I am getting a bit concerned that I seem to be losing my hypo awareness. Tested B.G. before meal this evening and it had gone down to 1.7!!! :shock: I felt absolutely fine. I used to get the shakes at around 4.9 and under but it does worry me that I can go as low as 1.7 without realising. Is there anything I can do to heighten my hypo awareness again?
Hypo awareness!
- Thread starter chocoholic
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cowabunga duderino but that is low ... did you double check the sample, could it have been a faulty strip? failing that little peach of non-advice, hope somebody can help xxx
No. Didn't double check it, Jem as I still have to treat my strips so preciously. Just had a couple of fruit pastilles followed by my dinner. I have been going down to 2 or 3 recently without realising but never had one that low before.
Personally, strips on short supply or not, I would retest for anything under 3.2 and over 10 ... and if it's comparable then at least you know you can trust your monitor ~ what unit (and therefore strips) are you using?
I got a freebie Bayer unit some weeks ago and although I have to fund the testing discs myself it's nice to have a backup in case I doubt (or as usual, forget to re-order my strips-scrip ) ...
good luck babe hopefully somebody can help you out here - did you have a good break?
xxx
I got a freebie Bayer unit some weeks ago and although I have to fund the testing discs myself it's nice to have a backup in case I doubt (or as usual, forget to re-order my strips-scrip ) ...
good luck babe hopefully somebody can help you out here - did you have a good break?
xxx
Hiya
Try not to worry too much. I too have had many low bg results like you have just mentioned and have felt fine lol. I nearly always test about 20 mins before I dish up the evening meal and go into a bit of a pannick when I see that my bg is 1.8. I quickly turn the gas hob off, grab some lucozade, have about 6 swigs and sit down. Its only when I sit down that the trembly nervous feeling comes. I suppose its because of the adrenaline rush over my pannick.
Every now and again we all get caught out with hypos. Its all part and parcel of being on insulin -particularly MDI I have to add.
Every time people change insulins their hypo awareness also changes. Dr B maintains that no one loses their awareness completely. Its just that youve got to get used to picking up on different symptoms. They will be very subtle and mild though to start off with and then progress as you go through the different hypo stages.
Its good in many ways that your bg is levelling out as you try to achieve lower bg results. The only snag is that your body will now start to think that 4 or 5 is completely normal for you so that is why you now have to go a bit lower for the awareness to come. Dont worry, you will get used to it
Try not to worry too much. I too have had many low bg results like you have just mentioned and have felt fine lol. I nearly always test about 20 mins before I dish up the evening meal and go into a bit of a pannick when I see that my bg is 1.8. I quickly turn the gas hob off, grab some lucozade, have about 6 swigs and sit down. Its only when I sit down that the trembly nervous feeling comes. I suppose its because of the adrenaline rush over my pannick.
Every now and again we all get caught out with hypos. Its all part and parcel of being on insulin -particularly MDI I have to add.
Every time people change insulins their hypo awareness also changes. Dr B maintains that no one loses their awareness completely. Its just that youve got to get used to picking up on different symptoms. They will be very subtle and mild though to start off with and then progress as you go through the different hypo stages.
Its good in many ways that your bg is levelling out as you try to achieve lower bg results. The only snag is that your body will now start to think that 4 or 5 is completely normal for you so that is why you now have to go a bit lower for the awareness to come. Dont worry, you will get used to it
I had the same a couple of weeks back 1.2 being the lowest and alway 2 hours after breakfast.
My insulin is reduced in the mornings now from 40 to 32 and readings are now 4.6 and 5.4 average 2 hours after breakfast although i did drop to 2.3 yesterday.
It seems the more insulin the lower you go and the lower readings show no signs of comming on.
My insulin is reduced in the mornings now from 40 to 32 and readings are now 4.6 and 5.4 average 2 hours after breakfast although i did drop to 2.3 yesterday.
It seems the more insulin the lower you go and the lower readings show no signs of comming on.
Thanks for the replies folks. I'm using an Optium Exceed monitor and I don't think it's the meter playing up but hard to guess I suppose.At least I now know I'm not alone in experiencing such lows without going wobbly. If this has done anything, it has heightened just how important the testing before driving thing is. On the whole my readings are pretty good now, so I guess it's possible the changeover to basal/bolus(about 6 weeks ago) might have something to do with things.
I'm only on 12 or 13 units of insulin altogether on a daily basis(Lantus and Novorapid),matching carbs to insulin on 1/2 to 10grms carbs ratio, so don't think I'm overdoing the insulin.
I'm only on 12 or 13 units of insulin altogether on a daily basis(Lantus and Novorapid),matching carbs to insulin on 1/2 to 10grms carbs ratio, so don't think I'm overdoing the insulin.
My awareness is only 50% of the time too. I like to try and guess what I am while my test is counting down and sometimes I've been way off the mark and I'm down to like 1.9 or something but feel totally fine. I wouldn't worry. It happens to us all.
What I would like to know is what level do you go into a coma and need someone to bring you round, Im dreading that happening to me and dont have any info on it.
Joe
Joe
Doh, I've just typed a massive reply and just lost it :| very frustrating :!: Joe there is no real BG I can give you to gauge when you are ready for a coma... as everyone is different. I would just advise to treat your hypo straight away and don't delay :!: It sounds daft but some people including myself don't realise straight away and then they get worse. So stop what you're doing and test even if you think you are ok. I know if I'm below 4mmol I want to feel my symptoms but sometimes this is very difficult and I don't realise until they are 2.6mmol or something. However I think my symptoms are changing i.e. I used to feel tingling around my mouth and have the shakes but now it's more moodiness and hunger that are symptoms... and generally I don't realise straight away (assuming they are just part of how I'm feeling) and so then the shakes or tingling begins. It is advisable to try and predict when a hypo may happen... i.e. if you are running late for lunch at work.. say by 20 mins.. you could have one so test even if you feel fine. Prevention is better than cure is what they say.. and that goes with hypos too. Good routine and prediction helps... also you can obtain a solution to test your glucose meter.. not sure if anyone knows that but if it is faulty this solution points it out. So say if it says you are low and you don't think you are... first of all treat the hypo of course, but then test the meter and if the BG on the solution is normal range then it's ok and your meter is correct. Here is a link below for some more handy information on hypos and diabetes treatment:-
http://www.medicinenet.com/hypoglycemia/page3.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/hypoglycemia/page3.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/hypoglycemia/article.htm
Above is the actual link I was meant to provide but they are all related. Hope it helps.
Above is the actual link I was meant to provide but they are all related. Hope it helps.
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-dia ... hat-to-do/
This is handy too with regards to treating hypos... but also states that the coma stage will only really happen with too much alcohol or an overdose of insulin and this is very rare so hopefully Joe you will take comfort in that
This is handy too with regards to treating hypos... but also states that the coma stage will only really happen with too much alcohol or an overdose of insulin and this is very rare so hopefully Joe you will take comfort in that
joe159 said:
Joe it could be worth taking your injection straight after breakfast, sometimes my insulin kicks in before the glucose from breakfast/lunch etc. only enters the bloodstream after the insulin... just a thought :|
Thanks again for the links and it's so nice to know I'm not alone in going so low and not realising. Sometimes I think I have got things massively wrong with what I'm doing but then realise I lead a pretty predictable lifestyle, so guess it's just one of those things.
Meant to ask........is going too low as harmful as going too high. We all know running high blood sugars is not good for us but does going low do our bodies any long-term damage?
Meant to ask........is going too low as harmful as going too high. We all know running high blood sugars is not good for us but does going low do our bodies any long-term damage?
SarahQ said:
Agreed. Just a question as a non-insulin user, is everyone suffering from this hypo unawareness on Lantus? It seems to be a common factor, in the past I've known people who quickly regained it by going back to pork or beef insulins (IF you can persuade them to let you) does Levemir have the same problem? If not then that change may be easier to obtain.
I think being too high over a period of time causes the long-term complicatiions... however too low is only dangerous in the short term. It obviously can be fatal though if a hypo isn't treated but the hyper glucose levels are the ones to watch to prevent complications like retinopathy etc. If you find that you frequently don't feel/notice symptoms then discuss with DN or GP ... and maybe it's best to have BG a little higher than normal as SarahQ stated however there are other options such as switching insulins which can affect how you feel with your hypos too. I've only found this out through excellent advice through others here. I also have a blood keytone testing kit now.. so if my sugars are above 16mmol I like to test for keytones. I think the most important thing regarding possible future complications is to avoid keytones in the bloodstream. Hope this helps.
jopar
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It does happen, that you can spend most of your time knowing that you are getting low, and sometimes you'll get surprise readings... It does get of concern if the do start to get too frequent though.
I sleep through night time hypo's, I know when I've had one as I feel like I've got a hang over when I wake up, depending how bad the hypo I've slept through it could be a slugish feeling, to inculding headache and if really bad I wake and can't see it's like looking through really thick dark netting and pixelated... another tell tell sign is that your BG's are slightly higher than the bedtime BG...
One of the many reason of losing the hypos awareness is actually good control, where the control gained is tight and near to norm... With a non-dibetic they can get low symptons and the body will realease more sugar into the system to boost it, with diabetic the body is able to do this but it takes longer for the message to get through so you end up lower than the non-diabetic... So you don't get the symptons until you reached a much lowe point...
As SarahQ as said, some people find that raising the BG range a bit for a couple of weeks can retraing the body.. Say if your normal range is between 4.5mmol/l to 6.5mmol/l than raising them to 5.5mmol/l to 7.5mmol/l could be all whats needed... As the effect of this in the long term, well it's hard to tell and the individual would need to weigh this up...
Other reasons could be some medications such to name one blood presure tablets can mask the warnings, being more wrapped in what you are doing than you think and you've missed your normal signs even though the were there.. Different environment to name a few
I know that there was some ongoing research being carried out to see the impact of too many hypo's as one of the DNS mentioned it several years ago, what the out come was/is or who was doing the research I couldn't tell you...
I sleep through night time hypo's, I know when I've had one as I feel like I've got a hang over when I wake up, depending how bad the hypo I've slept through it could be a slugish feeling, to inculding headache and if really bad I wake and can't see it's like looking through really thick dark netting and pixelated... another tell tell sign is that your BG's are slightly higher than the bedtime BG...
One of the many reason of losing the hypos awareness is actually good control, where the control gained is tight and near to norm... With a non-dibetic they can get low symptons and the body will realease more sugar into the system to boost it, with diabetic the body is able to do this but it takes longer for the message to get through so you end up lower than the non-diabetic... So you don't get the symptons until you reached a much lowe point...
As SarahQ as said, some people find that raising the BG range a bit for a couple of weeks can retraing the body.. Say if your normal range is between 4.5mmol/l to 6.5mmol/l than raising them to 5.5mmol/l to 7.5mmol/l could be all whats needed... As the effect of this in the long term, well it's hard to tell and the individual would need to weigh this up...
Other reasons could be some medications such to name one blood presure tablets can mask the warnings, being more wrapped in what you are doing than you think and you've missed your normal signs even though the were there.. Different environment to name a few
I know that there was some ongoing research being carried out to see the impact of too many hypo's as one of the DNS mentioned it several years ago, what the out come was/is or who was doing the research I couldn't tell you...
That's interesting what you've said about sleeping through nightime hypos,jopar, as I felt I might have done that occasionally. For instance I sort of half woke the other night, almost sure I was hypo but too tired to do anything about it. If I've felt unable to see to things myself (I keep test kit and glucose etc next to bed) I wake hubby but was too tired to even raise my hand. Felt sure I slept through a hypo that night.
I'm not on any other medicaton at all.
Certainly I would say my readings are pretty good now. Fasting reading in the morning down from around 9 before cutting carbs a bit to 5 or 6ish and throughout the day much better than they were.
I'm not on any other medicaton at all.
Certainly I would say my readings are pretty good now. Fasting reading in the morning down from around 9 before cutting carbs a bit to 5 or 6ish and throughout the day much better than they were.
jopar
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could well be.. I had one Tuesday night and I remember coming too, feeling hot and sweaty but thought that I was just tucked under the quit too much sort of type thinking... I felt really bad.. My levels were only about 2mmol/l above what I was when I went to bed!
Went back to be and didn't get up until 2ish, and felt lousy the rest of the day...
You could try testing somewhere between 2am-3am which for most people is there lowest ebb, this would give some indication to how much you are dipping in the night.. To get a true picture you can test evey hour throught the night, the best way of doing this is to say tonight test at 11pm and everynight or couple of nights inbetween at a hour later... or you could say one night test at 11pm 12pm , 4 pm 5pm and the 1pm 2pm ect... which ever way you feel comfortable with... It takes time but can give some jest to what your levels are doing overnight...
Went back to be and didn't get up until 2ish, and felt lousy the rest of the day...
You could try testing somewhere between 2am-3am which for most people is there lowest ebb, this would give some indication to how much you are dipping in the night.. To get a true picture you can test evey hour throught the night, the best way of doing this is to say tonight test at 11pm and everynight or couple of nights inbetween at a hour later... or you could say one night test at 11pm 12pm , 4 pm 5pm and the 1pm 2pm ect... which ever way you feel comfortable with... It takes time but can give some jest to what your levels are doing overnight...
Hi Rach.
I did that by mistake once and my reading jumped up to 18.1 and were up and down for 24hours.
Now i have been on the new lower levels of insulin Im not dropping that low now and 5.4 is normal after breakfast Ive noticed that Ive had this reading three afternoons on the trot before tea so im getting into steady reading now.
I did that by mistake once and my reading jumped up to 18.1 and were up and down for 24hours.
Now i have been on the new lower levels of insulin Im not dropping that low now and 5.4 is normal after breakfast Ive noticed that Ive had this reading three afternoons on the trot before tea so im getting into steady reading now.
