weird hypo?

[tracey w]

ok, just had the weirdest hypo. No symptoms whatsoever. Tested bs before tea and was 2.7, weird, felt fine, re tested straight away different finger, 3.

Ok believe i have low bs, so treated and carried on making tea. Felt absolutely fine, apart from........could not work out carb for my rice, (but i usually find that a bit tricky anyway 🙄)

the thing is i havent had a hypo in a while so i fully expect to feel low if i am, but did not, which i find scarey. worked out why it happened, but found it bizarre no symptoms, had just drove home too, but bs was fine when i left work.

Anyway does anyone else experience this? am at hospital tomorrow do you think i should mention it?

 

[Adrienne]

Hi

Yes absolutely mention it.

My daughter does not have symptoms and cannot feel hypos. She is nearly 9and has been type 1 since 5 weeks old. We have tried everything you can but she has no hypo awareness.

I don't know your medical team or where you are but please be aware that some doctors (who shouldn't be doctors) state that if you have no symptoms they you are not having a hypo and should not treat it as a hypo. This is wrong pure and simple. I hope your team are not one who have that school of thought. Friends have queried this and actually asked if their child was 1.4 and had no symptoms then it is not a hypo? The answer by the consultant was that no 1.4 with no symptoms is not a hypo. All readings under 4.0 are hypos and should be treated as such.

I hope you get yours sorted out but in the meantime I would maybe be testing a bit more until you do.

Take care

 

[bev]

Hi Adrienne,

Our consultant has told us that 2.5 or lower is a hypo - but - if you are 4 or under - you should treat it as you are probably on a downward slope of hitting the 2.5!🙂Bev

 

[kojack]

ok, just had the weirdest hypo. No symptoms whatsoever. Tested bs before tea and was 2.7, weird, felt fine, re tested straight away different finger, 3.

Ok believe i have low bs, so treated and carried on making tea. Felt absolutely fine, apart from........could not work out carb for my rice, (but i usually find that a bit tricky anyway 🙄)

the thing is i havent had a hypo in a while so i fully expect to feel low if i am, but did not, which i find scarey. worked out why it happened, but found it bizarre no symptoms, had just drove home too, but bs was fine when i left work.

Anyway does anyone else experience this? am at hospital tomorrow do you think i should mention it?

Most odd that you cannot sense the hypo onset. Take care ref driving. There is a recommended bg min level as you know (testing before you leave work) but something jogs my mind regarding dvla's attitude regarding not being aware of hypo onset.

I find sometimes that driving in stressful situations can quicly lower my bg level.

 

[Anthony Neve]

Hi Adrienne,

Our consultant has told us that 2.5 or lower is a hypo - but - if you are 4 or under - you should treat it as you are probably on a downward slope of hitting the 2.5!🙂Bev

ive always understood it as below 4.0 and your hypo. i feel bad at 3.5, a 2.5 and im guzzling lucozade.

 

[katie]

ive always understood it as below 4.0 and your hypo. i feel bad at 3.5, a 2.5 and im guzzling lucozade.

yeah bev > 4 is a hypo

 

[aymes]

I believe below 4 is the definition of a hypo, although different regimes may use other definitions for treating a hypo. For example by 'dafne rules' you don't treat for a hypo unless its under 3.5. Between 4 and 3.5 is below target so you'd treat it in some way, just not as you would a hypo.

 

[tracey w]

thanks all,

am a little worried now as mentioned not had hypos for a while. tonight i have remained low and been testing regular. Feel fine but eaten lots, was 4.9 before tea, 4.3 one and half hours later, had crackers and cheese, was 3.9 one hour later had two toast and peanut butter and now one hour later am 6.9. Not low but i usually go to bed on around 10.

Am really tired and need do basal, but should i give reduced dose tonight as this is really abnormal for me.

Re driving, i always test before driving and this is the first time i have not had symptoms of hypo, usually feel sympoms anywhere from 5 down as im not usually on the low side.

 

[Adrienne]

Hi Adrienne,

Our consultant has told us that 2.5 or lower is a hypo - but - if you are 4 or under - you should treat it as you are probably on a downward slope of hitting the 2.5!🙂Bev

Hi

Sorry Bev thats not right. For a non diabetic 3.5 to 7.0 is ok. For a diabetic it has to be 4.0 to be on the safe side. 2.5 is also wrong. I know for a fact that Great Ormond Street hospital nurses and doctors run fast if a child is 2.6 and under. That is a cause for brain damage or worse (over a period of time normally though) but they don't chance it. They also treat all 4.0 and under as hypo for diabetic children and the same applies for adults. To begin with you should treat all hypos the same under 4.0 but as you get better at doing these things you can tweak things a bit. For example some people know that 2 glucotabs will be enough of a sugar burst if over 3.5 but will need more under that. I know that a small can of coke will take my daughter from 3.8 to about 7.0 and at 3.0 it will take her to about 5.0 ish.

Sorry don't mean to contradict your doctor.

 

[Adrienne]

thanks all,

am a little worried now as mentioned not had hypos for a while. tonight i have remained low and been testing regular. Feel fine but eaten lots, was 4.9 before tea, 4.3 one and half hours later, had crackers and cheese, was 3.9 one hour later had two toast and peanut butter and now one hour later am 6.9. Not low but i usually go to bed on around 10.

Am really tired and need do basal, but should i give reduced dose tonight as this is really abnormal for me.

Re driving, i always test before driving and this is the first time i have not had symptoms of hypo, usually feel sympoms anywhere from 5 down as im not usually on the low side.

Hi Tracey

I'm not sure what to say as I only know about children with type 1. If it was my daughter I would drop the basal injection by a unit and give her more carbs - long acting ones and hope she is higher overnight than lower. 1 unit makes a big difference in little children. Sorry can't help you as an adult.

 

[Patricia]

This is all interesting...My 13 yr old is discovering that he seems to really notice some hypos, but not others. For instance, yesterday he went to 2.7 just before lunch, but had barely noticed it. Day before he went to 3.5 and felt *terrible*. Seems to vary, perhaps according to what kind of hypo? The pre-lunch one for instance may be partly from hunger, so doesn't feel as desperate? Whereas the other was in the middle of lessons so was maybe dropping fast? He usually notices something at about 3.8 though, registers it as 'feeling low'.

He is also discovering that it's easy to 'overtreat' a hypo for him. If he has a hypo, treats it according to what we've been told, he will usually end up sailing to 11 or 13, which means he's battling all day on some kind of see-saw. He's also beginning to feel more comfortable just having a snack (before bed) or one glucose tab (if before a meal), when low (as long as not v low of course).

Adrienne, is your daughter on a pump? NICE guidelines are very clear for lack of hypo awareness, aren't they?

 

[bev]

Most people do get some warning that hypoglycaemia is happening.

But for some, hypoglycaemia may cause few or none of the warning symptoms before the start of sudden unconsciousness or convulsions – particularly if you've had diabetes for many years.


Caution

The aim of diabetes treatment is to have as near normal levels of blood sugar as possible.
Deliberately running higher glucose levels should only be done on a doctor’s advice.


This means loss of consciousness can occur without warning.

To avoid this, you are advised to:


maintain a higher level of glucose in the blood


measure your blood sugar level more frequently.


How is a diagnosis made?

Diagnosis is made by measuring the blood sugar level with a glucose meter.

A glucose level below 3.0mmol/l indicates hypoglycaemia.

Some people experience symptoms when their blood sugar level is higher than this – eg at 4.0mmol/l. (Therefore 'four is the floor' for blood glucose levels.)

Hypos can't be detected with urine tests for glucose.
****************************************************************************************


Adrienne, it seems we are both wrong! So a hypo is 3 or under, but they say its 4 to be on the safe side! I wish there werent so many contradictions with diabetes care- it seems different consultants tell us different things - so its pot luck!Bev

 

[Patricia]

What's the source of this, bev? Interested to know...

 

[bev]

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/diabetesbloodsugarlow.htm


Hope this helps! Bev

 

[Patricia]

Thanks bev -- only we were told that lower than 6mmols is not good to go to bed on -- this article says 8! Oh well. In reality, E is not happy going to bed lower than 8, and will usually ask for something. Last night case in point: 7.6 at bedtime, had glass of milk. This morning 6.5.

 

[Northerner]

thanks all,

am a little worried now as mentioned not had hypos for a while. tonight i have remained low and been testing regular. Feel fine but eaten lots, was 4.9 before tea, 4.3 one and half hours later, had crackers and cheese, was 3.9 one hour later had two toast and peanut butter and now one hour later am 6.9. Not low but i usually go to bed on around 10.

Am really tired and need do basal, but should i give reduced dose tonight as this is really abnormal for me.

Re driving, i always test before driving and this is the first time i have not had symptoms of hypo, usually feel sympoms anywhere from 5 down as im not usually on the low side.

Tracey, it sounds like you are experiencing what I've been going through lately - getting unexpected low readings all the time. I reduced my bolus injections to try and match things up, but it took a while and I always seemed to be underestimating just how much to reduce by! Finally seem to have got some sort of control. I have also reduced my basal by 10% and on the whole this seems to be about right, although I was 4.1 this morning which is lower than the 5.x I've had for the past few days.

All you can do is try your best - hope things settle down for you soon!🙂

 

[Steff]

can i jus ask what basil and bolus is ?

cheers

 

[bev]

Patricia,
Its little wonder we get confused isnt it? I think you have to go with your own instincts a lot of the time - i have sent Alex to bed on 7 before and he has been fine - but i think i will now make sure he has milk if he is under 8! Are you a member of the other childrens forum - i am - its great - we are all meeting up over bank holiday - 35 familes all with a type 1 diabetic child! There are spaces left if your interested! Bev🙂

 

[Northerner]

can i jus ask what basil and bolus is ?

cheers

When you're on multiple daily injections (MDI) of insulin, bolus is the fast-acting insulin you give for a meal and basla is the slow-acting 'background' insulin you give to cover the glucose released by your liver throughout the day.

 

[Steff]

thanks for that i did'nt want to sound ignorant .