Diabetes Blog Week: Tuesday - Hypoglycemia

As a Type 2 diabetic treated only with oral medication, there are some experiences common to other diabetics that I've not yet had.  Since my only diabetes medication is Metformin, there's one such experience that's huge:

To the best of my knowledge, I've never been hypoglycemic.

I hasten to add that I'm in no way deluded that this is evidence of sound diabetes management.  It's a function of my current disease state, my current therapy, and a certain amount of luck. 

Older medications used with T2 were more likely to produce lows: my dad used to have them regularly.  And a combination of metformin and the older meds can produce them: my neighbor lady goes low on occasion.  But for those of us on metformin only, I understand that my experience is common.

Because T2 is a progressive disease, I expect that my share of lows is coming.  At some point, as my pancreatic function diminishes, hypoglycemia awaits. 

I have discovered two things that have taken me to the bottom of the normal range, and therefore deserve some caution: heavy exercise and Kansas City summers.  So, I need to control the intensity of my exercise (not a huge problem anyway) and be careful about the heat of the day in July through September.

I do have glucose tabs at work, just in case, and my coworkers have been told where they are.  I also have some at home.  I'm familiar with the basic hypo treatment formula of test, eat 15 carbs, wait 15 minutes, retest.   For when my time arrives.