Foods to prevent low blood sugar at night

[BJM92]

Hello!
I am pretty new to using insulin for treating my type 1 diabetes.
My blood sugar is usually pretty good within 2 hours of eating but it keeps dropping substantially overnight.
What snacks, tips or tricks does anyone have to prevent overnight lows?
Thank you!

 

[kaylz91]

Are you using 2 types of insulin? If so which are you using?

It could be that your long acting insulin needs adjusted to stop the lows happening

I myself will have a biscuit or 2 depending what my levels are, my choice is generally digestives or hobnobs but if you haven't been told about adjusting doses then I'd contact whoever is in charge of your diabetes care and run through this with them and they will be able to help
xx

 

[EllieM]

I agree with @kaylz91 , as a T1 diabetic you should adjust your insulin to sort your food.

However, if you're new to insulin you're probably on a basal bolus regime, and it's likely you're on too much basal.

Call your team now and negotiate a lower basal.

 

[MarkMunday]

If the basal insulin dose is right, blood glucose shouldn't drop overnight. Unless if there has been unusual exercise during the day, in which case eating chocolate before bed helps. It has a low glycemic index, so the blood glucose supporting effect lasts all night.

 

[KK123]

Hello!
I am pretty new to using insulin for treating my type 1 diabetes.
My blood sugar is usually pretty good within 2 hours of eating but it keeps dropping substantially overnight.
What snacks, tips or tricks does anyone have to prevent overnight lows?
Thank you!

Hi there, as others have said you really do need to try and prevent overnight lows (which can be dangerous) with the help of your team and insulin adjustment. Do you know how low you are dropping overnight and what are your levels prior to going to bed? If my levels are low just before bed which they sometimes are then I have a 15 carb snack, maybe a biscuit or cracker or even a few spoonfuls of porridge or a slice of toast. x

 

[BJM92]

Thank you for all your advice so far. I am not on basal insulin I am only on novorapid insulin with meals (so 3 times a day)
My blood sugar before bed is usually around 100-130 and it is usually within range within 2 hours of eating. I have been trying to have a snack later in the evening as my endocrinologist recommended to keep the sugars within range overnight but this hasn't seemed to have any influence on the numbers overnight so far.
Any further advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[BJM92]

Hi there, as others have said you really do need to try and prevent overnight lows (which can be dangerous) with the help of your team and insulin adjustment. Do you know how low you are dropping overnight and what are your levels prior to going to bed? If my levels are low just before bed which they sometimes are then I have a 15 carb snack, maybe a biscuit or cracker or even a few spoonfuls of porridge or a slice of toast. x

Hello! Thanks for your reply. Yes I use a freestyle libre sensor and usually it drops between 50-70 at night.

 

[KK123]

Hello! Thanks for your reply. Yes I use a freestyle libre sensor and usually it drops between 50-70 at night.

Hi, that's low as you know then. I would speak to your team about it especially as it's happening regularly. Night time snacks may be an answer to occasional low numbers before sleeping or as a buffer in certain circumstances but you really need to get the reason why they are dropping sorted (usually down to the insulin). x

 

[BJM92]

Hi, that's low as you know then. I would speak to your team about it especially as it's happening regularly. Night time snacks may be an answer to occasional low numbers before sleeping or as a buffer in certain circumstances but you really need to get the reason why they are dropping sorted (usually down to the insulin). x

Thank you for your help! I have an appointment booked

 

[dani96xx]

Hello!
I am pretty new to using insulin for treating my type 1 diabetes.
My blood sugar is usually pretty good within 2 hours of eating but it keeps dropping substantially overnight.
What snacks, tips or tricks does anyone have to prevent overnight lows?
Thank you!

Sounds like you need to drop your basal insulin! You shouldn't need to snack before going to bed.

(Edited by mod.)

 

[miahara]

I had been experiencing early morning lows and after a chat with my DSN reduced my basal by 1 unit and this worked reasonably well, but I also eat before bed - usually about 15 gm of carbs though if my pre-bed glucose is low I'll eat about 30 gm these are in the form of sandwiches with low carb fillings.
It does take a while to learn what's best for oneself.

 

[Antje77]

Hello! Thanks for your reply. Yes I use a freestyle libre sensor and usually it drops between 50-70 at night.

Hi @BJM92 , have you confirmed those lows with a fingerprick?
For some of us, the Libre reads lower than blood, especially when on the low side.
There is also this thing known as a compression low, where the Libre reads lower when you sleep because you lay on the sensor.

At what time do you take your last dose of insulin, and at what time do you see the lows on your Libre? What insulin are you on?
It's quite unusual to go low many hours later when you only use mealtime insulin and no basal.
How do you decide how much insulin to take for a particular meal?

Apologies for all the questions, but perhaps one of them will help you figuring out the problem

 

[BJM92]

I had been experiencing early morning lows and after a chat with my DSN reduced my basal by 1 unit and this worked reasonably well, but I also eat before bed - usually about 15 gm of carbs though if my pre-bed glucose is low I'll eat about 30 gm these are in the form of sandwiches with low carb fillings.
It does take a while to learn what's best for oneself.

Thank you for your advice. I am not on any basal insulin however. Just fast acting insulin with meals

 

[BJM92]

Hi @BJM92 , have you confirmed those lows with a fingerprick?
For some of us, the Libre reads lower than blood, especially when on the low side.
There is also this thing known as a compression low, where the Libre reads lower when you sleep because you lay on the sensor.

At what time do you take your last dose of insulin, and at what time do you see the lows on your Libre? What insulin are you on?
It's quite unusual to go low many hours later when you only use mealtime insulin and no basal.
How do you decide how much insulin to take for a particular meal?

Apologies for all the questions, but perhaps one of them will help you figuring out the problem

Hi! Thank you for you detailed reponse.
I haven't tested with a fingerprick no because I generally don't wake up so don't get chance. But it is something I will try to do when I do.

Interesting to hear that the libre can read lower, I have just changed the sensor and I had seen the odd low with the previous onw but this one does seem to read low a lot more at night.

My last dose of insulin is around 6-7pm and it drops from about midnight through to 5-6am. As you say I wouldn't expect it to drop this low after that length of time since my last insulin when I am not on basal?

I use novorapid insulin and have been given quantities by my endocrinologist which I alter slightly due to previous experience etc. As mentioned usually, within a two hour window of taking the insulin and eating my numbers are pretty good, it's just at night this seems to drop dramatically.

Appreciate your input - thank you!