Can a hypo/hyper come completely out of the blue?

[asyarlk]

I have been diagnosed for a year now and I've had many ups and downs but I am learning more and more about what my body does and how it reacts. My question is, is there always an answer as to why one might have a hypo/hyper? I always try and find a reason why I have a hypo/hyper but can it be completely random without any reason at all? I guess I feel better knowing that I can control this element of diabetes if there is a reason why a hypo/hyper happens. Hope this makes sense!

 

[urbanracer]

There's always a reason but that doesn't mean that it will be obvious. You may inject your normal insulin and go hypo because the temperature is different, or your pancreas has suddenly produced some extra insulin.

 

[Diamattic]

I agree with @urbanracer . I am one who believes that their is always a reason for BG level change. But like he states, it could be something as obvious as stress, or sickness, or being active, but could be something as uncontrollable as hormones levels, changes in the seasons or circadian rhythms.

You're on the right path though. You may not be able to control every element of diabetes, but you can certainly can understand WHY you diabetes does what it does and know how to handle the outcome. So you may not be able to prevent these hypos/hypers you ask about, but you certainly can recognize them if they are trending and how to deal with them swiftly to get back on track while minimizing down time in your day.

 

[tim2000s]

I think you have to be careful with this one. During the honeymoon period it's possible to hypo without an obvious reason, simply due to the pancreas spitting out random amounts of insulin at random times. As a result it is possible to hypo whilst taking what you think are correct amounts of insulin.

Depending on level of beta cell function at diagnosis this can be where MDI falls down in the early stages.

 

[noblehead]

My question is, is there always an answer as to why one might have a hypo/hyper?

Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason why we may go high or low, so yes they can happen randomly but try not to dwell on them too much.

 

[Auckland Canary]

Certainly our bodies can do strange things .Personally I have been on a pump now for 6 months and after the initial ups and downs have found it is working well for me. However in the last few weeks I have been waking with very high levels (11,s to 18's) fairly regularly. I have started increasing my night time rates and they are now getting to be nearly 25% higher than they were a couple of months ago. I have not done anything dramatically different so am at a loss to understand why this has happened.

You will generally find your levels will go up and down and as others have said it is a case of looking for the obvious and if you can't find it then just accepting that your body or the environment has changed and managing it through insulin doses. It's a bummer but that's the way it goes.

 

[Bluemarine Josephine]

It is actually happening to me right now.
I woke up with my regular blood glucose levels.
I have calculated my ratio to carbs intake correctly.
I have not done any exercise.
I am not in a monthly time where hormones go crazy.
I have injected in the usual sites.
The temperature is not too hot and is not too cold.
I have the usual stress (which I have everyday) at work.

Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary
And, still, my sugar is dropping.
I cannot think of any other factor at the moment.

So, from my own experience, I would say that, indeed, sometimes insulin can become temperamental and give you an unexpected and uncalculated drop completely out of the blue.

Some insulins that I have tried, like Lantus, are more temperamental than others.
Tresiba is quite stable, I had some 4-5 unexplained hypos during the month, most were mild though.
I am currently on Levemir, have been for the last 15 days. I have had 2 mild hypo cases so far. Un-expected as well.

Regards
Josephine

 

[RuthW]

Injection site is often the reason for unexpected hypos or hypers.

 

[tim2000s]

Injection site is often the reason for unexpected hypos or hypers.

Very true. There is currently some research going on in this area.

 

[dafeeah]

My son (14 year old) diagnosed in Feb 2015. In the past 35 days, his BG level was extremely high (average 289). We don't have any obvious reason for this. His twin brother (who was diagnosed in the same time with type 1, had a normal BG level. Both live and eat alsmot the same food. We consult the his doctor, but we are still did not find out why his BG level is rocketing...