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How low can Bg go?

MrsA2

Expert
Messages
6,942
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I had readings in the night of 3.4, 3.2 and 3.4 over a 4 hour period. In between it rose back to over 4
Is this too low or dangerous for a type 2?
 
MrsA2 said:
I had readings in the night of 3.4, 3.2 and 3.4 over a 4 hour period. In between it rose back to over 4
Is this too low or dangerous for a type 2?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Is that using a sensor like the Libre?
 
Unmedicated that should be fine.. if a Libre you may have been laying on the sensor which has been know to produce low readings.
 
Hi, I’m trialling the libre too and have lows through the night as well. I recognise that they are when I’m lying on my left side, Libre is on my left arm. Luckily I knew about this glitch otherwise low readings of 3.9 down to 2.9 would have worried me too.
 

It would be interesting to find out how these lower ranges stack up against the meter?
I've quite often checked against a low on an uncalibrated sensor reading & it's been around 1.2mmol higher on the meter & closer to how i feel... I used to have to log it as "the meter says." for the purpose of a twitchy DSN?
 
Does anyone know or have a theory as to why pressure on the Libre causes a low reading?
 
Mr_Pot said:
Does anyone know or have a theory as to why pressure on the Libre causes a low reading?
Click to expand...
My guess it the sensor reads interstitial fluid. consistent pressure could push the sensor filament below the layer, towards muscle, making the reading a little scatty?

I know that when i am using a hand saw cutting wood, there can be some wild readings correlating i was using it when the sensor is on my right arm..
 

Edited to add, activity wearing a tight long sleeve thermal layer under a couple more can be simalar..

But then I wear mine inside the arm.
 

I would love to answer your question @Jaylee but I draw the line at waking up in the night just to prick my finger!
However if I happen to wake up naturally I’ll give it a go!
 
MrsA2 said:
I had readings in the night of 3.4, 3.2 and 3.4 over a 4 hour period. In between it rose back to over 4
Is this too low or dangerous for a type 2?
Click to expand...

Not for me as an unmedicated type 2. The low 3s are very common for me on the Libre, and not unknown using a finger prick and high 3s occur most days if I’m doing OMAD.

The lowest I’ve seen with a finger stick was 2.9, immediately checked on a finger on the other hand, 3.2. The only symptom was intense hunger - was on the way to a meeting and stopped off to buy food and tested before eating, which is how I picked it up.

If you feel fine, then you likely are if not taking any meds or just metformin.
 
I think if there were a large scale study of ‘normal’ people’s blood glucose during the night, there would be A LOT of readings in the 3s. It seems to be a recurring question on here.

It also seems perfectly logical to me that our bodies settle into sleep and run slower, with lower bg, rather like going onto standby mode.

- always assuming that it wasn’t a Libre pressure low.
 
So, I need to turn the alarm off do I? The lowest setting it goes to is 3.3

And, like Rachox, I don't want to finger prick everytime. Interestingly the alarm goes off but the daily graph doesn't show me going below the line so I've been assuming it only goes below for a few seconds. Is this right?
 

With the set up i have. as soon as it hits that threshold, it triggers. But to be fair. if i am below that line i may drop a little lower & take at least another 20/30 mins longer for the sensor to reflect what my meter says regarding a hypo recovery.?

I don't find the Librelink graph as detailed as something like xDrip or Diabox on my phone..
 
MrsA2 said:
Feeling fine, was fast asleep until the alarm went off, 3 times!
Click to expand...
I don't know why you have the alarm enabled if you are a Type 2 with no medication. Presumably you have not had any problems with "hypos" before you had the Libre.
 
Lowest I've had is 2.3.
However, have had ''lo' on a few occasions.

This was during the period before diagnosis and my appointments with my endocrinologist, and also in my experimental phase.

Keep safe.
 
Mr_Pot said:
I don't know why you have the alarm enabled if you are a Type 2 with no medication. Presumably you have not had any problems with "hypos" before you had the Libre.
Click to expand...
Just a rookie error. I thought it was one of the features of it but not that it goes off so high
 
I've posted several times about this before, but I found that if I inserted my sensors and left them for 48 hours rather than the usual rather shorter wait time before activating them, then lying on my sensor arm didn't cause these lows, which only ever occurred during the first couple of nights/days.

Normal activation time: 48 hour delay:
But my sensors tended to read consistently around 1-1.5mmol lower than my usual finger prick tests anyway, some of which were done using my Libre reader and test strips rather than my usual Contour Next meter for the sake of compatibility. @Jaylee I've never used anything other than my Libre reader so haven't done any proper(??) calibrations.
 
I am going to start my free Libre 2 tomorrow so I have been watching some videos for information. It seems the "warm-up" time recommended by Abbott is 60 mins in the UK and 12 hours in the US which seems very strange.
 
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