losing muscle control during lows

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naniwa Posted: Mon, Dec 22 2008 11:14 AM

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This has happened to me twice, the second time this weekend.

It's not a seizure, though that has happened, too. Many years ago I had a low that made me unable to walk. I could still move my arms and got to some sugar by pulling myself down the hall and eating things that were low in the fridge. Always kept sugar on my bedside table after that one.

The low I had on Sunday knocked out both my arms and legs. They were shaky, erratic, gelatinous. I ate the stuff I had bedside (9:00am, BG of 41) put pump on Suspend, then woke at 11:00 when a friend called. Couldn't get to the phone, BG of 50. Ate more, passed out again, was only able walk when I woke at 3:00 (BG 81).

What else is going on here? My arms were pretty unusable and I was again unable to walk.

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Short-Jan replied on Mon, Dec 22 2008 4:57 PM

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Very often, if I don't catch a low in time, I become very spastic and lose control of both my arms and legs. I've fallen out of chairs and have ended up on the floor. Fortunately this has rarely happened when I was alone. It's serious because even if I'm aware of what to do, getting to fast acting carbs and the length of time it takes to bring my bg back up creates the problem. Even though I have glucose tabs, gel and power bars in every coat pocket, I still have to be physically able to get to them. I'm sorry that I can't offer a solution for you.I agree it's very frightening.

Jan

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lebrecht replied on Mon, Dec 22 2008 8:50 PM

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I think that it is VERY important to TEST often.

I do.......I test every 15 minutes after a low, and keep doing this until I reach a BS of 100.   I use jelly beans ( the jelly belly ones) which I carry and keep all over the house, and car, and my purse, for these emergencies. I find they are really fast to act and work best for me.

I always test before a meal then again 2 hours after.....I always test before I get into my car to drive any where,

OKAY call me a fanatic? YES DEFINITELY.  I try to prevent those extreme lows and catch them at 60 rather than 40.

So needless to say I believe in a lot of testing.   I am not on a pump but take 4 shots a day.  Lantus once, and humalog before every meal.

Anne

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naniwa replied on Tue, Dec 23 2008 11:23 AM

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Anne,

I test 8-12 times a day. The before-and-two-hours-after thing is pretty standard for type 1s. And I've been way lower than 41 plenty of times so it wasn't a "severe low" on my scale. Just the symptoms were severe.

Short-Jan,

Glad I'm not the only one. This last one made me want to see a neurologist. Talk about helplessness! My cat did what he could ;-) but then my spastic legs kicked him by mistake :-(  Still, he tried to groom me.

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Short-Jan replied on Tue, Dec 23 2008 2:32 PM

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Yeah, I test at least five to six times a day, and more if I have any reason to be concerned. I use multiple injections, but even with the very frequent testing can still run into problems because of minor things like eating a meal a half hour earlier or later than normal. (I take Novolog just before I start to eat.)

I hope your cat forgave you for the errant kick. Eight years ago my partner walked into our apartment to find me passed out on the living room carpet with one cat sitting on my back and the other one crying by my head. I had cleared snow off of my car and passed out once I got back into the apartment. They tried to help.

Hope we have far fewer of these spastic lows in the future.

Jan