Worst hypo yet! feeling scared, any tips?

[chattygirl197811]

Hello all,

Last night I had jacket potatoe, chicken and veg for dinner and de-cafe tea, I went to bed with BG of 7.2. At 1.30am I woke up with the worst hypo I've had yet, I was 2.4. Needless to say I dont need to describe to you guys how ill I felt. I could barely function. My husband got my juice and then burgen toast as I was in no state. The thing is I only injected 1 unit more insulin than usual before dinner because my evening BG have generally been creeping up lately due to pregnancy.
Ive only had diabetes for a year and half and only been on sinulin a 6 months so this side of it scares me a bit. How can 1 unit extra cause make me so low? Is there something else I could have done? I wonder how low BG have to go to cause unconsciousness? Since starting insulin I've been paranoid about loosing consciousness in the night, I dont know how close I was last night but I'm even more nervous about going to bed at night now. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom you have? x

 

[scotstigress]

try not to worry too much, hypos are awful but easily treated. If ur really worried about nighttime hypos, keep a fast acting carb beside ur bed so u dont have to get up, lucazade or some glucose tablets and a few digestives. It can be scary. As for loosing conciousness, im not sure what level it has to go to, i had a 1.6 last week and had to go downstairs to get something to eat so i guess its different for everyone. If ur a long term diabetic the glucogen stores in the liver get depleated and are more likely to become unconcious (i think) given you havent been diabetic that long u should have plenty of stores left and the liver will release glucogen to raise sugars in time of need. Hope u feel better soon 🙂

 

[Robster65]

I agree about the fast carbs. I keep a small can of coke on the bedside table at all times, plus a straw so i don't need to sit up. I find even the smallest movement can worsen a hypo.

And night time hypos are always more frightening IMO.

Are you carb-counting or do you just eat roughly the same amount of carbs and inject the same each evening?

If carb-counting, it could be that you've been more active in the day and your insulin sensitivity is a bit higher or the pregnancy is throwing spanners into your diabetes works.🙂

There's so many variables that have an effect that it's often hard to pin down and you just need to readjust again. 🙄

Have you tried a basal test?

Rob

 

[chattygirl197811]

Thanks guys.

Rob is what is a basel test? I try to have roughhly same amount of carbs each eve and I inject same amount, although every few weeks I have to up it by 1 or 2 units if I see a trend of BG creeping up because of not wanting to harm the baby. Last night I onlu upped it by 1 unit but hey ho.
Its all quite new to me but will try to not let it get me down. After orange juice with a straw I had two slices of toast & thin jam & only went up to 5.8 then but I figured that would be ok so I sat spaced out for a bit until the food was digested & went back to sleep. I appreciate the reassurance & will try to get less distressed. x

 

[Caroline]

I hope you are feeling better. Hypos can be scarey things. Having been here for a while and heard all about everyones hypos, not one has ever become unconcious and in some cases it has woken people up from their sleep at night. Can't add to advice already given

 

[Ellie Jones]

Night time hypo's are horrid indeed as you are generally a lot lower than a hypo suffered in the daytime...

In the main the body will wake you up at some point, but yes it is possible to sleep through a hypo, what the body finally does is dumps what ever glucose you've got into your blood stream, does take time for the body to get around to doing it, and the longer it's taken to happen, the worst you feel when you wake up..

Problem at the moment because you'll pregnant you will have some very fast changes in insulin needs, and at times you will experience a fast drop in BG's, but be in the position, that if you drop your insulin ratio, then you are has high as a kite, if you keep to the insulin ratio you end up with an hypo several hour later... Best thing to do when this is happens, is to keep the ratio but before you start going hypo, have some carbs to feed the tail end of the insulin..


Hopefully one of the mums, who've recently had their babies will be along, and say how they coped with it all.. Has yes even though I've gone through it, it was long ago my youngest is 21... So a bit out dated with it all.

But as said, keep fast acting carbs near to hand at all times..

 

[Robster65]

Thanks guys.

Rob is what is a basel test? I try to have roughhly same amount of carbs each eve and I inject same amount, although every few weeks I have to up it by 1 or 2 units if I see a trend of BG creeping up because of not wanting to harm the baby. Last night I onlu upped it by 1 unit but hey ho.
Its all quite new to me but will try to not let it get me down. After orange juice with a straw I had two slices of toast & thin jam & only went up to 5.8 then but I figured that would be ok so I sat spaced out for a bit until the food was digested & went back to sleep. I appreciate the reassurance & will try to get less distressed. x

I'm assuming you're on a basal (long acting) insulin and a bolus (quick acting) insulin.

The basal acts over 24 hours so could be causing the night hypo. But it could equally be the bolus insulin dropping you slowly at the tail end of its action as Ellie says.

If you are on basal/bolus regime (also known as MDI-multiple daily injections) you can skip your evening bolus injection and go without any carbs at teatime until breakfast. This will show whether your BG stays steady or goes up or down. Then you can adjust your basal dose to try and level out your BG overnight.

All of this assumes your metabolism is fairly stable but again, as Ellie says, your needs may be up and down all the time due to hormones and the baby's needs. You may need to have a word with your DSN and/or midwife to work out what you can do for best.

Any advice on the forum you're not entirely sure of (especially from us men!🙄) should always be checked with your team before you make any changes.🙂

Rob

 

[trophywench]

It's v hard testing basals when you are preg. And you can't predict what is going to happen because every preg lady is different - some people have low BG first trimester, others have mega highs. Then the second trimester will be different until the last one when it seems everyone's insulin needs soar upwards and then you give birth and suddenly esp if b/f - you need hardly any again.

And the parameters for testing are much narrower in preg, cos you have to avoid spikes.

Are you testing 2 hrs after meals? Plus you really need to build in some 'during the night' tests. Yep I know, PITA. (But the advantage of that is, all that waking up in the night to test will get you both prepared for what's to come after baby is born ! LOL)

First thing, do more tests and second thing, get a half-unit pen. Both SOON. Like tomorrow. Then if high but not disastrous, you can try half a unit instead of a whole one.

Here's how to do a basal test (scroll down the page to that bit, if you already know the first part)

http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

 

[DeusXM]

'Nypos' always feel worse than hypos regardless of your BG level because you body has kicked out a far larger amount of adrenaline to wake you up. That's one thing to be careful of - I've had nypos where I've been so hungry I've polished off most of the contents of the fridge before the hunger goes away and then I yo-yo for the rest of the night.

As worries about losing consciousness - in my experience it's entirely dependent on the individual and has little to do with the absolute number. I've walked to the shops and bought Lucozade with a meter reading of 1.6 (wouldn't recommend this!) while other times I've been at 3.4 and really thought 'this is it'.

In terms of sleeping at night - provided you have enough protein in your diet (and potentially, carbs), your liver will have glycogen stores which will release into your blood if the hypo doesn't rouse you. However, if you have been doing a lot of exercise or eating very little, you may have lower glycogen stores. Also, if you have been drinking alcohol, this impairs your liver's ability to release glycogen. Although as you're pregnant, this probably isn't an issue right now!

 

[Abi]

Just remember to keep hypo supplies right by your bed at night so you don;t need to risk injury staggering through the house in a hypo-befuddled state trying to find something
I personally, if sure I was low wouldn't even waste time testing if I felt that unwell- just knock the lucozade ( not whole bottle) or glucose tabs/ jelly beans/ whatever back