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Will I ever understand T2 ???!

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P

Pink Blossom

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello all,

Just wondering if anyone can offer any advice. A while ago I posted on here having had a few low readings. I'm still having the odd one.

I was on x4 metformins until Jan of this year when my Hba1c was better so DN lowered me to x3. Fast forward to May/June which is when I think I had my first 'low' which made me feel dreadful (at least for me anyway as I've not really had it before). DN said it was a blip. Had another one so saw GP.
3 weeks ago she lowered me onto x2 metf's which has been fine. Told me to eat more protein and weetabix before bed. All ok, meter testings been between 5-8 most days (8 ish after eating)

Then today I get a 3.4 reading and horrible symptoms, very shortly after lunch. I've had sugar jellies, weetabix and snacks.

I just dont understand. GP said that if there becomes a pattern or these low bloods happen more often then they will review my meds/me again. There doesnt seem to be a pattern - I've had them before and after I eat.

Sorry I am waffling on. I've just been told so often by the DN that metformin won't let you go low that I felt like I was being a pain/over reacting by ringing to ask for help.
I am scared when they happen and if/when it may happen again.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I am just about to start reading one of the reccommended books for newly diagnosed even though its been two years. Sheeesh x
 
Hi Pink Blossom, sorry to hear you are having problems. Hopefully to reassure you, even non-diabetics can get low blood sugars, and a value in the mid-3s is actually not a hypo. People with diabetes on certain medications (like insulin) are told to 'make 4 the floor', as this gives a certain amount of leeway before a definite hypo occurs and therefore may be caught earlier. As meters are only accurate to within 10% either way (e.g. a 3.5 could be 3.8 or 3.2 in reality) this is also something to take into account.

You've clearly done well to get such great levels normally, so it may simply be that you are occasionally now hitting those mid-3s for one of umpteen reasons - things like previous activity levels, even from hours ago, can have an impact, as can the ups and downs of the weather, whether you have been stressed etc. - so many to choose from! Feeling this low can produce symptoms though as your brain signals to your stress hormones that you need extra energy/glucose from your liver's stores, and these hormones can also produce similar symptoms to panic or fear ('fight or flight' hormones like adrenaline and cortisol). When you feel this way and have confirmed from testing what is happening, just have a small amount of something sugary and the feelings will quickly fade. Be careful not to 'overtreat' by having too much, usually around 15g of carbs is sufficient (I use 3 jelly babies).

It is very unlikely that you would drop to dangerously low levels on just metformin, but I suppose that the metformin might be bringing you closer to that bottom end of 'normal' i.e. mid-3s, but continue to think of possible different factors when/if it happens again to try and pin down a reason.

There is something called 'reactive hypoglycaemia' where your pancreas responds to food sometimes by outputting too much insulin causing you to drop low, but I would have expected that to have a more obvious pattern.
 
Urrrgghh - not nice.

What were you before lunch? trying to establish when you started to go down?
 
Hi PB,
firstly don't panic. Easier said than done I suspect.
It sounds to me as if you are doing very well in controlling your diabetes so well done. Hopefully you can reduce your meds even more 🙂
Then today I get a 3.4 reading and horrible symptoms, very shortly after lunch. I've had sugar jellies, weetabix and snacks.
Click to expand...
This bit caught my eye 😱
That is definately overload on carbs.
So what will happen is you will set off a yoyo effect. Cure the hypo go high then crash down again when your pancreas kicks into over drive.
You need to try and be as refrained as you can so limit your carbs to about 15, sit quietly for a little while then retest after 15 minutes and see how you get on.
 
Hello Pink Blossom, I wonder if you were a little `apprehensive` when you took the low reading? I had one occasion last week when I too had a lower than expected 3.4. I put it down to feeling agitated at having to prick myself 4 times before I had any blood to test! 😱
As has been noted above, there are loads of reasons to suspect a reading!
Now, when I get `shaky legs` I see it as an excuse to indulge my love of `refreshers`- my favorite sweets!! :D
 
trophywench said:
Urrrgghh - not nice.

What were you before lunch? trying to establish when you started to go down?
Click to expand...

Hello 🙂
I hadnt tested before eating lunch so not too sure there, but felt fine. I'd been out doing gardening, came in for lunch, felt fine but then started to feel rubbish shortly after lunch.
I'm still so new to this :confused:
 
Pink Blossom said:
Hello 🙂
I hadnt tested before eating lunch so not too sure there, but felt fine. I'd been out doing gardening, came in for lunch, felt fine but then started to feel rubbish shortly after lunch.
I'm still so new to this :confused:
Click to expand...

Ah! Gardening! 😱 If there's one thing that's guaranteed to drop my levels it's gardening!
 
Thank you all for the replies. I appreciate your advice and support. As for carb counting.... I've never been advised to do this, shown how etc. I think I need to start Googling !
 
I'm not at all sure what you will gain from carb counting as you are not able to adjust your insulin. You need to look at the carb values of what you typically eat and try and assess what they do to you. This is easier if you can test your blood sugar levels before and after eating. You need to avoid foods that have rapid acting sugar values (like white bread, jelly babies, weetabix etc) so that you can try and keep you blood sugar as level as possible. Cut down on the carbs you eat at each meal (thats cut down not cut out).
What was your bedtime reading when you had weetabix before bed? this seems like an attempt to correct for dawn phenomena, but somewhat over the top. If you can work out what drop in blood sugar you achieve between meals then you should be able to work out what level you cna be at after a meal and thus how many carbs you can eat at the meal. I find that I need to aim for a 3 mmol drop between meals (unless I'm shopping/driving), so aim for a meal that doesn't put me up more than 3mmol. This is probably not much more than a couple of potatoes or a couple of slices of brown bread or a small portion of rice or pasta.
 
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