hypo

[bev]

Tonight before dinner Alex was 11 - we didnt correct as he had played football this afternoon. Then 1 hour after dinner he felt hypo and was crying - tested him - he was 5 - so gave him 3 jelly babies - then tested him 15 minutes later - he was still 5 - so gave him 4 jelly babies - then tested him 15 minutes later and he was 7 - so he has gone to bed after having some milk and biscuit - any ideas whats wrong? Bev

 

[Copepod]

Not necessarily anything "wrong" - it sounds like all readings were within reasonable limits, remembering that there is a degree of variation within meter readings. And for a child in honeymoon phase, some levels will be unexpected. Perhaps Alex's blood sugar levels were higher before football? Sometimes, food and drink gets shared / swapped between children during football, school days etc. Having worked on a project observing what children were eating, parents often commented that what we'd noted down wasn't what was in their packed lunches when they left home! Anyway, sounds like it turned out fine - but mention the episode to DSN when you next speak.

 

[diagonall]

It just sounds as if the afternoon football had caught up with Alex.
Try experimenting with a small snack say 10 or 15 carbs after the game or even before the game. Something long acting like 1/2 a banana or a whole small banana. Or knock off a unit from his lunch time bolus is another option.
His DSN should have a better idea as to the best option.

Next question is did his team win?

Sue

 

[bev]

Thanks all,

The reason i was so worried was because even after jelly babies it didnt make any difference to his reading?
He woke this morning and his level was 17!!!!!!So i think we overdosed with the milk etc?
He was playing football with his dad and sister - he had 3 jelly babies half way through the game.
I dont know who won Sue, but it wont have been Alex - his sister (17) is a complete tom-boy and is brilliant at football -and she is very competitive! And she ever panders to 'letting him win'!lolBev

 

[diagonall]

Thanks all,

The reason i was so worried was because even after jelly babies it didnt make any difference to his reading?
He woke this morning and his level was 17!!!!!!So i think we overdosed with the milk etc?
He was playing football with his dad and sister - he had 3 jelly babies half way through the game.
I dont know who won Sue, but it wont have been Alex - his sister (17) is a complete tom-boy and is brilliant at football -and she is very competitive! And she ever panders to 'letting him win'!lolBev

Lol at the sister
Jelly babies are pure sugar so all they do is fix quick. So only good for treating a hypo.
So a slow acting carb is a better option.
Sounds as if a complete overload of carbs before bed plus the exercise combination.
Try keeping a record of what happens with exercise.
This way you can hopefully see a pattern with his blood sugars and then sort out a routine.
Also I would be inclined to ask Alex to sit nice and quiet and sit out his phantom hypo. 5 is a normal blood sugar. So really should not be treated as a hypo.
Hope all is ok now.

Sue

 

[bev]

Thanks Sue,

Mostly he has jelly babies and then a slow release carb - but he had just eaten 1 hour before and i think would have been sick with more food!

I know a 5 isnt a hypo - but its just that he was shaking uncontrollably and crying - and as he had eaten 1 hour before i was shocked that his level was 5 - usually at 2 hours after food its about 12ish! So, although not technically a hypo i think he was heading down very quickly! So do you think a quick decline could have created the symptoms?:

 

[Northerner]

Thanks Sue,

Mostly he has jelly babies and then a slow release carb - but he had just eaten 1 hour before and i think would have been sick with more food!

I know a 5 isnt a hypo - but its just that he was shaking uncontrollably and crying - and as he had eaten 1 hour before i was shocked that his level was 5 - usually at 2 hours after food its about 12ish! So, although not technically a hypo i think he was heading down very quickly! So do you think a quick decline could have created the symptoms?:

Hi bev,

I've had something like this a couple of times lately, where I've eaten but then felt hypo when I really shouldn't have. I think the sensations were definitely down to the rapid decline in blood sugar - although I was 3.0 I don't normally feel too bad at that level, but I felt as though I had to act really fast or it would be too late to treat myself. It was as though I could actually feel the sugar in my blood being used up and running out!

Could be due to his rather uncooperative pancreas. I still don't know what caused it in me. Hope things settle down soon and you can get some degree of predictability!🙂

 

[diagonall]

Hi Bev,
yep a sudden very quick drop in blood sugar has the effect of making things seems 100 x worse than they are 😡

 

[Sugarbum]

Hiya, can someone remind me what the equivalent of 3 jellie babies is in a hypo that you are using for Alex? Is that about 1.5 CP's? People on my DAFNE were taking them as hypos treatment, but I could never exhibit that level of self control as I like them too much! But Im going off that sickly feeling I get with Lucozade....

I read with interest your experience with your son and his hypo, I wish I could offer something constructive! I cant, but must say its very striking how difficult it must be to manage someone elses (and a child at that) diabetes. Something that luckily I dont have to contemplate. Well done, it can't be easy.

 

[Northerner]

Hiya, can someone remind me what the equivalent of 3 jellie babies is in a hypo that you are using for Alex? Is that about 1.5 CP's? People on my DAFNE were taking them as hypos treatment, but I could never exhibit that level of self control as I like them too much! But Im going off that sickly feeling I get with Lucozade....

I read with interest your experience with your son and his hypo, I wish I could offer something constructive! I cant, but must say its very striking how difficult it must be to manage someone elses (and a child at that) diabetes. Something that luckily I dont have to contemplate. Well done, it can't be easy.

Yes, a (Bassets) jelly baby is 5gm carbs. I usually take three and then a slow-acting carb - peanut butter on seeded bread is a current favourite! - to treat a hypo.

 

[bev]

Hiya, can someone remind me what the equivalent of 3 jellie babies is in a hypo that you are using for Alex? Is that about 1.5 CP's? People on my DAFNE were taking them as hypos treatment, but I could never exhibit that level of self control as I like them too much! But Im going off that sickly feeling I get with Lucozade....

I read with interest your experience with your son and his hypo, I wish I could offer something constructive! I cant, but must say its very striking how difficult it must be to manage someone elses (and a child at that) diabetes. Something that luckily I dont have to contemplate. Well done, it can't be easy.

Hi, like Northerner says they are 5 (4.8 to be precise!) - we usually give 3 and if it doesnt rise then we give a couple more or a fizzy drink!Then 2 digestive biscuits

Your right, its very difficult to understand how Alex is feeling - he has had lots of hypo's - but i have never seen him visibly shake and cry i think it must have been the rapid decline that produced such strong symptoms. But even though his monitor was telling me he was 5 -so technically not hypo - i am glad i gave him sugar - as i think he was heading for a very low number!It can be very scary for an onlooker though - especially as i have no idea how it 'feels' ! It's all a learning curve though and i feel sure we will get things under control soon (ish)lol. Bev

 

[Patricia]

We've had a couple of instances recently where the level is not registering an actual hypo, but where my son describes feeling 'low' (eg 5) -- we have usually given not a hypo treatment, but a longer lasting carb, a snack really. This has seemed to head it off well.

Saying that, we had one last week where he was 4.6 at the beginning of a meal, so no treatment...but he couldn't eat well, and we stopped and he had a glucose tab, waited a minute or two, and was then able to carry on. Basically, he seems able to tell if he's going down -- if Alex is that distressed, clearly something more intense is going on, so yes worth listening.

Another explanation of course for the low number so close to eating may be the type of carb? If pasta or rice, it seems that very little hits quickly. We have had two hypos because of this and now always split the dose, as much of a pain as it is...

btw, not to put a spanner in the works (just to report really), we've actually been advised against jelly babies, apparently because they have ingredients other than sugar which can delay their absorption? We do glucose tabs (tropical flavour) and juice sometimes if he's home and things aren't desperate....

 

[bev]

Oh thats interesting Patricia - i wonder if it has anything to do with Alex's numbers not rising after them?(jelly babies). Alex hates the dextrose tablets - tried every flavour!

Last night he had eaten a sausage sandwich and then had a scone with jam and cream - do you think the scone could be a culprit? He has never had one before! Bev

 

[diagonall]

Hi, like Northerner says they are 5 (4.8 to be precise!) - we usually give 3 and if it doesnt rise then we give a couple more or a fizzy drink!Then 2 digestive biscuits

Bev, that seems a heck of a lot to treat a hypo.
I would have a talk with his dsn. To me it reads as if he is on far to much basal insulin and he is having to feed it.

 

[Copepod]

Sausages and cream are all relatively high in fat, which is known to delay absorption of carbohydrate eaten at the same time - pizza with cheese topping is another classic example of this effect.
Jelly babies are still pretty quick at rising blood sugar, even with other ingredients, and there's no point trying to get anyone to eat digusting sources of glucose - I can't tolerate glucose sweets, either, although I can eat and enjoy almost all types of food (and as some people might have noticed in my posts, I do eat some odd things!) plus they're expensive, and normal sweets are less obvious if you're trying to be discrete. Personally, I find jelly sweets (Co-Op sells 3 x 100g packets for ?1 - cola bottles are 61.4g sugar per 100g sweets, so 25g sweets (about 5 sweets) gives 15.4g sugar). So, if jelly babies work for Alex, I'd stick with them.

 

[bev]

Hi Sue,
I thought giving him 3 jelly babies was ok? It equates to about 15grams carbs - then the 2 biscuits for long acting carbs? Am i wrong? Bev

 

[aymes]

Hi, like Northerner says they are 5 (4.8 to be precise!) - we usually give 3 and if it doesnt rise then we give a couple more or a fizzy drink!Then 2 digestive biscuits

Bev, that seems a heck of a lot to treat a hypo.
I would have a talk with his dsn. To me it reads as if he is on far to much basal insulin and he is having to feed it.

I don't know, that about tallys with the advice I've always been given, and used, for treating hypos, both pre and post dafne, 1.5-2CP (15-20g carbs) of fast acting carbs, if no improvement after 10/15 minutes repeat, if no longer hypo then 1.5-2CP of slower acting (if more than an hour or so before a meal).

 

[Sugarbum]

Excellent thank you! I will be giving that a try. Unfortunately I made a rather dramatic purchase of Lucozade when the big bottles were half price recently in Sainsburys...more of a lifetime investment! Ho-hum....

 

[Northerner]

I don't know, that about tallys with the advice I've always been given, and used, for treating hypos, both pre and post dafne, 1.5-2CP (15-20g carbs) of fast acting carbs, if no improvement after 10/15 minutes repeat, if no longer hypo then 1.5-2CP of slower acting (if more than an hour or so before a meal).

Yup, that's what works for me, brings me back up to a normal level. A lot of my hypos have occured near a meal time, so I don't often follow up with extra carb, just my normal meal. If I hypo at night, then it's 3 jelly babies and a cereal bar.

 

[gerryberry]

same for me except i use sml amount of lucozade as not a jelly baby fan and then cereal bar or something similar. i was told if i did not have carb after treating hypo then i would just hypo again!!