ASK GINGER - My symptoms for hypoglycemia are always different!

Dear Ginger,

I don’t always realize I’m low until I’m down at like 40 or 30, and I try to watch out for the symptoms, but sometimes I get a headache or feel shaky or dizzy, but it seems like every time I’m low feels different. I don’t have the same symptoms every time. Is that normal?


-Jamie

Hey Jamie,

You’re bringing up a really great point, because while there are some very typical and common symptoms of hypoglycemia, when it comes down to it, your body may react and feel differently at different times of day or during different activities than another person’s body. The symptoms of hypoglycemia that are usually listed are just the most common, but none of our bodies are the same, so you have to figure out YOUR most common symptoms!

I really can't stand having low blood sugars, and I never want to have a diabetic seizure and have someone call an ambulance for me, so I try to pay attention to patterns.

For example:


When I’m on the tredmill walking: the first thing I’ve noticed when I’m dropping while walking is that my quadriceps (the muscle on the front of my thigh) starts to feel numb and tingles. My head also feels SO HEAVY and I just want to let it drop back and stare at the ceiling! I also notice that no matter how slow I reduce the speed to, I feel like I’m walking incredibly fast. Meanwhile, I don’t feel noticeable hot or shaky—at least, not at first—so I can’t use those typical symptoms to help me notice hypoglycemia.

When I’m asleep: when I wake up in the middle of the night, I know something is off. The problem I used to have in noticing that it was hypoglycemia was that I’m laying so still in my bed that I’m not shaky or dizzy yet! It isn’t until I get out of bed and start walking around that I realize how low I am. Now I know that if I wake up for no clear reason during the night, I should probably get up right away and check my blood sugar. 8 times out of ten when I wake up and check, my blood sugar turns out to be low.

When I’m driving: when I’m driving, again I’m very still so I don’t feel very shaky or dizzy. What I have noticed is that I suddenly have a lot of trouble focusing on the road. My eyes and my mind just seem to want to drift off and relax. This is obviously really dangerous. When I feel this suddenly, I pull over, grab the glucose tabs I keep in my glove compartment and let it come back up. If for some reason I don’t have glucose with me and I’m VERY near to a gas station, I put every last bit of my attention on the road so I can focus.

When I’m weight lifting: when I’m working out, I just feel very weak when my blood starts to drop. It’s a different feeling than normal tiredness and fatigue, it’s like someone suddenly sucked my will to move quickly or powerfully. I keep glucose tabs with me in my gym bag and in a cupboard at my gym, so there's never any reason why I can't stop for three minutes, test my blood sugar and grab glucose if I need to. Dropping low during a workout is SO ANNOYING to me, so I try really hard to make sure I plan well to prevent it, so I can enjoy it and have fun!