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bedtime reading?

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yipster29

Well-Known Member
Messages
200
Location
Isle of Wight
Hi all
Nearly 4 months in to this now and the relatively low-carb route working a treat for me. The only times I've risked some carbs my BG so high it really just isn't worth it... no matter what my DN says!!
However I've a question around what my BG reading should be before going to bed. If I've gone to bed with it less than 5 I've woken in the early hours to a hypo... although that was in the early days before I was very stable or low-carb route but it has left me scared to try that again. My DN says I shouldn't go to bed below a 7 but seeing as she also tells me not to low carb and lots of pasta and insulin are the way forward in my life I'm not sure whether to believe her!
It's meant I've had a snack every night but I don't always want one!! I've cut back and found I seem to be OK going bed on 6 but wary about going lower.
Also what is the best bedtime snack?? Or should I reduce bolas insulin with evening meal around 7p.m.??
My basal is Levirmir.
Thanks in advance for the advice guys :-)
 
I like to go to bed around the 7 numbers. Morning BG is then around 6. Don't have late night snacks unless I'm low. Just make sure I have a decernt evening meal.

D.
 
When I was first diagnosed I was told by one doctor not to go to bed with a level below 6.6mmol, the consultant intervened and said if the basal was correct then that going to bed at 5mmol should be fine. I experimented and eventually used 4.8mmol as my personal cut off. A week ago I'd have told you that that was my level (but warn you to gradually reduce the level and to do repeated early morning tests )
BUT patterns change, I have been struggling all week with 3am hypos, inspite of both eating a few low gi carbs and reducing my basal (I'm on a pump) by 50% for the early hours of the night.
 
Hi,

I was told never to go to bed below 7 but find that I can go to bed in high fours or low fives and wake up pretty much the same in the morning, only if I eat a small amount of cheese before bed each night. If I don't eat the cheese I will get DP and wake in the 6's. I have only ever had one hypo during the night and that was in the early days before low carbing stabilised everything.

Caitycakes x
 
Thanks guys that's all really useful.

Caitycakes what's DP though?? Is it the liver dumping thing??... sorry still bit new...

I'll try and gradually reduce with the cheese method I think!! :-)

Cath x
 
DAWN PHENOMENON
Everyone, diabetic or not, exhibits some Dawn Phenomenon. It is a natural part of our bodies' circadian rhythms. Some have said it is the way our ancestors had the strength to rise and slay a wooly behemoth for breakfast.

Since most of us fast while sleeping, with teenagers a possible exception, our bodies use stored energy during sleep. The body uses all three macro-nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) to store energy.

The most easily used is the storage medium of carbohydrates, called glycogen. Glycogen is made from glucose, and is stored in the liver and muscles. Since it is basically nothing more than a complex matrix of glucose, it is easy for the body to store and use, something the body does all day long. The technical term for the act of creating and storing glycogen is glycogenesis. When the body calls for the conversion of glycogen back to glucose it is called glycogenolysis.

Another macro-nutrient that is available to be converted to glucose is protein. Most of us think of our protein as being stored in muscle, but the body has protective mechanisms to make muscle wasting its last choice. One of the most useful and readily available sources of protein storage is in blood components, i.e., albumin (plasma). The body uses a process performed in the liver to convert amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, into glucose. The name for this process is gluconeogenesis, literally "the creation of new glucose".

So, what does all this have to do with a high fasting BG? Overnight, usually between 4am and 11am, your body releases some hormones. These are Growth Hormone (GH) from the anterior pituitary gland, cortisol from the adrenal cortex, glucagon from your pancreatic alpha-cells, and epinephrine (adrenalin). These hormones cause an increase in insulin resistance, raising your BG. In addition, these hormones trigger glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, adding stored or new glucose to your bloodstream.

Hope that helps ?

Ken.
 
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