What does it feel like to have low blood sugar?

A list of typical symptoms can be found here. In general, diabetics who take too much insulin or oral medications and then don’t eat enough are the only people to feel hypoglycemia. It is the rare normal individual who can actually become truly hypoglycemic. There is a lore that people love to state “I’m hypoglycemic, or, I have low blood sugar.”, but typically, that isn’t the case.

I know what it is but I want people to express their feelings on how it feels

I find it could affect me in one of two ways.

Sudden chills, a little weakness, I get jittery
The other way, especially if sugar crashes quickly, I might have trouble seeing, sometimes it will seem the same way it feels if you look at the sun too long, like a spot on the retina.
You can get disoriented too, if it goes down too far, too fast.

It’s not really pleasant and it could be dangerous

SRM

My husband gets cranky, and if it continues his thinking isn’t very clear or logical.

I get sensitive/irritable and physically shaky.

I very rarely experience this (low metabolism – can go a long time without food), but when I do, I’m irritable, light-headed and absent-minded.

My husband gets it a lot (very high metabolism – lucky git) and he gets moody, cranky, confused, etc. As soon as he has a piece of jam on toast, he’s back to normal though.

I think I might be hypoglycemic.

Headaches, disorientation, confusion, jittery feeling, odd/slurred speech, feeling like you’re going to pass out, it’s not a pleasant feeling.

Scary thing is, that having high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) have very similar symptoms, but also includes, drowsiness, hungriness, constant thirst and urination, but the only way you’d be able to tell if you were hyper or hypo is to use a glucometer.

I’m Type II though, not Type I.

I literally break out in a cold sweat & when I state sweat, that is exactly what I mean. My shirt can look like I had just lightly soaked it in water and it is drying out, all in about 60 seconds! I get like this euphoria feeling, the room doesn’t spin, but I seem like I am off balance with everything.

I also shake and have experienced heart palpitations. I have never passed out, but have fallen to my knees from it. I have learned to eat breakfast, because if I don’t, I experience those symptoms. Those symptoms make me feel awful, like I don’t know whether to eat from hunger, because I don’t feel hungry, or to throw up, because I think I’ll feel better. It’s just an awful feeling and scary.

It’s similar to the feeling one gets when they have been sitting for a long time and then suddenly stand up causing the blood to rush to (from?) the head. It also feels similar to a state of severe anxiety, and it can be hard to distinguish from anxiety. My heart beats, I get irritable, and I cannot focus on the task at hand.

Even if there was a cure, I’ll still know this unexplainable feeling. Everything was heavy, my arms and legs did not function to their capability. Speaking was much harder, I tend to slur my words if I am hypo. My heart goes shallow, as if I’ve just encountered a traumatic shock to the system. My fingers shake badly, I can’t grip things properly either. I’ll try to open a bottle with a screw-on cap (A very simple task, when normal) and I can’t manage it without using my wrists. I get bouts of pure anger, sadness or frustration. I cannot help it but I get so much pent up anger. It fades with the hypo but it shocks me all the same that my body allows this to happen. And the hunger is a whole different ball game. Ravenous, starved, greedy. I do tend to go into a trance. I NEED to eat. No matter how self-conscious I am or what company I am holding it’s an unclenchable urge. If I do not I will go in a frenzy, I will destroy cities and monuments in my path.

The first time it happened to me I could not believe that my body could betray me this way. I thought” this could not be happening to me.” But turns out I’m not so special in the physical sense. My arms become like rubber bands. I can’t hold on to anything, my thinking becomes irrational, however I’m not combative just a little stubborn. I what to do the right things but can’t, If it’s really bad my legs will give out on me. The world sometimes starts falling apart around me like everything is under going constructions I guess that’s the part affecting the central vision. I’m sweating up a storm and my clothes become damp. Afterwards when I’ve eaten, I’m exhausted. It’s like an unwanted invasive high then you crash. This shows me how important glucose is to the brian without it the systems goes haywire and will collaspe. The worst case senerio is progression to convulsions, then sezures. Finding a balance is so important! constantly allowing your self to go the other way, hyperglycemic, can lead to other horrors; too many to name here but just think of glass shards contantly flowing through your blood vessels and vital organs.

Parts of what I have read here sound like something that I go through from time to time. I have been told that I have low blood pressure, so all this time I’ve been thinking that these episodes were my BP dropping. My kids or husband would make me a peanut butter sandwich and sprinkle salt on it. YUK. But that with a glass of ice water always works. I went to my heart Dr and he says he does not think it’s my BP but a sugar problem.
Tonight I was cleaning and putting up Christmas decorations when it happened again. Kind of weak feeling, a little dizzy. Had to sit before my jello legs gave out. Arms turning to rubber. Getting confused as to what it was I was doing, and in general not thinking straight. (There have been times it was so bad I couldn’t lift my head)
I checked my BP tonight and it was 111/76 and my pulse was 74. Those are pretty normal for me.
I am wondering because when my Dr checks my blood sugar it always seems fine….do you need a prescription for a glucose monitor and supplies? I have ruled out the BP thing on my own, I guess it’s up to me to figure out if it’s a sugar problem and then inform the Dr. I’m tired of them taking their sweet time. This is my health and I want results.