The Low Buzz

Most of the time, I struggle to pre-bolus for lunch appropriately and end up frustrated because the insulin takes so long to act. The other day, my body served up an unpleasant surprise and a new symptom.

I bolus for lunch 20-30 minutes before I want to eat usually. I took insulin for my lunch and went back to finish the project I’d been working on. Less than 10 minutes later, my arms felt weak and I felt a slight tremble in my stomach muscles.

“I must be dropping,” I thought and checked my Dexcom. It showed 78 with a diagonal arrow down. “Guess I should eat now.”

As I pushed my chair back from my desk, I realized that I couldn’t hear anything but a low-pitched buzzing sound. My music was still playing, but that buzz was not only a sound but a feeling in my head. Then my Dexcom joined in with it’s different tone buzz, sharing double down arrows.

I felt like there was a bubble around my head as I went to go reheat my leftover chili. I didn’t want to wait for the real food to kick in so I popped a piece of candy and had to lean on the table while my food warmed in the microwave.

When I checked my Dexcom again it just said LOW.

I barely tasted my lunch I scarfed it down so quickly, it’s a wonder I didn’t choke. After finishing the chili and downing an entire glass of cold water (because I was hot) I had to force myself to not eat more food. Force myself to wait.

If you have a functioning pancreas, you may not understand that low blood sugar isn’t just a thing you get when you’re hungry. It can be an intense and dangerous situation. Because there is no way to perfectly time when my lunch and my insulin dose will meet each other in my blood stream, it’s something that can and will happen occasionally.

Symptoms of hypoglycemia (or low blood sugar) commonly include:

• Confusion
• Double or blurred vision (for me this is also a symptom of high blood sugar)
• Shakiness
• Sweating
• Hunger
• Anxiety

In some severe situation it can also cause seizures and loss of consciousness. (For more on symptoms, go here.)

If you live with diabetes, you learn that highs and lows can also present with strange symptoms that are often unique to you. For me, those now include buzzing in my head for lows.

Other low symptoms I’ve experienced include:

• Extreme loss of attention span (easily distracted)
• Hot sweating
• Cold sweating
• Shivers (different feeling from shakey)
• Feeling of trembling in my core (have heard this described by as “vibrating” by others)
• Difficulty gripping or picking things up

Every low blood sugar is different for me, and some can be symptom-free until very low.

If you live with diabetes, do you experience any strange symptoms of low blood sugar (or high blood sugar)?