Blood Sugar at bedtime

[denisehazel]

My granddaughter who is 11 has been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes .. My problem is for the most part each night before bedtime her sugar is below 120 and I have been instructed to give 15 to 20 carbs before bed... Why does this happen I measure and feel competent that we are doing calculations right. Is 6 units of lantus maybe too much?

 

[CambridgeLass]

No, it's not the lantus. If morning numbers are good you know you have the lantus about right. Bedtime numbers, around 2-3 hrs after dinner, will relate to the last injection at dinner time. Maybe her evening ratio for dinner needs to be reduced so she doesn't drop too low. It may also depend on what she had for dinner - a dinner such as pasta which is a complex carb for example will not break down until a few hours later. You'll see lots of threads on here about pasta! Being newly diagnosed their should be lots of DSN input, so do use this. All the best, Tracy


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[David147]

Non-diabetics spend most of the day below 100 mg/dL, except for brief periods (1-2 hours) after eating when blood sugar may be slightly elevated over that level. Usually a person without diabetes "spikes" - sees his highest blood sugar - within the first 30-60 minutes of eating, depending on what was consumed. By 1-2 hours, a person without diabetes will typically be at baseline or pre-meal levels.

Essentially, when you haven't eaten in hours, your blood sugar should be more or less at fasting levels. 99 mg/dL and below is considered normal fasting, although in reality, fasting on the higher end of that range regularly could indicate a problem. So being at 78 mg/dL 4.5 hours after a meal is totally normal, but it's also not a very useful indicator of whether you have diabetes. How your body handles food matters more. Then again, you said you're not testing for diabetes, so this is a moot point.