Hypoglycemia at night in non-diabetic

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rebrascora said:
Another vote here for those both being compression lows where you turned over and lay on your sensor arm compressing the tissue under the sensor and causing an erroneous low. You can see from the dip and then spring back that both profiles are almost identical with the rise afterwards going higher and then settling back down to where it actually should be and the rise after the dip is a straight uniform line. Absolutely classic Libre compression low graph. Genuine BG does not give repeatable patterns like that.
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Thank you! Yes, the dips are suspiciously identical, I can see that now!
 
The compression lows have been covered. I wonder if you really need to be using a sensor at all and if it’s helping you. Your HBA1C is perfectly fine and you’re not overweight. I say it with kindness but just because the technology is there doesn’t mean it’s always helpful to us.
 
The sensor is probably giving you information which shows your body is reacting normally and you are worrying about something which is normal for someone who is prediabetic and could be making you make unnecessary changes.
Sometimes too much information is as bad as too little.
 
Satan’s little helper said:
You may find this interesting? (Granted, it is an old document.)

My “layman’s” theory on the long lag twix meter with a Libre coming up from a real low is the brain takes priority.
Interstitial fluid waits in line. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2903977/
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Interesting, thanks! For me it's not so much the values themselves but the size of the spikes that matters - I'm using the Libre to show me what foods spike me most in what situations so I can avoid big spikes (and subsequent crashes). The change in levels (graphs) seem fairly consistent to me - i.e. I can pinpoint when I ate something and clearly see the spikes in comparison to the base levels. Do you think the Libre is accurate in that regard? If I was to prick my fingers every 15 minutes, would I get the same graph, just showing slightly different levels?
 
No Libre is not accurate with regard to the height of the spikes.... It usually exaggerates them in the same way that those compression lows come up from the low, go too high and then settle back down to the level you were at before the compression. It is because of the algorithm which tries to predict the 15 min interstitial lag, so it usually overshoots the actual peak your BG topped out at, sometimes by 1-2 mmols, but usually less if you are within range ie below 10. The higher the spike, usually the further the Libre will overshoot.
 
Leadinglights said:
The sensor is probably giving you information which shows your body is reacting normally and you are worrying about something which is normal for someone who is prediabetic and could be making you make unnecessary changes.
Sometimes too much information is as bad as too little.
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It's true that I worry too much - and that in itself can affect BG levels. However, I've only got two weeks to experiment and I want to make the most of it. I've already got some invaluable information out of my experiments. I want to understand how my body works. I think every single one of us is at risk of diabetes and there's so much we can do to avoid it or even reverse it.
 
rebrascora said:
No Libre is not accurate with regard to the height of the spikes.... It usually exaggerates them in the same way that those compression lows come up from the low, go too high and then settle back down to the level you were at before the compression. It is because of the algorithm which tries to predict the 15 min interstitial lag, so it usually overshoots the actual peak your BG topped out at, sometimes by 1-2 mmols, but usually less if you are within range ie below 10. The higher the spike, usually the further the Libre will overshoot.
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OK, thanks, that's something else to keep in mind. Would you get the same false data when you download the csv file from the LibreView website, do you think? That's where I get my data from, not so much from the graph on my phone. Supposedly, the Libreview shows the actual measurements and not the values suggested by the algorithm?
 
Thebearcametoo said:
The compression lows have been covered. I wonder if you really need to be using a sensor at all and if it’s helping you. Your HBA1C is perfectly fine and you’re not overweight. I say it with kindness but just because the technology is there doesn’t mean it’s always helpful to us.
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Point taken. I just want to understand how my body works and do everything to optimise my health - especially now that the menopause is around the corner. If I can make any changes that promote my health, I want to know about it. I do suffer from a number of other health issues which may be related to glucose/insulin levels, for example uterine fibroids. Also, there's evidence that anxiety may be related to dysregulated glucose metabolism as well. So blood sugar is not only about diabetes.
 
susan-k-s said:
OK, thanks, that's something else to keep in mind. Would you get the same false data when you download the csv file from the LibreView website, do you think? That's where I get my data from, not so much from the graph on my phone. Supposedly, the Libreview shows the actual measurements and not the values suggested by the algorithm?
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Firstly I don't consider it "False data" as such it just probably has a bit more inaccuracy than a finger prick, which is also not accurate, but between the two we are encourage to trust the BG meter more.
As far as I am aware the Libreview data is just a copy of the LibreLink data. It has no means of reading BG and the interstitial levels will not always match the BG curve which is demonstrated by your compression low, but things like hydration/dehydration will also have more of an impact on interstitial readings compared to blood I believe and those of us who use Libre all the time can sometimes see a significant drop if we have gone all day without drinking much and are quite thirsty and then have a long drink.

Really you have to think in terms of this technology giving you an idea of what is happening, but don't get too fixated on the numbers. Even those of us who are basing insulin dosing decisions on Libre which is potentially quite critical for our wellbeing, in case we overdose and go hypo, have to accept that Libre is not desperately accurate..... but finger pricks are not guaranteed totally accurate either. If you are trying to "control" your BG levels to that sort of level then you are probably trying too hard and need to loosen up. Libre is a great bit of kit but if it is reading within 1 mmols of a finger prick most of the time we are very happy, within 2mmols of a finger prick it is manageable for us. Over 2mmols out on more that 2 occasions, it gets reported to Abbott for a replacement.
 
susan-k-s said:
It's true that I worry too much - and that in itself can affect BG levels.
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Stress and worry can raised blood sugars for people who have a dysfunctional pancreas (have diabetes).
Our body reacts to stress by releasing glucose (to give us the energy for fight or flight). If your pancreas works correctly, it will react very very fast to this glucose and release insulin to convert the glucose into the required energy.

So, stress does not normally affect BG levels significantly for people without diabetes.
 
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