Diabetes Blog – Happy-Medium.net

I had a crazy low recently. They don’t happen very often anymore, but on the rare occasions when they do, they’re scary.

It’s hard to describe it to someone who’s never experienced this before. It’s one of those situations where you’re cognizant enough to know what’s happening, but you have to fight like hell to actually perform the task you need to perform to maintain consciousness.

The reason why it happened? Doesn’t matter. Sometimes it’s a more-than-perfectly working infusion site. Sometimes it’s human error. Sometimes it’s unexpected things popping up at the wrong time, a perfect storm.

It doesn’t matter. Not every day will be perfect. Let me repeat that again: Not every day will be perfect.

I tell people who know nothing or next to nothing about diabetes that hypoglycemia, especially this kind of low, is a near death experience. Especially when you’re alone in the house, having difficulty maintaining your balance, using every ounce of energy to get the will to get fast-acting carbs into your system, then hoping they’ll work faster than ever before.

It’s every bit as scary as that sounds.

Technology and Bluetooth options and careful management can only take us so far. As long as there’s insulin and an imperfect way to measure and dose, all of us living with this condition will be on vigilant alert, cautiously guarding against the next time.

And preparing for the possibility that it might happen anyway.