Good evening everyone. I am type 2 diabetic and I have just started on basal bolus insulin Novo Rapid and toujeo. I have been having hypos for the first time and yesterday and today got to 2.2! I was so frightened! If this happens during the night will it automatically wake me up?? Thank you for reading any advice greatly appreciated. Nancy
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Hypos
- Thread starter Nancy57
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goodybags
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- Type 2
Hi @Nancy57
welcome to the forum I’m T2 and also taking insulin but not the same insulin as you, mine is a premix rather than the 2 separate ones,
after reduction of my carbs intake, I used to go low in the night (never in the day) it always woke me up but yes it can be quite scary, I think the lowest I was woken to was 2.6 and I felt quite disoriented and could feel myself shaking.
obviously I was taking to much as had made dietary changes, are you testing before you go to sleep ?
somebody might be able to advise which one to reduce and by how much but it will most likely need to be your DSN / HCP.
Take care & keep the glucose tablets / jelly babies at your bedside
welcome to the forum I’m T2 and also taking insulin but not the same insulin as you, mine is a premix rather than the 2 separate ones,
after reduction of my carbs intake, I used to go low in the night (never in the day) it always woke me up but yes it can be quite scary, I think the lowest I was woken to was 2.6 and I felt quite disoriented and could feel myself shaking.
obviously I was taking to much as had made dietary changes, are you testing before you go to sleep ?
somebody might be able to advise which one to reduce and by how much but it will most likely need to be your DSN / HCP.
Take care & keep the glucose tablets / jelly babies at your bedside
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi @Nancy57 When did you go low yesterday? Can you work out what might have caused it eg exercise, not eating enough carbs, etc?
Nighttime hypos should wake you but they’re unpleasant and confusing. Have you been told a blood sugar number to go to bed on? That’s one way to help avoid hypos. You could also set an alarm to check your blood sugar in the night around 2am.
Give your team a call tomorrow and let them know about the hypo. They might suggest reducing your insulin(s) or go through some checks with you about carb intake.
Nighttime hypos should wake you but they’re unpleasant and confusing. Have you been told a blood sugar number to go to bed on? That’s one way to help avoid hypos. You could also set an alarm to check your blood sugar in the night around 2am.
Give your team a call tomorrow and let them know about the hypo. They might suggest reducing your insulin(s) or go through some checks with you about carb intake.
Lucyr
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
You will wake up if you’re low but it can be a bit confusing. Keep your meter and hypo treatments within reach of your bed and if you wake up in the night then test, even if you don’t feel low. When did the hypos happen in relation to food and insulin?
Thank you. I have been having hypos every day between lunch and dinner. Will definitely call my team tomorrow. Good advice re alarm will set for 2am as I'm going to bed with sugar of 4 which is my recommended reading.
Lucyr
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I’d suggest a reading of 4 is too low before bed, anything under 4 is a hypo and so I would snack if my bg was 4 before bed especially if I had some low hypos during the day.
Hypos seem to happen between lunch and dinner most days since insulin was changed from Levemir. Trouble is I'm getting no symptoms until it is in the low 2's which is scary.
Thank you. I think it was set so low because I was reading in the 20's for so long before changing my regime. Time for a review I think.
Hi Nancy,
Are you confirming that reading in the low 2s with a finger prick test or is this from a Libre device or equivalent?
If you are not aware of a hypo till you've reached the low 2s then this is very serious and will have consequences if you drive because you could easily cause an accident. If you are a driver and are suffering a loss of hypo awareness like this then by law you need to stop driving immediately until you learn to regain it. You might well also have to tell the DVLA.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The idea is to keep the blood glucose stable and not take that much insulin it sends you hypo anytime really (barring 'one offs') - your doses definitely need reviewing - and PDQ! If you can't get hold of anyone to advise you over the phone tomorrow - personally I'd be very tempted indeed to reduce either insulin myself while you're waiting until you can get hold of someone.. The general advice to Type 1s is never to adjust dose more than 10% in one go and only adjust one type of insulin at a time, not both at once.
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I agree with @Lucyr that a level of 4 seems too low for before bed. I was told 8 when I was on injections, some people are told 10, so it can vary but I don’t know anyone who would go to bed on 4, not even Type 1s like myself on a pump.
As said above, losing your hypo awareness is serious and potentially very dangerous. You should be able to get it back by running slightly high for a few weeks. That really does help.
If the afternoon hypos are happening since you changed from Levemir, I’d ask about going back on that. Toujeo has mixed reviews. If you can’t get hold of your team today, I’d reduce your lunchtime Novorapid or eat an afternoon snack. Make a list of all the things you want to talk to your team about.
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Ljc
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1.5 LADA
Hi. We have a saying in here , 4 is the floor, imo no one who knows about diabetics who are on medications that can cause hypo’s will recommend a reading as low as 4.0 or even 4.5. With a reading of 4 you are very close to hypo territory.
Sadly not everyone wakes up from a night time hypo , till you get to speak to someone who really knows about insulin, I suggest you get your blood glucose levels up to 8 at the very least just before bed. Don’t take any mealtime insulin with your pre bed snack and keep hypo treatments , meter ect beide your bed. In fact I have hypo treatments in most rooms including the downstairs loo and bathroom.
I strongly suggest you contact your nurse as your insulin possibly both of them needs reducing.
Are you on fixed doses or carb counting and adjusting your insulin accordingly.
As you seem to h@ve lost hypo awareness till you get far too low , it’s best to run your levels higher for a while as this MAY help retrain your brain that such low levels are not good and it starts alerting you are still in the safe zone .
Hypos are horrid and having such frequent ones must be so worrying for you.
Sadly not everyone wakes up from a night time hypo , till you get to speak to someone who really knows about insulin, I suggest you get your blood glucose levels up to 8 at the very least just before bed. Don’t take any mealtime insulin with your pre bed snack and keep hypo treatments , meter ect beide your bed. In fact I have hypo treatments in most rooms including the downstairs loo and bathroom.
I strongly suggest you contact your nurse as your insulin possibly both of them needs reducing.
Are you on fixed doses or carb counting and adjusting your insulin accordingly.
As you seem to h@ve lost hypo awareness till you get far too low , it’s best to run your levels higher for a while as this MAY help retrain your brain that such low levels are not good and it starts alerting you are still in the safe zone .
Hypos are horrid and having such frequent ones must be so worrying for you.
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