Hypo treatment

[Thebearcametoo]

For near hypos or a very slow drop hypo then milk might be an option for you if you consider that healthy/healthier. It’s obviously slower release than dextrose/glucose etc and full fat will slow it down a bit too but we often use milk for late night near hypos as it’s kinder to teeth or if she’s 3.8 and going done really slowly (obviously if she’s going lower or doesn’t come up with milk then we default to glucose).

 

[Dave W]

If I'm in need of a very fast fix I swallow a bottle of Lift Glucose Shot @ 15g CHO. Otherwise I resort to Jelly Babies @ 5.25g CHO each and scoff anything between 1 and 3 depending on my glucose level and trend.
I find Lift tablets in a tube handy when travelling and also Dextrose tabs, the latter I find taste nicer, but both take longer to chew and swallow than JBs though JBs do tend to dry out after a while.

 

[sharonk]

As a newbie please can I ask a question?
what bg level is classed as a hypo?

 

[Paulbreen]

As a newbie please can I ask a question?
what bg level is classed as a hypo?

Haha @sharonk that’s the million dollar question, over the years I have heard many numbers for it depending on who’s the current expert bending my ear, My diabetes Doctor is also a T1 so I sort of run with his opinion and recommendation of stay above 4.5

 

[rebrascora]

As a newbie please can I ask a question?
what bg level is classed as a hypo?

Like everything diabetes it kind of depends.... Generally it is considered below 4 ie 3.9 or less but DAFNE seems to consider below 3.6. The reason for this I think is that non diabetic people can occasionally drop below 4 but very unlikely top drop below 3.6
Also, if you are not on medication which can drop your BG dangerously low then I would not consider it a true hypo, because there is no risk from it, like a non diabetic person dropping below 4, their liver will kick in and bring them up again. For those of us using insulin or gliclazide our levels can drop low suddenly before our liver has time to counteract it and then we can lose consciousness and potentially die or start fitting and the lack of glucose can cause brain damage. These are worst case scenarios. Hypos can be dangerous and even life threatening but most are managed very quickly and easily without too much problem.

 

[sharonk]

That’s interesting thank you. I have been diagnosed T2 and got myself a monitor just to try and suss things out.
ive had readings down in the low 4s, something to keep monitoring.
thanks again

 

[rebrascora]

That’s interesting thank you. I have been diagnosed T2 and got myself a monitor just to try and suss things out.
ive had readings down in the low 4s, something to keep monitoring.
thanks again

If you are not on insulin or gliclazide then there should be no concern that you will drop to dangerously low levels (below 3) I would be very happy if I could maintain my readings in the low 4s all the time but for those of us who use these medications, it is impossible to maintain that sort of control. Many of us struggle to maintain our levels between 3.9 and 10 for more than 80% of the day) so aiming for low to mid 4s, we would end up hypoing very often which increases the danger as our bodies lose the ability to recognise the symptoms if it happens too frequently, putting us at even greater risk. It is not something that you would need to worry about if you are a type 2 using diet and exercise and medication like Metformin to manage your diabetes.

 

[sharonk]

If you are not on insulin or gliclazide then there should be no concern that you will drop to dangerously low levels (below 3) I would be very happy if I could maintain my readings in the low 4s all the time but for those of us who use these medications, it is impossible to maintain that sort of control. Many of us struggle to maintain our levels between 3.9 and 10 for more than 80% of the day) so aiming for low to mid 4s, we would end up hypoing very often which increases the danger as our bodies lose the ability to recognise the symptoms if it happens too frequently, putting us at even greater risk. It is not something that you would need to worry about if you are a type 2 using diet and exercise and medication like Metformin to manage your diabetes.

I’m not on meds, they are leaving me until after Easter then seeing what my hwhatsit is and deciding what to do from there. My readings vary the highest has been 11.1 and my lowest 3.2. I have been monitoring for 10 days. When it has been high I know they day before I have had a small portion of pasta or potato For tea so at least I know what has caused it. I’m newly diagnosed so still experimenting to see what spikes me and what doesnt.I was interested to see you were diagnosed as type 2 and later type 1, how does that happen?

 

[rebrascora]

I was misdiagnosed as Type 2. I was 56yrs old and a self confessed sugar addict so they assumed I was Type 2 although there was always a question mark about it because I had sudden onset symptoms and weight loss which are both associated with Type 1. The oral type 2 meds did nothing despite being ramped up to full dose pretty quickly and I whittled my carbs down to the absolute bare minimum but my HbA1c went up from 112 to 114 in the 6 weeks after my diagnosis and I was started on insulin then. They didn't do the Type 1 tests until a couple of months later after I saw the consultant, which confirmed I was Type1... so that is my story. In some respects I am grateful as I needed to kick my sugar habit and that initial Type 2 diagnosis gave me the impetus I needed to make dietary changes to try to reverse it by learning to eat low carb and that has helped me ditch the sugar and stay off it.... apart from the (not so) odd hypo treatment.

Your 3.2 may have been meter error unless you had just finished a marathon race. There is quite a significant margin of error allowed with BG meters. I believe it is 15%, so odd individual readings are best not worried about. There is however a condition called reactive hypoglycaemia where if someone eats a carb rich food, their BG soars and then they over produce insulin and it plummets and that can cause them to have hypos and pass out. It is quite a rare condition though and if you have reduced your carb intake then that would be unlikely.
Just out of curiosity, how did you feel when you got the meter reading of 3.2 and what had you been doing?

 

[sharonk]

I was misdiagnosed as Type 2. I was 56yrs old and a self confessed sugar addict so they assumed I was Type 2 although there was always a question mark about it because I had sudden onset symptoms and weight loss which are both associated with Type 1. The oral type 2 meds did nothing despite being ramped up to full dose pretty quickly and I whittled my carbs down to the absolute bare minimum but my HbA1c went up from 112 to 114 in the 6 weeks after my diagnosis and I was started on insulin then. They didn't do the Type 1 tests until a couple of months later after I saw the consultant, which confirmed I was Type1... so that is my story. In some respects I am grateful as I needed to kick my sugar habit and that initial Type 2 diagnosis gave me the impetus I needed to make dietary changes to try to reverse it by learning to eat low carb and that has helped me ditch the sugar and stay off it.... apart from the (not so) odd hypo treatment.

Your 3.2 may have been meter error unless you had just finished a marathon race. There is quite a significant margin of error allowed with BG meters. I believe it is 15%, so odd individual readings are best not worried about. There is however a condition called reactive hypoglycaemia where if someone eats a carb rich food, their BG soars and then they over produce insulin and it plummets and that can cause them to have hypos and pass out. It is quite a rare condition though and if you have reduced your carb intake then that would be unlikely.
Just out of curiosity, how did you feel when you got the meter reading of 3.2 and what had you been doing?

Wow, that sounds like you really went through the mill and that the go to medical reaction was T2 and that you made drastic changes.
my downfall isn’t sugar its savoury snacks, I know I can’t ditch them for the rest of my life so limit them to a weekend.
I was pretty annoyed with myself last week, I hadn’t had any chocolate or sweets since Christmas but when I was in Aldi a few weeks ago, I bought some dark chocolate, the mini thin bars you get that are wrapped like one big bar. I thought if I got a sweet craving, I could have part of a small bar.
ive eaten three mini bars so I am throwing them out today, if they hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have eaten them!
it was an afternoon at work when my reading was low , I can’t remember how I was feeling, I know I had my usual toast and oxo for lunch though.

 

[rebrascora]

Actually I consider myself quite fortunate. I feel like I learned some valuable lessons in those early weeks and I quit my sugar habit which I had probably had since I was in my 20s and it helped me relate to the problems of being Type 2 as well as the frustrations of being Type 1. And cutting the sugar and learning to eat low carb probably kept me out of hospital where most Type 1s end up at diagnosis very ill with DKA.
The worst bit was having to start on insulin and feeling that I had failed, which I hadn't of course, but I was so committed to reversing my diabetes through diet and had really put an enormous amount of effort into stripping the carbs right back from my diet, so it was a real kick in the teeth and I was absolutely gutted. I will confess I had a few tears when I left the GP surgery after that appointment but I soon got over it.

If the chocolate was the dark 80+% cocoa solids then they are not a bad choice but obviously you need to limit it to one individual bar. The Aldi Gluten Free nut bars are a good option for a sweet snack if you shop there as they are just 5.9g carbs per bar and very satisfying. They do a chilli chocolate bar which is interesting but I think they are about 15g carbs per bar.... but nice for an occasional treat.
I am now a savoury girl though and my "not so guilty pleasure" is pork scratchings which, depending on the the brand, are usually totally carb free. Just a delicious, crunchy, satisfying mix of protein and fat (and salt 😱 ), so don't affect my diabetes and fit in with my low carb higher fat diet. Same with cheese. I buy masses of lovely cheeses and have them with a few olives with a glass of red or G&T on an evening... or a chunk at lunchtime if I fancy a snack. Eating low carb is about discovering what you can eat and enjoy without impacting your BG levels rather than eating things which will raise them and then feeling bad both emotionally and perhaps physically afterwards.

I would just say that since changing to a low carb diet my teeth feel so much "stronger" and despite eating a bag of pork scratchings almost every day now 🙂eek🙂 my teeth don't chip or break like they used to before. I feel that my bone density has really improved and whilst I am aware that sounds strange, my body just feels stronger and more robust. My joints are so much happier and I can run down hills without problems whereas before I was in pain just walking. I actually skip and do those sideways running exercises that footballers do (when no one is watching 😉) to improve my flexibility and all round fitness and it feels good to be able to. At 57 I feel better than I have for 20-30 years, so I really don't feel so bad about my diagnosis as it was the kick up the pants I needed to become healthier!

 

[helli]

probably kept me out of hospital where most Type 1s end up at diagnosis very ill with DKA.

I wonder how many people with T1 do get diagnosed due to DKA.
Thankfully, that is not something I have experienced and never thought about it before because I only know what I went through (misdiagnosed as UTI ... but that's another story)

 

[rebrascora]

I wonder how many people with T1 do get diagnosed due to DKA.
Thankfully, that is not something I have experienced and never thought about it before because I only know what I went through (misdiagnosed as UTI ... but that's another story)

It would be interesting to know.... maybe we should do a straw poll?? I get the feeling it is the norm with younger people but maybe 50/50 with more mature onset. Considering the amount of carbs I was eating pre-diagnosis and my sudden onset symptoms and the effect a bag of Jacobs crackers had on my levels one night. I think if I hadn't cut back pretty well straight away I probably would have ended up in hospital, but that is an assumption that my body will over produce ketones and maybe there is something which prevents it in some people and not in others. It would make an interesting study, as some people seem to have multiple DKA events throughout their diabetes journey whilst others don't.

 

[sharonk]

Actually I consider myself quite fortunate. I feel like I learned some valuable lessons in those early weeks and I quit my sugar habit which I had probably had since I was in my 20s and it helped me relate to the problems of being Type 2 as well as the frustrations of being Type 1. And cutting the sugar and learning to eat low carb probably kept me out of hospital where most Type 1s end up at diagnosis very ill with DKA.
The worst bit was having to start on insulin and feeling that I had failed, which I hadn't of course, but I was so committed to reversing my diabetes through diet and had really put an enormous amount of effort into stripping the carbs right back from my diet, so it was a real kick in the teeth and I was absolutely gutted. I will confess I had a few tears when I left the GP surgery after that appointment but I soon got over it.

If the chocolate was the dark 80+% cocoa solids then they are not a bad choice but obviously you need to limit it to one individual bar. The Aldi Gluten Free nut bars are a good option for a sweet snack if you shop there as they are just 5.9g carbs per bar and very satisfying. They do a chilli chocolate bar which is interesting but I think they are about 15g carbs per bar.... but nice for an occasional treat.
I am now a savoury girl though and my "not so guilty pleasure" is pork scratchings which, depending on the the brand, are usually totally carb free. Just a delicious, crunchy, satisfying mix of protein and fat (and salt 😱 ), so don't affect my diabetes and fit in with my low carb higher fat diet. Same with cheese. I buy masses of lovely cheeses and have them with a few olives with a glass of red or G&T on an evening... or a chunk at lunchtime if I fancy a snack. Eating low carb is about discovering what you can eat and enjoy without impacting your BG levels rather than eating things which will raise them and then feeling bad both emotionally and perhaps physically afterwards.

I would just say that since changing to a low carb diet my teeth feel so much "stronger" and despite eating a bag of pork scratchings almost every day now 🙂eek🙂 my teeth don't chip or break like they used to before. I feel that my bone density has really improved and whilst I am aware that sounds strange, my body just feels stronger and more robust. My joints are so much happier and I can run down hills without problems whereas before I was in pain just walking. I actually skip and do those sideways running exercises that footballers do (when no one is watching 😉) to improve my flexibility and all round fitness and it feels good to be able to. At 57 I feel better than I have for 20-30 years, so I really don't feel so bad about my diagnosis as it was the kick up the pants I needed to become healthier!

I am in awe of how you have dealt with everything and what you have achieved. I hope I can get my head around things like you seem to. Thank you for sharing

 

[rebrascora]

I am in awe of how you have dealt with everything and what you have achieved. I hope I can get my head around things like you seem to. Thank you for sharing

You wouldn't be overly impressed if you saw my morning waking readings the last few days!!! All 9s and 8s.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying everything is rosy by any means and I have struggle days just like everyone else but there have been some major positives to come out of it all and I am grateful for that but mostly extremely thankful to the wonderful people on this forum who shared their experiences so that I could learn from them and find the best way forward for me.....which is why I now do what I can here to pay that forward and be as supportive and encouraging as I can because we all need to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and things are (edited to read "aren't") nearly as difficult as it appears at first.
Still blows my mind that people can offer me a sweet and eat cakes and biscuits in front of me and I am not even tempted anymore.