Contemplating a jellybaby

[xfieldok]

After low readings for the last couple of nights, I thought I would keep an eye on things. No wine tonight. It now seems to be hovering around 3.7 and 3.8.

I think I will phone the surgery on Monday.

 

[EllieM]

What meds are you on? If none then I wouldn't worry, but if you're on glucose lowering ones then that jellybaby is looking very attractive.....

 

[xfieldok]

80mg glicazide to try and counteract the steroids.

 

[EllieM]

Ouch, well, I know we're not allowed to advise on doses but as a T1 on insulin, which like gliclazide is a glucose lowering med, I wouldn't go to bed on a blood sugar that low....

The problem is not necessarily the 3.8, the problem is that it may go lower.

Go jellybaby, go .

Personally, I regard an untreated hypo as more dangerous than a hyper.

 

[xfieldok]

You talked me into it! It will probably taste disgusting. It has climbed all the way up to 4.1 but I am not comfortable going to sleep. Last night lowest was 3.3
Gonna have a black one.

 

[xfieldok]

Many thanks @EllieM that seems to have done the trick. Two black ones and went down to 4.0. The pink one 10 mins later worked and now 4.8.

I can sleep now.

 

[Member496333]

If it were me I would certainly be seeking advice on Monday regarding lowering your dosage. As I’m sure you already know, consuming exogenous glucose in a bid to offset the effects of glucose lowering medications is undesirable.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Many thanks @EllieM that seems to have done the trick. Two black ones and went down to 4.0. The pink one 10 mins later worked and now 4.8.

I can sleep now.

Good to see your levels went up after the hypo treatment. Have a word with your DSN or GP, to put your mind at rest and to get your levels on a more even keel. Good luck.

 

[xfieldok]

Thought I might have gone a bit OTT in the jellybaby department. The last one took me 7.2. On waking I was 3.7. Definitely need to talk to the dn tomorrow.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Thought I might have gone a bit OTT in the jellybaby department. The last one took me 7.2. On waking I was 3.7. Definitely need to talk to the dn tomorrow.

7.2 is good, it's much better than a 3. ?, my levels have rocketed to double figures before, but that's another problem. Your medication will probably just need to be tweaked

 

[poemagraphic]

If it were me I would certainly be seeking advice on Monday regarding lowering your dosage. As I’m sure you already know, consuming exogenous glucose in a bid to offset the effects of glucose lowering medications is undesirable.

I was in this exact situation. I was 'told' never go to bed if you are less than 8 by the DN. Which I was almost every night.
Hopefully your doctor will lower your doseage. If not you may decide to just forget the odd and see how things go
Note to self: Can you 'decide' to forget?
Po

 

[Energize]

In such a situation, I would have eaten a couple of jelly babies and then a couple of rich tea biscuits. The jelly babies will bring bg up reasonably quickly, then the biscuits will slower to get into system but will maintain bg longer, before a slower drop.

Without the biscuits, the drop from the jelly babies would be too quick and, potentially, lower than the bg I was trying to correct. Biscuit/s afterwards works well for me when I (now very infrequently) 'enjoy'

 

[xfieldok]

Thanks. Totally out of my depth here. I will get some emergency biscuits later. I didn't consider the drop after the jelly babies.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Thanks. Totally out of my depth here. I will get some emergency biscuits later. I didn't consider the drop after the jelly babies.

It does seem crazy to be forced into eating up to your Gliclazide dose to avoid hypos. It seems to me that lowering the dosage would be the way to go. What are your levels like during the day, before and after meals? Have you made an appointment to speak to someone about it?

 

[NicoleC1971]

So triggered by the mention of jelly babies (and juicy black ones at that). Sadly not hypo so can't justify it.
Hope you can reduce your meds and not have to worry about going too low and getting crumbs in bed from biscuit munching...

 

[xfieldok]

It does seem crazy to be forced into eating up to your Gliclazide dose to avoid hypos. It seems to me that lowering the dosage would be the way to go. What are your levels like during the day, before and after meals? Have you made an appointment to speak to someone about it?

1 can't lower anything at the moment. It is the prednisolone. I am on 30mg per day, due to go up to 40mg on Wednesday. My peak today was 18.4 am currently at 12 something. Running high for around 8 hours or so.

DN says would not like to increase glicazide further as it is so hard on the pancreas. Probably have to add/substitute insulin.

Also realised that the vitamin I have been taking contains magnesium which is a no no with myasthenia gravis and could be why I have seen no improvement from the meds so far.

 

[xfieldok]

So triggered by the mention of jelly babies (and juicy black ones at that). Sadly not hypo so can't justify it.
Hope you can reduce your meds and not have to worry about going too low and getting crumbs in bed from biscuit munching...

Sadly, jelly babies are not as nice as I remember them

 

[Brunneria]

Sadly, jelly babies are not as nice as I remember them

Not even the green ones.
They were always my faves.

Though I have to admit that they wouldn’t be sufficient compensation for pred and glic. Nothing would be.

Time for another hug, i think.

 

[xfieldok]

Not even the green ones.
They were always my faves.

Though I have to admit that they wouldn’t be sufficient compensation for pred and glic. Nothing would be.

Time for another hug, i think.

Thank you, all the hugs are much appreciated. Going to correlate some numbers tonight so I can have a coherent discussion tomorrow. Glad I have the freestyle libre as evidence.

 

[Antje77]

1 can't lower anything at the moment. It is the prednisolone. I am on 30mg per day, due to go up to 40mg on Wednesday. My peak today was 18.4 am currently at 12 something. Running high for around 8 hours or so.

So you're going way high during the day and then on the low side during the night. That's a nasty puzzle to solve I'd think.
Have you ever used insulin and how would you feel discussing this with your HCP? Gliclazide works all day, where mealtime insulin only works for about 5 hours.
I'm not a T2 and I don't know much about insulin use in T2's or on steroids so it may be a completely irrelevant thought. I only mention it because it looks like you'd benefit from some sort of shorter acting bg-lowering medication to keep your bg lower during the day but not in the night, and insulin is the only one I know.