HYpo at 2.6

[astbury1]

Hi all. On Friday I checked my sugar before tea and it was 6.3. Gave my rapid as per normal about 20-25 mins before food. Next about 15 minutes after eating I was4.1. Then I was 3.5- then again 2.6 at which point I only statrted to feel a bit shakey.

Two questions! 1)
6.3-2.6? Why did this happen? Didnt do anything out of the ordinary. No excerise etc. Usually this is fine!

2) 2.6? How come I only started to get symptoms at this point? This scared me. Is this something to do with my metre? Or am I one of these people that is going to walking around at 1.6 as if there is nothing wrong? Before when I had a hypo ( Ive only had 2) I was border line 4 and felt shakey etc


Any thoughts? Or is this just a random occurnace which has no reason to it?

 

[Aoife]

What made you test so soon after eating? Something may have triggered your brain to test

As for the drop, it sounds like your insulin peaked before the carbs hit your system, if it was a fatty meal, for example cheesy or creamy then that can slow down carb release

Hopefully it's just a random occurrence although now it's happened once you'll be aware of the possibility of it happening again

 

[astbury1]

I dont know what made me test cause I never usually bother. I hope it was just random as it wasnt a fatty meal. Far from it. Makes me wonder whether the 6.3 was incorrect and was just unlucky?

 

[HOBIE]

Being T1 isnt an exact sience ???

 

[astbury1]

It is a complete pain in the wotsit! Bring on the bionoic pancreas!

 

[Cleo]

Hi all. On Friday I checked my sugar before tea and it was 6.3. Gave my rapid as per normal about 20-25 mins before food. Next about 15 minutes after eating I was4.1. Then I was 3.5- then again 2.6 at which point I only statrted to feel a bit shakey.

Two questions! 1)
6.3-2.6? Why did this happen? Didnt do anything out of the ordinary. No excerise etc. Usually this is fine!

2) 2.6? How come I only started to get symptoms at this point? This scared me. Is this something to do with my metre? Or am I one of these people that is going to walking around at 1.6 as if there is nothing wrong? Before when I had a hypo ( Ive only had 2) I was border line 4 and felt shakey etc


Any thoughts? Or is this just a random occurnace which has no reason to it?

Hi Astbury,

Personally I would not have taken the insulin 20 - 25 mins before the meal if you were 6.3 (i.e. within target). I would have taken it a few minutes before.

Also, do you remember how much insulin you took for the portion of carbs eaten?.

In terms of your hypo awareness : I wouldnt worry too much about this. I think I have good overall hypo awareness but sometimes I dont pick them up until I'm below 3....the only thing I would suggest though is that I would have treated the hypo when the meter said 3.5 🙂

And yes....bring on the bionic pancreas!!!!
C.

 

[Northerner]

Was there any possibility that you still had some insulin 'on board' from a previous meal/injection? This has happened to me once or twice, and for me it seems to be when my meal contains pasta as it takes longer to hit my system. Like you, I normally inject 20-25 mins prior to eating, and normally only change this to just before if I'm below 5, but have on a couple of occasions felt a hypo coming on as I start to eat. Insulin absorption isn't always consistent, so you may just have been unlucky and it may have got into your system more quickly than usual.

 

[astbury1]

Hi, no insulin on board. I think am tending towards what both have you have said about hitting my system before the food. My last hypo was exactly the same as this. Usually ok but as you say possibley decided to absorb quicker than normal. Scarey being at 2.6! Am hoping my metre was slightly out!😉

 

[Northerner]

Hi, no insulin on board. I think am tending towards what both have you have said about hitting my system before the food. My last hypo was exactly the same as this. Usually ok but as you say possibley decided to absorb quicker than normal. Scarey being at 2.6! Am hoping my metre was slightly out!😉

Your symptoms will also sometimes depend on the speed of the drop, so it's possible that you were already catching up with the insulin ( although still dropping!) which 'softened' the symptoms 🙂 No, I'm not sure what I mean either! 🙄

 

[Redkite]

You say you didn't realise you were low, but something made you test 15 mins after eating so it sounds like you'd realised on some level that you were dropping 🙂

Annoying when you do the same thing you always do and then the unexpected happens! Your pre-meal 6.3 is only a snapshot of course, possibly you were already on a downward trend. With my son, if he's had a day of higher BGs, his meal insulin will absorb more slowly and can be given sooner. If he's had a day all in range or with a smattering of hypos, his meal insulin will absorb much faster, and even at 6.3 before eating I would consider bolusing part way through the meal rather than before. Nothing is ever simple!

 

[astbury1]

Ha ha. I will go with this!

 

[astbury1]

It must have been my sixth sense🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Have you basal tested that evening meal period Astbury?

On MDI your basal is more than likely not an exact fit of your requirements (and these can change from time to time too) so you may currently be in a position where your basal is slightly over-reaching your liver at evening meal time, which could mean as redkite says that your 6.3 was not just a 6.3... it was a 6.3-and-dropping.

I often dose quite early for breakfast and lunch, but seem to need more delayed approaches (dual waves/square waves/split doses) for evening meals. Partly I think because eve meals tend to be more 'mixed' with lots of non-carby things to slow them down, but also partly erhaps because of the time of day.

Eve-meal is my least basal-tested period (family mealtime and I hate to miss out!)

I'm also slightly confused as to whether or not you treated the 3.5? I certainly would have 🙂

 

[astbury1]

My basal seems to have been ok however it does appear to change... The only thing I can think was I took my basal and hour earlier and ate slightly later. I know that levemir doesnt peak much put maybe just the sligtly different combination of timings made this go a bit do lally.

Yes I did treat at 3.5. Waited 5 minutes and then it was 2.6. Waited another 10 mins and was 5.7. Then had some biscuits.Did have quite a lot of lucazade!🙄

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I reckon you could well be right about the doo-lally!

Yes I did treat at 3.5. Waited 5 minutes and then it was 2.6. Waited another 10 mins and was 5.7. Then had some biscuits.Did have quite a lot of lucazade! 🙄

I'd be inclined to trust the reading at 5+10 minutes personally (the 5.7). I try not to retest before 15 minutes as the temptation to add extra treatment is so strong.

It does take a little while even for Lucozade to begin to raise BGs, but then it does seem to carry on (at least in me!) for a good half hour, and just a few extra sips can send me from 2's to 10's if I'm not careful The 15 rule helps me to avoid that (15g CHO and wait 15 minutes).

I also note that 3.5 and 2.6 are within about 20% of each other - so within the bounds of meter (in)accuracy - your BG may have been pretty-much stable between those two readings 🙄

Lets hope it's a while before you get another of these though!

 

[Tony R]

It's worth testing your meter

One thing worth doing, to rule it out if nothing else is if you ever get a reading you think is strange, do another test preferably with another meter. I've been caught out by this a couple of times. The way you test also affects the result. Often when you do two tests straight after each other the results will be slightly different.

 

[astbury1]

Yeah to be honest my blood sugar is so strange I would be testing about 4 times everytime I test ha ha. I really wish meters were more accurate. I do make a conscious efforts to fully wash and dry hands now where before I must admit I was being a bit naughty. I have a freestyle optium metre which seems ok. I know they use these ones in hospital., Seems more accurate than my acuchek mobile.Well more consistant I would say!😉

 

[Dory]

Hi Astbury,

not fully read through previous replies so sorry if i'm repeating, but.....

could it have been a false reading pre-dinner? I used to find this (ie I test as I feel low, it says a normal reading, but 10 minutes later still feeling horrible, I test and it is low).

sometimes, interference (either by stuff on your fingers or the finger pricker) can affect the reading. I've repeat tested (ie tested then immediailtey tested using a different finger etc) on a few occasions and the difference can be as much as 3.0mmol.........

i only suggest this as you say nothing else was out of the ordinary.

Re the not feeling lows, sometimes I find this too. I've ben told that it's especially common when you get better control of your D. Ie if used to running at 10's, you may feel low when your bG is only 5. But if you have tight control and usually run around 5, your body gets used to that and thus will start giving out symptoms when it's much lower ie 2-3.

🙂

 

[astbury1]

Hi it is usally ok to take it that early. The problem I have is the novorapid is just not quick enough and have high peaks after meals. My basal seems to be ok. If I increase it it makes me drop. The novorapid tends to bring me back into range with in the 5 hours so ratios ok. The only things I can do is take it earlier however if there is a rouge readling this does not help matters! lol. And yes I eat low GI but for some reason I get massive peaks.😡 I have annoying morning blood sugars too. If I raise basal then then if I go with out eating I drop. Very annoying. Pump has been mentioned!

Hi Astbury,

Personally I would not have taken the insulin 20 - 25 mins before the meal if you were 6.3 (i.e. within target). I would have taken it a few minutes before.

Also, do you remember how much insulin you took for the portion of carbs eaten?.

In terms of your hypo awareness : I wouldnt worry too much about this. I think I have good overall hypo awareness but sometimes I dont pick them up until I'm below 3....the only thing I would suggest though is that I would have treated the hypo when the meter said 3.5 🙂

And yes....bring on the bionic pancreas!!!!
C.

 

[bev]

Hi Astbury1,

Its fine to bolus 25 minutes before the meal. Even if Alex is 4 we still bolus ahead and he might have a bit of coke or something else - it just means your giving the insulin time to start working - no 'fast acting' is actually that fast! Gary Scheiner (think like a pancreas) told us even if he is hypo he just treats the hypo and bolus's like normal because it has no effect. I think it sounds like a random low and even though you didnt *feel* any warning signs - there must have been something different for you to test.🙂Bev