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Hypos

Gazza89

Newbie
Messages
1
Hi, am new to this site. I was diagnosed with type 1 in march last year and I am currently having a hypo probably once a week. I was just wondering if this is normal or bad? How often do other people have them?

Thanks
 
Hi Gazza and welcome to the forum. :) There will soon be some type 1s arriving who will be able to help you with information about hypos and tell you about their experiences. In the meantime have a good read around the forum and use the search engine and you will already find some useful information.
 
Nearly a year after diagnosis, you are probably not still having "false hypos" where you feel hypo, but actually it's your body's response to feeing lower than you have been.
I believe that DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating) graduates are told to expect a couple of hypos per week, and to treat with fruit juice.
For myself, it depends on the circumstances eg I wouldn't be too unhappy by hitting 3.5mmol/l 30mins after finishing a run, but wouldn't want to run up at that level more than once in a blue moon, and would never allow that to happen when driving.
 
Gazza,

One hypo a week isn't classed as bad control for someone like yourself who is type 1 and injecting insulin. I use to have 2-3 hypo's a week only 2 years ago, but since completing the DAFNE course (dose adjustment for normal eating) I can go as long as 2-3 weeks without a hypo, they can be limited with careful management and with some forward planning (i.e reducing insulin dose when planning on exercise) but it's impossible to stop them completely and every type 1 will experience hypo's no matter how well they control their condition.

Nigel
 
Hi Gazza
I'm a Type 1 diabetic and have been for 36yrs this year. Make sure you do pre meal testing and then two hours after eating for about a week and this will show you some sort of pattern, your insulin may need adjusting or up your eating to having a small snack ( small banana, wholemeal bread or a couple of crackers) as these will give you a slow release of carbs. If you still aren't happy contact your diabetic nurse and they will advice you what to do.
We are here to advise and be a friend if you need.
Tracey
 
Hi Gazza
If you can get onto a DAFNE course, do it, it teaches you everything about carbohydrates and insulin.

How many times a day do you test your blood sugar? Do you test before meals and before bed time?

I am also a Type1 diabetic - 32yrs but I'm afraid that I don't agree with the advise that Tracey69 has given you about two hour testing after you have eaten - this all depends on what insulin you take.
This is advise given by DAFNE:
Soluable insulin i.e. Actrapid/Humulin S Hypurin Porcine Neutral when injected begins to have a glucose lowering effect within 30 minutes, it peaks between 2-4 hours after injection and can affect the blood glucose level for up to 8hrs.
Quick Acting Analogue Insulin i.e. Humalog/NovoRapid/Apidra works very quickly, less than 15 minutes after the injection, peaks between 50-90 minutes and may continue to affect the blood glucose level for 2-5hrs.

So if you can imagine you have eaten, you inject and inbetween the 2-4/5hrs your blood glucose is/has risen/rising so a 2 hour test after eating will probably show a high reading, cause you to worry, maybe take extra insulin which could lead to a hypo.

I am on NovoRapid and find that a 4hr gap gives a good indication on whether I have calculated the carbohydrates with the correct amount of insulin. I won't go in to anymore detail about insulin correction because if you get on a DAFNE course you will learn about that.

Sarah
 
A classic from the BBC website today on hypo related story, "The condition is commonly associated with Type 1 diabetes, when the patients inject too much insulin, miss a meal or drink alcohol" . Always wondered where I was going wrong!!!
 
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