Hypo's

[robofski]

Four months into my insulin regime and other than shakes at 4.2 once I've not had a hypo, this got me to thinking, why, and as a result of my thinking I have two questions...

The body's natural mechanism to raise BG, the secretion of glucagon occurs at what BG level? I went to pizza hut last night (I know!!) and I injected 27 units of NR for a whole pizza, but ended up only eating just over half so was on hypo watch, nothing happened!

This then leads to my next question, how does one know if you have a hypo over night if it doesn't wake you?

I was 6.9 before last nights pizza, didn't get a reading after as I feel asleep when I got back to the hotel, woke this morning at 6.7. I know I can't be that good at getting my insulin to carb spot on so I'm wondering if there is something else helping me out here!

Any ideas?

 

[Northerner]

When you have diabetes your body's glucagon response is also usually impaired so it may not kick in until you are very low. It might also have to ramp up quite a bit before it can overcome the insulin you have injected (your pancreas wouldn't put that much insulin into your body at one go), so again you might drop much lower than a non-diabetic would. I think a non-diabetic would kick in with the glucagon at 3.3.

You usually know if you have had a hypo overnight and not woken because you have a 'hypo hangover' and feel thoroughly rotten and headachy

Pizzas are odd - I've been known to have a similar response. I think part of it is to do with ll the fat slowing the digestion, plus the high quantity of carbs making dose calculations less reliable.