Monday, 2 June 2014

How We Deal with Hypo's

The thing that fills me with the most dread, probably my biggest fear in the world is Jack having a huge hypo. Hypo means that a diabetic persons sugar levels go below 3.9. Now if this is recognised and dealt with quickly then it is easily treatable, however failing to recognise warning signs could cause a temporary coma.
 The Boys were so excited to have a tube carriage to themselves.




They key as a parent; is recognising the signs, generally when Jacks blood sugar levels go low he becomes stroppy. At times quite nasty, when he is very low. In the early days he was unable to recognise the signs, this always meant an argument would ensue to get him to test his sugar. We are very fortunate that although there has been some scary moments he has never gone low enough to be hospitalised. In fact fortunately we have only had 2 incidents where he was extremely low "that I would rather not experience again" on these occasions Jack has really worried me.


























On these 2 occasions; both due to Jack  unexpectedly exercising after food, his eyes glassed over and it was as if he wasn't fully conscious. Both incidents were very scary. In these situations the only thing that help is high sugar drinks like full fat coke or lucozade.  He was totally unable to eat and would not allow us to give him glucogel, which is designed to treat hypo's. Yet I can get him to drink.



Minor Hypo's should be avoided too, but when you are as active and sporty as Jack, it is very difficult to calculate some days. I am pleased to say, that these days, he is able to recognise the signs. Generally he feels hungry, this usually means his sugar levels are dropping. Once he recognises the sign Jack is able to test his sugar and if he is low; take a glucose tablet or eat something. Then wait for five minutes and re-test his sugar to ensure his sugar has gone up, if it had not then take another glucose tablet.

It is important to always be prepared, to be ready for these occasions I always ensure I travel with; Glucose tablets, lucozade "if we are away, I always carry a bottle for emergencies" energy drink for general sporting activity, and snacks. Fruit is better as it has slow releasing sugar rather than sweets which create an instant sugar rush, although they can be handy during a hypo.

We are so lucky that Jack is able to recognise the signs and has the sense to listen to his body and eat when he needs to. I just hope he continues to be this way into his teenage years.



8 comments:

  1. Lows are hard, and boy, spontaneous exercise/activity is like a magnet for them, isn't it? But you sure can't take spontaneous activity out of life! Sounds like you guys are handling it well and rolling with it as well as any of the rest of us. Thanks for sharing this, Sarah.

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  2. Hi Scott, yes you are right they are. And thank you, I think we do ok most of the time.
    Sport is so important and my children are very sporty. At least I am not trying to drag them away from games consoles. So in that respect I supose I am lucky to have the challenge of dealing with sports, as I do believe it is the key to Jacks long term health.

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  3. Great pics! Looks like they enjoyed themselves. x

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    1. Yes they did thank you Tracey, they loved having the Train Carriage to themselves x

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  4. This must be really scary as a parent, but it sounds like you both manage it well. great post

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    1. Thank you Zena, it was at first, but its like anything you just get used to it, I always think the diagnosis could have been something much worse, so in that sense we are lucky xx

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  5. Wow that must be really scary, at least he can tell from his body. Great happy photos

    Thank you for linking up

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  6. Yes, we are so lucky that he can tell, some teenagers struggle x

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment, I love to read them and will always reply to any questions, Many Thanks Sarah x