I don't know the answer to this one

[hanadr]

Usually I know what's going on, but this afternoon, I got a surprise. I was sitting knitting with a dog curled up in my lap and felt all those signs. Shaky, couldn't place the knitting needle, and light headed.
T1 husband is still under the weather, so up in bed and I was alone. I tipped dog onto the floor and went to the kitchen to see what remedy I could find. I had a slice of Real bread with marmalade . After 20 minutes or so I felt better, but I've just checkedd BG, over an hour later, to see how much too far I'd gone. 6.3! Almost in my target zone! I must have gone pretty low. wish I'd checked now, but I was focussed on getting right.
This shouldn't happen on Metformin alone. I had my usual sparse carbs for breakfast and lunch and haven't been particularly active. I have merely potted up 42 begonias.
I have been under a lot of stress lately with T1's condition. Over a week since he had an iron infusion for his anaemia and absolutely NO SIGN of improvement so far. I know it's soon, but I'm feeling the strain a bit. House, garden animals and not much help.

 

[sugarless sue]

Hana,I can go low,I think the lowest so far is 3.9.You were being fairly active and under stress,theses things happen sometimes!

 

[totsy]

sorry your having such a rough time,hope hubby gets well soon too

 

[weggy]

Hi all

First post here, so be gentle!

Anyway, I'm really not sure where this "shouldnt go that low on metformin" comes from! I used to take metformin and recorded BM's of 3.2, 3.4 and plenty of times at 3.6 and 3.8 !

 

[wallycorker]

Hana,I can go low,I think the lowest so far is 3.9.You were being fairly active and under stress,theses things happen sometimes!

I'm Type 2 on Metformin only and had an evening reading of 3.4 recently. Prior to that I have had the very odd readings of 3.8 and 3.9 but nothing anywhere near the 3.4.

What concerns me a little is that I have absolutely no idea what my BG is whether it is high or low unless I test. My body tells gives me no signs whatsoever!

 

[cugila]

Hi weggy.

First of all a warm welcome. Just have a good look around and ask questions when you need to.

Interesting to see your comment about Metformin ?
You may have been taking Metformin but it has never had any known side effect of reducing Bg levels significantly. Other drugs such as Gliclazide do.

Here are the known side effects of Metformin:
Side-effects anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea (usually transient), abdominal pain, taste disturbance, rarely lactic acidosis (withdraw treatment), decreased vitamin-B12 absorption, erythema, pruritus and urticaria; hepatitis also reported.

The sort of levels you were getting could most probably have been caused by other drugs or simply not enough Carbohydrates in your Diet.

Ken.

 

[weggy]

Thanks Ken - good to find a diabetes forum that, so far, looks to be an excellent source of info

There wasn't really a pattern to the low BM readings to be honest. Sometimes it could be because I'd been quite active, ie mowing the lawn etc, other times I'd just be sitting watching TV when the dreaded shakes, sweating etc would kick in... I was taking no other medication at the time, no even over-the-counter items, purely just Metformin.

 

[cugila]

Hi.
You have probably answered your own question then. Dietary intake ?
Some people do have naturally low Bg levels but I suspect that is not the case here.

I used to work shifts and very long hours. My Bg levels were high one minute then as low as yours the next to the point where I would often just collapse and sleep for hours.
My problem was my food intake was never a routine. Get up, work, no breakfast, grab a sandwich sometimes. Then last the rest of the day without anything until late at night when I would have a meal of sorts. Not very healthy at that. I was ruining my body.

Then came here, found out how to control Bg levels and a good Diet plan. Haven't looked back since.

Ken.

 

[weggy]

That's the funny thing. I've never been one to skip meals, especially not breakfast.

I do hear what you're saying though, and not trying to be an awkward git :shock:

 

[Trinkwasser]

Could have been a combination of things, stress, possibly illness? Infections usually send me high and usually my lows were a response to an earlier high. Currently we're being bombarded by a mix of rape and tree pollens <koff koff>

Sometimes your body just goes off on one because it can.

Have you had hubby's B vitamins checked? B12 (and maybe B6) may be involved in lack of iron absorbtion. Mother has become anemic when they forgot her B12 shots.

To Weggy, try testing about half an hour after you ate and then hourly for a few hours, I used to get reactive hypoglycemia where I'd go high around an hour then drop my BG quite sharply and be low at three or four hours out. This responds to dropping the carb level at any one meal and maybe grazing, so you have small quantities of food and carbs coming in without any big boluses which overwhelm the control circuit. Long term getting my insulin resistance down has also helped.

 

[hanadr]

Trink
t1 husband's anaemia is due to kidney disease. It's a fairly common side effect. The Renal unit know about it, but let it go a long way before treating. I wish they'd do a bit more prevention

 

[anne 37]

hi just read your post ,im type1 diabetic ,initially my consultant though l was type 2 and was started on metformin 2 tablets twice a day then they discovered l was actually type 1,and started on insulin twice a day ,now inject 5 times per day ,my diabetes nurse has told me to continue with the metformin ,l work shifts and my job is dealing with disabled adults which can be stressful at times ,my point is if im stressed as one of the guys said this can cause my blood sugar to drop ,my diabetes nurse advised me to take 3 glucose tablets then have sandwich ,advised me not to eat anything sweet as it takes longer to raise bg then affects your later reading ,luckily l know when im having a dreaded hypo ,l know its not easy not to b worried and stressed but for your health and wellbeing you just have to try and relax ,l check my bg befoere and after meals ,hope your hubby gets well soon and you take it easy best wishes anne x

 

[Trinkwasser]

Trink
t1 husband's anaemia is due to kidney disease. It's a fairly common side effect. The Renal unit know about it, but let it go a long way before treating. I wish they'd do a bit more prevention

Oh ****, that can make all kinds of complications trying to balance all the factors.