Hypo in sleep

Hi, could you clarify the numbers you posted? 4.4 seems in the normal range but 28-33?? That is very high... did you mean 2.8-3.3?

hi Adam
I'm type 2, although I'm in insulin. I've experienced quite a few night time hypos. Sometimes I wake up and sometimes I don't... but I know I've had one as I get the hypo hangover. This may be useful for you.... my endo when he put me on insulin advised me to make sure I don't go to bed below 7. Make sure you are not too low basically. I have noticed that if I go to bed too high I will hypo too. So the trick is to get the right number. I've read on the internet that some say going to bed on 8 or so is the way to go... that would probably work too. But sometimes regardless you may hypo. It could mean you need to adjust your basal insulin also as it may be too high if you consistently get night hypos. I recently had my basal dosage lowered by my endo. I'm still seeing my endo and he tells me what to do for now... so I don't do my own thing. I've been in his care since 2009... and he has been regularly checking me since he put me on insulin in February 2010. I'm sure you will be right Make sure you keep quick acting carbs near your bed and get to know the signs of hypos... as we're all different. Also get to learn your "danger zone" (as my endo put it) and keep yourself out of that. For example... for me I can't be in the 4's during the day at all as I will drop real quick and hypo. My endo keeps advising me to aim to stay above 5 at all times. If you hypo during the day you can't drive or anything for half an hour (another piece of advice from my endo after I panicked and jumped in my car and drove home which was just down the road to get some food)... learnt my lesson to always carry quick acting and long acting carbs with me at all times. :lol: Wishing you the best.

Adamp8 said:

Hi,

I'm a newly diagnosed diabetic and I'm on insulin. My blood sugar levels before bed are usually around 28-33, only they are at 4.4 tonight. I just wanted to know if there is anything I can do to prevent myself from having a hypo in my sleep. I've never had one before so I don't know much about them. Or diabetes for that matter. Any help/advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Adam

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Personally I wouldn't be happy going to sleep with a bg reading of 4.4 and prefer to be in the 5's, if you are worried about hypo's during sleep then you need to do some bg testing for a few nights to determine what your levels are doing throughout the night, this way you will know if your basal insulin is set at the right dose.

I agree that 4.4 is a little on the low side before bed. However 28-33 is incredibly high and if that is your usual bedtime reading then it needs to be addressed. If your reading is normally 28-33 at bedtime, what is your waking reading? If you're seeing a big difference between bedtime readings and waking readings then your basal insulin most likely needs to be looked at and adjusted. You want to aim to wake with a reading roughly 2mmol/l on either side of your bedtime reading, if that is not happening then your basal insulin might be too high or it might need to be split into two injections (assuming you're having one injection per day for basal insulin).

You say you're newly diagnosed, I'd like to recommend a book called Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults. If you want to understand your diabetes and be able to make informed decisions about your treatment then it is very useful reading, I highly recommend it.

Adam, what insulin/s are you using? If you're newly diagnosed your care team might be adjusting your insulin slowly to get the right doses however I would discuss those readings with them and see what they suggest. A bedtime reading that high is not going to be good long term.

Adamp8 said:

My reading before bed is about 28-33 and in the morning it's around 9-12. I honestly have no idea what that means. I'm ale the insulin twice a day though, if that makes a difference?

Thank you for the help!

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Adam, as Sophie has said already you need to contact your diabetes team as those levels (28-33) are a cause for concern.

my daughter switched to novamix30 as fed up with mdi . her readings can be 15/20 at bed time and 4/7 in the morning. there are pros and cons for all insulin regimes. if your newly diagnosed they tend to put you on twice daily first. perhaps you could change to mdi. my daughter had hypo at 3am last night so we were up with sugary drnks and biscuits for ages. bs this am 4 !!!!!! who knows why are bodies throw up numbers !!!!! x

elainechi said:

my daughter switched to novamix30 as fed up with mdi . her readings can be 15/20 at bed time and 4/7 in the morning. there are pros and cons for all insulin regimes. if your newly diagnosed they tend to put you on twice daily first. perhaps you could change to mdi. my daughter had hypo at 3am last night so we were up with sugary drnks and biscuits for ages. bs this am 4 !!!!!! who knows why are bodies throw up numbers !!!!! x

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That's a very high reading and if it's a regular thing I'd be concerned.

well not sure what i can do about it. only happens in the evening with 25 units of novomix 30 and about 60g carbs. if i give more she hypos in the night . its much better than she was on mdi. bs were regulary 25/33 with an hba1c of 12.8%. so now is better but until she wants to sort out what she eats and give insulin with it it will do i suppose . thank you for your concerns though x