LOW BLOOD SUGAR

[YE2GATHER]

The dose they put you on to start with tends to be a best guess rather than an exact science, so it often has to be changed. I was put on 16 units of Lantus a day when I was first diagnosed and after a week of having hypos in the night every night they dropped it to 6 units. That made my blood sugar very unstable so I asked to switch to a different insulin.

You'll need to talk to a GP or diabetes nurse about what changes you should make though, it is different for everyone.

ye seeing doctor tomorrow he might take me of it hope your night hypos improve. they are terrifying.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Hope your doctor is helpful and things work out for you.

I only had the night hypos for the first week, and that was over 11 years ago - and mine weren't terrifying at all, I just got up and had something to eat and went back to bed. I can honestly say I've never had a terrifying hypo and I must have had thousands of them - only 1 of them was really severe and that was confusing rather than scary. The trick is to catch them in time and treat them with glucose before they get too bad.

 

[YE2GATHER]

Hope your doctor is helpful and things work out for you.

I only had the night hypos for the first week, and that was over 11 years ago - and mine weren't terrifying at all, I just got up and had something to eat and went back to bed. I can honestly say I've never had a terrifying hypo and I must have had thousands of them - only 1 of them was really severe and that was confusing rather than scary. The trick is to catch them in time and treat them with glucose before they get too bad.

how do you know they are coming?

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Symptoms vary from person to person, but common ones include feeling dizzy and/or shaky, sweating, getting confused and/or irritable, feeling tired, suddenly feeling hungry, going pale, and finding yourself concentrating really hard on doing something really trivial.

I often don't know when mine are about to happen, but that's because I have a lot of them (and because I don't get many symptoms I have a sensor on prescription stuck on my arm which I can scan frequently to check what my blood sugar is doing). When you're not used to them you're likely to have at least one or more of the symptoms above though, and that's when you should test.

 

[rebrascora]

One of my first signs of a hypo used to be my peripheral vision going blurry. tingling lips and/or tongue can be another one. If I am out for a long walk, one of my little tests is to check my peripheral vision every now and then to assess if I might be going low. I sometimes get a slight feeling of indigestion too. It's an odd slightly sinking feeling in my stomach.... perhaps the early indication of hunger but it doesn't feel like hunger.

I think the more hypos you have, the more you realsie that you need to be looking out for them. If you have been using insulin for a year and not had one. no one could blame you for not expecting it to happen. I can understand that blissful ignorance of the risks or that you needed to be consciously aware that it might happen at any moment. I often think that having frequent hypos may actually be better than having them very rarely, because you are more alert for them and have the confidence to treat them promptly.

Some of my first few hypos were really bad quite bad and I remember one where after eating the treatment I sat in the car shivering and dripping sweat with my heart pounding and all I wanted to do was drift off into unconsciousness and it was an incredible effort not to give in to that and I couldn't stand or walk. Now that my BG levels are pretty stable I can usually feel when my levels are dropping somewhere between 4.5 and 3.8 and I can just munch on a couple of jelly babies and carry on with whatever I am doing and it is really just a bit of an inconvenience. At night my body wakes me up, I reach across to the bedside table for a couple of jelly babies, give them a good chew and go straight back to sleep. Don't even need to put the light on or sit up. I can usually tell when my levels get above 10 too, sometimes above 8. Certainly when I am sleeping, I become really restless with higher levels and usually end up waking, testing and injecting a couple of units of insulin and going back to sleep.
The more you test your levels, the more you learn to recognise how it feels to be low and how you feel when you are high and how much is just the right amount of glucose to treat it. Testing is key to understanding.

 

[YE2GATHER]

One of my first signs of a hypo used to be my peripheral vision going blurry. tingling lips and/or tongue can be another one. If I am out for a long walk, one of my little tests is to check my peripheral vision every now and then to assess if I might be going low. I sometimes get a slight feeling of indigestion too. It's an odd slightly sinking feeling in my stomach.... perhaps the early indication of hunger but it doesn't feel like hunger.

I think the more hypos you have, the more you realsie that you need to be looking out for them. If you have been using insulin for a year and not had one. no one could blame you for not expecting it to happen. I can understand that blissful ignorance of the risks or that you needed to be consciously aware that it might happen at any moment. I often think that having frequent hypos may actually be better than having them very rarely, because you are more alert for them and have the confidence to treat them promptly.

Some of my first few hypos were really bad quite bad and I remember one where after eating the treatment I sat in the car shivering and dripping sweat with my heart pounding and all I wanted to do was drift off into unconsciousness and it was an incredible effort not to give in to that and I couldn't stand or walk. Now that my BG levels are pretty stable I can usually feel when my levels are dropping somewhere between 4.5 and 3.8 and I can just munch on a couple of jelly babies and carry on with whatever I am doing and it is really just a bit of an inconvenience. At night my body wakes me up, I reach across to the bedside table for a couple of jelly babies, give them a good chew and go straight back to sleep. Don't even need to put the light on or sit up. I can usually tell when my levels get above 10 too, sometimes above 8. Certainly when I am sleeping, I become really restless with higher levels and usually end up waking, testing and injecting a couple of units of insulin and going back to sleep.
The more you test your levels, the more you learn to recognise how it feels to be low and how you feel when you are high and how much is just the right amount of glucose to treat it. Testing is key to understanding.

you say you reach for insulin when you need it i cant do that i have been told only to take an amount

 

[YE2GATHER]

you say you reach for insulin when you need it i cant do that i have been told only to take an amount

nice having replies makes you feel youre not alone appreciate

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, that is right. The insulin you are using is a long acting insulin which is just injected once a day. I have a long acting insulin similar to your Lantus, but I also have a quick acting insulin which I inject to cover my meals and also to bring my levels down when they go too high. Adjusting the doses and understanding how each insulin works takes a lot of time and trial and error and LOTS OF TESTING. I was finger pricking about 16 times a day for about a fortnight at one stage to learn more about how my body was responding. Each person can be quite unique in how their body responds to food and exercise and insulin and many other factors which is why a set dose of insulin which is never altered is not ideal because your body changes, the seasons change, your activity levels change, the length of the days change, illness or injury affects it, ambient temperature and hormone variations and lets not get started on stress!!. There are something like 42 factors which affect your blood glucose and many of them you don't have any control over, so being able to adjust your insulin and having the correct types of insulin means that you can balance things better and it is really all about balance!

 

[rebrascora]

So pleased that you have found the forum and feel it is beneficial talking to others who understand and experience the same challenges. I joined 3 years ago just after diagnosis and the advice, support, knowledge and experience of others has been invaluable to me in learning to manage my diabetes well and feeling confident about it. Yes, I still have frustrating days when it doesn't make sense, but that is because there are too many factors beyond my control. If I can keep my levels pretty steady most of the time then I am winning and I feel so much better. High levels not only make you feel tired and anxious and under the weather but they also put you at risk of long term complications including damage to your sight and feet and kidneys. Too low and you are hypo and that is also dangerous, so managing things somewhere in the middle is the ideal. 5s and 6s are great levels but no body manages to keep them there all the time.... even non diabetic people with fully functioning pancreases. If you can keep levels mostly below 10 and above 4 you are doing really well.

 

[YE2GATHER]

recently i have had some 4.7 then up to maybe 10 or 11 after eating and 7.9 2 hours after eating then down to 4.7again i think it may have gone back to normal. would be really good.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear you’ve had an unpleasant experience with a hypo @YE2GATHER - and that you’ve been given some confusing advice from your healthcare professionals.

There’s a handy overview about hypos here

What is a hypo (hypoglycaemia)?

A hypo is when your blood sugar level, also called blood glucose level, drops too low. This is usually below 4mmol/l. A hypo, also called hypoglycaemia, can happen quickly. So it’s important to always have hypo treatments with you. It's also important to know what the signs are and how to treat...

www.diabetes.org.uk

And it’s good to hear that the replies you are getting, and the shared experiences are helping.

I completely agree that checking as soon as you feel a bit ‘off’, and keeping hypo treatments readily accessible and carrying them with you wherever you go are important precautions.

Hope you can get some more support and help to balance your doses, your menu, and the BG levels you are getting.

 

[YE2GATHER]

Good to hear that driving isn't an issue. 14 units of Lanus isn't a lot for a Type 2 diabetic but I imagine if you stopped it you would go too high, so hopefully the nurse will suggest a dose reduction and then keep in touch with you for several weeks afterwards to see how that is working out.
As regards Glucose tablets for treating hypos, if you need them (ie your levels drop below 4) you should chew about 4 of them and then wait 15 mins and then retest to see if your levels have come up above 4. If your levels haven't come up after that 15 mins, then have 3-4 more glucose tablets, wait another 15 mins and retest again until you are above 4. Then have a digestive biscuit or half a slice of toast to help stabilize your levels and prevent them dropping too low again. This is called the 15 minute rule.... 15g fast acting carbs, wait 15mins and then retest and repeat if you are not above 4.

It just sounds like you have been lulled into a false sense of security with your levels being high for so long and perhaps forgotten that hypo treatment advice and maybe not really understanding how variable BG levels are and how important testing is and understanding the numbers..... and perhaps how dangerous insulin can be if you don't understand how it works. We can help you to understand all this here on the forum but you definitely need some input from the nurse on adjusting your insulin dose or perhaps trying a different insulin or possible even a different medication altogether.

hello, like you said should blood sugar levels go below 4 glucose tablets are a must. i only take one and a bite to eat and 10 or so minutes later and i feel well again and my blood sugar goes up to maybe 5. hypos were not expected by me they shook me a bit. i changed my diet and stopped eating flour products a while ago maybe thats why i had a hypo. doctor sent me for a h1ab? test i am waiting for results. maybe my diet change has helped and the insulin is lowering my blood sugar without needing so a hypo.my blood sugar dropped shortly after i changed my diet i read to much to eat can raise blood sugar to much.