Some noob questions

[Mynameiskez]

Hi all.

I'm still relitively new to insulin and have a few nooby questions.

1) for the ladies.
Can insulin mess with menstruation?
I missed a period (definitely not pregnant) this month. Which is very unusual for me. Has anyone else had this?

2) night time hypos
Today I had my first hypo. 3.1. It was easily dealt with (5 dextrose tablets). But what worried me was that it was symptom less. It was about 4 hours after food and I checked as I was about to cycle home from work. Now I'm scared to goto sleep incase I have a hypo in the night and don't know.

 

[DSD1810]

Hi Kez. I'm also fairly new to diabetes and insulin. Hypos were a real fear. I have had one night time hypo but only knew this as I use the Abbott freestyle libre monitor (expensive but useful to get an understanding of how your levels vary). My diabetic nurse informed me that in the case of a night time hypo you will either wake up with symptoms or your liver will come to the rescue and release glucose into your system. I keep lucozade next to the bed just in case. If you have not come across it on the forum I highly recommend reading Think like a pancreas by Gary Scheiner. Really has helped my understanding of diabetes and using insulin. As your diabetic team about the libretto monitor. I got a free trial pack. But after this you have to buy the sensors yourself. Sorry will not try to help with the first query as not genetically qualified (but was covered in think like a pancreas). Best of luck.

 

[Mynameiskez]

Hi Kez. I'm also fairly new to diabetes and insulin. Hypos were a real fear. I have had one night time hypo but only knew this as I use the Abbott freestyle libre monitor (expensive but useful to get an understanding of how your levels vary). My diabetic nurse informed me that in the case of a night time hypo you will either wake up with symptoms or your liver will come to the rescue and release glucose into your system. I keep lucozade next to the bed just in case. If you have not come across it on the forum I highly recommend reading Think like a pancreas by Gary Scheiner. Really has helped my understanding of diabetes and using insulin. As your diabetic team about the libretto monitor. I got a free trial pack. But after this you have to buy the sensors yourself. Sorry will not try to help with the first query as not genetically qualified (but was covered in think like a pancreas). Best of luck.

Thank you for the recommendations and great to have that reassurance regarding night time hypos.

 

[paulliljeros]

Hi @Mynameiskez . I definitely recommend the "Think Like A Pancreas" book. With regards to night time hypos, @DSD1810 is correct in that your liver will do a "dump" of glycogen to raise your BG, but you do need to try to avoid it, as later that day, the liver will need to "recharge" the spent glycogen, and this can cause an unexpected hypo, up to 24 hours later. Everyone is different, but I can tell if I am woken with a night time hypo by excessive sweating, along with the other typical hypo feelings.