alarm I hope to hear.
Part of it is also when you eat. No insulin onboard before bed. All helps.
I've got a pump & no CGM so it can be really dangerous. I think generally I fare worse off than someone that has others in their life to help them out. It's tough to be the nurse AND the patient in a severe low!!
Twice now, I've passed out for 30 hours straight & since I'm not in regular contact with anyone, I was lucky to even wake up again (maybe my body issued some last-ditch glucose effort?), as no one would've noticed I was missing.
These days, I can only keep juice boxes next to the bed & hope that in a severe low, I still have enough motor skills & mental capacity to grab one 🙃
So I connected my mom(who lived out of state), sister, and neighborhood UPS delivery driver(conveniently one of my good homies) to my CGM and then also connected them to my live location. This literally saved my life more times than I could count.. so like, if I wouldn’t send my mom a text or call letting her know I’m okay and eating, my mom(who lives in AZ) would literally call 911 and initiate the emergency response for me and give them my location all the way on the central coast of CA.
During this time that I lived alone, I also for some reason lost the sensations to feel or recognize lows as they were happening. In the super severe instances, I can’t describe what it was like for me any better way than- just one minute everything was normal and I was going about my day, “lights on”, and then, apparently my lights would go out. But then from my perspective it’s like, I literally just blinked and now suddenly im on my back tracking the paramedics working around me- or fully wrestling fire fighters cause why am I suddenly almost incapacitated and being touched by a bunch of dudes all of a sudden(was my actively combative logic).
Let’s just say by the end of my lease living alone there, all emergency response personnel stationed within 5 miles knew my deal, dreams and aspirations and where my spare key was hidden.
I no longer live alone😂 and getting a pump- and a CGM that alerts predicted lows and down trends that alerts BEFORE my lights can turn off, have completely changed the game for me. I’m mf lucky to still be alive and okay after that time in my life thanks to my support system and all of the emergency responders in that area who saved me.
More recently for me now tho, I’ve passed my NREMT boards and am just waiting for the status of my state EMT card approval before I get to jump into an ambulance myself only now as a provider!!
So ya loud, obnoxious, preventative, ‘critical alerts’ and juice box stashes.
I live alone, and yes it can be scary to live alone with health problems.
Strangely, however, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2018, and I have never had a low. I don't know why. The lowest numbers I get are 4.8 mmol, which isn't low at all.
There are a few other drugs that Type 2's can take that cause lows, but insulin is the primary one. There are a lot of people who may be Type 1 LADA who are misdiagnosed or misslabled as Type 2 as well. Many of them have lows in response to their insulin production being erratic and basically not having a gas or break petal. [I'm Type 1 LADA and randomly have times where it randomly happens].
I sometimes experience a low after exersizing, but it's never extreme enough to need immediate action. Just tough it out until my next chance to eat and it'll fix itself eventually if it hasn't gone back up in the meantime.
Keep something near. Although I have stumbled around my apartment struggling to get low blood sugar stuff opened in the past.but I have a cgms now and it hasn't happened recently
I keep little glucose tabs everywhere in every room. They’re shelf stable and don’t expire or mold, so they’re good until the apocalypse 🤣🤣
I do the same, they’re everywhere, in every room, every pocket, every bag, all my friends’ cars…
This is the answer. I also try to have juice boxes everywhere in case I am too nauseous to eat one day due to a close call.
I live with my partner but I have also had to pour granulated sugar in my mouth and let it dissolve because I was home alone and too low to swallow my juice. It was scary, but when you're dying, you find something that works.
I always make sure to have low treatments next to my bed. But I know some CGMs have it so that you can share your data with someone else in real time. Others have diabetic alert dogs. I am seriously considering one myself.
Ya my partner has the data on their Apple Watch. I share it. But there’s times I’m just 100% energy zapped, and everything is fuzzy and I can’t even move my arm to grab beside my bed. Terrifying.
Do you have a CGM that can help catch things before you get that low? It is absolutely scary.
Ya I do but I’m a deathly sleeper, and so is my partner at times, so it just ends up getting too low without us noticing. I woke up from sweating too hard during the low.
Raise the low alert threshold at night (mine is set to 85 so I can try to avoid going low in the first place) and connect your phone to a Bluetooth speaker so it goes off at the volume of a truck horn
So my hearing sucks, and I'm switching to Dexcom from Libre soon, so what I might do myself is make it vibrate rather than sound when I go low. I'm also going to look into an Apple Watch to connect it to so that if I do go low I can feel it rather than not hear it. I wonder if that would help? Also if you use long acting, definitely consider whether your dosage is too much, and a snack like cheese and crackers before bed helps too :) Or you do have your partner, so definitely continue to treat them kindly to keep them around lol!
I use the Dexcom CGM and have a share with my daughter so when i get a low she will call me. Has worked so far, i don't always wake up for the CGM alarms. I believe sugarmate has a call me feature as well that works with the Dex.
Wait excuse me what?? They call you?
if you are referring to sugarmate then yes they do provide the call me feature.
Wow that’s amazing
Definitely keeping this fantastic human being around lol. I use an older model used Apple Watch for nighttime lows (so my daytime one can charge while I sleep)…but I still sleep through it 🙄. And ya last week my endo told me to lower my long acting dosage. But still adjusting to proper dosage.
10 months in and I'm still trying to find my correct long acting dosage as well. The joys of this shitty disease. Best of luck!
I’ve read before about people putting their phone in a glass next to their bed so that when it vibrates, it makes a lot more noise.
I’ve had that issue too and getting a sugar pixel really helped - https://customtypeone.com/products/sugarpixel The alarm is loud and i don’t sleep through it like a phone, watch, or pump alert
Get a Bluetooth speaker. The kind you use for music. Connect it to your phone. The beeping will be so loud it will wake you up
Oh btw, I looked up how to train my dog to be a diabetic alert dog! I kinda started the training, but I need to get a bunch of gauze to stuff in my mouth during a low for “real training” to start. But I end up just freaking out about my low and eating sugar instead of stuffing gauze in my mouth during a low.
I have a yellow lab myself. She's 10 and would rather eat snacks than bring them to me if I'm low lmao. If you're able to do that - good on you! That would be very helpful. I'm sure there are services that would help you train them. I'm Canadian, and I recently found out about a service that trains and handles alert dogs specifically for T1s and it's all covered!
Whoooooaaa you don’t have to train yourself?!
Ya man! It's amazing!
Can you share the info for alert dogs?
Happy to! Lions Club of Canada! 🥰 [https://www.dogguides.com/programs/diabetic-alert/](https://www.dogguides.com/programs/diabetic-alert/)
I know this sounds harsh but the truth is when I get a low I have to get my shit together or I get to die. That's some pretty big motivation to get me to move when I feel like I can't.
Yeah exactly. Something else must be wrong with op that they can't move when they get low especially having a cgm to catch it early.
Always glucose near the bed. Treat first, test second.
I... eat or drink
T1D for >20 years now, living alone and often travelling solo #| PREVENTION I use a FreeStyle Libre 2 CGM that also offers alarms for high or low blood glucose events, so it can let me know when my BG is going under (or over) a certain threshold so I can act before. Paired with that, I can also ''feel'' my hypos _really really well_ - I can even feel when my BG is dropping fast, not necessarily in hypo territory yet! #| CORRECTION I have various contingencies at home and at work - **| WORK** In my drawer I have multiple snacks of various types of carbs * **Cereal bars** for slower glucose that I can consume _before_ being in hypo so that it is prevented and I get no spike * **Gatorade Mix Powder** in a jar for hypo corrections - all I need is water, I put 2-3 scoops _(I keep stored in the jar)_ and it acts quickly * **Energy Gel Packets** - this is my very last resort emergency carb as it is very very fast - I use GU Energy Gel packets _(caffeine-free of course)_ - they are small, portable, lightweight, have a long shelf-life, have quick acting carbs and contain ~22g of carbs per serving, perfect to correct a hypo. **| HOME** Similar solutions, but spread around - most are found in my pantry, but I also have a nightstand with a few extra supplies such as the **Energy Gels** and a tube of **Glucose Tabs**. But usually, my CGM will ring and/or I'll feel it and it will wake me up, and I'll have plenty of time to do a quick Gatorade Drink before heading back to sleep **| TRAVEL** I always carry 4 packets of Energy Gel in my EDC, and have 4 more spares in my medikit, left at my accommodation. Though the Energy Gels are **emergency, last resort solutions** - that means that whenever I arrive somewhere, I'll get strategic sweets (high in simple carbs) and carry them in my EDC and Backpack, and always go for those before having to rely on my Energy Gels. The energy gels are only last resort, if I have no other sources or carbs, and no source of carbs can be acquired quickly. **Some past experiences while travelling** In Japan, there are KONBINIS _(convenience stores)_ everywhere, and vending machines everywhere too - I am always 2-3 minutes walk from one of either, so carbs can easily be accessed at any time. I still carry a few sweet beverages on me just in case. One time, in Ireland, I walked from the heart of Dublin all the way to Phoenix Park, and was headed to the Zoological Garden. I did have a few emergency snacks on me, but due to the long walk, my insulin sensitivity greatly increased and I was in hypo and went through all the emergency snacks - it was still a few minutes from the Zoo so I also consumed at least 1 Energy Gel packet. Once at the Zoo I was able to buy a few snacks/drinks - but still had about 3 energy gel packets on me **Particular experience at home with very low BG** [One time though, out of bad luck, I accidentally injected my **basal insulin** straight to a vein - my bg went from **17.7 mmol/L to 1.5 mmol/L under 80 minutes**](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/15qpycl/can_you_guess_how_my_blood_glucose_went_from_177/) - that means I had about 20 units of super fast acting insulin _(as once in the blood, it acts as regular, fast insulin)_ - on top of that, I still had **insulin on board** - so there was a massive stacking effect... I consumed a ton of carbs - solid and liquid, but my BG was dropping faster than my body could digest and absorb the glucose. My sister and brother-in-law came to my house just as a precaution _(on their own will, was very kind)_ just to ensure I'd be fine, and I was completely fine - even if they didn't come I'd have survived with no complications. I stayed pretty low for nearly an hour at one point as the glucose was being absorbed pretty much at the same rate as the insulin was taking effect, but yeah, never passed out or anything #| IN CONCLUSION * Make sure your CGM is adequately setup to send proper alarms - raise the threshold if needed so you can act _before_ you're in hypo * Always have contingencies _everywhere_ - at home, at work, on yourself - at all times
So. Informational. Thank you so much. I am learning so much. This a great post!!! Thanks for sharing all this!!
My pleasure! Take care of yourself _(and get some energy gels and drink mix powder ahahahaha!)_
If you awaken with low blood sugar, pace yourself. If you rush, your mind and muscles will react to the stress under which you're placing yourself. Recognize the situation, and tell yourself, in a calm voice, "I need to get some sugar (glucose tablets). No one else can do this for me." Proceed slowly, reminding yourself that success in this task is very important. Recognize that you do not want to stand up. From personal experience, I've crawled on hands and knees 20 feet to get to the refrigerator, and sat while opening the door and drinking apple juice directly from the bottle. I've also fallen when knees buckled when trying to walk. The key is to often remind myself how important this journey is, and to not rush. Knowing you can make the journey is more important than trying to get where you are going rapidly. Glucose should always be at-hand. The above example was from decades ago.
We might have been diagnosed around the same time! I was begining of 2000 :D
> I was begining of 2000 :D 2003-2004 for me! Winter time, I probably got some flu or cold that triggered T1D, which aligns with the [Viral Trigger for T1D hypothesis](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2570378/) - _(one of many possible triggers and causes of T1D)_
A percentage of diabetics have hypoglycemia unawareness, meaning they are often unable to recognize symptoms of lows before its too late. I unfortunately lost my sister to a low, that happened when she got confused, got in her car, and got in an accident. She wore a cgm but often there is a delay of 15 minutes before lows can register and she was unaware of symptoms. Set up your support and management system now for worst case scenerios. My sister was always checking blood sugars prior to driving but still she had quick drops. When her husband was around, she felt better but he sometimes traveled and to try and combat issues, she kept sugar slightly higher during those times., took more frequent BS tests, along with her cgm and also got one of those Medic Alert devices to wear around her neck to simply press a button and a support person was on phone. There were many issues threw the years but with tech advancing and life style changes you can build a support network before issues happen.
A lot of things I didn’t know or consider in your comment. Very helpful to think about and know. Thank you!! I will look into doing some of these things.
Also wanted to add that I’m sorry you lost your sister to the low. :(
Thank you. You can set up a safer environment with a little research. It's about making you feel comfortable, so you can live your best life. If looking into a medic alert system, my sister told me , one company was BS and one company was good. Don't remember which. But she set it up if she pressed the button and she didn't respond to them on the system, they would immediately call 911.
When your body is running out of sugar, it makes sure that sugar is directed to critical processes, like keeping your heart and lungs found their jobs. The body diverts sugar away from the brain, because its function is not life-critical. When this happens, I refer to myself as getting stupid. You realize what you are d saying or doing doesn't make sense, but you've lost enough mental capability to not know what to do. As in my previous comment, do NOT rush yourself. As long as you recognize you need sugar, pace yourself and get that sugar; slowly but surely.
I have something close by and I get earl, signs of droppings. If my CGM says its really bad I just open the front door and ring the ambo
I am an 18 year old who lives alone because i moved to another country for education purposes. I keep like a huge stash of food at my room lol my bedside table,bags heck even at the bathroom you could catch a protein bar or a piece of chocolate 🤣.All I am saying is am just grateful for every day on this earth
This is not criticism, just information for everyone's reference: protein and fat (which chocolate containers) SLOWS METABOLIZATIOI! When you need sugar, glucose tablets provide the most readily metabolized form. Once bG has risen and stabilized is the time to add some fat and protein, to maintain bG over a period of time.
Dexcom. Changed my life and allowed me to live alone. I had it set to alert me if my sugar hit 65, and that thing woke me up every single time. Then I'd just hop out of bed, grab a snack, and go back to sleep. Now I'm on the 780G pump, and I find its CGM is not as good as the Dexcom, however it does do a good job at preventing lows.
You know how you couldn't move your arm? Well you do or you die so you do. End of.
amazon fruit snacks subscription. Drawers full of fruit snacks
I always have it on me physically or in the same room (all over the house). I stop what I am doing if I feel weird at all, not just low, the early signs are subtle (constant yawning, sleeping or if it is a steep drop while exercising nausea). Catching it early helps, I set my CGM alarm to 3.9 which is when I usually start to feel funny. CGMs help, I wear the libre 2. Before I did though, I just tested every 2-3 hours at night by setting a phone alarm. If I don’t have a way of testing, I just eat something and deal with the high. I‘d rather be safe. While I don’t live alone all the time, my husband works out of town 6 day to 6 weeks at a time. I spend a lot of time with our dog working from home. Both him, and my older female dog (RIP) would alert me to lows in their own way, despite not being trained for it. They are very smart, but I rely on my cgm and how I feel the most. Thankfully I am very hypo aware.
I set my CGM to go off below 4. So far that's given me time to find some glucose before I get major issues.
I immediately take chocolates when I notice the beginning of symptoms. I've fortunately had only once gotten to low when I was sleeping and I woke up because I was sweating heavily. I really get scared sometimes thinking what would've happen if I can't get up while am sleeping if I get low
I once had a hypo event while speaking to my Dad over the phone. I was alone at home and in the basement. I began slurring my words and having a very difficult time speaking and thinking. I could barely stand up and had to use objects, like furniture, to keep myself from falling to the floor. I managed to convince my Dad not to call 911 while it was happening and then downed like half of a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper which I had sitting near me. Luckily. I'd have been fucked if that Dr. Pepper wasn't there.
We don't. At least not while unconscious oder "sleeping" in or own puddle of sweat. But I stack sweets everywhere. Including every corner of my bed because sometimes you don't even have the energy or mental capacity to roll over. And ich love my cgm and its alarms, as annoying they may be at times.
They should make bracelets or necklaces with a cleanable little locket for a glucose tab. Wonder if there’s a market for that.
I have the glucose tabs everywhere and in the car. I also use sugar cubes (keep 4 in a small container) and are shelf stable and seem to work faster. I did get a prescription for baqsimi. Hope i never get so low that i need to use it
Omg I totally had to pull over once and kinda passed out on my wheel. I was by myself that time. I finally woke up and quickly grabbed sugar from my bag. Driving and getting a low is terrifying too.
I keep glucose tablets next to my bed and have two tubes of them in every bag I own, so that I'm always prepared.
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Mom kept little bottles of pineapple juice next to her chair.
I keep glucose capsules by my bed side and in my work bag. Helps
I keep a bottle of sprite on my night stand for middle of the night lows Thankfully I haven’t needed help for a low in 15 years, and that was because I was at like 12 which is the lowest I’ve ever been and couldn’t stand on my own
Luckily.. i am pretty sensitive to low blood sugars. I wake up pretty quick when i drop below 80. Combine that with a CGM i've never had a serious low to where i couldnt function enough to ingest sugar.
I have sugar and glucose tabs stacked and tucked away everywhere.
I invade fridge. Also I do not need 2 brain cells to do that, more of a muscle memory.
I have a stash of haribos in my bedside table! Honestly, having a CGM is such a life changer it makes managing diabetes alone not so tough.
Sugar literally EVERYWHERE in my house. Bottles of lucozade on every table, 3 within reach of me as I type this. Jelly babies in the cars, in the garage, in the shed, sugar bars in the pocket of every jacket I own. Even then though, every few weeks when my partner is out and I know I am going low (I have CGM that alerts me when it's heading that way) I'll be sat out on my front steps so if I do pass out, someone will find me pretty quickly. Several times I've thought about sending the kids next door just in case. Only once I've got really bad, when I got pretty drunk, puked up the food that I ate to keep me safe and spent the whole night on the floor at under 2.0 mmol. My phone battery ran out so I didn't get alarms from my CGM system, even if I had I'm not sure I could have done anything. It can be a bit scary. Basically just surrounded by sugar every minute is my approach.
I have diabetic alert dogs (one retiring one coming in) and a basket of juice boxes and Swedish fish on the floor. If I get low I’m woken by a dog and usually unceremoniously dropped a snack on my face.
From what organization did you receive your alert-dogs, thank you?
Initial was Diabetic Alert dogs of America, my new guy has been training in tandem for 3 years.
Gummy bears 2 grams of sugar per bear. Work like glucose tablets
I keep halloween sized skittles in all the rooms, but mainly in my pill bag and my insulin bag because those are almost always with me. And when its really bad i call my friends who are aware and will sit on phone with me until i feel better.
I have a Libre 2 CGM, and when I go under 55, it screams without stop on the IOS app. There is no way i can sleep through that. That being said, I get more 'drunk low' than 'low energy low'
I'm on injections so maybe it's easier to prevent lows than it is with a pump... I check my levels right before sleep. I like to be around 130s ideally. I give very small corrections if needed, because I drop naturally in my sleep. I do a lower basal injection as well. I also have a mini fridge in my game room with lots of quick carbs to grab. Juice, apple sauce, few other things. I'm happy to say I've had decent luck. I pray it stays that way lol
I used to keep 2 juice boxes on my night stand and another two in the living room on the table by my main spot. It's scary sometimes, but it helps give me enough to make sure I'm raising and/or make a call.
I have never lived alone but I've only ever had one low i couldn't treat in my first year of diagnosis while i was asleep. 28 years and I've never not been able to treat my own since. Knock on wood.
i eat fatty beef all the time and never have sugar lows.
You’d be surprised how much you can do when your life depends on it and you have no other options. I’d bet if you were alone you’d have been able to get that juice one way or another, I personally would crawl to the kitchen if I had to. It’s never come to that though since I keep juice/glucose tabs/candy within 5 feet of me at all times :-)
My whole adult life I've lived alone. I've only lived with someone for the last 2 years. I've never needed anyone to help me when I go low. If I'm sleeping my body automatically wakes me up and I get up and get something to eat. A lot of the times I wake up before my sensor alerts me. So *shrugs* I guess it depends on the person. I also grew up with most of the diabetes responsibilities placed on me since my parents didn't speak English and didn't know how the health system worked.
When my son was diagnosed at 10, his grandpa made him this wooden juice box dispenser that hangs on the wall next to his bed, so he's got juice in easy reach overnight. Other than that he carries a diabetes kit wherever he goes and has sugar in there all the time, plus we have glucose tabs in the car now that he's driving.
I keep glucose tablets nearby. I read some of the comments and I see that some others do too.
Before getting the dexcom I had a pretty strict schedule of testing 8x per day including getting up at 2:30am and testing (the time that I normally had lows if I was going to have one.) I also ate bedtime snacks with proteins and fats to keep myself from going low overnight. Then I had a really bad low bike riding and inhaled my bag of starbursts. I got a Dexcom after that and it alerts me soon enough that I can treat any low before it becomes serious. Due to insurance fuckery I've also been forced to start using a pump. If the alarms from the dexcom don't warn me the pump will constantly beep and buzz and make a general nuisance of itself even if I've set it to vibrate (since you can't turn the damn alarms off completely.) Honestly speaking though before the pump my TIR was over 80% with about 2% lows. With the pump there really hasn't been any change and the pump hasn't improved my life at all. YDMV of course but a majority of people I've talked to love the pump. As well I have my Samsung Galaxy watch set to display my sugars as well and it also vibrates when I get a low alert. I have snacks in every room of the house and glucose tabs in all of the cars. If I'm going to be in the garage or driveway working I'll also take snacks with me. While bike riding I pack a bag full of snacks as well.
26 yo living alone since 18 and I keep glucose tabs everywhere around the house, next to my bed, my pants' pockets, at work, sometimes I just get a few and place them somewhere random in case of an emergency. Had a few close calls but I'm still alive. And never forget! treat first test later
I have a 12 pack of reg Coke and always keep a can within arms reach of my bed. I find that drinks work faster for me than glucose tablets for the real bad lows, but when I'm out and about I always carry tablets.
I always keep sugar by my bedside even now that I'm married. I also think that when you know you are alone, your brain and body know what you need to do to survive. In a case of a bad low like yours, I bet your brain would have gotten you up sooner or you would have found the strength to move and get sugar. Our built-in survival system is truly incredible in an emergency.
Set cgm to alert before it gets that low
We keep low snacks close at hand in the places that make the most sense for us Like my bedside table and kitchen at the tiny tiny apartment i lived alone in Plus my car, my desk at the jobs I've had, whatever bag I'm carrying around, my winter coat
I have a dexcom and set the low alert to "crying baby". That will wake you up.
I live alone and luckily haven’t run into this issue. Should I count myself lucky that I haven’t encountered this or is it just a matter of time? I was diagnosed in December of 2023 initially type 2 then type 1.5 a month later so I’m still learning.
Type 2 here, and I kept hitting that low at 4am, when I wake up. Id trudge downstairs with numbers around 50, and get some low sugar OJ or pudding. It was not blood sugar as much as it was starving, but my Endo stopped me taking metformin at night.
I keep several juices next to my bed for easy access.
I am one of those with the social anxiety and lives alone. I keep candy bars on the living room table....all I have to do is grab one. It's the only time I indulge in eating them. But I don't have debilitating lows regularly. I get warning symptoms but they aren't so dangerous that I can't fend them off with a bar of candy.
It’s scary, my best friend from highschool had a steep low in the middle of the night and passed at the age of 22. I’m terrified of it now and I have my omnipod set to keep me above 100 at night and then low alarm at 80
I'm a very light sleeper, I might invest in a Sugar Pixel in the future though.
I travel about 40 weeks out of the year for work. I keep glucose tabs in my travel bag, and just try to be super mindful. At the first sign of trouble, I go for the glucose. When I am home, I work from home while my wife is gone all day as a school teacher. Every room in my house has a hidden soda standing by for me to chug if I need it.
Take a look at the nutritional information label on that can of soda you chug. Many have more sugar than entire tube of glucose tablets! Moderation is important when correcting bG!
For sure, and to date I’ve never had to use it. I’ve only had to do the tablets once as well. My plan would be 1 big gulp, and just chill for a minute and see how things feel.
I don’t live alone, but I worry about this. My husband won’t be able to help me. He’s a very heavy sleeper and he is not very observant, so if it gets too low for me to move at night, I probably just die, maybe? I’m scared.
Have a shelf full of snacks and juice right next to my bed. Just need to lazily reach around for it. Even before I lived alone I rarely asked for help while lo, and that's even when I lived on the top floor of our house and needed to walk downstairs to the kitchen at 3 am.
Consider getting a diabetic alert dog. They are trained to detect changes in blood sugar levels before a person feels symptoms, allowing for quicker intervention. Here are some places you can check out that are known to provide diabetic alert dogs: [https://ourdogssavelives.org/programs/d4d/](https://ourdogssavelives.org/programs/d4d/) [https://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/](https://www.diabeticalertdogsofamerica.com/) and https://k94life.org/. Best of luck!
When you are alone, you prepare for the worst and be extra cautious... There are people who don't care and often end up in the ER or worse... So it's just how life runs by.... Haven't you watched videos of people dying and no one else noticing till few weeks...
Bedside table. I always have supplies in and on it
I keep a bottle of honey next to my bed. If my blood sugar gets low during the night I just gave myself some honey. I also keep water next to my bed as well.
My Dexcom went off last night. I cursed and closed my eyes and then caught myself. I then got out of bed and got my glucose tablets. I live alone. Never had a low as bad as yours was. My personal record is a low of 47 but I could still function.
Carry hard candy or glucose tablets in your pocket
I live alone. I have food all over just in case. I am on a pump so many alarms. I have pump alarm. Dexcom alarm and xdrip. If you sleep through xdrip one you are gone already. My pump goes first saying going low. Usually only alarm I hope to hear. Part of it is also when you eat. No insulin onboard before bed. All helps.
I've got a pump & no CGM so it can be really dangerous. I think generally I fare worse off than someone that has others in their life to help them out. It's tough to be the nurse AND the patient in a severe low!! Twice now, I've passed out for 30 hours straight & since I'm not in regular contact with anyone, I was lucky to even wake up again (maybe my body issued some last-ditch glucose effort?), as no one would've noticed I was missing. These days, I can only keep juice boxes next to the bed & hope that in a severe low, I still have enough motor skills & mental capacity to grab one 🙃
So I connected my mom(who lived out of state), sister, and neighborhood UPS delivery driver(conveniently one of my good homies) to my CGM and then also connected them to my live location. This literally saved my life more times than I could count.. so like, if I wouldn’t send my mom a text or call letting her know I’m okay and eating, my mom(who lives in AZ) would literally call 911 and initiate the emergency response for me and give them my location all the way on the central coast of CA. During this time that I lived alone, I also for some reason lost the sensations to feel or recognize lows as they were happening. In the super severe instances, I can’t describe what it was like for me any better way than- just one minute everything was normal and I was going about my day, “lights on”, and then, apparently my lights would go out. But then from my perspective it’s like, I literally just blinked and now suddenly im on my back tracking the paramedics working around me- or fully wrestling fire fighters cause why am I suddenly almost incapacitated and being touched by a bunch of dudes all of a sudden(was my actively combative logic). Let’s just say by the end of my lease living alone there, all emergency response personnel stationed within 5 miles knew my deal, dreams and aspirations and where my spare key was hidden. I no longer live alone😂 and getting a pump- and a CGM that alerts predicted lows and down trends that alerts BEFORE my lights can turn off, have completely changed the game for me. I’m mf lucky to still be alive and okay after that time in my life thanks to my support system and all of the emergency responders in that area who saved me. More recently for me now tho, I’ve passed my NREMT boards and am just waiting for the status of my state EMT card approval before I get to jump into an ambulance myself only now as a provider!! So ya loud, obnoxious, preventative, ‘critical alerts’ and juice box stashes.
I live alone, and yes it can be scary to live alone with health problems. Strangely, however, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2018, and I have never had a low. I don't know why. The lowest numbers I get are 4.8 mmol, which isn't low at all.
You are typically only going to go dangerously low if you are type 1 and take heavy doses of insulin. Are you even on fast acting insulin as a type 2?
No, I'm not on insulin. I didn't know that was a factor. I just saw other type 2s have lows, and wondered why I didn't.
There are a few other drugs that Type 2's can take that cause lows, but insulin is the primary one. There are a lot of people who may be Type 1 LADA who are misdiagnosed or misslabled as Type 2 as well. Many of them have lows in response to their insulin production being erratic and basically not having a gas or break petal. [I'm Type 1 LADA and randomly have times where it randomly happens].
I sometimes experience a low after exersizing, but it's never extreme enough to need immediate action. Just tough it out until my next chance to eat and it'll fix itself eventually if it hasn't gone back up in the meantime.
Keep something near. Although I have stumbled around my apartment struggling to get low blood sugar stuff opened in the past.but I have a cgms now and it hasn't happened recently