Dentist appointment impact on glucose?

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CathyFP

CathyFP

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Type 1.5 LADA
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Hi everyone, this might seem a silly question but I need to ask it. Yesterday I had to go to the dentist. I made sure I was stable and in range so I could get there ok. All was fine and no problems found, I just had a clean which was uncomfortable but not really painful. Straight after the appointment my glucose dropped to 3.7 on Libre and I had to take glucose and carbs and so went high. Could the stress of the dental work have caused this? It really surprised me?‍♂️
 
Hi @CathyFP. One of the common sayings on the forum is "there is no such thing as a silly question" and you are proving that. Your question is certainly not silly.
There could be a couple of things happening here
- the 3.7 may have been a Libre anomaly - did you check it with a finger prick. If you took the glucose and carbs when you were not as low as you thought, you may have over treated it which caused a high.
- how did you get to the dentist? Did you walk at a time when you are usually sedentary? This may have caused you to go low.
- you may have had some pent up concern about the dentist which resulted in the high.
- or, there may be no obvious explanation apart from wearing the wrong socks.
 
It’s called S**’s Law @CathyFP I’ve had similar before so now I eat some glucose before I go in to my appointment. I don’t want to have to stop the dentist mid-treatment to have some glucose! Stress can send you both high and low, but the aforementioned Law means it always does the opposite of what you want/expect.
 
Hi I have had 3 appointments recently and on all three I've had hypos. I'm terrified of dentists (hence needing work as I haven't been in years) I was expecting it to be high (fight or flight) but was more afraid of a hypo during treatment than being high for one day, so did not bolus for breakfast and had high carb. All were 'genuine' hypos. I have one more treatment required. Not sure what else I can do.
 
So sorry to hear that Diane. Maybe it is a stress response?
 
Well at least I now have some idea how high stress will affect me. I guess skydiving and powerboat racing are off. Lol
 
DianeD said:
Well at least I now have some idea how high stress will affect me. I guess skydiving and powerboat racing are off. Lol
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Not necessarily - you just have to remember to eat something before you jump out of a plane. :D
Seriously, if you are finding the dentist lowers your BG, it may be a good idea to start your BG higher. Take less bolus with your previous meal or eat something before the appointment. It's just like many of us will do before starting exercise. I guess the difference will be that we don't (usually) clean out teeth before heading out for a run.
 
DianeD said:
Hi I have had 3 appointments recently and on all three I've had hypos. I'm terrified of dentists (hence needing work as I haven't been in years) I was expecting it to be high (fight or flight) but was more afraid of a hypo during treatment than being high for one day, so did not bolus for breakfast and had high carb. All were 'genuine' hypos. I have one more treatment required. Not sure what else I can do.
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I have glucose before I go in to pre-empt any drop. Not foolproof but I’ve been ok so far, fingers crossed. You could try that and a carby snack. I took some water to drink afterwards.
 
At my last appointment had porridge for breakfast, no bolus, bloods were 14ish and rising slowly when I went in. My dentist is quick! Had the filling done in about 20mins at which point I'm feeling dreadful and my alarm was going off. Obviously need to be nearer 20 next time! I thought I would be higher than 14, but it was warm and I'm using less bolus as the weather is getting warmer, but even with nothing it was lower than I expected. Maybe the nerves. Double portion next time!!
 
Inka said:
I have glucose before I go in to pre-empt any drop. Not foolproof but I’ve been ok so far, fingers crossed. You could try that and a carby snack. I took some water to drink afterwards.
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The first time I went it dropped while I was in the waiting room. The looks I got as I sat there stuffing my face with jelly babies and a small flapjack was hilarious
 
DianeD said:
At my last appointment had porridge for breakfast, no bolus, bloods were 14ish and rising slowly when I went in. My dentist is quick! Had the filling done in about 20mins at which point I'm feeling dreadful and my alarm was going off. Obviously need to be nearer 20 next time! I thought I would be higher than 14, but it was warm and I'm using less bolus as the weather is getting warmer, but even with nothing it was lower than I expected. Maybe the nerves. Double portion next time!!
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Maybe the problem is your basal.
If you take Levemir as your basal, you could take less for the daytime on the day you go to the dentist.
Some people find Lantus takes a day or two for their body to notice a difference. However, i could change my dose most days depending upon my exercise regime and this helped for me.
Tresiba is not so great for this so I would not bother adjusting your basal dose for a one-off if you are taking Tresiba.
 
helli said:
Maybe the problem is your basal.
If you take Levemir as your basal, you could take less for the daytime on the day you go to the dentist.
Some people find Lantus takes a day or two for their body to notice a difference. However, i could change my dose most days depending upon my exercise regime and this helped for me.
Tresiba is not so great for this so I would not bother adjusting your basal dose for a one-off if you are taking Tresiba.
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I'm on abasaglar, think it takes about 3 days for a change to settle unfortunately
 
Just starting out on this type 1 journey so I think I will try to find a work around rather than change. I don't want to scare anyone but I understand from my local diabetes group that levemir has been discontinued. Is that correct? One of our group has been on it 43 years and is concerned.
 
The only time I’ve passed out from a hypo was in the dentist, during a root canal. The adrenaline in the numbing jab can cause hypos in some people. Very suddenly for me it turned out.

I did tell her I was going to pass out, she said I’m nearly done just wait till I’m finished…
 
DianeD said:
Just starting out on this type 1 journey so I think I will try to find a work around rather than change. I don't want to scare anyone but I understand from my local diabetes group that levemir has been discontinued. Is that correct? One of our group has been on it 43 years and is concerned.
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No it’s not correct
 
DianeD said:
Just starting out on this type 1 journey so I think I will try to find a work around rather than change. I don't want to scare anyone but I understand from my local diabetes group that levemir has been discontinued. Is that correct? One of our group has been on it 43 years and is concerned.
Click to expand...

No, there was talk of it being discontinued in the US but not here.
 
DianeD said:
Just starting out on this type 1 journey so I think I will try to find a work around rather than change. I don't want to scare anyone but I understand from my local diabetes group that levemir has been discontinued. Is that correct? One of our group has been on it 43 years and is concerned.
Click to expand...

Levemir has only been around 20 odd years so I doubt she’s been on it for 43 years :D
 
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