#981 Glucagon Story: Anonymous

My anonymous guest has type 1 diabetes and has used glucagon. This is her story.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, welcome back to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Today, my anonymous guest will be sharing her glucagon story. She's a young woman in her early 20s And she's had to use glucagon. While you're listening. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. This show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries G voc hypo Penn. Find out more at G voc glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox. When you have diabetes and use insulin, low blood sugar can happen when you don't expect it. G Bo Capo pen is a ready to use glucagon option that can treat very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to G voc glucagon.com forward slash juice box visit G voc glucagon.com/risk.

Gvoke is a prescription injection for the treatment of very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Do not use if you have a specific type of adrenal or pancreatic tumor starvation, chronic low blood sugar or allergy to G voc High Blood Pressure hyperglycemia and serious skin rashes can occur. Call your doctor or get medical help right away. If you have a serious allergic reaction including rash, difficulty breathing or low blood pressure. Visit G vo glucagon.com/risk for more information. My guest today is going to remain anonymous. They are here to talk about an incident that required glucagon. So are you the parent of a child with type one or do you have type one yourself?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:19
I have type one myself.

Scott Benner 2:21
How old are you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:22
I am 2222 How

Scott Benner 2:24
old were you when you were diagnosed?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:27
I got diagnosed in March of 2021.

Scott Benner 2:30
Oh gosh. So just maybe a year or so ago? Okay. Wow. Is there any other autoimmune or type one in your family?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:40
There is no other autoimmune or anything? My not in my family? No. But for me, yes.

Scott Benner 2:49
You have other autoimmune issues? Yeah.

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:53
So I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. And with that your connective tissue is like the glue to your joints in your body. What happened was, I had my artery was being compressed by my spinal cord and everything. And it caused no blood flow to my AR aortic artery and my stomach area. And shortly, we didn't know for the longest time about it, I was sick a lot. And I would go to the ER and no one would say what's going on? And they're just like, it's fine. It's just stress. And then I was like, Well, I don't think it is. And when they found the compression i i was having low blood sugars at the time. Before I was type one, I had a lot of low blood sugars. And I was already on Dexcom. Shortly after that, a couple of weeks or whatever, after I developed it, because the compression had been there for so long.

Scott Benner 4:06
I have to tell you, if you want to come back on and do a regular episode, I would love to hear that story if you if you're interested. Yeah. Okay. All right. We'll get you at will at the end of this. We'll get you signed up and get you on another episode. My reason for asking centric to the the glucagon conversation was I wanted to make sure that when you were diagnosed, you would have had no idea what glucagon was or had any reason to understand what it did. Is that right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 4:37
Yeah, I didn't get a glucagon until I was diagnosed with type one. I didn't know about anything. I've been to the ER to get D 50. Quite a few times because my blood sugar was 48 and I felt fine. But

Scott Benner 4:57
but they no one had given it to you prior to your diagnosis. No. Okay. You have a lot of interesting stuff, we are going to definitely get you back on. But for now, you're diagnosed with type one. When do you remember someone talking to you about glucagon the first time.

Anonymous Female Speaker 5:14
I believe the first time was in my endocrinologist office a little bit, because I had a Dexcom when I got diagnosed, it was kind of weird on what's gonna go on, because they immediately started me on insulin stuff and just sent it to the pharmacy. And was like, here you go do this amount in this amount. And then that next week, I had went in and that was when they did all that. I, we adjusted, we figured out what my how many carbs to a unit I needed. That was when I got in for for training.

Scott Benner 5:50
So during that training, you got glucagon at the same time. Do you remember what they told you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 5:55
I definitely didn't know about glucagon. And they had shown me how to use it and everything it was after G Bo chi come out. So my doctor didn't want to give the old emergency kit or basket me. They wanted just the glucagon. They're like, okay, like, here are the guidelines. Like they're just saying, if I can't get my blood sugar up, take it, or other things like that. I, I got trained on the insulin stuff, but the glucagon wasn't really. I wasn't really like, trained trained on I understand, because, yeah,

Scott Benner 6:36
I don't know why they don't. But I, I half expect you to tell me that. So okay, so you've got a loose understanding of what it is. They tell you something like if your blood sugar gets really low in an emergency, you use this. Did anyone take out a trainer pen and show it to you? No, no. Just you'll figure it out. Yeah, yeah. While you're having a seizure?

Anonymous Female Speaker 6:59
Yeah, they're like, well, the instructors on our on there, you can definitely read the instructions when you do it. Yeah.

Scott Benner 7:06
And by the way, read it when you're not really low. I will tell you that I was told when we were handed glucagon, when my daughter was two. This is glucagon. It's for a low blood sugar emergency, you'll never need it. That's what they told us. So by the way, the first time we needed glucagon, I didn't know what to do with it. Because nobody explained it to me. And I was flat out told in a moment when I didn't have any idea about anything. Here's something we're giving you, but you'll never need it. Now, did you end up needing it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 7:43
Yes, I've had to take glucagon TWICE, TWICE. Hard part of it too, is like they told me that if I take glucagon, I have to go to the hospital. But I'm like, How do I have to go to the hospital with it? Because like, I don't think the hospital is going to do anything, once it's backed up and everything. So

Scott Benner 8:03
did that stop you from using it ever?

Anonymous Female Speaker 8:08
Again, yeah, because I didn't really understand the glucagon at the time, I didn't know what it was really. And why I needed to go. I've had epi pins for food allergies and stuff before. So I just kind of figured it was similar to the epi pens, on the effectiveness and everything. But with blood sugar. So I just kind of assumed that you have to go to the hospital with it.

Scott Benner 8:39
Yeah. This is this is fascinating to hear how little explanation or, or understanding that was was given to you. I know you're like, younger, but not very young. Were your parents with you during these explanations?

Anonymous Female Speaker 8:55
No. So my, most of my family lives on the other half of the country. So well, other half of the states. And then I'm my mom and I are here. But that's kinda

Scott Benner 9:11
that's it? Yeah. So can you describe the first time you actually used glucagon?

Anonymous Female Speaker 9:18
Yeah, so I didn't use it all myself. I actually was at work. And it was a really hot day. And I worked outside at the time. And I started feeling bad. And this was before I had the text column. I started feeling bad, but in finger poked, and my meter said, I was like, 48. And I'm like, oh, so then I go into the break room and grab a soda or whatever. And I drink it and I'm like, okay, it'll be fine. I'll, I'll just drink it and I'll go back out and work out aside, but I started feeling worse. So then I went to a vendor that was near where I, the position I was working in. And I got sugar packets, and Pepsi. I was just trying to get anything that I could to bring it back up. And I still didn't quite get it up. And after my third finger poke, my blood sugar was like 28. So once I figured poked, and it was 28, I then was like, Well, I kind of need to go home. And my supervisor that was with me actually realized how bad I realize how bad my blood sugar was, because she saw me pass out on the floor. And that day, they had to give me two, she gave me glucagon. That was in their emergency kit or whatever, she gave me it, I still didn't respond. And then medics had to give me it twice. And I was like, I don't understand what the heck is going on. So that was kind of a really scary day, because that was before we knew my blood sugar, like I was having low blood sugars without really knowing. And that was like, the hardest part is I was trying to do. I didn't know that.

Scott Benner 11:31
What's interesting, as you're telling the story is that you haven't had diabetes for that long to begin with. You're young, your training wasn't great. And you're at a 48. And you're like, I'll drink a soda and I'll be okay. But then you feel poor, again, you test again, you're not getting any better. And then on that third test at a 28 blood sugar, which by the way, you are right, you're getting ready to pass out or have a seizure. Right. And you don't know that you're planning like, I'll go home. Like, like home seems like a safe place for me to be in this situation. That's how out of it you are in that moment, and you don't realize it. And then you say you passed out they gave you glucagon from an emergency kit that you had at a job. Do you know which one they gave you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:18
Um, I feel like it may have been evoke, I'm not fully sure. Really. It was a couple of years ago, so I don't know exactly if it was that or the old kits,

Scott Benner 12:30
and you carry G voc with you.

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:32
I wasn't carrying it at that time with

Scott Benner 12:35
me. At the time you weren't this is your first time with all this. Okay, so

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:38
that was my first time with a low blood sugar where I passed out, right.

Scott Benner 12:42
Okay. So thankfully, emergency comes, they hit you a couple more times get your blood sugar up. Do you remember any of that scenario after you passed out?

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:52
And no. Basically, everything that I'm telling you right now is what my supervisor told me. Yeah. I don't remember anything. I do remember getting to the hospital, and having my blood sugar dropped again. And I remember that time it felt like I was having a seizure. Like I was coherent, but like, I could hear what everything's going on and everything. But I couldn't really tell you. I couldn't say anything. I understand. It was kind of hard. And I was in the waiting room. And they immediately ended up taking me back. Luckily. But yeah, that's I don't remember a lot of it.

Scott Benner 13:39
I understand. My daughter's had a seizure, and I was present for one of them. And I was on the phone for another one. So I understand what you're saying, Actually, I'm having an emotional day already. And I'm thinking why did I book all these seizure stories on one day? Because you sound so young, like I'm crying. Okay, anyway, I'll put myself together and we'll get to the next story. G vo Capo pen has no visible needle, and is a pre mixed auto injector of glucagon for treatment of very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to G vo glucagon.com forward slash juicebox G voc shouldn't be used in patients with insulinoma or pheochromocytoma. Visit G voc glucagon.com/risk. How much longer is it at now now moving forward into time you're carrying G voc heipo pen or the or the syringe?

Anonymous Female Speaker 14:40
I carry type open. Gotcha.

Scott Benner 14:43
Alright, so now you have that on you. What happens the second time I got

Anonymous Female Speaker 14:47
a different job and I have been working with them for a little bit. I'll give you a little backstory. So that week I decided to switch to the Omnipod five, but they told me that I didn't need to go in for training because you can do it all online and get your settings in and everything. Well, I put my settings in incorrectly. So the insulin sensitivity. I put us 20. And then And then

Scott Benner 15:26
yeah, I understand. So you're getting one unit to move you 20 points, but how much did you really need one unit for 50? It lowers

Anonymous Female Speaker 15:33
me about 60 or so. Yeah. So so I put it in incorrectly?

Scott Benner 15:39
Three, three times stronger than you needed. Yep. Yeah, that'll do it. Okay. And

Anonymous Female Speaker 15:45
I didn't know what the heck was going on or anything because I was so confused on why I was I kept on going low. Like, here all day, I was having like bread soda. Like I was having everything. Yeah. And it still wasn't staying up. So then it was like, okay, is Dexcom acting weird? Or is it true that I'm that, and I think revoked and everything and I was that low. So then I talked to my team, and they're like, I don't know what to do. We don't know what to do. And I was like, I have no clue what to do. either. I was at work. I didn't really hear much from the team or anything. And then it was still going down. And at that point, it had been at like 40 for about 45 minutes or so. And I ended up because I have my glucagon in my bag. So even though I work in that little area, I am able to have my medical stuff, medical bag as long as it's separate from everyone else. So I grabbed my glucagon. And I gave it to myself.

Scott Benner 16:57
After how long of being 40,

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:00
about 45 minutes or so. Because I was literally eating things. And I was like, There's no way and I was just trying to wait for it to come up because I didn't want to overcorrect it, because I have a very high tendency of doing I think all US diabetics do. But I was like, trying to and then I was trying to wait for it because I was like I don't want to take it if it's going to be like that. Like I don't. I don't know what to do, even though I'm doing everything.

Scott Benner 17:30
Yeah. And you said you contacted your medical team. And the they told you we don't know.

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:36
Well, they they told me they're like if it gets that low, then you need to take your glucagon. And you need to take your glucagon.

Scott Benner 17:45
Did they go? Did they go over your pump settings with you? They knew you were like had recently moved to a pump, right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:53
Yes. But we hadn't figured that out that that was the pattern because I was only like three days into the new pump or something like that. So I hadn't quite figured that. I hadn't quite realized that. That was what it was. Yeah,

Scott Benner 18:09
I understand. But they didn't realize, Hey, she just started using a pump three days ago. Maybe the settings are wrong. No. You still have that doctor?

Anonymous Female Speaker 18:19
Yeah. Well, but when I got so I made it the I took the glucagon and I was fine. I didn't go to the hospital because I didn't feel like it was necessary to go because it kept me up. And then the next day, it was a Friday. And then the next day Saturday, I was in class in the morning. And my blood sugar did the same thing. So I went ahead and message my trainer and was like, Hey, what's going on? Like, I have my settings at where they're supposed to be in everything. But my blood sugars have been like super low and everything and I ended up ripping off my pod because unlike I don't know why it's like this. And I message the trainer because at first I was like, Okay, well maybe it's an off day of just having lows. And then. And then the next day when I had the loads and everything else, like you know what I might as well just contact my trainer about it. So I contacted her about it. And she had me read all my settings and everything when I reset it. And that was when we figured out that my insulin sensitivity factor was at 20 instead of 60 like it was supposed to be

Scott Benner 19:32
holy hell, okay. So all right, when you go to do it, you take out you bow Capo pan, pop off the cap. Where do you do it? You do it on your leg, your belly? Where do you think to do it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 19:43
I was at work and I didn't know if it go over my pants so I just did it in my belly.

Scott Benner 19:59
Yeah And you didn't do it through your clothes, right? No, yeah, please don't do that. Okay, so. So you put it in? And does your blood sugar rise?

Anonymous Female Speaker 20:11
Yeah, so I put it in and I told the staff that I needed to go take a break and be in the break room for a bit. And they were perfectly fine with that. About 2530 minutes go by. And my numbers are back up. And now I'm in the two hundreds and just study. And I was like, Okay, sounds good. I had a coke and juice and everything at my little station that I was at. Where I am when I'm off duty, I went ahead and kept that stuff there. Because I knew that because I'm walking around and stuff it was going to drop. So I just wanted to be prepared again. And so I just kept on sipping on the juice and stuff throughout the day, even though I had already taking g voc. Right. I just wanted to be safe. Yeah, but yeah. Wow.

Scott Benner 21:06
That's incredible. Do you carry them still?

Anonymous Female Speaker 21:12
Yes, I never leave the house without it. We have one in the kitchen and one in my room. Good for you. And we keep them in stuff because it's definitely something and part of my hypoglycemia with that stuff is because my GI system doesn't work too too well. So it can't it's like having hard times absorbing things. Or

Scott Benner 21:36
you have gastroparesis. Yes. That's That's what they told you. And is that in any way attached to I mean, you haven't had diabetes that long. So is that is that attached to

Anonymous Female Speaker 21:47
the to attach to my EDS, which is my genetic condition?

Scott Benner 21:51
That's what I was wondering, Okay, how did they How did they diagnose the EDS?

Anonymous Female Speaker 21:57
I had to go to a lot of specialists. So I got sent the first specialist I got sent to was it was an orthopedic doctor, they couldn't really do anything because obvious reasons. Because they're more for like surgeries and stuff. So then I saw him and then I saw another doctor, and that was a rheumatologist. And where I was later diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Scott Benner 22:42
Do you have that? Yes. How does that present for you?

Anonymous Female Speaker 22:48
A lot of joint pain, stiffness, soreness. Yeah, about the same stuff as EDS. And then once they realized I had EDS and everything that they suspected EDS and everything, they did the little Biden scale or whatever, it's called for it for me, the the rheumatologist office, and then they referred me over to a geneticist.

Scott Benner 23:23
Is there treatments available? What do you do for it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 23:26
Um, so once the, once I talked to the geneticist, so some forms of Eds are some forms of Eds are some forms show up on bloodwork, like genetic panels, and stuff and some forms don't I have one of the forms that do not show up on genetic panels? Which is classical EDS. Um, so there's no cure for it or anything. A lot of it is just like physical therapy, and wearing like braces when you're doing more things throughout the day, whether that's going to the zoo or going out and stuff like that. And then just bracing if you need to do those things. Yeah. So it definitely does help. And for me, right now, I'm kinda in a middle situation with that stuff. But it's been a journey.

Scott Benner 24:38
I'm sorry. It's a lot. You're young, you know. You okay? Yeah. Yeah, you're doing all right. Like, psychologically, you're hold that together and stuff.

Anonymous Female Speaker 24:51
Yeah. There's some days where I'm like, Okay.

Scott Benner 24:57
Do you see a therapist? Yes. Yeah, I think I would do. I think it's a good idea. I cannot thank you enough for coming on and telling me your stories about glucagon. I really appreciate it. A few Hold on for a minute we'll stop the recording and I will help you find a time to record about the EDS. It doesn't matter if you're a newly diagnosed person in their 20s, a parent of someone living with type one diabetes, or someone who's been living with type one forever. If you're using insulin, G voc glucagon wants to remind you to check the expiration dates on your glucagon. And if they're expired, contact your physician immediately for replacements. Don't be without glucagon in the moment that you need it. Have it where you are on your person in your home, at school, at your job, or when you're traveling. Emergencies don't announce themselves. That's why you need to be prepared. Parents of children, this is a perfect time. You're going to end up back at the endos office before the new school year to get your orders in line for the school nurse. Don't forget to ask them about G voc glucagon. If you'd like to learn more about G voc hypo Penn episode 789 is with Jenny Smith and I we discussed the important things you need to know about evoke this episode is absolutely terrific to teach you or other people in your life how to use G voc hypo Penn School Nurses, your best friend anybody you're around who might be in a position to help you or your child if the need should arise. G voc hypo pain is the first glucagon autoinjector that treats very low blood sugars in people with diabetes ages two and above. Low blood sugar also called hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar gets below 70 milligrams per deciliter. When this happens, you can consume sugary foods or drinks to bring your blood sugar back up. There are many reasons why you may have low blood sugar including taking too much insulin, the amount and timing of physical activity and unexpected changes to your schedule. Very low blood sugar or severe hypoglycemia occurs when your blood sugar gets so low that you need help to bring it back up. It is an emergency situation that needs to be treated immediately. If your hypoglycemia is left untreated, it can quickly and unexpectedly progress to severe hypoglycemia. Severe hyperglycemia is potentially life threatening and can lead to loss of consciousness, seizure, coma, or even death. If you experience any of the following administering glucagon is the next step. You've tried eating or drinking but it's not working. You are unable to eat or drink. You feel like you might pass out or if you have passed out or are having a seizure. I'm just going to leave you with this. My daughter carries G voc hypo pen with her constantly. It is always on her person. There is another pen in her bedside table. When she goes to college, there is one on her person and one on her bedside table. Everyone in her life knows how to use G fo Capo pen, her roommates, her friends and family members both extended and within our home. G vote glucagon is a sponsor of this podcast because it is the glucagon that my daughter carries, not the other way around. You understand. We carry G voc and then I found the company and said if you guys want to be advertisers, I'd love to spread the word. I personally find that G voc hypo pen is the easiest to carry glucagon option that I've ever seen in the entire time my daughter has had type one diabetes. This may seem odd, but I was genuinely excited when we got G voc hypo pen the first time putting G voc hypo pen in my daughter's bag gave me a sense of relief that I had not had since she was diagnosed. Ask your physician today about G voc glucagon or go to G voc glucagon.com forward slash juicebox.

If you have a glucagon story that you'd like to share with me on the Juicebox Podcast contact me through juicebox podcast.com Or on the Facebook page Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes. Find out more about Chivo Capo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juicebox you spell that GvokeGlucagon.com/Juicebox

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