little hypos..

[D_G]

Hi all wondering if u could help me please..

Before lunch today i was 4.7 and my lunch was half a sandwich and a activia yoghurt. i calculated the carbs: 15g (minus the fibre) for slice of bread and 16g for the yoghurt so the ratio i have been working at is 1:10 so injected 3 units of my novarapid.

1 hour later - 6.0
2 hours later - 3.5

so had a gluco tab and some chocolates that hapened to be near by (quite alot!) think i overcorrected and was too afraid to check my sugar lol..well 2 hours later after a detour to sainsburys to pick up some stuff, got home started to feel a little shakey so checked bloods again and was 3.5!! and theres me thinking i overcorrected!?

i know they arent HUGE hypos but if i hadnt have checked it could have turned into one!

so i was thinking either i am honeymooning, or my carb to insulin ratio is wrong, what do u guys think and what about that 2nd hypo???

Thanks
DG
x

 

[Northerner]

Hiya DG, very hard to tell whether that was a one-off or not, but sometimes it just happens - there may have been other things that you hadn't considered, like previous activity, warmer weather, seasonal etc. Perhaps you are honeymooning and the injection gave you too much, and although you had the glucotabs maybe that just stopped you from plummeting. As long as you have taken note of everything it will be an experience you can relate to should it happen again and you might then be better placed to determine why.

It might just be that your insulin requirements are falling - mine dropped by about 30-40% around a year after I was diagnosed and have stayed at that level or slightly lower ever since. I was having to reduce it nearly every day to keep just above hypo levels!

 

[Northerner]

p.s. I think UK packaging doesn't include fibre in the Carb amount, whereas in the US you have to subtract the fibre to get the carbs - think I'm right, anyone know for definite? I never consider fibre when carb counting.

 

[bev]

p.s. I think UK packaging doesn't include fibre in the Carb amount, whereas in the US you have to subtract the fibre to get the carbs - think I'm right, anyone know for definite? I never consider fibre when carb counting.

Your right Northey, I dont include fibre either. Not sure why you had a hypo - what sort of bread was it? If it was a very grainy type bread this can take a long time to digest and the insulin will have peaked without it. Did you go high later on? Perhaps its the honeymoon effect like you say.🙂Bev

 

[D_G]

Your right Northey, I dont include fibre either. Not sure why you had a hypo - what sort of bread was it? If it was a very grainy type bread this can take a long time to digest and the insulin will have peaked without it. Did you go high later on? Perhaps its the honeymoon effect like you say.🙂Bev

It was a tesco finest oat loaf, lots of grainy bits really nice! Well it said 18g for one slice and 3g of fibre so i took that away to get the 15g was this right? i think i may be honeymooning then but being on a novarapid pen i can only reduce/increase my insulin dose by 1 i cant do 0.5 or anyhting

 

[jan7]

Going to the supermarket often makes my bg drop still haven't worked out why, maybe that on top of an earlier hypo was enough to send you on the downward trend again.

 

[Northerner]

It was a tesco finest oat loaf, lots of grainy bits really nice! Well it said 18g for one slice and 3g of fibre so i took that away to get the 15g was this right? i think i may be honeymooning then but being on a novarapid pen i can only reduce/increase my insulin dose by 1 i cant do 0.5 or anyhting

Hi DG, no you don't need to take the fibre away from the carb value as it is separate on UK food (thanks bev!), so if it says 18g carb, that's what you should use.

Ask your DSN for a novopen demi - you can bolus in half units on that and it sounds like you need to be able to! 🙂

 

[rossi_mac]

Never heard of taking fibre off the carb values??

DG go get a demi pen, the pip code is about on here somewhere, I keep meaning to get one, well I've asked twice already, by note on bit of paper to doc but to no avail, so need to see the doc about that and a few other things, but I just can't be bothered! I can't even be bothered to get a prescription at the mo, still in a couple of weeks I'll have no choice!

 

[Pigeon]

I've had lots of hypos after Activia yoghurts too! I think it's because they're meant to make you feel full for longer, so they must be slow to absorb. I ended up taking half the usual insulin for these yoghurts, which worked better. I buy other types now, like Ski, which are fine.

 

[Northerner]

I've had lots of hypos after Activia yoghurts too! I think it's because they're meant to make you feel full for longer, so they must be slow to absorb. I ended up taking half the usual insulin for these yoghurts, which worked better. I buy other types now, like Ski, which are fine.

Wow! Can you still get Ski Yoghurts? I used to love them in the '70s!

 

[D_G]

Hi DG, no you don't need to take the fibre away from the carb value as it is separate on UK food (thanks bev!), so if it says 18g carb, that's what you should use.

Ask your DSN for a novopen demi - you can bolus in half units on that and it sounds like you need to be able to! 🙂

Well it was a good job i did on this occassion as i would have injected more insulin for the bread and possibly gone really low! Thanks i will ask my nurse when i next see her about this as would be very helpful, and maybe try the ski yoghurts too pigeon

 

[sofaraway]

If you see a pattern of going low after lunch then it could be that you need to adjust your ratio. When i started on insulin I was on around 1:5g, and then gradually moved to needing less insulin and I currently use 1:20g.
I use a novopen demi too and really like being able to use half units when needed.