The photos from this day are some of my favourites from our trip.
Blue skies. Sun on my skin. Smiling in the sea. A day that, from the outside, looks carefree and full of joy. But what you don’t see is one of the scariest hypos I’ve experienced in 28 years of living with type one diabetes.
That morning, my husband Rahul, surprised me with an amazing boat trip to a sand bank in the middle of the ocean. One of those moments you don’t expect, don’t plan for and will always remember. And for a while, it really was perfect.
The sun was pretty intense and the heat was relentless. To cool off, we went for a dip in the sea but the waves stronger than they looked, knocking me over again and again. It was funny and we were laughing hard. And then suddenly, my body stopped cooperating.
And I couldn’t get up.
Every time I tried to use my arms or legs, they convulsed and my limbs shook uncontrollably. I would try to push myself up, seize and collapse back into the water… Over and over again. My brain knew what to do, but my body wouldn’t respond.
Rahul managed to get me out of the sea and into the shade. Thank goodness I had my diabetes grab bag packed and close to hand, with my blood glucose monitor and plenty of hypo treatments inside. I downed a Lift Glucose Shot which I find the quickest hypo treatment. Because I’d been in the water, my Dexcom had disconnected, so I wasn’t aware of my blood sugars dropping in real time and I must've dropped fast.
I tested as soon as I could. My meter read 2.6 mmol/L, which is around 47 mg/dL (blood sugar conversion chart can be found here). And that was after I’d already taken a hypo shot and managed to get myself out of the water. Realistically, I was likely lower, possibly in the 1s mmol/L, which is roughly 18–36 mg/dL.
What’s important to say here is that I hadn’t ignored my diabetes that day. I’d checked my blood sugars before getting in the sea and I was well within range. I’d fully disconnected my insulin pump, so I assumed I would be okay because I had no insulin on board. And I'd had a snack before getting in the water. But diabetes rarely works in neat, logical ways.
I’m very insulin-sensitive when I move, even when it’s just walking. And walking in deep sand, fighting waves, balancing in water and heat is far more taxing than you realise until your body reminds you. Add intense sun, dehydration and physical exertion together and suddenly the rules you’re used to don’t apply in quite the same way.
For the rest of that day and the 24 hours that followed, my blood sugars were unsettled. My body felt shaken and my nervous system clearly had something to say about the whole experience. I made the decision to temporarily increase my blood sugar targets, out of respect for what my body had just been through. And to ease the stress and reduce the risk of another low like that.
I’ve lived with diabetes for nearly three decades. My entire adult life, hypos have been something I’ve just handled and moved on from. I’ve never been afraid of them and I’ve never experienced anything quite like this.
This experience reminded me of something I think we forget, especially when we’ve lived with diabetes for a long time.
Diabetes doesn’t take a holiday.
Heat changes insulin absorption. Dehydration plays a huge role. Physical exertion, swimming, waves, adrenaline, sun exposure… all of it stacks. Even when you’ve done everything “right”.
From the outside, that day looks dreamy. From the inside, it was a reminder that diabetes doesn’t always give warnings and that it can show up differently depending on where you are, what you’re doing and how your body is coping.
I’m sharing this not to scare anyone, but to be honest.
Because sometimes diabetes looks like a care-free day on the beach. And sometimes it looks like being pulled out of the sea by the person you love because your body won’t work the way it usually does.
If you’re travelling, especially somewhere hot, this is your gentle reminder to be a little more cautious, a little more hydrated and a little kinder to yourself. Adjusting targets, taking breaks and prioritising safety.
Just because we are on holiday diabetes didn’t take the day off. And neither did I.
