Low blood sugars don’t just show up as a number on a screen—they affect everything.
Recently, Kay dropped into the 60s, and it took 4 glucose gummies and an applesauce pouch before we finally started to see her blood sugar start to rise. In those moments, you go into “fix it” mode, you’re counting grams, watching the clock, refreshing the CGM, waiting for that number to turn around.
But what people don’t always see is that even once the number starts to rise… the effects of the low don’t just disappear.
It took everything out of her.
She was sweaty and clammy, one of those physical signs that her body was really struggling. Her little body was working overtime trying to recover, and you could see how uncomfortable and off she felt. Lows don’t just impact blood sugar, they impact the entire body.
At one point, she told me she had to go potty, and then just sat there and started bawling. No clear reason, no way to explain it, just big emotions hitting all at once. And honestly, that’s something we see a lot with lows. It’s not always just “feeling shaky” or “feeling low”… sometimes it’s sadness, overwhelm, confusion, or even frustration that they can’t put into words.
After that, all she wanted to do was lay on me. She was completely drained. The kind of exhaustion that you can’t really explain unless you’ve seen it. Eventually, she fell asleep on me, and in that moment, it was just a reminder of how much her body had gone through in such a short amount of time.
That’s the part people don’t always see, how exhausting lows are, physically and emotionally.
Even after her blood sugar started coming back up, her body and brain were still trying to recover. The brain relies on glucose to function, so when levels drop, it doesn’t just “bounce back” immediately once sugar is given. It can take time—sometimes an hour or more—for things to fully regulate again.
By the time dinner was ready, she woke up like she wanted to eat. But once we sat down, it was clear she still wasn’t herself. There were a lot of emotions, some frustration, and that familiar “I don’t know what I want” feeling. It’s like her body had technically recovered, but her brain was still catching up.
During that recovery window, they can feel tired, emotional, confused, irritable, sweaty, shaky, or just not quite right. And as a parent, it can be hard to navigate because the number might say they’re okay—but you can see that they’re not fully there yet.
Moments like this are a reminder that managing Type 1 Diabetes isn’t just about correcting a number. It’s about caring for the whole child—supporting them through the physical symptoms, the emotional waves, and the aftermath that lingers even after the low is treated.
It was one of those days where Kay just needed extra comfort, extra patience, and a whole lot of love.
And if you’re a parent walking through this too—just know you’re not alone in it.