11 days ago I got sick with COVID (twice vaxxed and once boosted). For the past three days I’ve been feeling much better. However, when I got symptomatic, my hypo awareness all but disappeared. I’ve had T1D for two years and three months. I always feel my glucose dropping regardless of number (unless it’s a more steady drop), and I start feeling hypo in the 80s, or at least 70s. I try to stay over 100. If I feel low at all overnight, I don’t even need to check my numbers, I know I’m in the 60s or, more rarely, 50s, and just eat sugar by my bed. But that feeling no longer happens.
I’m on MDI, and particularly careful about my numbers overnight. Last night I woke up at 2:50 a.m., felt a little weird, decided to check my glucose, it was 46. I can’t remember the last time I was even in the 50s. 40s have happened only a handful of times. My heart was beating faster and I was a little shaky, but it was hard for me to tell even at that number that I was that low. I also have no idea how that happened. I almost always can know, in hindsight, why my blood sugar did what it did. Not that, at all, which is worrisome.
Has anyone else lost hypo awareness with infections? Does it come back? Could my trying to recover from illness explain the bizarre low number?
Hi Becky,
This post is really helpful for me. My son is 8 years old diagnosed 11.2.18. Has had a Dexcom G6 since day 1 of diagnosis and most recently he isn’t feeling his lows or telling us he feels low like he always did the past 3.5 years. This change actually did start around the first time he got COVID which was in May. Wow, I never thought of this. Thank you for posting. We’ve had to give IM Glucagon in May (but this occurred mainly due to adrenaline, over activity and too much insulin IOB) and then Mini-Glucagon (subcutaneous) a few times well say 6-7 times since then. BUT, he always would just tell us “I feel low” and we’d check his Dexcom and sometimes a finger stick to confirm and give him a low supply and now he’s not so this is really interesting to me and I’m wondering if there is some cause and effect here with COVID and a symptom of the long-haul effects of COVID which we are all still learning. Definitely some food for thought for me to think about and discuss with his endocrinologist. Thanks for posting.
I agree with this! I’ve had Covid twice. For me middle of the night lows I don’t feel as intense. Before I had dex if I went low overnight, I’d always be 55 before I woke up and when I’m awake I usually start feeling gross at 75-80 depending on how quick I drop. I think just being in a deep sleep makes it harder to notice but I do notice that once I wake up and treat, my classic low symptoms return as I’m going up.
