I'm not diabetic... how realistic was the diabetic attack scene?

I don't have diabetes myself, but my now ex-boyfriend did have diabetes. I'd say the scene in the beauty parlor is fairly accurate to what a real diabetic attack is like.

I witnessed an attack when my boyfriend's sugars dropped to low levels, and it was kind of like he was drunk. He was yelling words that didn't make much sense, and he was shaking badly. It was kind of scary for me, since I had never seen it happen before. I had to run and get a can of soda and pour it into his mouth to get the levels back up to normal.

I had asked a friend of mine who was a juvenile diabetic if that scene was realistic, and she said "Absolutely".
As for the scene when she does have it, the only reason I can give for Shelby not doing anything about the attack is to show the viewer what was wrong with her so that it would explain more in the film later on.

I'm a diabetic - type 2, so my issues aren't as bad, but I have experienced dangerous lows, and you do start to shake, and speak weirdly, and when your sugar starts to rebound (after intaking some fast acting sugar) you can be mean and combative because your brain is in chaos. It's weird. I felt like I was locked in my body watching a movie of this happening.

I can feel myself going low, except for when I'm sick or stressed out. I had surgery 5 weeks ago, and not long after, my blood sugar dropped low one day and I didn't notice until it was in the low 50's and I got the shakes. I had post-surgery pain, and the early symptoms went unnoticed.

Also, those with Type 1, especially those with the complications she appeared to have, get to a point where their body gets used to lows and they don't feel them until it's too late. My dad (also diabetic) wakes up when he goes low overnight but Type 1's have a term called "dead in bed". That's when they get a low overnight and don't feel it, and never wake up.

My guess is she was stressed out over the wedding and her pre-marital issues, and didn't notice the symptoms, or her body had burned out and she wouldn't have noticed the symptoms at all no matter what the situation.

My grandma was a diabetic, and I watched her have an attack similar to Shelby's.
I walked in on her to visit her, and she was sitting in her chair looking furious & somehow 'gray' in her face.
She looked up at me like something out of a horror film, and started to speak. But she made no sense at all! I'd never seen her have a 'diabetic attack' before, but I instantly knew what was wrong.

I poured her some ginger ale kept for her occasional tummy troubles. She instantly refused to drink it, just like Shelby did in the film.

Finally, she sipped it a few times. Not a minute later, she looks uo at me, all smiles, and says "Oh hi! When did you get here?"
She had NO memory of what had just happened! So I do believe Shelby's attack was realistic.
Plus, one needs to remember that Shelby was more than just the *standard* diabetic.
She had severe complications, such as circulatory problems. M'Lynn mentions this twice, once at the beauty parlor when she says Shelby should quit working after she marries to be kinder to her body.
That's why the specialists said she shouldn't have a baby, her circulatory system was already compromised. But having Jack Jr. blew out her kidney completely.




"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."

Her attack was exactly the way you look with very sudden, low blood sugar, didn't m'lynn say it was too much insulin? I've felt that way during episodes and you sweat, shake, get dizzy and nauseous. I never lost consciousness or lashed out but yes you look like that and afterwards, after drinking Gatorade you feel better but bad, like you've run a marathon, just wiped out.

I've seen people, as you're giving them the sugar, go, "You rat bastard! Get out of my face ......... oh. I'm so sorry." The personality change is really startling if you've never seen it. As for the onset, it can be scary fast, especially for a "brittle" diabetic like Shelby. Type 1 diabetics are always having to be very careful about their insulin and blood sugar levels because they can change suddenly and drastically.

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I'm a diabetic and it's type 2 and so is my fiance and he also has type 2. In my experience, I have been under so much stress, that I have mistaken my shaking for just nerves, but in reality very low blood sugar. I remember when my daughter was 1 year old, and I was 4 months pregnant with my son, I wasn't feeling well and took a nap. My then husband was on his way to see my dying mother in law. I got a phone call and was shaking like crazy and was sweating. I thought I had a fever. I took my temperature and it was normal. I then tested my blood sugar, and it was down to 30 I knocked on my neighbor's door and she gave me a glass of sugar water, and I don't remember anything else. My fiance and I are brittle diabetics, so for us it isn't easy even with having an endocrinologist managing our blood sugar levels. A few times, my fiance's blood sugar was so low, I had to call an ambulance, and his personality changed completely until he was stabilized. In fact, he doesn't remember anything about these times either. It is very scary to experience your heart beating so strong that you feel it ad so scary to witness someoe going through it as well.