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Had My First Hypo In Years!! (or So I Thought!)

XxTinkerxx

Well-Known Member
Messages
159
Location
London, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Rude & condescending people. I will call you out on it.
So yesterday marks exactly one week since I started Insulatard, and early this morning at 4:00am I had my first hypo in YEARS! (I'm actually pleased! Means sugars are going the right way! LOL)

I started off on 6 units and increased it by 2 units every 3 days and now I am on 10 units. Seeing DN tomorrow to discuss the past week.

What I had to eat yesterday was:

Brunch
Homemade tuna mayo sandwich
Lunch
Jerk chicken and home made coleslaw
Dinner
Courgetti and fried Salmon
Snacks
3 cups of tea throughout the day (Lactofree skimmed milk and a teaspoon of demerara + Stevia sugar)
5 McVities Cheddars biscuits

I did not eat anything else after my dinner which I had at about 7:00pm.

I definitely overcompensated when I tried to treat this hypo. I had a cup of tea and 3 slices of toast on Jam. I had nothing else sweet at home to eat, hence the reason for the toast and jam, plus I was feeling ravenous.

My BS reading at the time of the hypo was 4.6 (04:02 am) and an hr later it was 15.8 (05:08 am).

After I went back to sleep and woke up, I took another reading and it was 15.1 (07:41).

I've no doubt this will happen again as I get used to the insulin and work out the correct levels to have, so my question is, what is the best way to treat hypos based on the info above?

Is keeping a bag of Jelly Babies at home sufficient?
Should I get some glucose tables just in case?
Anything else I need to consider?

This whole injecting this all new to me, so I am still adjusting and learning.

Thank you

ETA: I also take 200mg of Metformin and 320mg Gliclizide daily.
 
XxTinkerxx said:
My BS reading at the time of the hypo was 4.6 (04:02 am) and an hr later it was 15.8 (05:08 am).
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4.6 isn't actually a hypo I'm afraid, though if you've had high sugars for a while it was probably a false hypo.

XxTinkerxx said:
I definitely overcompensated when I tried to treat this hypo. I had a cup of tea and 3 slices of toast on Jam
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15g of carbs is the standard amount to have for a hypo, and then check bs after 15 mins - so yes you may have overcompensated somewhat (I reckon you had about 50ish give or take if its normal bread) - that is probably the reason you ended up at 15ish

XxTinkerxx said:
Is keeping a bag of Jelly Babies at home sufficient?
Should I get some glucose tables just in case?.
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Either , but work out how many is 15g carbs - I use Haribo strawberry squishies (that might not be the exact name) and know that each sweet is 5g carbs so 3 is 15g carbs - I have one bag in my bedroom, one at my desk downstairs (its a small house) and at least one bag of spares in the cupboard.
 
Thanks for your reply and advice. It is very much appreciated

Blimey if this is what a false hypo feels like I dread to experience the real thing?
What is classed as a hypo then? Is it readings or feelings?

My sugars have been in double figures for as long as I can remember
 
XxTinkerxx said:
What is classed as a hypo then? Is it readings or feelings?
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Readings, anything below 4 - or maybe even 3.5 depending where you're looking

XxTinkerxx said:
My sugars have been in double figures for as long as I can remember
Click to expand...
Probably a false hypo then indeed

XxTinkerxx said:
Blimey if this is what a false hypo feels like I dread to experience the real thing?
Click to expand...
It is called a false hypo because you get the hypo symptoms before you are actually having a hypo, this is due to you not being used to normal sugar levels, so an actual hypo would be very similar - though there are a variety of different hypo symptoms - not all of which always show up - can differ from person to person or hypo to hypo.
 
Remember though that the meter accuracy error is +/- 15 % i.e. 3.9 to 5.3 mmol/l. Whilst 3.9 mmol/l is not strictly a hypo level some persons have hypo symptoms at that level.
 
Hello @XxTinkerxx

Personally if I see a reading of less than 4 I class this as a hypo and if unsure do another test on another finger.

In regards to treatment I treat with 2-3 glucotabs only, unless I am below 3 and then will follow up with 10g of carb so 1 x digestive biscuit. It is common to over treat so work out what your hypo treatment should look like before the event, it's easy to over treat when the brain isn't functioning properly and that's when the fridge will get raided..
 
kitedoc said:
Remember though that the meter accuracy error is +/- 15 % i.e. 3.9 to 5.3 mmol/l. Whilst 3.9 mmol/l is not strictly a hypo level some persons have hypo symptoms at that level.
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I took a reading with my Contour NEXT and it was 2 mmol higher than the GlucoRX Nexus. Always comes up with that variance.

In fact I stopped using the GlucoRX until I was prescribed Insulin and the Dr gasped when I told him I buy my own strips for my Contour NEXT, so he wrote out a prescription for the GlucoRx...

I will ask again to see if they can change the strips to the Contour NEXT, but if not I will just buy my own as I have been doing. I plan on asking for safety lancets and/or a Freestyle Libre as well.

Wish me luck! LOL
 
XxTinkerxx said:
I plan on asking for safety lancets and/or a Freestyle Libre as well.
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I wouldn't hold my breath for the Libre on prescription, most CCG's in England at least do not prescribe them so most people have to self-fund (myself included)
 
A false hypo has the same symptoms of the real hypo, but I can understand this feeling due to the fact that you taker Insulatard. When did you inject Insulatard?
 
alphabeta said:
A false hypo has the same symptoms of the real hypo, but I can understand this feeling due to the fact that you taker Insulatard. When did you inject Insulatard?
Click to expand...
9:00 pm every night.
 
Hi there
You did well to wake up when it happened.
I always have cartons of juice on the bedside.
A small carton is 20g carbs this will start to lift you and then check again to see how you are or if you need another one.
I use juice in the middle of the night it’s a lot quicker to take and does the job. I personally would rather get it sorted and get back to sleep.
 
I know there's a lot of miseducation out there around Diabetes and I have been on the receiving end of it constantly.

When I was first diagnosed in 2012 someone informed me it was a "self inflicted condition". I have never been overweight either.

FF 6 years later and I still blame myself despite knowing this is not the case.

I suppose what prompted this post is that I just told my hairdresser that I am now taking insulin and her response was "You've been naughty". I really like her so I didn't give her the Alex Ferguson treatment.

I gently explained to her what the consultant told me. Hopefully it sunk in and she'll be a bit more aware and sympathetic in the future. I mean her mum is a diabetic too!
 
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