Hypo Alarm Wristband

Do hypo alarm wristbands work?

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Well, if it was that easy they'd be ubiquitous.[redacted]
Edit to add: OK, found what you are talking about: Something like this.. I don't know about the reliability.

What does exist are (invasive) continuous BG monitors, but they are very expensive and are not covered by the NHS. They would potentially do what you want. There was a watch-shaped one once.

By the way, there are hypo detecting dogs as well.

Hi S

Yes, there are Hypo alarm wrist watches that can be bought, I tried one a year or so ago. I found it useless to be honest. There may be better ones on the market but mine had a mind of it's own and went off when I wasn't Hypo, and didn't when i was. Also the sensors do make your wrist sore. There may be other makes out there which are better, but I gave it up as a bad job.

I think it will be worth your Mum getting in touch with her Diabetic team and asking them to fit a Continuos Glucose Monitor, this is attached to your Mum 24/7 and will see the patterns of Blood Sugar throughout the day and night . Just a week on one can make all the difference.

Also, I have been Diabetic, Type 1 for 20 years, and I never had night time Hypo's ,then all of a sudden Whamo, they just started out of the blue. I had been on Lantus for years ,never a great Insulin for me in retrospect, but I did manage . The thing that stopped my crashing night time Hypo's, and day ones, was changing to Levemir, it stopped them in their tracks. Sometimes certain insulins change or we do, and what once worked for us does not anymore. I have never looked back from the change.

Just a couple of ideas, first of all a visit to her DSN should be her first step. Also she should set her alarm at 2/3 am then again at 5 am and just see what is happening for the next few nights, obviously she will need to have some fast acting Glucose by her bed. I found with Lantus it would drop me so fast than sometimes I was incapable of moving to treat myself. The Levemir does not do this.

I hope your Mum get sorted out, night time Hypo's are a real constant worry for us all. Shifts in other Hormones can cause Hypo's also as you said stress does do it for some people, though stress for me sometimes works the other way for me and raises BG. It really is all about testing regularly and seeing patterns.

Hope she gets sorted.

Hi. Trust me the wristband is a complete and utter waste of time. I bought one a couple of years ago and then because it didn't work asked for a replacement. Sure a replacement arrived, that was equally as useless. Save your money

Hi

Although these are not available to purchase as yet.... C8 Medisensors are worth looking at, so is Senseonics and Eco Therapeutics.

If your mum is going to live alone, then some sort of continuous glucose monitoring will help her to keep safe at night regarding bg levels and will be money well spent and will give you peace of mind too. The most accurate at the moment appears to be the Dexcom and the Medtronic device. Another way to prevent nocturnal hypos is to do a bg test during the night approx 1hr before the hypos happen and eat some carb if need be or reduce insulin Can your mum set an alarm on a mobile phone and put it on hallway landing so that she gets up to turn it off and then while awake, she can do a bg test to see what her levels are?