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Average number of hypo's per week

Natalie1974

Well-Known Member
Messages
871
Location
Kent
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Also saw this too... since transitioning to low carb my number of hypos have been reduced dramatically. I'm probably averaging 1-2 hypos every 10 days and usually because of sport where I still can't get avoid a hypo in the first 5k.
 
I am the same, maybe 3 a week............

and these occur just before dinner, so down to a slight miscalculation at lunch and/or a brisker walk to and from the train station...
 
10 hypo's a week seems excessive, wonder where they got that figure from?

I would imagine most diabetes clinics would be horrified if someone said they were having 10 hypo's a week, sometimes I can go 2-3 weeks and not have one but then have 2-3 in one week, normally it involves activity which I've not accounted for correctly.
 
over the past 15 or so years my control has been fairly tight and HbA1c's of between 5.7-6.1%. I would say that on average I have experienced a blood sugar that is classed as a hypo ( between 3.1-3.8 ) about 6-8 times per week , but by treating with 10 cho fruit pastilles was able to regain suitable BG's in the 5's with out really stopping getting on with my life.
My Endo had given up telling me I ran too low

since starting on a pump 30 days ago i've had only 5 instances of a BG below 4 -- and strangely the hypo feeling has been much shallower feeling and mainly has taken only 5 cho pastilles to treat.
 
I'm low carbing too, and probably have a hypo 1-2 times a week, if that, and it's usually because I've miscalculated or overdone something.

If I were having 10 hypos a week, I'd be worried to leave the house.
 
I don't think 10 hypos a week is at all unreasonable for many people, even with good carb counting. A lot of people don't know a great deal about timing insulin and struggle with not really understanding their basal profile and splits.

I typically have 3-5 technical hypos a week, usually in the 3.5-3.9 range. This is typically worse when I am eating carbs and better when I am not. Proper, extremely low hypos are just not something I tend to experience.

I think that people tend to over-react to a BG level of 3.5-3.9 though. This level has never been disabling for me and I'm happy going about my business.

I suspect most diabetic clinics have no idea. They won't be being told.
 
tim2000s said:
I suspect most diabetic clinics have no idea. They won't be being told.
Click to expand...

Possibly, but I wonder where they got the 10 hypo figure from, it does seem rather excessive.
 
I would say 1 or 2 a week, subject to terms and conditions.

But by hypo I mean a technical 'below 4 mmol/l' reading.

The number of events where I think "Oh-oh, I'm in trouble, I must have glucose immediately, I'm going to pass out" is about 1 every 5 years and probably only related to eating something with more carbs than I'm used to and bolusing to cover it or some other strange event (jet-lag is quite handy for messing up blood sugars).

Low carb hypos seem to be very mild and don't cause the cognitive or other physical events that you associate with a full on hypo.

Best

Dillinger
 
noblehead said:
Possibly, but I wonder where they got the 10 hypo figure from, it does seem rather excessive.
Click to expand...
I don't. I was up and down like crazy with Lantus. It doesn't surprise me at all. I wasn't ever asked in the clinics I used to attend whether I was having many hypos. I was asked about disabling ones, to which the answer was none, or in the one case where it was bad, I asked to changed my insulin.

I don't think many people really see minor hypos as that big a deal. The article where this originates from: https://www.jdrf.org.uk/news/latest...with-type-1-diabetes-average-ten-hypos-a-week also states:

Karen Addington, Chief Executive of JDRF, said: “Type 1 diabetes is a challenging and complex condition that requires constant management every day. Hypos are what people living with type 1 diabetes hate the most and experiencing ten a week is a shockingly high figure.”

Am I odd in that I don't hate hypos the most? I like highs much less...

And how deep a low are they really talking about here?
 
@tim2000s, my worst time for hypo's was soon after being diagnosed as there was no means of testing your bg levels, you only had the Clinitest Kit which was next to useless. Also the twice daily mixed insulin doses back then meant you had to snack between meals, should you forget then your bg levels could plummet.

Since starting on a pump I've had far fewer hypo's then I did on MDI.
 
singing from the same hymn book as you on this one. Over the years I have found I quite like hypos really( keeps me feeling quite alive) -- especially in comparison to any reading above 9.0.
And definitely the just below 3.9 ones that take just a few minutes to sort out.
 
I went from 7 or 8 a week with some occasional really frightening overnight ones, to 2 or 3 technical hypos a month usually exercise related.

The improvement thanks to (self funded) CGM.
 
I'm type 2, and I don't low carb, but I do watch everything I eat and try to balance things out, making my carbs slow transition but I still probably have 2-3 hypos a week......it really depressed me as I thought I was starting to get good control.
 
Since Teusday Ive only had 2 hypos and both at work due to really busy lunch times in the kitchen, not ideal as I work alone
 
I think it's the same for me too! But do go through some weeks of maybe 5 to 6,
some night hypos.
 
Nowhere near that number, even accounting for exercise related hypos. Probably nearer tim2000's 4-5, and that's based on a metered technical hypo of <3.5, only three this week I think, and a similar number >8.0
 
Well I have 10 or more some weeks and 5 to 10 other weeks, but I am told I have an extremely complicated medical history and am in pain 90% of the time which makes your BG rise, which would be fine but as soon as I take some painkillers it plummets! We are trying to work this out but as I have neuropathy of the central nervous system they like me to keep my BG control tight. I also have a problem absorbing some carbohydrates. Everyone is different and I think people like me who have been type 1 for over 40 years have issues from the insulins available back then.
 
i would say i had many more that, if you count 3.5 - 3.9, while my HbA1c was under 6.5%, now on the pump, and told to raise HbA1c to over 7.0% . Last was 7.3%. Less lows. Now trying to lower to about 6.9%. My meter shows 4 LO (3.9 and below) and 14 HI ( 9.9 or more) in last 7 days, trying to fine tune more but just got a bad virus which is beginning to throw things out. Would agree that 3.5 or above hypos are ok, problem is, for me, that a few of them, and its easy to go lower. This got worse after about 25 yrs diabetes, whatever i tried. Even this week , after raising blood glucose for 2 years, I was 2.3 with just a fleeting odd feeling to warn me. At least without a CGM i do think fear of hypos prevents good control
 
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