Scary Low

Last night was rather scary. The boyfriend and I were seeing a movie, and I felt fine throughout. As we left the theater and walked down the hall back towards the concession stands I began to feel very hot and dizzy all of a sudden. And my lips were numb. (We all know what that means….)

Upon checking my purse I realized I had no more glucose tablets or jelly beans inside of it. By the time we got halfway down the hall I had to take my boyfriend’s hand – so I wouldn’t stumble into a wall. By the time we got to the lobby I had to sit down – I couldn’t go any further.

He went to get me a regular soda while I tried not to fall asleep (pass out?) on the bench I was sitting on. I drank about half to two-thirds of it before we left the mall. I was sure I felt better. After all, I’d had like 15 oz. of regular soda!

Nope. I made it to the car and felt very light-headed again. Colors started blending together until I couldn’t see clearly. That was scary enough that I started to cry. Then when my boyfriend asked if I was ok (several times), all I could do in response was cry. But I didn’t think I could drink too much more soda – I felt like if I drank more that quickly I’d throw up (we’d been drinking a diet soda throughout the movie, so I was rather full).

Eventually we got home and only then did it occur to me to check my blood sugar. Still only 61.

I ate another 20g of CHO. And only went up to 71. Waited a bit, thinking there’s no way I could still be practically low. Finally went up to 91. I had a handful of jelly beans, not wanting to go to bed under 100.

Because it took me so long to come up (and so many grams of carbs), and because I had such an intense reaction (especially the weird visual symptoms), I feel safe in saying that had I tested in the theater, my meter would have read LO. I’ve been in the 30s dozens of times in my life with nowhere CLOSE to those symptoms. No, I’m fairly sure I *should* have passed out/had a seizure, but escaped it by some good luck.

I’ve gone 19 1/2 years without losing consciousness or having a seizure due to hypoglycemia. I think my time is coming. I can’t escape it forever.