Having a hypo

Hi its feels terible when that happens after about 20 mins test again it should have started to recover if you havent any glocose next time my nurse told me to try a glass of milk with a spoon full of sugar and then eat a normal meal after wards so that it stays up I hope this has helped

Hi dumpling

The general rule of thumb, when you've tested for a hypo, you take 15g of quick acting glusoce, this can be 3 glucose tabs, jelly babies etc... wait 15 minutes and then restest if still under 4mmol/l then take another 15g of fast acting carbs wait another 15 minutes then retest...

Once you are above the 4mmol/l then depending on the insulin regime...

If on mixed insulin, then you will need some slow acting carbs such as a couple of biscutes or sandwhich, banana ect

If on a basal/bolus regime

If you are under a hour away from eating then there should be no need to have any slow carbs, but check BG before your meal, and include a correction dose if necessary..

If you meal is going to be longer than an hour then eat some slow acting carbs...

When treating hypo, avoid sweet things such as chocolate and biscutes as this will be asorbed slower due to the fat content...

Best things to treat a hypo are

Glcose tabs
luccozade (avoid the sports type rehydration sports drinks)
jelly babies
Pure fruit juice
Sugar fizzy drinks (not diet)

I myself perfer to use jelly babies, as they are easy to measure 15g of fast acting carbs, so avoids the problem of over treating a hypo and ending up with a rebound high

Hi jopar
thanks for the info I think the reason my Dnurse told me to do what she did is because I'm type2 on oral and diet control , it seems to work and not send me the other way to high but it is always good to have several strings to your bow in case of your pantry coming up empty when you need it most.

dumpling said:

Hi jopar
thanks for the info I think the reason my Dnurse told me to do what she did is because I'm type2 on oral and diet control , it seems to work and not send me the other way to high but it is always good to have several strings to your bow in case of your pantry coming up empty when you need it most.

Click to expand...

yes Jopar's advice is spot on for Type 1s on insulin but may not work so well for Type 2s depending on your state of insulin resistance etc.

If I hit a low enough to be symptomatic I will use more like 5 - 10g fast carbs and follow up with some slower carbs, otherwise my liver is likely to join in and shoot me high. I think funky livers are commoner with Type 2. Using too many fast carbs at once will set me rollercoastering. First the liver dumps more glucose than it should, then the pancreas dumps more insulin to deal with it, then they stop communicating altogether.

#1 plan is to not do the low in the first place, which may be hard to achieve.

How you feeling now Ericd? I'm type 2 also. the last few hypo's I've been near a mcdonalds. A latte is really good for getting over a hypo. Normally I've got dextrose tablets in my bag but sometimes these are a bit slow. I find that hypos tend to occur, with me, between 4pm and 6pm. Is it the same with you? Hope you get things sorted out soon

Hope you feel better soon Eric. If you like tea sweet tea is as good. Cure for most things I've heard. I'm a coffee addict so latte is a treat as well as helping hypos for me.
I know what you mean about the heavy head feeling and feeling like 'death warmed up'. I get that each time I have a hypo. I also find that I'm exhausted all the time and have no energy for my hobbies any more. I used to love going out with my camera any spare time I had. Now I just don't have the energy. It's taken up just with the normal day to day life. Had blood tests last month and thryoid is normal. So what it is I have no idea. Anybody any ideas? Started taking vitamin B last month but as yet not got full effects of it. Suggestions extremely welcome....nice ones that is!! :lol: