Help

[leechilvers82]

Evening all, as some will know I started on insulin last Tuesday, I had telephone surgery with nurse yesterday am, she was concerned my bed time readings were averaging 5/6 and recommended a snack before bed to ensure I don't have a hypo through the night, is this normal practice?

Last night I also had my first bout of exercise since starting insulin, a high intensity work out at running club, I had half a bottle of lucozade original before to ensure I was ok, felt fine, had insulin, ate felt fine. Housemate offered me strawberries and meringue nest (thought this would be suitable replacement of a snack before bed) unfortunately approx 90 mins later I experienced my first hypo.

Felt pretty shite today tbh didn't want to go to sleep at all

Just checked and reading is 5.2 before bed so just had 2 hob nobs (used to love these but after 13 months of no biscuits there extremely sweet!!!)

Any advice/peace of mind would be gratefully received!

 

[Northerner]

Hi Lee, whilst you are learning how the insulin is affecting you, both in your daily life and when you go to bed, it's a good idea to have something that will help to keep your levels up overnight. I started off in a pretty similar situation to you: I was usually in the low 5s before bed. To help keep my levels up, but without 'spiking' them, I used to have a slice of bread and peanut butter. The fat in the peanut butter slows the digestion of the bread so it raises levels more evenly and for longer through the night. Sweets or biscuits may raise your levels quickly and then drop right back again.

I would also recommend that you schedule some 3 am tests in. This is the time when your blood sugar levels are likely to have fallen to their lowest as your liver slows down its own release of glucose as the night progresses and then starts to ramp things up again in the morning to get you ready for the day.

Exercise can make you much more sensitive to your insulin so you also need to take this into account, especially if you have been more active than usual - the effects of an exercise session can influence your insulin sensitivity for up to 40 hours afterwards!

So, for now, it is good to be cautious and aim for slightly higher levels before bed until you are sure of how you are likely to be affected. For me this took several months, so be patient! 🙂

 

[leechilvers82]

Cheers northerner, knew I wasn't the first to experience this so wanted to throw it out there!!

Has anyone else got any similar ideas for per bed snacks thought of peanut butter makes me want to vomit!!!

 

[Northerner]

Cheers northerner, knew I wasn't the first to experience this so wanted to throw it out there!!

Has anyone else got any similar ideas for per bed snacks thought of peanut butter makes me want to vomit!!!

Cheese on toast? 🙂 You're looking for something that contains carbs and fat.

 

[Caroline]

bed time snack, although some may find it too sweet chocolate spread on toast, or how about a milky drink made with full fat milk?

 

[Copepod]

Strawberries and meringue are actually among the lowest carbohydrate fruits and cakes - ideal in some situations eg parties, but not so good for a bedtime snack.

Alwys good to have a few muesli bars in the house, as they're individually wrapped, so won't go to waste if you don't need them for days / weeks. Otherwise bread / crackers with something like cheese / pate etc makes a good snack of carbohydrate / fat.

If you want more detail about how exercise affects people with type 1 diabetes, there's lots of general information / principles and case studies of most sports / activities on http://www.runsweet.com/ However, in early days of insulin / honeymoon phase, it's very difficult to get things right all the time - it gets easier, but there'll always be "hiccups", so don't be too hard on yourself.

 

[DeusXM]

As you're new into this regime, snacking is probably the best option at the moment but the ideal situation will be to adjust your basal so that you go to bed in the 5s and wake up in the 5s.

If you are eating simply to keep your blood sugar up, you're eating unnecessary calories and this will end up becoming body fat. Dieticians time and time again tell people with diabetes to lose weight but then conversely tell them to eat even when they don't need to, and then act all surprised. Ultimately the ideal situation for diabetes treatment is to eat when you are hungry and not at any other time.