Low Sugars

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The Unicorn Lady

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My DD (10) had a low of 1.7 yesterday. No explanation since she'd had all her food and insulin at correct times. She was almost asleep in class before someone noticed - this is the first time in a long time since diagnosis this has happened. What worries me is it happened for no reason other than she reckons she ran about too much in the cold. Have tried contacting DN but they seem to be really busy (aren't they always, perhaps we need more!). Wasn't sure if I should send her into school with instructions that she was to sit inside at breaks and lunchtime today, since her sugars dropped so dramatically and were low the rest of the day. She woke up with a 9 this am. What have other Mums done?
 
Running around is good as it is exercise but increased exercise can lead to low sugars. From my own experience of nearly 40 years of Type 1 I would suggest that if she is doing more exercise than normal then she increases her carbohydrates at the start of the break when she is running more. Much better for her than making her sit inside which could then differentiate her from the other children who are having fun in the playground. Obviously this isn't professional medical advice but just a suggestion.
 
I agree, don't keep her inside at break times. The worst thing a diabetic can feel is deprived, that is partly what made me get into such a mess. Also, there are not always patterns to blood sugars - just because she had a low one day doesn't necessarily mean she will have another at the same time the next day. She might do a different amount of exercise, for example, kids running about is difficult to measure. And exercise should not be discouraged, it is very important to exercise.

As AJL suggests, maybe you could build a small snack into her diet before break if she usually runs about. Diabetes is all about experimenting, no 2 diabetics are the same and even if we do exactly the same thing on 2 days our sugars can be different as there are so many factors affecting them.

Also, make sure her teachers are all aware of symptoms of hypos and know what to do - have sugar ready at school and maybe a spare meter as well. Make sure she is aware of her own symptoms and knows who to tell and what to do if she feels funny.
 
Thanks. She has a snack at break anyway and I decided to send her to school anyway without instructions to stay in. I've tried to let her lead a normal life to the extent I keep getting told off by the DN that she is doing too much! I don't like to restrict her activities though. I will put the low as a one-off. The school were brilliant and handled it extremely well though. All staff have had training.
 
The Unicorn Lady said:
Thanks. She has a snack at break anyway and I decided to send her to school anyway without instructions to stay in. I've tried to let her lead a normal life to the extent I keep getting told off by the DN that she is doing too much! I don't like to restrict her activities though. I will put the low as a one-off. The school were brilliant and handled it extremely well though. All staff have had training.
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Hiya, oops to the low low 😱
I would also suspect that the cold weather caused your daughter to burn off more carbs/calories just keeping warm outside.
As the other have sugested extra carbs at break time would be in order whilst it's still so cold.

Erm what planet does the DN live on?
Diabetes has to live with the person not the person live with the diabetes.
Any amount of activity is fine as long as insulin and carbs are adjusted in accordance with the amount of exercise.
 
I have to honest - at the beginning of each term I have a meeting with the teacher with an A4 laminated sheet of instructions and contact numbers etc - it is peace of mind for me more that anything. If my Daughter is exceptionally low one day I tend to give more snack and ask her to check her numbers before and after break. This makes her more aware of the importance of checking her numbers regularly. A little note to the teacher does no harm asking them to keep an eye on them that day.
 
Can she test her blood at school. Maybe before breaktime and then if she is showing a low reading possibly have different snack.
My son can occasionally fall very low for no apparent reason. It also depends on how quickly the blood sugar is falling. My son has had signs of a hypo at 3 but once he was as low a 0.8 and still sitting there eating rice krispies telling me he felt a bit tired. Consultant not too happy when he plugged the monitor in and it had a reading that low. Sometimes strange things happen for no reason.
 
I think sometimes you just get odd results for no reasons, you can eat well and have great control but every now and then you get really low or high ones.
I think emotions play a big part in blood sugars sometimes, maybe she had been stressing over school work or something like that.
xx
 
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