Hypos

[Matthew James Hardy]

What is the longest you have ever gone without a hypo not had one now for at least 4 days must be doing something right and managing my diabetes really well only on 6th week of the rest of my life myself personally think may still providing insulin naturally as my levels have been between 5 and 7s mainly.

Just a quick question when do you know that the pancreas has stopped working completely do they recognise this on the HBAC1 blood test which I haven’t had yet and how long is it before I have one of these after been diagnosed over a month ago .

 

[SB2015]

After 10 years I still have 4/5 mild hypos a week, but my Freestyle Libre helps me to head off others.

Some will go on for ages keeping some active beta cells, for others they are gone more quickly. For me it was a couple of years before they seemed to stop interrupting my life, when they would suddenly decide they were going to join in again and give me an unexpected hypo. The severity of these decreased and then things just settled and became more predictable. I wonder whether it depends on how far the destruction of beta cells had got before your T1 was picked up and treated.

 

[mikeyB]

With regard to your question about HbA1c, there is no way you can assess pancreatic function with this test. All it does is give an estimate of your BG control over around 100 days.

Which in your case should be pretty good - well done 🙂

 

[Ruby/London]

Hi folks, I am getting a bit confused with my bg self test results and wonder if this can be right. Any feedback welcomed.

I started the day at 5.9
After lunch it was 8
Around teatime it was 1.3 and I felt awful
After dinner, it has gone up to 8.3
A couple of times in previous days I have had readings of 1.2. I am not sure why my bg is dropping so low. Could I be cutting to many carbs out? I have had a couple of very low readings over the weekend and thought there was something wrong with the way I was using the monitor.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi folks, I am getting a bit confused with my bg self test results and wonder if this can be right. Any feedback welcomed.

I started the day at 5.9
After lunch it was 8
Around teatime it was 1.3 and I felt awful
After dinner, it has gone up to 8.3
A couple of times in previous days I have had readings of 1.2. I am not sure why my bg is dropping so low. Could I be cutting to many carbs out? I have had a couple of very low readings over the weekend and thought there was something wrong with the way I was using the monitor.

Yikes that sounds very scary for you. Any readings below 2 are extremely serious and potentially very nasty.

Do you take medication for your diabetes? If you are taking medication and reducing carb intake you may need to adjust doses or alter your medication depending on what you are taking.

 

[Ruby/London]

Hi there, no meds, I was only diagnosed at the beginning of the month at 48 HbA1c. I realise that I have had this slight shakey feeling before and didn't attribute it to low blood sugar. I ate some cheese and it has now gone up to 6.2. I still feel a rubbish, tho'

 

[trophywench]

Well you probably are cutting your carbs too much Ruby - but there's not enough info there really.

So your BG was 8 after lunch - what was it before lunch? What did you eat? How long after you started eating, did you test?

 

[KARNAK]

Hi folks, I am getting a bit confused with my bg self test results and wonder if this can be right. Any feedback welcomed.

I started the day at 5.9
After lunch it was 8
Around teatime it was 1.3 and I felt awful
After dinner, it has gone up to 8.3
A couple of times in previous days I have had readings of 1.2. I am not sure why my bg is dropping so low. Could I be cutting to many carbs out? I have had a couple of very low readings over the weekend and thought there was something wrong with the way I was using the monitor.

Hi Ruby, some naughty numbers there. I had a similar experience two weeks ago seems like I cut out to much carbs, ended
with the paramedics calling and giving me an injection. Since then have had two hypo`s requiring help, have increased my carb intake
and seem to have control of the situation. What I learned was you can`t cut carbs out totally although I did try. Take care Ted.

 

[Ruby/London]

Hi Jenny, Hi Ted,

I agree, I think my carb intake was too low, although I hadn't cut them out completely. I know from trying Atkins many years ago that I can't tolerate a carb free diet. I went along to the DESMOND Programme yesterday and asked them about some of my readings. They said it wasn't possible to go that low and still be conscious. Maybe it is my glucose monitor, although the readings have been quite steady since then.

The day my readings went very low I had had pasta for lunch. ...Made by a friend and I didn't want to seem rude and refuse it. I am wondering if it was a reaction.. not sure. I tested two hours after lunch and it was 8.3. I tested again around 5 because I was meeting a friend for dinner and it was 1.3. Had dinner and deliberately had some bread and a few small potatoes and then later had a reading of 8.3.

However,I am managing much better. I looked up some guidance about carbs and I am aiming for about 75 - 100g a day, depending on how it affects me. Fasting levels have been an average of 6 and the highest has been about 8, after meals. I am being careful of that mid afternoon slump and keep some babybel cheeses at work - better than raiding the office biscuit tin.

Thank you for helping keep me on an even keel. ...Much appreciated x

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

They said it wasn't possible to go that low and still be conscious.

They are talking nonsense, I've been 1.3 and not only still conscious but walking about feeling more or less fine, just a little dizzy! If you look through the forum you'll find several threads about how low hypos can get - quite a few of us have had readings between 1-2 regularly, and some of us have had readings of LO (too low for monitor to read) and still been conscious. The people running DESMOND may have little experience of severe hypos though, as they are unusual in type 2s, and they probably see mostly type 2s. It is rather surprising that you're going that low as you're not on insulin.

It sounds as though you have the same sort of reaction to problematic carbs as I do - a spike followed by a plummet (I often hypo after eating something very sugary) so it could well have been the pasta. I suspect you've worked out the answer, to have small amounts of carbs regularly and just limit them rather than cutting them out. The babybels sound a good idea too 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

They are talking nonsense, I've been 1.3 and not only still conscious but walking about feeling more or less fine, just a little dizzy!

I think that’s the thing @TheClockworkDodo - you have to have frequent exposure to low BG over some time to survive blood glucose at that level relatively unscathed. Every hypo you have physically changes your brain, which adapts to try to perform better next time. So you gradually get the ability to function better at lower levels and mangle your warning signs at the same time. The brain can’t function well at BG below 3.5-3 of course, and extreme low BG also carries heart risk - plus potential cognitive and memory impairment

 

[Ruby/London]

Thank you both, your feedback makes perfect sense.