type 1,s. How many times a day to you test yourself if you hypo a lot. I get through 150 strips a week sometimes less. My diabetic nurse as told me to drop my insulin but still happens. And again she tells me to drop it still happening though. So also any ideas. Thank you. I also feel my blood sugars manage better on a morning before taking my insulin.
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Testing
- Thread starter Imstillme
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Schrodinger
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Hmm tricky one certainly before I got libre thing I would be testing more than 8 times a day but I don't think I hit the 150 mark.
You in the UK? If so might be worth seeing if you can get a Freestlye Libre, would certainly save your fingers and cut down on test strips, plus from the information you might be able to work why your going hypo.
Also are you on two insulin regime? Long acting and short acting?
Might be worth doing the Google on Basel Testing, if you work out that, it make the rest of things a bit easier to control.
Good luck.
You in the UK? If so might be worth seeing if you can get a Freestlye Libre, would certainly save your fingers and cut down on test strips, plus from the information you might be able to work why your going hypo.
Also are you on two insulin regime? Long acting and short acting?
Might be worth doing the Google on Basel Testing, if you work out that, it make the rest of things a bit easier to control.
Good luck.
Kaylz
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
As has been mentioned in previous posts by yourself you just need to keep reducing until you see a difference and are no longer experiencing numerous hypo's, as was also said it's not going to be an instant thing
Basal testing sounds like a good idea, I believe you are quite newly diagnosed so you could quite well be in the "honeymoon" period therefore still at times producing some of your own insulin, there isn't generally any rhythm or pattern as to when your going to spurt some of your own out into the mix but generally in the honeymoon period you can require a lot less insulin, I was taking only 1 unit of basal up until the end of last year
In answer to your question it depends, if I was hypo aware then I'd only test when I felt hypo then about 15 minutes later to check I was "safe" if still in the low 4's then I'd probably check again after 15 minutes to make sure I was on the rise then if all was ok I'd continue with my day as usual
Basal testing sounds like a good idea, I believe you are quite newly diagnosed so you could quite well be in the "honeymoon" period therefore still at times producing some of your own insulin, there isn't generally any rhythm or pattern as to when your going to spurt some of your own out into the mix but generally in the honeymoon period you can require a lot less insulin, I was taking only 1 unit of basal up until the end of last year
In answer to your question it depends, if I was hypo aware then I'd only test when I felt hypo then about 15 minutes later to check I was "safe" if still in the low 4's then I'd probably check again after 15 minutes to make sure I was on the rise then if all was ok I'd continue with my day as usual
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‘Lots of hypos’ do seem to indicate that your food/activity are not balancing with your insulin doses.
You may have already been asked this, but are you carb counting and adjusting your doses to match your meals?
You may have already been asked this, but are you carb counting and adjusting your doses to match your meals?
TheClockworkDodo
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- Type 1
Goodness, 150 is a lot of strips - I was using about 70 strips per week before I got my Libre, now probably nearer 50 per week, but it does vary quite a bit from week to week (especially if I have a dodgy sensor, then I'm likely to use more). I get 200 on prescription every 3 weeks.
I often have 2-3 hypos in a day, and was told I should be aiming for that many in a week - presumably you must be having a lot more if you're testing that much? Do you hypo at night as well as during the day?
As others have said, it does sound as though something is wrong in the balance between your insulin and your carbs if you're having that many hypos, though it could also be the interaction between your diabetes and your other autoimmune condition (I have ME and that often effects my diabetes, so I know that this can happen, even when you're doing everything right). But it does sound as though you may still be having too much insulin. Which insulins are you on? Have you been told to cut your basal or just your bolus doses? When I was first diagnosed they put me on 16 units of basal and I was waking up hypo every night - when they realised that they cut it to 6 units (and I'm now on 5), so sometimes the original doses you're put on need to be quite drastically slashed, rather than just dropped slightly.
If you don't already have a Libre I'm pretty sure you qualify for one on the NHS, because testing more than 8 times per day is one of the criteria. How is your hypo awareness? Loss of awareness is another criteria - do you still get symptoms whenever you have a hypo?
Sorry for all the questions - the more we know the more likely it is that someone here can help you.
I often have 2-3 hypos in a day, and was told I should be aiming for that many in a week - presumably you must be having a lot more if you're testing that much? Do you hypo at night as well as during the day?
As others have said, it does sound as though something is wrong in the balance between your insulin and your carbs if you're having that many hypos, though it could also be the interaction between your diabetes and your other autoimmune condition (I have ME and that often effects my diabetes, so I know that this can happen, even when you're doing everything right). But it does sound as though you may still be having too much insulin. Which insulins are you on? Have you been told to cut your basal or just your bolus doses? When I was first diagnosed they put me on 16 units of basal and I was waking up hypo every night - when they realised that they cut it to 6 units (and I'm now on 5), so sometimes the original doses you're put on need to be quite drastically slashed, rather than just dropped slightly.
If you don't already have a Libre I'm pretty sure you qualify for one on the NHS, because testing more than 8 times per day is one of the criteria. How is your hypo awareness? Loss of awareness is another criteria - do you still get symptoms whenever you have a hypo?
Sorry for all the questions - the more we know the more likely it is that someone here can help you.
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