Can somone please explain what it feels like to have a low blood sugar attack? And how soon after you eat something will you feel better?

dizzy, weak, lightheaded...it all depends on what you eat....

Shaky, sweaty, nauseous, faint, confused, irritable...any and all of these are symptoms in addition to those Titchou mentioned.

As to how soon one should feel better after eating...it depends on what you eat, as well as how low your blood sugar was before you ate. For a mild low (anything 50 and up), it might only take 15 minutes to get back to normal. For a moderate low (35-50), it might take as much as 30 minutes, and you may have to eat something, check in 15 minutes, and then eat some more. For anything much under 30, you may end up passing out and being sent to the ER, and it will probably take more like an hour or two before you feel truly okay again, although you'd regain consciousness pretty quickly with IV glucose...it's just that those severe lows take a lot out of you and it takes a while to feel totally normal again.

As to what to eat...anything that is high carb, low or preferably NO fat. I keep those red/white peppermints with me at all times...1 is 5g carbs, and I usually need 5-10g carbs to treat a mild low and 15-30g carbs to treat a moderate low. Sometimes though, if I'm as low as the 40's or 50's and it's not close to a meal, I'll treat with 15g of quick carbs, and then eat something that also contains some fat (like peanut butter crackers), to tide me over until my next meal. But always treat FIRST with the fast-acting carb and don't eat anything with fat in it until your bg comes back up to 75 or 80.

Other things you can treat a low with are juice (any kind, 4 oz is about 15g carbs), regular soda (same thing...don't overdo it), glucotabs that you can buy at the drugstore, lifesavers, etc. It's a good idea if you're on insulin or oral meds for diabetes to keep something with you at all times. I use the peppermints because, while I don't dislike them, I'm not tempted to snack on them. You don't want to use something you're going to keep overeating!

Ruth

you may also experience Extreme Hunger. You need to be very careful about this as it can cause you to eat too much.

During hypoglycemia, some people may cry for no reason, become disoriented, sleepy or have trouble speaking coherently, acting somewhat drunk. Some people find they have an altered sense of balance or time. Mental functioning changes in many ways--slowed thinking, slurred speech, poor desicion-making, inability to draw correct conclusions, and, eventually, unconsciousness. Everyone has different symptoims from this large list of possibilities,. and what's worse, your own symptoms will change from one occurance to the next. Some people report that rapid-acting insulin gives them different symptoms than slow-acting insulin.

Michael
T1 since 1965

I'm not diabetic, but when I have hypoglycemia, I get faint, weak, sweaty, anxious, irritable, and my heart beats quickly. I feel better within 15 minutes if I drink some juice or eat some candy or something.

i am also not a diabetic but experience severe symptoms of hypoglycemia. one of my eppisodes approached me at a friends house. i was sleeping over and felt low when i went to go to bed i started shaking horrendously and got extremly fatigue. i then asked for someone to get help by the time they got to me i was nearly unconciouss. i refused to eat and kept dozzing off. some other symptoms i experience are, dizziness, blank/glossy stare, not thinking correctly, crying or complaining, nervousness etc. i hope this helps :)

For those of you with reactive hypoglycemia, it's very important to make sure that, when you feel symptoms, you eat something that does also contain protein or fat. Straight sugar will make you feel better quickly, but it will set you up for a rebound low. The reason is that in people with hypoglycemia, the pancreas actually produces too much insulin in response to carbohydrate ingestion. If you eat something with protein in it, the protein takes longer to digest and will be around when your insulin level is too high to give the insulin something to work on.

Ruth

in addition to all of the above i sometimes see flashes. If there's anything white in the room it will start to look psychedelic, if that makes sense.

I'm type 1 and personally experience extreme confusion, giddiness followed by aggression and stubborness, tingling hands and legs - infact a lot of numbness sometimes.
I often feel a large amount of anxiety before all this happens, which is linked to the confusion. For instance i was watching a film once and started to think that what was happening in the film (the film was the butterfly effect)may somehow be happening to me. i believed this so much that i was planning the conversation i was going to have with my boss the next day to explain why i couldn't come to work .

Although i know what the symptoms are i can never remember what i've done afterwards. sometimes i lose a couple of hours and have to ask my partner what happened, what i said, what i did, how he brought me round!

Hope this gives you some insight.