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Bed time BG figures

Sibyl

Sibyl

Well-Known Member
Messages
177
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi Everyone! Just wondering what sorta BG numbers you guys felt happy to go to bed with. I vary but have happily gone to bed with 4.5 to 5 and woke to similar figures. Am I courting trouble? I use 12u Lantus at 8am and use Apidra as my fast acting insulin. I've been on this regime since my diagnosis in October 2014 - still a newbie!!
 
It depends very much on whether you are confident in your basal levels and reaction. With Lantus, I never went to bed on lower than 6mmol/l. With Levemir and an altogether more flat basal profile I'm comfortable on 4.5. This is predominantly because Lantus didn't really work very well for me. It seems a whole lot better for you!
 
At the moment everything thing seems to be working as intended, but after reading everyone's posts on here I realise that things can and no doubt will change. Knowing this I think I won't panic now if that happens. Yes I think I do feel happier at bedtime nearer 6. Without a CGM I can't be sure what's happening at night - I hope I stay fairly level!
 
Sibyl said:
Hi Everyone! Just wondering what sorta BG numbers you guys felt happy to go to bed with. I vary but have happily gone to bed with 4.5 to 5 and woke to similar figures. Am I courting trouble? I use 12u Lantus at 8am and use Apidra as my fast acting insulin. I've been on this regime since my diagnosis in October 2014 - still a newbie!!
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Wow Sibyl,
Most diabetics would love to have stable evening/overnight bg numbers like that!

And if it works for you? Great !!

Can see I am more or less on same type of therapy as you: 11 units of long-acting glargine Lantus at breakfast as basal and fast acting at each main-meal to counteract respective glucose impact. Personally though I have periods where my bg levels drop slightly during night sleep (e.g. after a day of more exercise than previewed in the morning when taking the long-acting), so target therefore to be not below 5-5.5 at bedtime (midnight) on such days. Do though also take insulin if above 7.5 at same time.
If you are courting trouble will be answered best by yourself than anybody else. :)
Do you experience hypos? Do you wake up at times a bit too low for comfort?
If not - Great, you seem to have found your sweet-spot !
Nothing to be pursued on purpose, but I have no trouble handling bg at e.g. 3.5 when waking up. So your 'flexibility' in this area is also a parameter to consider on how low you should/can target to aim for.
 
As I said, it's still early days for me yet so not getting complacent! I make no bedtime insulin corrections and most times wake with my usual 4 to 5. Of course, what from what I've read on here that will probably change. Odd though how some of us get a more difficult struggle. All a big bloody mystery to me. I tend to eat a diet of 90 to 130 carbs daily even before diagnosis. My consultant feels this is why I wasn't very ill as she felt I had been T1 for 9 months before I was diagnosed. I'm 56 and walking the dog is my main exercise now so not having much affect on my sugars. Only night hypo I had was on Saturday - went to bed with 9.5 after eating at a friend's. Discovered the hard way the effect too much vino has on my liver! Woke from a nightmare at 3am and after a while realised it was a hypo. Drank my juice and ate my 20g long lasting carbs. Luckily I was only 2.8 so could deal with it myself. I was high when I got up but corrected at breakfast. Seem to be ok at 5 but aim for higher for driving etc.
 
Sibyl said:
Hi Everyone! Just wondering what sorta BG numbers you guys felt happy to go to bed with. I vary but have happily gone to bed with 4.5 to 5 and woke to similar figures. Am I courting trouble? I use 12u Lantus at 8am and use Apidra as my fast acting insulin. I've been on this regime since my diagnosis in October 2014 - still a newbie!!
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Each to their own but I wouldn't be happy going to bed on the lower figure of 4.5mmol, when on MDI and using lantus like you are my lower limit was 5.5 and only then if I knew that my previous bolus insulin was exhausted, tbh I don't see any benefit from going to bed on a level of 4.5 than 5.5, at least with the 5.5 you have a scope to drop a little without going hypo.
 
noblehead said:
Each to their own but I wouldn't be happy going to bed on the lower figure of 4.5mmol, when on MDI and using lantus like you are my lower limit was 5.5 and only then if I knew that my previous bolus insulin was exhausted, tbh I don't see any benefit from going to bed on a level of 4.5 than 5.5, at least with the 5.5 you have a scope to drop a little without going hypo.
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Good points Noblehead,
Just checked the Apidra pharmacokinetic curve as not familiar with this fast acting myself:
http://www.lantus.se/Global/Docs/DIABETES/Patientinformation/Apidra_Engelska.pdf
(from Sanofi Aventis' own website, see page 4)
Apidra does actually have a substantial effect tail still like 4 hours after injection. So effect exhaustion will not happen until like 5h+ since last injection. Meaning, dinner injection should not be after 19:00 if you want to measure and go to bed at midnight expecting a flat bg curve from then. (assuming also that food digestion has completed by then)
 
Thanks, Peeps! this is exactly the type of advice I was hoping for! We do tend to eat at nursary times when at home - 5:30 to 6pm so I must be getting a fairly accurate reading by our 11pm bedtime. When we were away on a cruise we ate a tad later and I did set my alarm for 5 hours later to test my bloods - better safe than sorry!
 
I won’t go to be less than 11. Even then I can eat 5 biscuits and wake up around 10 – that’s usually if I do exercise though. I did it last night and woke up at 21.5!
 
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