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How many times do you happen hypoglicemia a week?

I hadn't had a hypo for over 6 months until the last week when I've had 3 in 4 days. I attempt keep my blood sugar in the non-diabetic range at all times i.e. below 5.5 mmol after a meal and ~ 4.5 mmol fasting.

Must be the cooler weather kicking in, I tend to go lower in the cold.
 
Surely it must depend on what you define as a hypo.
I've read many people say that the DAFNE course suggests that one or two mild , easily treatable hypos a week is normal and no problem for someone with good control.
On the other hand I think that even one hypo that requires the assistance of another person is one too many (and of course you lose your driving licence for more than than one in a year)

Apparently data from mySugr app.showed people in the UK using that app had an average of 10 hypos a week (no definition of hypo in article)
http://www.jdrf.org.uk/news/latest-...with-type-1-diabetes-average-ten-hypos-a-week

I honestly don't know how many I have now. My meter will probably reveal a couple a month but when I'm walking ( most days 7-10k in hilly terrain), longer twice a week) I take dextrose tabs if I feel low without testing. I often come back from the walk with a glucose at about 4mmol/l so was probably below this when I took the dextrose.
 

Don't take glucose tabs on hikes, you need long lasting carbo with sugary coating it will not spike like glucose.but obviously keep glucose tabs to hand
 
PaulAshby said:
Don't take glucose tabs on hikes, you need long lasting carbo with sugary coating it will not spike like glucose.but obviously keep glucose tabs to hand
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I actually use both, certainly on longer walks and when I backpack, I use more lower GI carbs .On the other hand for just 'normal' daily walks, I prefer to use just a couple of dextrose tabs. They work fine and have very few calories (sadly when you are a female in your 60s you find that your daily calorie needs are quite small)
 
Contrary to the belief that hypo's cause brain damage, whenever I hypo I feel like my brain is more concentrated on the task at hand rather than not knowing what it's doing at that particular moment. For example, if I was typing an assignment, my normal touch typing speed would be around 30-40 words a minute whether that be high or normal, but if I was low at that time, it was as if my brain knew what to do so I was typing even faster up to 60-70 words per minute.

Obviously I haven't had diabetes for 10 years or whichever is the longest amount of time you shouldn't maintain low blood glucose, guess it's just a matter of time, even then the stem cell pancreas might be introduced then you never know.
 

The trouble is you don't know when you may have a problem. I've been there and I agree that we can adapt to an extent and maybe some of us can cope at slightly lower levels than others. However, common sense told me that eventually I would have a serious hypo and that I was to a certain extent playing with fire.

There is quite a lot leeway between the onset of physical signs and the loss of cognitive function in non diabetics but that gap is a safety mechanism giving tome to eat before the brain is desperate for fuel.

1) If your physical signs are not present until very low levels then you get very little warning of lack of fuel to the brain. The more frequently you are low, the lower level those warning signs occur at. If eventually you have complete unawareness of low glucose then you have lost that warning mechanism There are people that pass out or have a seizure with no warning at all.
2) As you inject insulin you don't have the bodies normal capability to stop releasing it, so a second of the normal safety mechanisms is absent
3) In non diabetics the stopping of insulin and low glucose levels also leads to a release of glucagon/glucose to raise levels We don't stop the insulin and many people with D have deficiencies in the signalling system to release glucagon (that may be something that happens over time, but how much time?)
 
I think that could be the adrenalin hit that comes with a hypo
 
noblehead said:
That is a lot hypo's in a week, which insulins do you use so we can advise further?
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I'd like to ask the question else.
In your opinion are the following bg levels good or bad? Could you please give an advice for me about bg levels ?

Pre-meal:4,5 mmol
Post-meal after 1 hour:7,2 mmol
Post-meal after 2 hours:6,7 mmol
No break meal
Post-meal after 3 hours:6 mmol
Post-meal after 4 hours:5.3 mmol
Post-meal after 5 hours:4.7 mmol
Or if the above bg levels are bad give an example for me ?
 

Those levels look fine, when it is your havng the 6-7 hypo's a week? If it's through the night then you will have to look at your basal insulin and do some testing so you can adjust the dose.
 
In the last week I've had 2 results under 4.0. However, my meter reads slighter higher than others and therefore I could have had around 3 additional grey area hypos where the meter's read between 4.2 and 4.4.

Anything under 4.5 I treat with at least a small amount of sugar or glucose.

Given that people without diabetes can go slightly under 4.0, I tend to not get overly worried by the occasional mild hypo. If sugars are regularly going low or if I get a very low number at some point (say below 3.5), those are the times I'll look at reviewing my control.
 
noblehead said:
Those levels look fine, when it is your havng the 6-7 hypo's a week? If it's through the night then you will have to look at your basal insulin and do some testing so you can adjust the dose.
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I have examined basal test for 2 days and then i see why hypos happen. The reason why I used to inject much basal insulin.(Before:10U night-15U daytime--Now:5U night-5U daytime)
And now my bg levels are these levels. Thanks for replies.
 
Wow; just seen this. That is far too many hypos. I've been on Basal/Bolus for 18 months and never had a hypo but nearly had one 3 times. I keep my HBa1C around 6.5%. We all vary a lot but by keeping weight down you help keep blood sugar swings lower and by getting the Basal right and then sensible carb-counting I would expect hypos to be down to a few a year or less? Reading many posts I suspect excess weight is a big factor as it results in high insulin shots. I am generalising as the state of people's pancreas varies and there are many factors involved.
 
My hba1c is too high at 8.7 and my endocrinologist wants me to get it down - but not at the expense of having more hypos. Even with that hba1c I get hypos out of the blue and often wake up in the night, and he said he would rather I had a higher hba1c than risk more hypos as hypos cause more problems than high levels in the long term. Funny that my GP surgery doesn't seem to know that and for them it's all about avoiding the highs! I'd rather trust the specialist though. I find the hypos much more scary. I probably get over half a dozen a week including waking up with them in the night.
 


Susan, that's an awful lot of hypo's to be having in the space of a week.

If your on a basal/bolus insulin regime you should get your name down for a carb counting course such as DAFNE, it teaches you much more than just carb counting and is a must for anyone struggling with their control. The following is an on-line version of the course which by all accounts is very good:

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

If funds allow, get yourself a copy of the book Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner, it's a really good book and will help you manage your diabetes better and hopefully reduce the amount of hypo's you are experiencing.
 
Thank you for that! I'm on Lantus and Novorapid and have been like this for so long that I guess I have had my head in the sand I'll take a look at the link.
 
I hypo about 10 times a week but I do bodybuilding and do a lot of testing on my bloody sugars. I have been diabetic for 25 years and my hypo sensitivity hasnt changed in the slightest. I still get a strange feeling and my head tells me something slight is happening. Then I get a feeling of tingleness and then I start to feel a little panicky and shaky but all in all I get really good warning signs and completely disagree that if you have more hypos then your sensitivity for them wears off.
 
I think it depends on how long your blood sugars are in the lower end of the scale..........

quickly appearing hypos that are treated quickly will result in you not being in the lower end for too long, so your body wont acclimatize to it......
 
I think your lucky to have 10 hypos a week double and some more and you've got me. I am on the insulin pump ans suffer badly with no awareness we have been changing my dose carb to insulin ratio there is no right answer for me but I am currently going through high blood sugar warnings when my sugars are low its not a nice feeling and there seem to be no answers for that either I can only do trial and error at the minute
 
I envy those who only have 6-10 a week.
I'm a student nurse and due to my working/shift patterns I can get up to 6 hypo's daily and I always get migraines for the entire day after a hypo.

Problem is that because my HbA1c is in a good range my D team automatically think my diabetes is well controlled but unfortunately the HbA1c takes an average so it isn't always a good indication for blood glucose control as it can mean your sugar levels are balancing out through very high and very low sugar levels as mine do when I do night shifts and switch to day shifts.

I'm going to speak to my team about going onto an insulin pump or seek more information about the CBG monitor as I feel with my work I would benefit from them although I can't see myself hitting the criteria. I get very little support for my diabetes and my GP is a waste of time.

I don't want to get to the stage where my sugar levels will stop me from doing what I love but somedays I wake up and question if I will ever get control of my BG.
 

Are you under a hospital comsultant or just gp practice?

Your "team" should be conserned at that qty of hypo's....

If with GP care, then you need to get with a hospital. Try to find out which hospitals are pump friendly rather than just opting for the nearest to you. You should have a choice of hospitals if you live in the UK.
 
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