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Dealing with Hypos - treat first, measure later

tim2000s said:
So here's the corollary of the original question:

Let's say you experience hypo symptoms and you test first. You meter shows you 4.3, but you have clear symptoms. What do you do next?

Personally, I've already treated at this point, but given the margin for error on that test reading is 15%, your 4.3 is just as likely to be 3.6....
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With that scenario? Having "clear symptoms" I would see figures like that as a rough "snapshot" of 20 minutes ago on the way down... The figures could actually be a lot lower.. Eating first then testing on the rise could see a reading of 2.5? Due to lag..
 
20 minutes? On a libre maybe.
 
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tim2000s said:
20 minutes? On a libre maybe, more like 5 in bloods.
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Sorry, it's just an idea that due to metabolism & blood flow the meter reading is a snapshot of upto 20 minutes back? Thus levels may in reality on hypo detection be lower or even trough'd/bottomed out at that point..? I hope this explains where I am coming from.. :D 20 minutes is a rule of thumb I go by. I could be totally wrong? Lol I treat first ask later.. The idea about "lag" came about during a hypo one day.. One of my milder ones! ;)
 
Jaylee said:
Sorry, it's just an idea that due to metabolism & blood flow the meter reading is a snapshot of upto 20 minutes back? Thus levels may in reality on hypo detection be lower or even trough'd/bottomed out at that point..? I hope this explains where I am coming from.. :D 20 minutes is a rule of thumb I go by. I could be totally wrong? Lol I treat first ask later.. The idea about "lag" came about during a hypo one day.. One of my milder ones! ;)
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The time lag is right I think. Dr B says it's 15 mins time lag from arteries to capillary blood vessels (in our fingers) - on grounds that one time he passed out hypo-ing in hospital, he came round from the intravenous glucose, but it took 15 mins before his meter reading started to rise.

That's the basis I go on anyway: that the blood test shows us, 15 mins ago. So hypo remedy would take absorption time plus 15 more mins to show. (Then add 10 mins more for a Libre - that fits with what I measured in Libre tests.)
 
LucySW said:
That's the basis I go on anyway: that the blood test shows us, 15 mins ago. So hypo remedy would take absorption time plus 15 more mins to show. (Then add 10 mins more for a Libre - that fits with what I measured in Libre tests.)
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Lucy, the pump training I received recently says you should treat the hypo and wait 15 mins and test (they call it the 15/15 rule) so Bernstein is probably right that it takes this time for bg rises to show on the bg meters.
 
LucySW said:
The time lag is right I think. Dr B says it's 15 mins time lag from arteries to capillary blood vessels (in our fingers) - on grounds that one time he passed out hypo-ing in hospital, he came round from the intravenous glucose, but it took 15 mins before his meter reading started to rise.

That's the basis I go on anyway: that the blood test shows us, 15 mins ago. So hypo remedy would take absorption time plus 15 more mins to show. (Then add 10 mins more for a Libre - that fits with what I measured in Libre tests.)
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Thanks LucySW, I see a fair few posts from hypoing Ds saying they tested low then necked a shed load of Lucozade & jelly beans. Tested 5 minutes later & got a lower reading.. Then panic not understanding why.. Then feel deflated after a test a couple of hours later to find themselves riding a high one. Though I feel for those less hypo aware. Due to the nature of how the body works in general this lag sometimes gets overlooked regarding a worried posters enquiry of this nature..
 
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donnellysdogs said:
If you know this is to be expected why don't you just have 10g of carb?
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I decided 'expected' was the wrong word, remember....:)

A hypo, in the scenario I described, is a possibility...........but not an eventuality, so I wouldn't give myself extra carbs unless I needed it, but so close to my evening meal, my bolus would take in a lower blood sugar number into account.....
 
I don't get tired during hypo onset.. Just chirpy & tend to talk ****.. :banghead:
 
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