Bad Hypo

[Bazzza]

Slipped up bad the other day. Friday night I was around a friends house, I had four Coors light and two blue WKDs. I took no insulin and ate no food all night. I stayed up till 5am and went home. I slept till 12pm, woke took my insulin, 12 units and walked a few hundred yards to the shops, bought a chicken filllet and ate it on the way home. I got home and was tired, but I only put it down to being up all night....how wrong was I. I sat down on the couch and the last thing I remember was I started to twitch, next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.

They told me I took a Diabetic Seizure. They tested my BS and it was 1.1mmo/L in my house. I crashed again on the trolley while waiting in A&E, I dropped down to 0.8mmo/L. I dont understand this, how could I drop again after the paramedics gave me glucogen in my house??? I was kept in for two days. I had more hypos while in hospital even with little amounts of insulin. I'm convinced its working better or faster now that I have to also take testosterone injections every few weeks. Any ideas? Now I'm freaked this will happen again. Also last week I was feeling a bit hypoish...I normally feel this around 3,0mmo/L but when I checked I was 1.4. I think I'm losing my awareness to the lows, why would this happen now? I've T1D for 8 years now

 

[noblehead]

Alcohol slows down the glucose production in the liver which in turn can lead to hypo's because you still have your basal insulin working in your body, that is why its advisable to have something carby to eat when consuming alcohol.

Also, was the 12 units of insulin at 12 pm Novorapid? If so then its not surprising you went so low as you only had a chicken fillet to eat and no carbs, but if you think your losing your hypo awareness symptoms then have a chat with your DSN and they will advise you further.

 

[tim2000s]

I won't list them @Bazzza but there are a number of studies that show testosterone replacement reduces insulin resistance, so you may well require less insulin following your testosterone shots. I suspect you'll need to review how much basal and bolus you need as it will vary between shots.

That combined with the increased insulin sensitivity associated with alcohol, plus the fact that the liver won't produce as much glucose when faced with a glucagon shot (because it is processing the alcohol side products, which just happen to be toxins, as a priority) when you've been drinking probably all added up to the effect you've seen.

 

[Bazzza]

Thanks guys. Yes Noblehead it was 12 units of Novorapid and your right, The chicken fillet was on its own...no bread (carbs) so yeah I guess that really didn't help. Tim, i had a look on the net and as you said the Testosterone does make the insulin more effective as shown in a number of studies. They lowered my dosages now to this:

Lantus: 14 u
Novorapid: 6, 8, 8.

 

[azure]

I'm no expert, even after years of diabetes, but it sounds like the biggest cause here could be your morning Novorapid and then not eating any carbs.

Was your blood sugar high when you woke up? Do you carb count?