Let’s talk hypos. How do they impact your life?
Hypoglycaemia (also known as hypos or lows) is a condition that occurs when your blood glucose level (BGL) has dropped too low, below 4mmol/L. Hypos are a part of life for many people living with diabetes who use insulin.
In Australia, about 400,000 people use insulin to help manage their diabetes.
According to research a person with type 1 diabetes averages 138 hypos per year. Of course, you may have more, or maybe less than this – everyone’s experience is different.
Living with diabetes can be challenging. Call our Helpline on 1800 177 055 if you need help or want to talk.
Time adds up
It can people an average of about 15 minutes to recover from a hypo. However, it may take some people more or less time than this.
Costs add up
Jelly beans, juice, glucose tabs or a soft drink – which fast-acting carbohydrate do you turn to when you have a hypo?
If you drink a juice box every hypo, in one year you will have spent about $207!
Join the conversation – #HyposAddUp
Tell us about your experiences with hypos. Do hypos interrupt your daily life? We’d love to hear your story on our social media pages.
For the chance to win one of five $100 gift vouchers, tell us how your hypos add up. Use the hashtag #hyposaddup and post on your socials. Terms and conditions apply.
Previous campaigns
The Lowdown #HyposHappen 6pm QLD time/ 7pm AEST Panel Discussion tonight on diabetes_australia FB page.
Freya tries very hard to make living with type 1 diabetes look easy. She doesn’t like to make a fuss or be seen to be difficult. Unfortunately diabetes doesn’t play nice. One of the scariest and most dangerous immediate things that can happen is a severe hypo (low blood glucose level). Hypos can happen at unexpected times. They can also come at the most frustrating times. Over the years, Freya has had to sit out of the state bouldering (climbing) champs for nearly an hour to wait for her levels to come up to a safe levels, meaning she missed out on the gold medal. She has gone on stage to dance when her levels have been dropping rapidly, whilst trying to swallow as many lollies as possible – so as to not let down her dance troupe in their performance… and she has sat quietly in all manner of locations around the world (when we used to be able to travel) to wait for her levels return to a safe number.
Tonight Freya will be part of a panel for Diabetes Australia discussing the lowdown on hypos. The event will be streamed live to the Diabetes Australia Facebook page and you can ask questions in real-time.
#type1diabetes #swimmer #dancer #type1 #diabetes #solopump #pump #cgm #dexcom #curediabetes #cure #accucheksolo #accuchek #climb #climber #fit #inspire #inclusion #invisibleillness #hypo #hypoglycemia
Orange you glad to see me 🍊trying to breathe through my anxiety and diabetic irritation haha...got to practice
At 19 years old, my life changed and I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Although it was bitter sweet, I’m glad I never knew what a hypo felt like until I hit my late teens.
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Early on in my diagnosis, you could say that I was ‘taught a lesson’. I went out to exercise, my level before hand was 11 mmol and about 10 minutes into my walk, I realised I forgot jelly beans. I thought to myself, “I don’t need to turn back, my level was just over 10”.
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How wrong was I….45 minutes into my walk I started to feel light headed and instant anxiety hit me as I knew what was happening. I started to panic and quickly turned back but things got worse and I had no choice but to go to an ice-cream shop close by and ask them for a sugar hit as I was a diabetic and I forgot my jelly beans. I wasn’t wearing a CGM and had no way of ‘proving I was diabetic’ and that I wasn’t just wanting a free ice-cream! Thankfully the lovely lady behind the counter was so kind and gave me a small tub of ice-cream.
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I was so embarrassed and overwhelmed at the fact I just had to do that with people waiting in line behind me and hearing what was going on. As I was walking home with now a higher sugar, I could feel myself so angry and irritated that I couldn’t even go and do a walk without diabetes interfering.
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#hyposhappen #diabetesaustralia
I may have been mid-hypo during this photo - you know that blank stare you get, and that "yeah, I'm fine" smile you give when someone asks if you're ok... 😅
I'm fortunate enough to be hypo aware at this point in time - my usual symptoms of a low are usually shaking fingers and the feeling of passing out 😟
However, I wouldn't have a clue with high sugars, as my body feels the same at 20mmol as it does at 6mmol. At first, I thought this was relatively common until I joined the DOC and realised that a lot of y'all sometimes feel terrible with high BGLs!
Any who...a hammock happened to be within close distance for my shakey legs to walk to. I popped some jelly beans and while I was staring blankly at my sister, she happened to snap this shot😅 #kodakmoment
Before this moment, I was walking along the beach thinking about Dr Frederick Banting and Charles Best on their breakthrough in treating diabetes. This week marked the 100th anniversary of this medical triumph. To think I wouldn't have made it past 19 gave me goosebumps. We are incredibly fortunate 💙
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#hypoglycemia #hyposhappen #type1diabetes #insulindependent #diabetic #diabetes #typeonestrong #t1dlookslikeme #type1life #t1dlife #beyondtype1daily #diabetesawareness
When you live with #type1diabetes, #hyposhappen.
Coming at you from my least favourite place to have a #hypo - my bathroom, specifically after brushing my teeth.
To treat a hypo, you have to eat something sugary, fast. Then eat a bit more until the blood sugars are in range. I often test my sugar levels right before bed and don't always know a hypo is happening. Then when I am not hungry and I have already cleaned my teeth, having to stay up and eat is the worst. #type1life #diabetes #t1dlookslikeme
diabetes_australia wanted to know how hypos make diabetics feel...
Mine make me feel desperate for food, to feel better, to be over with it. They can happen so fast and they just happen no matter how well I maintain my diabetes. So #hyposhappen
diabetes_australia has launched The Lowdown 2020, a hypo awareness campaign.
Share your story with the hashtag #hyposhappen on your social channels - you could help others in their own journeys with #diabetes!
Learn more at The Lowdown - https://thelowdown.org.au/: Link in our bio.
#mentalhealth #socialmedia #hypos #TellyourStory
diabetes_australia has launched The Lowdown 2020, a hypo awareness campaign.
Share your story with the hashtag #hyposhappen on your social channels - you could help others in their own journeys with #diabetes!
Learn more at The Lowdown - https://thelowdown.org.au/: Link in our bio.
#mentalhealth #socialmedia #hypos #TellyourStory
Everybody has a story.
We want to hear yours.
This week we launched The Lowdown 2020 #HyposHappen to raise awareness of hypos and hopefully kick away the stigma.
How can you get involved and share your story? Share a video or photo and give us the lowdown on your ‘hypos’. Hold up a sign using one word explaining how ‘hypos’ make you feel.
By participating, you will go into the draw to win a $250 Visa Debit card voucher.
By speaking out we can help end the stigma around hypos.
Remember to use the hashtag #hyposhappen
Hypos are not new to David, who has lived with type 1 diabetes most of his life.
This is David’s ‘hypo story’:
“One time at high school I was studying in the library late, and no-one else was around. I was doing “just a little but more” before I rode home. Then “just a little bit more”.
Eventually I realised I was hypo, with no more snacks in my bag. We’d had sports earlier in the day. I was wobbly enough that even putting the books back on the shelves was a problem.
I ended up invading the staff tea-room and gorging myself on the contents of a sugar bowl. Then after a while things settled and I was able to pack up and get out of there (it was a 10-minute walk home).”
Thanks for sharing your story, David!
Do you have a hypo story you would like to share?
Post a video or photo and give us the lowdown on your ‘hypos’. Hold up a sign using one word explaining how ‘hypos’ make you feel.
By participating, you will go into the draw to win a $250 Visa Debit card voucher.
By speaking out we can help end the stigma around hypos.
Remember to use the hashtag #hyposhappen
Have you ever been mistaken for being drunk when you are just having a hypo?
We know this has happened to lots of people with diabetes.
If this has happened to you, what was your experience?
Share and help us raise awareness around hypos. We want to kick away the stigma.
You can also share your story about having a hypo with the #HyposHappen hashtag. You’ll help us spread the word and will go into the draw to win a $250 Visa gift card.
People experience diabetes stigma when they are blamed for having diabetes, while managing diabetes such as injecting insulin in public and when experiencing the affects and complications of diabetes like low blood sugar (Hypos).
This National Diabetes Week, let’s have the conversation about the real impact diabetes stigma can have on a person’s mental and emotional well-being.
#ndw2021 #headsupdiabetes #beatthestigma #mentalhealth #diabetesawareness #diabetes1 #diabetes2 #emotionalwellbeing #hyposhappen
This week diabetes_australia launched this year’s Lowdown campaign #HyposHappen. Spreading the word on all things diabetes and hypos. This is Augie, mid hypo, by our pool, limp and lethargic. Our new puppy was fretting worried about what was happening, a feeling we are familiar with. I remember vividly her first hypo, we had returned from Adelaide to our regional home, it happened so fast. I put her into the bath before bed walked away for a few minutes to get her pjs ready, by the time I returned she was limp and hanging over the bath. I screamed out to my husband who helped drag her out. We treated and sat, and waited. The recovery took a while and we were petrified. We have adjusted to the symptoms and treatments over time but they are still just as scary. #hyposhappen #type1diabetes #t1dlookslikeme #t1dawareness
Let’s talk hypos. If you live with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and use insulin you’ve probably had one, but if you don’t use insulin to manage your diabetes you might be asking what is a ‘hypo’?
Hypoglycaemia, sometimes called a hypo or low, occurs when glucose levels drop too low, below 4mmol/L.
Symptoms of hypoglycaemia vary from person to person. Early signs and symptoms may include:
-Shaking, trembling or weakness
-Sweating
-Paleness
-Hunger
-Light headedness
-Headache
-Dizziness
-Pins and needles around mouth
-Mood change
Hypos can usually be treated with fast acting carbohydrates (jelly beans, soft drink or glucose tablets).
In some cases, if glucose levels continue to drop, it can be dangerous, and you may need someone to help you.
Share and help us spread the word. #hyposhappen
Hypos are something I deal with on a regular basis, & they suck!
Back when I was in high school it use to be something me & my friends would laugh about because it would make me act a little silly & talk a million miles an hour. But things change my hypo symptoms went from sweats & shakes to muscle spasms, uncontrollable shaking, shallow breathing, racing heart, extreme fatigue & difficulty talking. These things mostly happen within a minute of me realising that I'm having a hypo & when I'm around strangers or in public it can be very embarrassing, terrifying & overwhelming, even if someone is with me who can help.
I hate trying to explain a hypo while having one, its almost impossible to do & its hard not to answer the question "are you ok" with "No, I think I'm dying" because that is exactly how it feels to me.
#HyposHappen #diabetesaustralia #typeonediabetes #mystory #hypo #low
NATIONAL DIABETES WEEK 2021
Injecting in public
Buying needles
Swapping sharps containers
Finger prick tests in public
Appearing drunk, aggressive, uncoordinated, slow and spaced out
Diabetes has an image problem.
Please don’t judge us.
#nationaldiabetesweek #stigma #blame #shame #judgement #t1dlookslikeme #hyposhappen #thisisourlife #support #awareness #connection #ndw2021
Good thanks.
🎢 📈📉🍭📈💉📉🙄
#howsyoursunday #ihatejellybeans #diafuckingbetes #type1 #hyposhappen #t1diabetesawareness #invisibledisability #iamgreaterthanmyhighsandlows #insulinjunkie4life
I was actually kicked out of a popular and quite huge venue on my sisters 21st birthday because they assumed I was drunk and I had ‘glassy eyes’ so I must have taken some other substance and be drunk and I was ‘kicked out’ .. I was literally walked out infront of HUNDREDS of people like I was a criminal but little did they know we were all rushing to the bar to get me a soft drink because I was having a hypo. How embarrassing and unfair treatment. That all came out AFTER they had removed me from the premises and I tried explaining, they didn’t believe me so then I had to put up a fight and argue my point about my health and my diabetes. I was getting all different cards that would have something health/diabetes related like my NDSS card and I went onto my emails to find an email from my endocrinologist to ‘prove’ I wasn’t drunk and this was just an unfortunate time to have a hypo. That’s so unfair and was handled very unprofessionally but I guess that’s a lack of awareness and a huge lack of understanding. If I was misbehaving then absolutely but having done nothing wrong but simply look a bit out of it but not actually asking just assuming & then going to the extreme, then that’s not okay and it needs to change. I’m not sure how because when someone thinks your drunk then they are also going to think you are making up excuses but having type 1 diabetes and having a low blood sugar while I’m out at a pub or restaurant does NOT mean I am drunk and it sucks to feel otherwise. Sometimes I wish I could turn around and just ‘I wish I was but NO’ 🤣
Maybe someone needs to make an ID card that has something like
‘I’m not drunk, just ask - I may just be having a low blood sugar’ or something like that?! Little steps in the right direction is better then none! #hyposhappen and there’s nothing I can do about it but please just ask and be ready to help if they need you!
Do you have a hypo story where someone’s thought you were drunk?
We are loving seeing the community come together to share their hypo stories!
This one is from Sharell:
“Having Diabetes Type 1 for 11 years has been a roller-coaster ride for me. I have highs and lows sugar levels everyday. When I have a low hypo, I am very tired, hungry, it makes me feel exhausted and very low energy. The very next day I get consequences from it. There has not been a day where I would get normal readings because I don’t remember. My memory comes and goes with having to remember what my sugar levels are going through the day.”
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Sharell!
Do you have a hypo story you would like to share?
Post a picture of yourself holding up a sign that describes how a hypo makes you feel and use the hashtag #hyposhappen!
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