hypo worries!

[buzzy]

My boyfriend has type 1 and lately his "night time hypo's" have been getting worse,more frequent and dangerous, and im finding it difficult to help him!
He is often violent and abusive to me while i try my best to get some coke or sweets or something into him.
I'm so tired and concerned today after being kicked out of bed at 5.30,
i'd really appreciate some advice, is this very common? can it be prevented? whats the quickest easiest thing to give a man who is screaming and pushing you away?

 

[fergus]

Hi buzzy,

Do you know whether he takes his basal insulin (usually either Lantus or Levemir) before bed, and whether he takes it in a single dose?
I'm guessing it's a single dose and making a change there could fix the night time hypos straight away. If he spilts his dose in 2, one half before bed and one in the morning, his blood sugars won't drop so low during the night. He'll probably get more stable blood sugars throughout the day too.
I used to suffer the same thing, and a split dose was the answer for me.

Best wishes,

fergus

 

[Hully118]

Hi Fergus,

A quick question as I am still considering splitting the lantus units between am/pm (currently only pm). Did you find doing this you had to drop your units a little as your body made better use of the insulin and not reject as much due to smaller dosages?

Also I presume my lunchtime/dinner humalog units might need to be dropped slighlty due to lantus working longer throughout the day?

I'm currently on 18 at night, would you recommend starting on 10 at bed and 8 in the morn?

Thanks
Paul

 

[nash]

Buzzy,

Have you tried Glucogel (used to be called Hypo stop)? It's a gel that can be squirted into the mouth and massaged into the cheek to aid absorption. It should only be given to someone who is conscious. Would be quite good if he is moving around lots and difficult to get fluid glucose into him. Available on prescription only I think.
Also, I always have a Glucagen kit in the fridge for my Hhusband to administer if I do go unconscious......an emergency glucose injection kit. Again on prescription only I think.

Hope he gets his levels evened out soon

Nash

 

[shedges]

Hi Buzzy,

Does your boyfriend check his blood sugar before bed? I nearly always check just before bed, as I hate night time hypos (my wife doesn't really like my hypos either). I find I'm much more likely to have a good night's sleep too, if I'm not worried about the possibility of a night hypo.

Sam.

 

[buzzy]

Thanks so much to all the replys!!
He does have Lantus and only has one shot a day around 2 in the afternoon , i have suggested that he spreads out the dose through the day and he wasn't keen to change, but maybe if he knew it helped the night time hypos, he would!
The gel sounds very helpful in real emergencies and meanwhile i bought some glucose tablets and hope they work fast!!

 

[fergus]

Hi buzzy,

Splitting the dose might well be the answer. It's rare to find someone for whom Lantus lasts exactly 24 hours. For some it can be finished in as little as 18. By splitting, he'll ensure more even coverage for 24 hours, rather than the peak and trough which results from a single large daily dose.

Paul, a 10/8 spilt might be a good place to start for you. In theory at least, your basal dose is only dealing with the glucose your liver is metabolising between meals, but it obviously can't differentiate between the glucose from your diet or your liver. Give it a go, keep a close eye on the meter, and fine tune things according to your results.

All the best,

fergus

 

[annemarie09]

My boyfriend has type 1 and lately his "night time hypo's" have been getting worse,more frequent and dangerous, and im finding it difficult to help him!
He is often violent and abusive to me while i try my best to get some coke or sweets or something into him.
I'm so tired and concerned today after being kicked out of bed at 5.30,
i'd really appreciate some advice, is this very common? can it be prevented? whats the quickest easiest thing to give a man who is screaming and pushing you away?

hi buzzy, i used to have quite alot of nighttime hypos, usually about 3am! glucogel is handy to have next to the bed but tastes horrible. you can get it on prescription easily. i also take my night time insulin in one dose usually about 10pm, i now always take my sugar levels bofore bedtime and try to have some supper, usually a slice of toast which usually stops my levels dropping to fast in the night. I sometimes get the odd low one but always wake up and drink lucozade or eat something. does your boyfriend have good hypo awareness? i am quite lucky that i do at the moment. dont take it to personally if he is abit obnoxious when hypo, we wont remember a thing about it!! some of the scrapes ive got in to while hypo are hysterical.

 

[Nomi]

lucozade make a glucose gel too, that you can buy in boots. i've no idea what it tastes like but its supposed to be faster acting than the tablets
x