“CRANKY LOWS”: HOW DO YOU MANAGE/DEAL WITH THEM?

A post I read today inspires this question.

Over my half century of living with diabetes I’ve experienced thousands of low blood sugars. Some have been quite severe. Fortunately, my lows are much fewer in severity now that I Sugar Surf. But I still have them from time to time. Sugar Surfing™ has saved me. Low blood sugars change our emotional tone. This can happen in many ways. Lows can take us from "giddy" to morose, and everything in between. Over time we develop ways to deal with this. But sometimes our lows are exposed to others. How do you try to manage your emotions in your interactions with others when you're hypoglycemic? Hopefully these interactions are occurring as you treat yourself to raise a slowly downward trending blood sugar...or pull yourself out of a double arrow downward hypoglycemic nose dive? Some lows creep up on us. We may not be checking our BG often enough (glancing at your CGM, standard BG finger-stick or now a flash meter). We might confuse the early signs of a low BG with fatigue or other seemingly rational reasons for being a bit out of sorts. One agreement I made with my wife years ago was to create a code word which she would use and I would unconditionally agree to check my BG when she suspected I was low. This was in the pre-Sugar Surfing era. It worked. But nothing is perfect. Once recently I quarreled with her when she used the maneuver and I still argued. I was wrong. She was right. My point is that low blood sugar plays games with our judgment. We do get short tempered and with age and experience most of us develop effective ways to prevent and manage these episodes whenever they arise.

No independent person likes to feel vulnerable or dependent on others. Lows can and do create a short term dependency state. Most of us can effectively manage our own lows, often without others knowing about it (at least in the pre-Share era!). Human interactions are impacted by blood sugar. This is best categorized as a short term complication of diabetes. It is not insignificant and is most likely the earliest “complication” we must learn to navigate. What stories or advice can you share about yourself or your loved one in regards to how you manage the behavioral or emotional consequences of a brief (or profound) low blood sugar? Do you have a story about being on the receiving end of someone else’s hypoglycemic tirade or hurtful commentary?

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