Random low sugar

Nicole22

Active Member
Messages
36
Hello , so I was wondering if anyone could guide me on what I need too do as something very much scared me last night.

I took my semglee 24 hour insulin as I do every night at 10pm, I’ve reduced by 4 units due too my sugars dropping lower than I wanted before meals. This rectified the problem and I’ve been pretty confident since.
Well I have been eating badly due to breaking my foot and not exactly wanting too stand and cook. But checked my sugars at 9.00pm and it was 5.3 which is actually slightly higher than my usual 4.2-4.7 so I didn’t have my typical snack. I took my insulin at 22.00 and at half past I started feeling very odd , sick confused sweaty head hurt and like my body wasn’t actually my body for a moment and I checked my sugars. They were 1.8mmols !!! I was terrified and instantly started too eat fast acting carbs. I ate a mars bar and 1 multipack snicker bars. This bought it too 3.1 and so I had another snickers and ate a white bun with sandwich meat. This bought my sugars too 6. I woke up at 5.30am and my sugars were 4.4 this is normal for me but I was scared so I had a digestive biscuit. Shall I be scared or was this just a blip? Do I mention it too my doctor. I’m newly diagnosed (may2020) and due too covid I haven’t been reviewed since. If I’ve had lows before they’ve always been because I waited way too long too eat. And they never have been below the 3.4 upon noticing and never dropped below 3.1 ( I misjudged my carbs too correct it and had a rich tea and thought it would help).
 

kaylz91

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,090
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Are you Type 1?

You could be in the honeymoon period where your pancreas is srill producing some insulin, you say you had fasr acting carbs, what are you referring to? As if its the mars bar and snickers they aren't recommended to treat hypo's due to the far content in the chocolate slowing the absorption of the carbs/sugar and snickers worse with the added fats from the nuts

I'd call your doctor and mention it as we aren't allowed to give medical/dosing advice
xx
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,227
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello , so I was wondering if anyone could guide me on what I need too do as something very much scared me last night.

I took my semglee 24 hour insulin as I do every night at 10pm, I’ve reduced by 4 units due too my sugars dropping lower than I wanted before meals. This rectified the problem and I’ve been pretty confident since.
Well I have been eating badly due to breaking my foot and not exactly wanting too stand and cook. But checked my sugars at 9.00pm and it was 5.3 which is actually slightly higher than my usual 4.2-4.7 so I didn’t have my typical snack. I took my insulin at 22.00 and at half past I started feeling very odd , sick confused sweaty head hurt and like my body wasn’t actually my body for a moment and I checked my sugars. They were 1.8mmols !!! I was terrified and instantly started too eat fast acting carbs. I ate a mars bar and 1 multipack snicker bars. This bought it too 3.1 and so I had another snickers and ate a white bun with sandwich meat. This bought my sugars too 6. I woke up at 5.30am and my sugars were 4.4 this is normal for me but I was scared so I had a digestive biscuit. Shall I be scared or was this just a blip? Do I mention it too my doctor. I’m newly diagnosed (may2020) and due too covid I haven’t been reviewed since. If I’ve had lows before they’ve always been because I waited way too long too eat. And they never have been below the 3.4 upon noticing and never dropped below 3.1 ( I misjudged my carbs too correct it and had a rich tea and thought it would help).

Hi,

Sounds like a wild ride. You appear to be using a long acting glargine. (Though I have no experience with Semglee.)
Could you have injected into muscle tissue by mistake?

My personal view on these sort of things happening with Glargine basals, is the mars bars may have stopped futher recuring hypos during the night..?

I would certainly get in touch with your DSN or doctor.
 
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Nicole22

Active Member
Messages
36
Hey , That could have very much been a possibility , maybe I just didn’t realise as I injected in a new area closer too my muscle (I’m a bigger girl so didn’t realise) , I do prefer to eat mars bars , they bring my sugars up and I find that if I have faster forms of sugar they spike it then drop again , whereas the mars allows the spike to last a little longer so I can find something too eat and enjoy it. It’s just a preference that’s all
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,227
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hey , That could have very much been a possibility , maybe I just didn’t realise as I injected in a new area closer too my muscle (I’m a bigger girl so didn’t realise) , I do prefer to eat mars bars , they bring my sugars up and I find that if I have faster forms of sugar they spike it then drop again , whereas the mars allows the spike to last a little longer so I can find something too eat and enjoy it. It’s just a preference that’s all

I have to admit, on a basal low. (Especially when I'm woken at night.) my "go to" is digestives & milk?
I've done Mars bars too. But hey can over correct me..
More a throwback to what I was instructed as a kid on the porcine insulin.

Lol, I even remember the book I was given. The lad in the story "feels funny," tells mummy. & she give him milk & a biscuit..

I cut out the "middle woman" back in the day & raided the kitchen in a sweaty blind haze..

If it what works for you to keep standing. :cool:

I would seriously consider looking at basal testing too, to avoid any more nasty surprises like that.. :)
 

Lowcarb 2

Well-Known Member
Messages
99
Type of diabetes
Type 1.5
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello , so I was wondering if anyone could guide me on what I need too do as something very much scared me last night.

I took my semglee 24 hour insulin as I do every night at 10pm, I’ve reduced by 4 units due too my sugars dropping lower than I wanted before meals. This rectified the problem and I’ve been pretty confident since.
Well I have been eating badly due to breaking my foot and not exactly wanting too stand and cook. But checked my sugars at 9.00pm and it was 5.3 which is actually slightly higher than my usual 4.2-4.7 so I didn’t have my typical snack. I took my insulin at 22.00 and at half past I started feeling very odd , sick confused sweaty head hurt and like my body wasn’t actually my body for a moment and I checked my sugars. They were 1.8mmols !!! I was terrified and instantly started too eat fast acting carbs. I ate a mars bar and 1 multipack snicker bars. This bought it too 3.1 and so I had another snickers and ate a white bun with sandwich meat. This bought my sugars too 6. I woke up at 5.30am and my sugars were 4.4 this is normal for me but I was scared so I had a digestive biscuit. Shall I be scared or was this just a blip? Do I mention it too my doctor. I’m newly diagnosed (may2020) and due too covid I haven’t been reviewed since. If I’ve had lows before they’ve always been because I waited way too long too eat. And they never have been below the 3.4 upon noticing and never dropped below 3.1 ( I misjudged my carbs too correct it and had a rich tea and thought it would help).
Why take it at night i take my slow angular slow release in the morning therefore it helps compensate for the food i eat during day and as I do not eat after 8pm because of sugars becoming high i usually go to bed on a 8 and wake up to a 6/7 occasionally it goes low in night due to heat and during day due to not taking break from working at home and having snack, try taking it different time of day as it needs something to work with ie: food
 

Nicole22

Active Member
Messages
36
Because the hospital advised me too take it before bed , as my sugars are completely fine doing that and I never go high , and randomly this is the only time it’s ever gone that low. Other than the odd ones that’s 3.5+
 

Nicole22

Active Member
Messages
36
I have to admit, on a basal low. (Especially when I'm woken at night.) my "go to" is digestives & milk?
I've done Mars bars too. But hey can over correct me..
More a throwback to what I was instructed as a kid on the porcine insulin.

Lol, I even remember the book I was given. The lad in the story "feels funny," tells mummy. & she give him milk & a biscuit..

I cut out the "middle woman" back in the day & raided the kitchen in a sweaty blind haze..

If it what works for you to keep standing. :cool:

I would seriously consider looking at basal testing too, to avoid any more nasty surprises like that.. :)

I do do basal testing too , like I mentioned I tested 09.00pm Quite a few hours (I eat at 5-6pm) after food
and it was 5.3 and then had my insulin at 10pm , I checked as felt funny and it was 1.8 so I do think I did something wrong. I always find if I check basal level and it’s around 4 and I don’t eat for another hour I will have a digestive , I find I know how it’s going to raise my sugars so it’s a safe option for me
 

t1dluke

Member
Messages
17
Hi Nicole22,


I have had similar experiences to you. You seem to have very tight control of your blood sugars based on the readings you gave. I was in a very similar situation when I was first diagnosed.

I was taking 25 units of background insulin once per night and all was well until I started playing 5 a side football every Thursday with workmates, I was naive when I was first diagnosed and didn't adjust my basal insulin to accommodate the extra exercise.

A few weeks went by and then suddenly I had a hurrendous hypo, my body felt heavy, I felt like my blood pressure dropped, I had the feelings of terror associated with a bad hypo and I ended up having to reduce my basal insulin from 25 units per night to just 5 units which is a huge drop.

I have been diagnosed since December 2017 and three years in I seem to have periods every couple of months were I have to reduce my basal insulin from around 4 units per night to 0.5 units per night. Diabetic nurses and the consultant have put it down to a 'potential extended honeymoon period' but have done no tests or investigations. Potentially my pancreas is still producing it's own insulin and likes to screw me over from time to time before settling down again.

This could be the same thing happening with you at the moment, I always lower my basal when I have moments like these and it may take a couple of weeks to settle back into some stability after that.

I do empathise with you because hypos are really horrible and it's so annoying that anyone has to put up with them.

Anyway, I hope your pancreas stops giving you grief and you found this helpful in some way.