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Nightime lows

Zinadane

Zinadane

Well-Known Member
Messages
330
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
High and low sugar levels!
You are woken at 2.30am with a 2.2low, you take 20g carb (yoghurt). You then wake up at 5am with a reading of 11. So, annoying, it’s so difficult to make a recovery from a low without going to a high, especially in those early hours?
 
Sorry you are having night time hypos.
Is this a Libre low or is it checked with a finger prick? I ask because it could be a (false) compression low if it is from Libre.
I am also surprised you are treating a hypo with a yoghurt which is not a fast acting carb like juice or dextrose.
 
Libre 2, I did confirm with prick.
I know, probably not textbook hypo treatment foods. But when I’m low, I just like my enjoyable foods if you know what I mean.
I just hate dextrose and juice in the middle of the night!
Anyway, Nestle ski yoghurt 120g, (13.9carbs 13.6 sugar), so not too bad. 1.5x tubs gave me 22g.
Do the compressions give low or highs or either?
 
Zinadane said:
I know, probably not textbook hypo treatment foods. But when I’m low, I just like my enjoyable foods if you know what I mean.
I just hate dextrose and juice in the middle of the night!
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Problem is that 'enjoyable' foods wont always get you out of said hypo very quickly, which can be dangerous and also gives your liver plenty of time to start pumping out lots of glucose which may be leading to your higher morning reading.

I don't particularly like having to gobble down sweets/dextrose at 1:30am (that's when my hypos will hit if they do so) either - they leave a nasty sugary taste in my mouth - but since it gets me out of said hypo that's what I'll do - for a start my pump will beep at me every 30 mins if my levels haven't risen enough and then it'll take me ages to get back to sleep and the mornings work will be a disaster!
 
Zinadane said:
Libre 2, I did confirm with prick.
I know, probably not textbook hypo treatment foods. But when I’m low, I just like my enjoyable foods if you know what I mean.
I just hate dextrose and juice in the middle of the night!
Anyway, Nestle ski yoghurt 120g, (13.9carbs 13.6 sugar), so not too bad. 1.5x tubs gave me 22g.
Do the compressions give low or highs or either?
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My concern with the yoghurt is that the fat would delay the absorption of the carbs.

Regarding compression highs and lows - it is only lows but Libre is less accurate when high and low. the advice is to always checking before making corrections.
 
My sympathies. For a fast reversal, try Glucose tablets sold in pharmacies, and something to eat. I think hypos are more damaging for me than hypers because they take some time to recover from. I would not doubt that they have some effect on the brain, e.g. hypoxia or something like that. Every time I have one I wonder how many brain cells I've killed this time. Insulin has a curve it seems from high to low.
 
Well, lets try and keep things on a positive note, I’ve never considered potential brain damage, don’t think I’ll be googling myself into oblivion on that one. But yes something else to consider for sure.
As for the term ‘hypo’. When is a low sugar a hypo and where is the line between an awareness hypo and one where assistance is required?
 
Zinadane said:
You are woken at 2.30am with a 2.2low, you take 20g carb (yoghurt). You then wake up at 5am with a reading of 11. So, annoying, it’s so difficult to make a recovery from a low without going to a high, especially in those early hours?
Click to expand...
I find food, in general, is a bad idea in those hours of the day, and I use exclusively dextrose tablets. At any other part of the day I'd need follow-up solid carbs, but in the early hours of the morning, not so much.
 
I keep my glucose tablets under the bed as i'd prefer to treat from my bed and go back to sleep, I only have to reach under the bed so when feeling really unwell it's not much effort, but would strongly advise against treating a hypo with anything other than glucose as fat delays the rise, also it's easier to predict the outcome with glucose tabs rather than any other food, 3 tablets will raise me and keep me in range until waking so a better outcome for the morning.
 
Aren't hypos just the end of a good night's sleep @Zinadane and I find what to treat them with difficult. Orange juice works fast as you know but can be cloying, likewise apple juice. A small glass of cider works for me but I imagine that people might say it'll take you lower. I've found it balances out, I wait for 15mins to make sure all's OK and then get a really good snooze. I don't do this every hypo but it works
 
Maybe not a solution, but have you tried some carbs before going to bed????
 
jape said:
Maybe not a solution, but have you tried some carbs before going to bed????
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If we knew we were going to hypo, we would take less insulin.
Going hypo in the night should be a rare occurrence and unpredicted.
 
Zinadane said:
Well, lets try and keep things on a positive note, I’ve never considered potential brain damage, don’t think I’ll be googling myself into oblivion on that one. But yes something else to consider for sure.
As for the term ‘hypo’. When is a low sugar a hypo and where is the line between an awareness hypo and one where assistance is required?
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It is well documented in medicine that older people are more inclined to hypos.
 
Just the usual juggling of doses, carbs, exercise, changing metabolism.

Sometimes you get it wrong, especially when trying a bit harder to keep it tight.

Each inj you take, it goes through your mind, do I prefer to deal with a high or a low, or perhaps its just me!
Anyway, I’m intrigued as to what do we class a hypo?

For ex. It goes down to 3.4 you sense it and deal with it, no issues. Is this a hypo?

I’ve only ever had 2 requiring other people’s help, probably sub 2's (in 40 years). Are those events still just a hypo’s?
 
Zinadane said:
For ex. It goes down to 3.4 you sense it and deal with it, no issues. Is this a hypo?

I’ve only ever had 2 requiring other people’s help, probably sub 2's (in 40 years). Are those events still just a hypo’s?
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Both are hypos, I think anything below 3.6 (or maybe 3.8 , cant remember) is classed as a hypo
Though people without diabetes and blood-glucose lowering medicine can drop that low naturally - but that's generally not an issue (RH can also drop it too low as well)
 
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Rokaab said:
Both are hypos, I think anything below 3.6 (or maybe 3.8 , cant remember) is classed as a hypo
Though people without diabetes and blood-glucose lowering medicine can drop that low naturally - but that's generally not an issue (RH can also drop it too low as well)
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The last study I read concerning hypos defined it as 3.9 and below. When my consultant asked me to tell him how many hypos I’d had recently he defined as 3.5 and below. So yeah all these differing definitions I would say aren’t particularly helpful.

A low where you require assistance from someone else is classified as severe but I don’t believe it has any particular term or name (which again not helpful linguistically).
 
SueJB said:
Aren't hypos just the end of a good night's sleep @Zinadane and I find what to treat them with difficult. Orange juice works fast as you know but can be cloying, likewise apple juice. A small glass of cider works for me but I imagine that people might say it'll take you lower. I've found it balances out, I wait for 15mins to make sure all's OK and then get a really good snooze. I don't do this every hypo but it works
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Westons vintage :)
 
StewM said:
The last study I read concerning hypos defined it as 3.9 and below. When my consultant asked me to tell him how many hypos I’d had recently he defined as 3.5 and below. So yeah all these differing definitions I would say aren’t particularly helpful.

A low where you require assistance from someone else is classified as severe but I don’t believe it has any particular term or name (which again not helpful linguistically).
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Yeah, you get asked, have you had any hypo's lately.
Well, you think.. please can you quantify what you mean by the term 'hypo'!
 
Zinadane said:
Yeah, you get asked, have you had any hypo's lately.
Well, you think.. please can you quantify what you mean by the term 'hypo'!
Click to expand...
I also struggle to be able to answer this, I personally class myself as hypo when I'm experiencing symptoms of a hypo.
All other times that my blood sugar begins to drop and I take action to avert going hypo I'm not necessarily having a "hypo", but my blood sugar is on the lower end of the spectrum.
I look forward to reading other views of 'what is meant by hypo'.

I find it a really fine balance of not going high after treating a low, especially middle of the night, waking in the night also raises my blood sugar.
Most nights I take fast acting insulin at bed time to prevent my blood sugar from hitting 12-13 mmol/L, but my BS has to be just right for it all to work, again another fine balance.

This is one reason why I'm reluctant to define how many hypos I have, unless I've got symptoms of being hypo, if I go low, it's not through total incompetence or ignorance? It may be a result of something that cannot be controlled.
But then again, the hospital will look at my Libre view and have their own opinion of when I'm hypo and how often.
 
I never ask them to be specific. But for me when they ask if you've had any hypo's, I consider that to mean have you had instances of needing assistance to recover from low bg.
I sometimes don't even immediatly react if say I'm 3.5, but food is not for 30 minutes for eg.
I even sometimes think that will help the average numbers and hbac1 a bit.
 
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