Taking longer to recover from hypos and hyperglycaemic - is it normal?

[amber_crw]

Hi all! Just wanted some thoughts from other diabetics. I've been type 1 for almost 20 years and for the last 2 years moved onto a closed loop system with a pump and dexicom and I've managed to bring my hb1ac to 43 and overall my control has become better.

Over the last year I have noticed that any issues with my blood sugars make me feel so much worse and I take a lot longer to recover. If I have a bad night with my levels going low or sitting higher than normal (doesn't even need to be too extreme), I feel like I'm hungover or like I've been hit by a bus the next morning!
I used to be pretty good at pushing through when I've had issues with my sugars, getting on with my daily life and honestly feeling completely fine. Now I'm finding it's taking me a lot longer to recover and I am having to take more sick days due to my diabetes.

I'm not sure if this is something that's happening as I'm getting older (I'm nearly 30) or if it might be because my control has got better and I feel the effects more? Has anyone else experienced something similar?

 

[Inka]

Welcome @amber_crw 🙂 Almost 30 isn’t old at all! Could the hungover feeling simply be due to having a disturbed night? If not, is it the lows that are making you feel rough? What are you taking the sick days for (hypos or hypers)?

Which pump are you using?

 

[amber_crw]

@Inka Thank you so much! I can't believe I've been diabetic so long and only just discovered the forum. I've managed to answer so many random questions I had already

It may be but I'm also feeling like it during the day so it's not just due to disturbed sleep.
It can happen with either but mainly with the higher levels (I am checking for ketones when needed and normally they aren't present). With the low levels, it will only be if it's a particularly bad hypo.

I'm using the tandem pump with the dexicom G7. Been using the pump for about 2 years and moved onto the closed loop about 18 months ago. Been one of the best things I've done in my diabetes treatment!

I'm just feeling quite frustrated as my overall control has got a lot better but I feel like the diabetes is impacting my daily life more than it ever has.

 

[Inka]

Things change with diabetes annoyingly @amber_crw I don’t loop but I know some have settings you can change: is there something that might need changing in the loop settings maybe? And how high are you going?

 

[amber_crw]

@Inka possibly - I'm reading through the forum pages now on the G7 and looping. There is more customisation to it than I realised!

It can vary but I feel more sensitive to higher levels overnight so being 12-13 can make me feel awful. Sometimes it can be higher - usually if I've had to treat a hypo earlier in the evening and end up in a vicious cycle but the joy of the closed loop is that 99% of the time, my sugars will be back to normal in the morning. It just leaves me feeling dreadful.

I think you're right and this might just be another evolution in my life my diabetes unfortunately!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome from me.

So pleased you have found the forum as there is a huge amount of knowledge and practical experience to tap into.

Firstly I must say that I am not using a pump but I have read quite a lot about other people's experiences here on the forum and have a reasonably good basic understanding of how they work.
Do you treat all hypos the same or do you have a graded response rather than a standard response of 15g fast acting carbs plus extra slow, which may now be far too much? Depending on what my level is, I might just have a single jelly baby, if just below 4 but an horizontal arrow or 2 jelly babies if I am below 4 with a downward arrow but I don't seem to need slower follow up carbs or I would be in double figures every time. Maybe because the closed loop is dealing with the low by suspending your basal, you need to be much more sparing with your hypo treatments, because there is less likelihood of them continuing to drop.

I find I sleep really badly above 8mmols but above 10 I will usually wake up feeling hot and sweaty and restless, so I am very particular and disciplined about treating my hypos so I don't rebound. Just something to consider, particularly if you still follow the standard advice of treating hypos, which to my mind now we have CGM is less necessary and probably overkill designed to keep us safe when we didn't know what our levels were doing whilst we were asleep. Hopefully that makes sense.