It seems that every year doctors have less and less time for patients, so it sure does seem that to get the best medical care you've got to do a lot of the "leg work" for yourself. My husband and I joke (but half-seriously) that you have to complain about something at least 6 times before a doctor will take any action (order a test, prescribe a treatment...). It's hard for hubby, because if he complains, and the doctor says there's "nothing that can be done," or that he doesn't think it's serious, hubby will never mention it again. We go in with each other for our appointments (for me it's a necessity, I have short term memory issues, so hubby helps by being a witness/memory/notetaker). So after hubby brings up an issue once, I bring it up the next several times, and THEN the doctor finally says or does something constructive.

It's frustrating for patients who aren't likely to complain, or who will say "nothing has changed," rather than go into the gory details of current symptoms.

But back to blood sugar. I haven't ever taken my blood sugar when it drops - but I definitely can tell, because I get the shaky, nauseous, weak, woozy feeling too (and according to hubby I get meaner than a bear poked with a stick, right before I feel sick). And it definitely is not only hunger (at least if it gets past the angry bear stage), because a 10 calorie candy helps more than 200 calories of jerky.

It may not be life threatening, but it definitely IS an issue.

Hi Julie -- I just recently started testing my blood glucose, so I don't know. I try really really hard to avoid this because -- as with kaplods -- I am so MEAN when I get to this point it's like I become another person altogether. Since I figured out the raisin thing I now carry a little pack with me all the time and if I start down this path I eat them right away and it always helps. I'm also trying to increase eating frequency to avoid the spikes and dips of blood sugar all together.

That said -- if this feeling starts to happen again, I'll see what the blood sugar actually is. Thanks for asking.

Hi Kaplods -- this is soooooo true for me. I get frantic and mean when I get to this point. I can't even articulate how I feel, just awful.

When I first started dating my fiance, this happened on a day trip (because, like many men, he'll go all day without eating) where we hadn't eaten all day and it was approaching 4 p.m. I remember telling him "I have to eat something NOW." He apparently thought I meant "Let's have an early dinner" but I really meant "give me food NOW or I will go crazy" which I proceeded to do.

After this episode, it is to our great credit that we are still together. He still doesn't understand it but he knows that we can't go all day without eating and if I mention food it isn't just idle talk.

BTW, I love reading your posts. They seem so honest and true.

LOL, I so know what you mean. Hubby has also been on the wrong end of the bear-poking stick often enough that now HE can tell when I'm starting to get to that blood sugar dropping level of hungry before I do. He's the one who asks, before we set out on errands if I have my granola bar with me. As he says, it's not for my sake that he asks, but his.

Dawn Phenomenon - ugh, battled it for about a year from the point of diagnosis of my type 2. The ONLY thing I found that worked for mine is adhering to a very strict low carb diet. Snacks (whether carbs, protein, fat, or combo) before bed did nothing for me, and changing my metformin from dinner time to bed time to first thing in the morning...none of it helped. I could not, for the life of me, have multiple days of fasting morning readings below 100.

Until I severely limited my carbs. I mean SEVERELY. I only average about 15g total carbs per DAY. My rule is no more than 5g total carbs at any one time. I also do NOT limit my fat intake at all, as fat helps to slow the absorption of the carbs. With this plan, I consistently find fasting morning readings in the 80s or high 70s, and I don't ever spike over 120.

I am not suggesting this for everyone, by any means, but a less severe carb restriction may work for some. DP is definitely an annoyance and also definitely a YMMV issue in finding a solution.