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Type 1 Help Please

kirstiemarie91

kirstiemarie91

Well-Known Member
Messages
59
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Insulin
Posted earlier about my husband having hypos.

please don't judge us for this:

Mike had a hypo before of 3.4 and felt terrible, worst he's felt. We've never used the glucojel before but thought we'd try it, had the whole tube and still felt terrible after 15 minutes so he had some Lucozade and felt better within a couple of minutes. Had some biscuits for the long acting carb. (this all happened at 9pm)

Mike has just checked his sugar and it's 18.9. Says he feels fine and is now in bed.

I'm sat up panicking, he's telling me I'm being silly and he will be fine.

What should I do?
 
His liver has probably kicked in explaining the high blood sugar. The forum does not allow us to advise others but DAFNE say that you must not correct for high blood sugars caused by the liver releasing glucose
 
Hi no one will judge you here. He might have over corrected the hypo. Maybe next time he should try the Lucozade first to see if it works. When I have a hypo I always test about 10 mins after eating my chocolate to see if my BS is starting to come back up. What was his BS up to 15 mins after the glucojel but before the Lucozade.
 
Hi, I have been there, but it does state that we should have a quick acting first and then slow release carb food. But I don't, as it is far too much for me and sends me soaring, we are all so different which includes our tolerance to foods for hypo's, our lifestyles, weight, build, time of day etc. 3.4 isn't critically low, but the amount of correcting foods does look far too much. Has he spoken to his DSN for some help and advice, as he might need to alter his Insulin dose. Could he join the the forum, as I'm sure he would really benefit from being with other people with diabetes, as we try to help and support each other as much as possible, which is half the battle.

Best wishes RRB
 
Hi there @kirstiemarie91

no judging going on here -- you both did what you needed to in the situation presented with the circumstances.
most all of us will have done the same at some point in our diabetic lives.

what do we learn going forward ?
well.... i hear you ask......

normally if you test and get a 3.4 as your hubbs did -- 15-20 carbs of fast acting then wait about 15 minutes and test again - if bloods have moved up then a slow acting carb such as piece of toast with butter should do the trick

if bloods go down or stay the same after 15 minutes another 15-20 carbs fast acting and another 15 minute wait.
repeat as many times as needed then follow with the toast.

the reason for 15-20 as a range is a lot of us old pro's use 15 ( some even 10 ) but the official medical advice is 20.

treating this way should lessen the spike

all the best
 
I agree that the hypo treatment was probably a bit overdone... Even though your husband wasn't feeling it, the glucojel was probably working, or was probably taking a bit longer than expected, so adding the Lucozade to the mix probably wasn't necessary. The recommendation is to test your blood sugar again about 15 mins after treating the hypo, then you would know whether or not another one is needed. How the person feels is not necessarily an exact indicator of what's really going on. I've experienced the same thing before, where I would overcorrect for some hypos because I wasn't feeling better soon enough, only to find out afterwards (when the meter would show me a high reading later) that I probably should have given it some more time. But I understand the desire not to take the chance and wait longer if he's already feeling terrible... so I suppose it would be better to test afterwards, and then you would know for sure if the treatment is doing its job and raising his bg.
 
hi everyone, thank you so much for your lovely posts. I eventually fell asleep and we had a peaceful night. BS this morning was 7. I knew when he had the Lucozade after the glucojel we were over treating the hypo, I just can't bare to see him unwell. From now on we just wont use the gel. Since reducing his lantus at the beginning of the week, he's had a hypo everyday, its so confusing! I've been a bit lazy and haven't been cooking his evening meal like I usually do which hasn't helped. He's also doing a stupid competition with work; who can walk the most steps in July. He's going overboard walking everywhere.

I'm sure things will settle down again :) thanks so much.
 
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