Those BG Feelings have tauaght me how certain levels of blood glucose make me feel. I’ve put together a list below, maybe you can relate?

-4mmols: Anything below 4 generally makes me feel crap, weak and shaky. And if I am really low, say lower than 2, I actually feel like I’m going to die and feel very anxious. When I am dancing, a major sign that I am low is that I become a little bit unbalanced. This is  very unusual for me as balance is definitely a strong point in my body.

4mmols: This makes me hungry! It’s not quite low enough for the shakes and stuff but it’s enough to bring on sudden tiredness and a growling belly.

5mmols: more often than not I don’t feel any different to normal and I always feel surprised when I hit the jackpot, that perfect number of 5.5mmols. Ka Ching.

6mmols: same as 5 really. Nothing out of the ordinary and is a very comfortable level for me to begin any style of workout.

7mmols: a nagging feeling of frustration begins to make an appearance at this stage, but it’s a good number for post meal as it is still within the non-diabetic range of 5-7.

8mmols: this is the absolute worst number and I always know when I am close to this level as I start to feel uncomfortable in my own skin and a bit ratty / slightly depressed. Usually I end up over correcting just to get rid of it asap.

9mmols: Same as 8 but a bit more dramatic with the tiredness, irritability and being snappy. I generally don’t like anything at this point and I have to remind myself that it’s not actually me, it’s my blood sugar making me feel that way.

10mmols: This is the hunger number. When I am above 10mmols I could literally eat the world. I find that nothing, no matter how much of it I eat, will satisfy me at this point. I believe that the hunger is my body trying to tell me that it is struggling to access glucose because of the lack of insulin it has to release it.

15+: apart from the tired feeling, I actually go past the point of irritable, moody and depressed and I feel like everything kind of slows down. It’s as though my mind is a room and the lights are dimming. I know it’s strange, and it is not something I experience very often, but it is a very familiar feeling when it is above 15. It reminds me of being non diabetic, which is actually not great as it makes me wonder how long I was walking around as an undiagnosed diabetic.

So there you have it. How I feel at various stages of blood glucose levels. Are any of my feelings / indicators similar to yours? If you look at the hunger attached to 4mmols you will see how it could be confused with 10mmols. Having mistaken hypos for hypers in the past, and because I don’t want to feel like crap for very long, knowing my levels is good motivator to keep on top of checking as often as I have been advised to. Yes, sometimes this is a ball ache, but if we check often enough we won’t feel uncomfortable for very long.

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Rowena x