Advice re hypo and BS levels

[Aliboo64]

Hi there,

I could do with a little advice.

I am on Humalin I 44 units at bedtime, 1 g of SR Metformin after my evening meals and 20 mcg of Lixisenatide (Lyxumia) on waking each morning.

I am also losing weight and have lost 66 pounds since Aug last year. My morning bloods for the last fortnight are as follows:

4.8, 5.4, 5.3, 4.3, 4.7, 4.7, 4.2, 7.2, 4.8, 4.2, 4.7, and this morning 4.9

The night before last I couldn't sleep. I have other medical issues and was experiencing a lot of pain. For some reason I decided to test my bloods at 3am ish and the result was 3.5. So i got up and checked it again with another meter, using blood from the same place where I'd pricked my finger. My usual meter said 3.4 and the other said 3.3. So I made myself a high carb snack (Cottage cheese with pineapple sandwich) Then checked my bloods about 15 mins later and it had risen, so I went back to bed.

My questions are:

I never usually do my bloods at 3am. Do they normally drop so much in the middle of the night? (I was lying in bed watching TV and reading to try and distract myself from the pain).

As my waking BS are quite low, should I be loweing my evening insulin?

Thanks

 

[Shar67]

You mat find that pain causes stress and stress is not good for BG levels.

 

[Mep]

@Aliboo64 - Firstly... well done on your weight loss... that's awesome!

Yes, I was advised to check my sugar levels at 3 am too. I can hypo at night and miss them. I know when I've had one though as no mistaking the hypo hangover and I usually get high morning readings when it happens too and my BGL's stay elevated for most of the day. I have caught hypos at night too and treated accordingly. Also I tend to half wake up spinning out completely and go straight back to sleep instead of getting up and checking and treating my hypo. I get the sensation that my head is not on my pillow (when it is) so I think at that point I'm way too low.

Your morning numbers are really good, although for me my endo told me off when I was getting figures in the 4's in the mornings. He told me I was taking too much basal dosage and I had to lower my dosage. He said he wanted me 5 or above in the mornings. That's what he considers my 'safe' number. I have to agree with him on that as anything under that it doesn't take long before I hypo.

I also have other medical conditions that cause pain and I can say that pain does affect my sugar levels too. Pain and lack of sleep really makes me unstable sugar wise.

If you're on 44 basal units that may be a bit too high... you could always try decreasing by 2 units at a time for a few days and see what you get (eg. drop 2 units and wait 3 days to see if it helps, continue with that pattern). That's the advice my endo gave me. But it is a good idea that you discuss this with your medical team too as there could be so many factors impacting for you... plus they usually want to know what you're doing with your insulin (well my endo does). Also they may want to switch things for you.... eg. the insulin may not be working too well for you and they may try you on a different one (they have different profiles).

I wish you the best.

 

[bigjohn9916]

@Aliboo64 just one thing to add I found I had to reduce my humulin 3 insulin by 1 unit for every 4kg of weight I lost, to avoid an overnight hypo. but i think the same would apply what ever type of insulin is used.