False Hypo?

[maitai]

I was diagnosed with T2 three days ago and have been on metformin (1000g total) a day.

2 hours before bed my BG tested at 7.2 but as time progressed I started to feel light headed and shaky. I then ate a quick snack and was immediately relieved.

This also happened earlier in the day when my BG read 5.8 pre-meal.

Are false hypos a thing? Also does this get any better? Because from my understanding, 5.8 is a good BG to be at... So why am I feeling like i'm going to pass out?

 

[Guzzler]

Because you have been running with higher blood glucose levels and now you are lowering those levels your body thinks you are running very low and sets off the panic button which is, in these instances, a false hypo.
As you get used to having better levels (usually just a few days) these false hypos are no more.
If it happens again just have a low carb or high protein/fatty snack otherwise you will be answering the alarm bell with carbs which really defeats the object. In a way, having a false hypo is a good sign, it shows you really are lowering your carb intake.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Are false hypos a thing?

Yes and the good news as you're taking Metformin only is that if you are not injecting insulin or taking a sulfonylurea drug you should NOT have to worry about hypos! I have deliberately used the word should because I have certainly experienced a genuine hypo while taking Metformin only (the only way I could tell was to measure my BG which was 3.4), but now I know that when you skip breakfast and lunch and spend several hours tidying up the garden and clearing up piles of rubbish anyone could expect lower BG.

As Guzzler says, you've been used to higher BG and just the lowering for a few days will make the body feel the change.

You have to bare in mind that Metformin works by increasing the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin and reducing the amount of sugar produced by cells in the liver. Also, it may take several days before you will notice the effects although to make lives interesting I have read an article that suggests it will start acting as quickly as 48 hours. We're all different so "results may vary".

One other thing to consider is the temperature, although it's come down a lot over the weekend, temperature will have an effect on how you feel and will also affect your BG. I've always likened this disease to plate balancing.

 

[TTTE]

Hello Maitai, welcome to the forum. False hypo's are a thing, I have 2 of them recently (see my post at https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/incidental-low-bg-readings.154453/#post-1846316) Make sure you seek your doctors advice on them as he or she will be the best person to advise you