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Hypo Awareness

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.

Emma17

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this.

So I have been diagnosed with diabetes just under a year and confirmed type 1 since August. Just recently I have had a few hypos but did not feel them coming on until I am around bs 2.9. Usually I pick up the signs as my bs hit 4.0.

Is there something that I can do to help with my awareness.

Thank you
 
What are your levels generally like? If you spend a lot of time at the lower end of in range then that increases the risk of losing awareness, most of us can regain it if we run our levels a bit higher for a while, also it depends on the speed of the drop when we feel it sometimes so if your slowly dropping you may not feel it until lower than when you drop fast xx
 
The usual advice to help with hypo awareness is to run your blood sugars a bit higher for a few weeks. Our bodies can be quite good at re-familiarising theirselves with what we want it to think of as “normal”.

However, are you sure you are hypoing or are you assuming you are because, for example, Libre says so?
Libre (and other CGMs) can have their moments of inaccuracy. For example, compression lows when you lie on it at night.
 
My bs have just got back into range after having Covid. I always test my blood sugars with my meter as I know that the Libre has some issues. It's just I don't feel the hypo until I start shaking and sweating.
 
Hello @Emma17 not realising you are hypo until you reach 2.9 is very worrying. Please make sure you check your Libre as often as you can and talk to your DSN to find out what's going on and why.
If you are a driver then you need to stop driving as well as it's against the law to drive whilst hypo unaware.
Hopefully it's an easy fix like running blood sugars a bit higher for a while.
 
My bs have just got back into range after having Covid. I always test my blood sugars with my meter as I know that the Libre has some issues. It's just I don't feel the hypo until I start shaking and sweating.

Running slightly high for some weeks can help a lot. You don’t have to run super-high, just try not to drop below a certain level.
 
I using Libre 2 and I had low reading under 4 when I checked with my meter they were around 8.So always double check with meter is my advice.
 
Hello @Emma17 🙂 I hope your problem can be sorted. Keep jelly babies with you, but I know nothing really.
 
Sorry to hear you are sometimes having trouble with your early hypo awareness @Emma17

Are you keeping notes of how often you are seeing readings below 4.0? And of the frequency and severity of your nastier lows? Have you needed anyone else to help you recover from a hypo because you didn’t spot it early enough and got confused?

Are you still taking mixed insulin? I wonder if this might not be helping you, and it is a fairly inflexible regimen and requires feeding at certain points.

As others have said, to regain awareness you need to avoid hypos, as much as you possibly can. Any minutes spent below 4.0 train the brain into thinking that this is a normal BG level, so the symptoms don’t fire until lower and lower levels are reached.

Maybe temporarily consider 5.0 to be the floor, and treat any reading in the 4s with a smallish hypo treatment?

Oh... and I’ve switched your ‘flag’ to say T1 to reflect your updated diagnosis. Hope that helps 🙂
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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