How low can you go?

[kitedoc]

I hope you're okay
I survived a catastrophe but I've not been the same person since that accident.
I happened to be running low, but at the same time I was feeling tired so you'd think if you're tired, you'd take a nap and thats what I wrongly did. It was also quite sad that the GP at the time didn't prescribe me enough test strips to test. As soon as I climbed in bed, I don't know how long it took the paramedics to get me to come back, but I woke up to see a party in my room. One was looking at the time, one was managing the administration of glucose and one was writing all my details. If I'm correct, I was so slow that my body told me "hey girl we are preserving some energy, you might feel tired" and then during my blackout it was trying to shut down slowly because it didn't have enough glucose to keep all the organs running.

Few years on, lots of therapy, lots of appointments along with dafne I am doing a tad better, I am taking on each day at a time and I have come across a nice group of chums on this forum, because I have lost a few "friends" on the way. My new consultant seems okay, I'm hoping he can provide more help and insight because no T1 diabetic should be going through this. I know we can go low, but it shouldn't be low to the point where you can't assist yourself.
Look after yourself and have some rest Our livers need recharging as well.

As an example of a way to reduce hypo risk, please see @WuTwo 's post directly above yours.

 

[MeiChanski]

As an example of a way to reduce hypo risk, please see @WuTwo 's post directly above yours.

Yes I saw, it is indeed a good example
For OP, if you did DAFNE and my consultant did mention this (quite similar to WuTwo's example), is different ratios for different meals. I know some diabetics have a higher ratio in the mornings for DP or as @WuTwo put it, so you can run slightly high for the duration of the time, I don't know for how long because we are all different. I was running a bit above 10, highest was 16 because of hormones, no ketones on board and I have gained some awareness back but I'm still working on it. By all means keep testing, keep trying.

 

[SueJB]

I hope you're okay
I survived a catastrophe but I've not been the same person since that accident.
I happened to be running low, but at the same time I was feeling tired so you'd think if you're tired, you'd take a nap and thats what I wrongly did. It was also quite sad that the GP at the time didn't prescribe me enough test strips to test. As soon as I climbed in bed, I don't know how long it took the paramedics to get me to come back, but I woke up to see a party in my room. One was looking at the time, one was managing the administration of glucose and one was writing all my details. If I'm correct, I was so slow that my body told me "hey girl we are preserving some energy, you might feel tired" and then during my blackout it was trying to shut down slowly because it didn't have enough glucose to keep all the organs running.

Few years on, lots of therapy, lots of appointments along with dafne I am doing a tad better, I am taking on each day at a time and I have come across a nice group of chums on this forum, because I have lost a few "friends" on the way. My new consultant seems okay, I'm hoping he can provide more help and insight because no T1 diabetic should be going through this. I know we can go low, but it shouldn't be low to the point where you can't assist yourself.
Look after yourself and have some rest Our livers need recharging as well.

Thanks @MeiChanski Glad there wasn't a party in my room. You're right, everyone on this forum is so supportive and helpful, someone's always got something funny or useful to throw into the TD1 pot

 

[SueJB]

I got my awareness back by deliberately running my levels high for a few months. It is a problem for those who prefer to run bloods at low levels - it doesn't take much of a drop to find yourself hypo and too many hypos = loss of awareness. Thankfully I got it back and in a way I learned my lesson. I run my bloods low but keep an eagle eye on the carbs because (with thanks to Dr Bernstein) small amounts = small mistakes...

I count every gram of carb I munch, and my ratios are individualised for each meal (took a LOT of testing), but it means that if I do muck things up, I don't go as low as I could. Today's huge brekkie was 10.4g of carb, and 2 units of humalog - if I have made a mistake well, how low can 2 units push me after dealing with the breakfast...

Not recommending being a total numbers nerd to everyone; it wouldn't suit most, but it totally suits me and helps me keep my bloods on the fairly straight and narrow.

Thanks @WuTwo I'm going take it easy. I try not to eat too many carbs and I do count them not very accurately, don't weigh stuff either. First meal of the day, and possibly the only one, is around 1pm. Going to be eating fruit today as a treat

 

[kitedoc]

Yes I saw, it is indeed a good example
For OP, if you did DAFNE and my consultant did mention this (quite similar to WuTwo's example), is different ratios for different meals. I know some diabetics have a higher ratio in the mornings for DP or as @WuTwo put it, so you can run slightly high for the duration of the time, I don't know for how long because we are all different. I was running a bit above 10, highest was 16 because of hormones, no ketones on board and I have gained some awareness back but I'm still working on it. By all means keep testing, keep trying.

Yes I saw, it is indeed a good example
For OP, if you did DAFNE and my consultant did mention this (quite similar to WuTwo's example), is different ratios for different meals. I know some diabetics have a higher ratio in the mornings for DP or as @WuTwo put it, so you can run slightly high for the duration of the time, I don't know for how long because we are all different. I was running a bit above 10, highest was 16 because of hormones, no ketones on board and I have gained some awareness back but I'm still working on it. By all means keep testing, keep trying.

And just to emphasise that small doses of food and insulin lead to smaller bsl fluctuations. = less and milder hypos, if any.

 

[WuTwo]

@SueJB - I count as I serve. My plate is on food scales and as I serve, say, peas I weigh the serving. Before I had my apps husband quickly looked up the carbs in peas, and used his calculator to work out the carbs in my portion. Then I'd serve the potato or whatever. By the time I'm done serving, he's totted up all the carbs. Now I have apps and that's even simpler!

For recipes we'd settle down together and work out the carbs in the whole dish made, then when I served he'd work out my portion as a percentage of the whole, and work out the carbs. We're both very handy with figures though, and we both enjoy figure work. If you don't all this would be a total pain in the wotsit!

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @SueJB Sorry to hear about your hypo, hope your feeling better today.

Personally I hate hypos, they are the worst part of t1, and because of them I have felt vulnerable, paranoid and they have ruined days out. For me my control is about avoiding them, so I work on small numbers and maintaining stability, I also have found using a pump has limited how low I go, so I rarely go below 3 and hypos are milder, as using smaller units of insulin, I also use the G6 so have set my alarm to alert me at 4.6 and I can then put a temp basal pattern on the pump or eat, as I drive a lot I aim to stay above 5.

You can't always rely on the liver to bail you out of a low either so as soon as you feel a low coming on get glucose in your system asap, I prioritise this above testing as its more important to treat and check afterwards, following the DAFNE rule of treat with glucose, wait 10 mins, check and if still low treat with glucose until you are above 4 then eat 10g of carb. Knowing why you went low is also important to understand why, so too much insulin, too much exercise etc, it's all a learning curve of getting to know your own body.

 

[Deleted Account]

Sorry to read about your nasty hypo @SueJB .
The only think I would add to the lovely comments above is, perhaps, to check out the Hypo Program for some hints and information.
It does not take into consideration pumps and only touches on CGM. But it is very useful if you are injecting and finger pricking.

Keep an eye on your BG extra viligiantly today, keep hypo treatment close to hand, treat any headache and try not to worry.

 

[SueJB]

Hi @SueJB Sorry to hear about your hypo, hope your feeling better today.

Personally I hate hypos, they are the worst part of t1, and because of them I have felt vulnerable, paranoid and they have ruined days out. For me my control is about avoiding them, so I work on small numbers and maintaining stability, I also have found using a pump has limited how low I go, so I rarely go below 3 and hypos are milder, as using smaller units of insulin, I also use the G6 so have set my alarm to alert me at 4.6 and I can then put a temp basal pattern on the pump or eat, as I drive a lot I aim to stay above 5.

You can't always rely on the liver to bail you out of a low either so as soon as you feel a low coming on get glucose in your system asap, I prioritise this above testing as its more important to treat and check afterwards, following the DAFNE rule of treat with glucose, wait 10 mins, check and if still low treat with glucose until you are above 4 then eat 10g of carb. Knowing why you went low is also important to understand why, so too much insulin, too much exercise etc, it's all a learning curve of getting to know your own body.

Thanks @Juicyj Ironically or stupidly I thought I did know my body. I learnt how to treat hypos the first day I was diagnosed so that in itself isn't a problem. It's fear and thinking I'm going to die

 

[SueJB]

Sorry to read about your nasty hypo @SueJB .
The only think I would add to the lovely comments above is, perhaps, to check out the Hypo Program for some hints and information.
It does not take into consideration pumps and only touches on CGM. But it is very useful if you are injecting and finger pricking.

Keep an eye on your BG extra viligiantly today, keep hypo treatment close to hand, treat any headache and try not to worry.

Thanks @helensaramay I'm working at home today and have glucotabs in every room, bag, and seems like every pocket too. Thanks for the link, I'll read it later