September 3, 1999
Hypoglycemia
Question from Denver, Colorado, USA:
I have had type 1 diabetes for 16 years. I am 24 now. I am trying to get my blood sugars down to have a baby. Currently my A1C is at 7.0.
The other morning, I “woke up” in my living room. I had a broken blood vessel in my eye, had bitten through my tongue, a couple of bruises and was very disoriented. I found out my sister had called earlier. I was in a insulin reaction so she sent help, but there is over an hour that I can’t account for. I have no idea what happened to me. My blood sugar was 55, it has been much lower than this in the past without “blackouts” like this one. Have you ever heard of anything like this? I have never had anything like this happen to me before. I know that these overnight lows happen and that many people fall into comas around this time, but the blackout is what worries me. I can’t remember anything.
Answer:
I’m sorry to hear about your frightening experience. You are correct that this is a particular problem during pregnancy and obviously before conception when you are trying very hard to get perfect blood sugar control. You need to make urgent contact with your diabetes team who will probably have a pre-pregnancy service. You will require much more frequent visits than normal and help with diet and getting your insulin doses right. The effort will be worth it if you get good control before becoming pregnant as this gives your baby the best start.
KJR
