Hypo awareness!

What do you eat? I mean, if you're getting PP spikes then something is causing that.


what are your levels before you eat?

what do you eat?

what are your levels 2 hours PP?


Are you injecting the right amount of insulin for the content of the meal?

Hi, I know after 1 hour they are always too high but yeah generally I'll check around 2 hours after and they can be 19mmol or higher yet I would eat something like pasta or stew and nothing sweet. I would usually take a couple of extra units of Novarapid for the pasta or around 3 to 4 units if I'm having seconds. Before I eat I try to make sure my BG is around 4mmol to 7mmol but it is usually around the 6mmol to 7mmol mark. It is bizarre because other times I'll eat until the cows come home and have a sweet pudding and take the same insulin yet my BG is say 6 to 7mmol two hours afterwards. I can't get the hang of it at all :? Anyway for some odd reason my hypo feelings came back (I'm not complaining - in fact I'm very relieved). Although they don't always come back just recently they have done. I have actually exercised more this week and kept my night Glargine dose to 14mmol instead of 18mmol and I don't seem to be getting the spikes so much. I had two hypos Friday and one this morning - I felt two out of three both at 3.6mmol. The second one (later on Friday) was 3.2mmol but didn't have warning symptoms although felt a bit nauseous so tested just in case (good job hey). I think my body's warning system gets tired with the amount of hypos I have so somehow I have to reduce them. I also have to figure out why I get the spikes but I'm going to keep a clear log over the next few weeks. I haven't posted the letter yet as I've changed it. However tomorrow I will definitely post it!

Ok I had a hypo yesterday but didn't feel it at 2.6mmol so the feelings are most definitely significantly reduced. I think reducing my hypos and post prandial spikes is most definitely the key to achieving good health and enabling me to feel my hypos again. I have been off ill the past couple of days so unable to get to a post office to post my letter. However I've had time to amend it and during this time I've cut out the babble and kept to the facts. I will definitely send it recorded at lunchtime tomorrow.

Ok drumroll.......... I sent the letter :!: So I'll see what happens :roll: I'm slightly nervous of the response but maybe because I'm so eager to get sorted and because I'm worried my request will be rejected. Ah well .. will keep you all posted. Also will let you know if my hypos get less frequent if my feelings are more prominent.

Rach x

Just to add that I have always noticed my hypo awareness dropped when I tried to keep my levels low.
I have also learned that my awareness of a hypo varies depending on the speed of the drop in levels.
For example on MDI regime if I had say too much insulin for a given meal, then a hypo would probably follow about 2 and a half hours after, particularly if the meal was quite high GI, so it caused my sugars to go up quickly but then the insulin brought it down with a bump!
In that scenario I feel the low quite early and quite strong.

If however, I haven't eaten in ages, lets say I have had to work late and it's getting 9 or 10 pm before I eat, then sometimes my sugars can drop very very slowly, no short acting insulin in my system, just my lantus and a bit of hard graft bringing sugars down, - this is when I can go really quite low without typical symptoms and usually only notice when my eyesight goes squiffy!

Anyone else notice this??

Dr Bernstein has noticed it.

He says a good idea is to tape a bit of newsprint eg from a phone directory inside the sun visor of your car windscreen. Make sure you can read it with normal blood sugars !

If you can't read it easily, it is a sign your sugars are dropping.

Thanks people, that is very interresante!! I noticed once when I went for an eye reading test at the diabetic clinic (you know the one where you put a mask over one eye and read the letters from large to small as far as you can go) and one time my eyes went all blurred and I freaked out thinking I was going to lose my sight. However it could have been that my BS was dropping as since then my eyes have been fine and tests done after that showed I could read further and my eyes weren't blurred so it must have been my BS dropping as you say. I think I'll get that news strip cut out as it's a handy way of telling - thanks a lot :!: