Oh…

[Katetype2]

So curiosity got the better of me and I bought a glucometer. Just tested for the first time and it was 3mmol .

I had skipped lunch today and clearly that is not a good thing to do. I immediately ate some blueberries and will have some dinner soon. I started metformin yesterday but I can’t imagine one dose is going to have done anything drastic.

I’m really surprised it was this low. I don’t feel bad - I’ve just been tired today as it’s been a stressful week.

Should I be getting some dextrose for times like this?

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I’m really surprised it was this low. I don’t feel bad - I’ve just been tired today as it’s been a stressful week.

So long as you're not taking medication which can cause hypos you don't need to worry. It's not that unusual for non-diabetic people to drop a little below 4, and skipping lunch is the kind of thing that might cause that.

 

[Katetype2]

So long as you're not taking medication which can cause hypos you don't need to worry. It's not that unusual for non-diabetic people to drop a little below 4, and skipping lunch is the kind of thing that might cause that.

Perfect - I really appreciate the reassurance thank you.

 

[Leadinglights]

It is important to have a logical testing regime as random testing doesn't tell you much and can lead to wrong conclusions.
3mmol/l does seem a little low but look for trends and be careful of drawing too much from individual readings.

 

[Katetype2]

It is important to have a logical testing regime as random testing doesn't tell you much and can lead to wrong conclusions.
3mmol/l does seem a little low but look for trends and be careful of drawing too much from individual readings.

Great advice thank you

 

[rebrascora]

You need to double check any reading which seems unusual. There is a 15% error allowance on 95% of test strips and the remaining 5% of them can be even further out, so always important to retest straight away if something doesn't make sense.

My guess is that that was a rogue reading. Which BG meter do you have? Some of the cheaper ones like the Sinocare give a false low reading if you don't get enough blood on the test strip. We don't recommend it for that reason.

 

[harbottle]

I'd be surprised if it was at 3.0 just from not eating. Mine gets into the 4s sometimes if I don't have lunch, but 3.0 is getting into dangerously how territory - mine goes that low if I drink alcohol and exercise, but very quickly corrects itself and gets back to 4-7.

Non diabetics can get to the low 4s, but at 3.0 the body will quite rapidly correct it!

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I'd be surprised if it was at 3.0 just from not eating.

No, it doesn't seem likely. My guess was that it was (maybe) a bit lower than 4 and a test strip read 3.0. That seems quite plausible and nothing to panic about.

 

[MikeyBikey]

I would suggest caution! If you were in an accident with that low a BG it might be classified as a Drug Driving offence as you have taken medication.

 

[Tdm]

So curiosity got the better of me and I bought a glucometer. Just tested for the first time and it was 3mmol .

I had skipped lunch today and clearly that is not a good thing to do. I immediately ate some blueberries and will have some dinner soon. I started metformin yesterday but I can’t imagine one dose is going to have done anything drastic.

I’m really surprised it was this low. I don’t feel bad - I’ve just been tired today as it’s been a stressful week.

Should I be getting some dextrose for times like this?

Did the strip com with the meter? I bought a second meter online as a backup to my nomal one, and whilst the metre was fine the small supply of test strips that came with it were rubbish.

 

[rebrascora]

I would suggest caution! If you were in an accident with that low a BG it might be classified as a Drug Driving offence as you have taken medication.

I think this comment is a bit of overkill Mikey when the OP has only just started taking Metformin which is not known for causing hypos and there is no obligation to test whilst on Metformin.
The most likely conclusion to draw is that it was a rogue result.
It is perfectly acceptable to skip meals and indeed one of the valid ways of managing Type 2 is by time restricted eating where people do skip meals.

@Katytype2 If you had just run a marathon then yes, you might possibly get a genuine reading of 3.0mmols but not by merely skipping lunch, so I am quite confident that it was a rogue reading, but please do double check if you get a reading like that again. I would expect you to feel very wobbly and your heart would likely be pounding like it was trying to get out of your chest and you would probably feel like you were dying, so there is absolutely no reason to suspect it was genuine, if you felt fine.
I would be keen to know which meter you are using though?

 

[helli]

you would probably feel like you were dying

According to the NHS

Symptoms of low blood sugar can include:

• feeling hungry
• feeling dizzy
• feeling anxious or irritable
• sweating
• shaking
• tingling lips
• heart palpitations
• feeling tired or weak
• changes in your vision such as blurred vision
• feeling confused

No mention of feeling like dying which, to me, seems like an overreaction and unnecessarily frightening to suggest this to someone who needs to keep an eye out for hypos.
It could add to anxiety.
I know we are all different but I have experienced all the symptoms listed above except hunger and heart palpitations (I assume this is what you mean by "heart trying to get out of your chest") and I have never felt I was dying. In other words, I have not experienced your symptoms of a hypo but I have definitely had hypos.

 

[Proud to be erratic]

While I understand the possibility of a phrase such as "feeling like dying" being an over-reaction, or just too strong - I also can closely empathise with @rebrascora's comment.

During my first year after my panc'y was removed I had many hypos, including some seriously low and bad hypos. I had no CGM. More than once I got fp readings below 3 and at different times I have experienced all of those NHS hypo symptoms. When I was in such hypos it was no less than truly horrible and extremely alarming and frightening. After one bad hypo I discussed with my wife how I had felt and I remember I couldn't find adequate vocabulary to describe the breadth of my feelings, the lack of personal control and desperation to get relief, in any form, from a sense of being about to pass out; and my anger. I have a cousin who has been T1 for over 50 years and he had forewarned me that being hypo made him become angry and beligerent (he is otherwise known to all of his extended family as a gentle and most amiable person) and I remember feeling very angry during one bad hypo; I was hoping that my behaviour had not been unreasonable - and I think I wanted reassurance that this had been the case. My wife is naturally diplomatic.

All that said, I learnt that even bad hypos didn't kill me - however bad they had been. And nowadays I do everything I can to stay away from being low! I, of course, am not just insulin dependent but my D seems to be pretty brittle and I know I can crash from +6 to 3 something, all too quickly.

 

[Satan’s little helper]

While I understand the possibility of a phrase such as "feeling like dying" being an over-reaction, or just too strong - I also can closely empathise with @rebrascora's comment.

Through the notes taken for hypoglycaemia are similar with many of the symptoms. I don’t get half the “listed”symptoms. Yet could cumulate what I do get to a more “family friendly” scene from Back to the future when Marty Mcfly starts phasing out of a future where he was ever born.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear about your low reading @Katetype2 - hope it didn’t worry you too much!

If a meter reading is unexpected, or doesn’t match how you are feeling (either high or low) the manufacturers always recommend re-checking with a fresh strip. Some meters can read low if the strip isn’t properly filled. Some strips are just duff ones. And traces of things on your hands can give falsely high readings (which is why manufacturers recommend washing and drying your hands before each check).