Has Anyone Ever Had Severe Hypo Due To Cold Exposure ?
I had a severe hypo last night right before I was going to bed, I felt awful and checked my Libre and had an arrow straight down as in fast drop, so did blood stick I was at 5.5 (99), then 8 min later I was down to 4.3 (77) blood stick, so I had to use a sugar tab, 5 min after sugar tab I was down to 4.0 (72) and once it came up 15 min later I took social tea cookies (I am not home, so do not have much to help me). When I did go to bed I was at 5.8 (104) There is no fridge or stove here. This… read more
Hi @A DiabetesTeam Member,
Just something I learned camping in the winter in subfreezing temperatures (specifically 9f / -13c or lower).
2 subzero sleeping bags, one inside the other will keep you toasty, but only if you follow these additional steps.
Take off all your clothes and go to bed nude or with all clean and dry clothes, including socks. Put an additional throw blanket at feet. And most important, put a vapor barrier like a shower curtain or thick plastic table cloth under the sleeping bag. Wear a watch cap if your head is out.
Snuggling with a steady in that sleeping bag combo, doesn't hurt and can be fun, but watch out for getting sweaty. Any dampness can lead to feeling miserably cold.
Oh yeah, my steady is my Bride. At home she normally calls me her heater, as she puts her icy cold feet and hands against my back or other areas sensitive to the cold. It can dampen the mood, temporarily. But I show her and don't even flinch, and tell her bring it on.
As newlyweds, our oldest is only almost 49. We enjoy honeymoons many times a year. Since I retired, almost 6 months ago, we try to spend most weekends in bed. We were at over 500 honeymoons then of at least 3-5 Days. Now over 520. Every day is an adventure.
Keep warm. Baby steps.
Never give up, never surrender, never ever.
You got this.
Have a wonderful day.
@A DiabetesTeam Member yes, I thought of mentioning that afterwards
The article I cited didn't even guess if it was the cold that caused the hypo or the hypo that caused the cold simply noted that both were noted in half the cases.
I took an extensive look (tried to search a few different ways) and just doesn't look like anyone has studied the phenomena or haven't thought to study the question about cold being related to hypo's.
There is a ton of studies where they artificially induced a hypo (insulin injection) and then subjected the person to cold but it was to look at how the Thyroid reacted (didn't read enough to see what they were looking for), but in all those studies both the hypo and the cold were "introduced" so totally not pertinent to what Johanne was talking about.
A study in november 2014, available in National Library of Medicine published in Journal Medicine
(Baltimore) had some interesting results.,
Haemoglobin levels decrease in summer or warm season and increase in winter or cold season.
For people with T1-HbA1c high winter low summer,more severe hypos in summer than winter
For people without diabetes-more severe hypos in summer than winter
For people with T2-severe hypo and HbA1c levels did not differ significantly with temperature changes
Both sepsis and bg control can strongly affect the occurrence of severe hypos.
@A DiabetesTeam Member the cold sensitivity in extremities is common in the majority of diabetics
The small blood vessels in the extremities are some of the first to be damaged by excess blood sugar (and you can be decently still controlled and still effected) resulting in less then ideal circulation which leaves hands/feet feeling "cold"
Statistically 1 in 2 (50%) of all diabetics will experience some degree of reduced circulation in the extremities during the course of the disease.
Hey Jo so you said you ate a sugar tab is that the DEX 4 ones? If so you were suppose to treat with 4 of those which would be 16 grams total of carbs which is what we were taught to treat in that amount well 15 g of carbs to be exact so that might have been why your blood sugar didn't go up as fast as it should have. As for the temperature for myself I go the opposite direction with too much heat I will drop fast and more so if I get hot and sweaty unless if you were shaking with chills that maybe could have been a possibility that you were causing your blood sugars to drop cause of the shakes? Not sure but I personally never experienced that unless your body is stressed somewhat you know different place and routine can throw a diabetic off big time so there could be many factors going on here I think. Not sure if I was any help and hope you get home soon so you can warm up ughhh no fun. Luv ya sis....😊
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