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I’m totally lost

D

Ditzy47

Active Member
Messages
38
Location
York
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I’m type 2. My grandson (13 years old) was diagnosed as type 1 just before Christmas. Today was his first day back at school so he has had more walking than previously and asked to come home after lunch. His monitor showed his BG dropping fast and when he and my daughter arrived he asked to be able to sleep. When he woke the monitor had stopped working so we tested his blood and it was low. 4.5 but after a while it was dropping again. They went home with four Biscoff biscuits as half a glucose tablet had previously sent his BG sky high. My daughter rang later. BG 3.7. I suggested half a biscuit. That helped a little so, in stages, he ate 3 of them, taking his BG to 6.2 and he was feeling well. My question is, why does his blood sugar go very high during the night? They have tried supper with carbs and supper without carbs but the result is the same. His blood sugar rises so the alarm goes off and someone has to go to him and inject him. I don’t understand why this happens and the diabetic team haven’t given them an answer they understand.
 
I hope his next days at school are better than that one.
If my blood sugar’s dropping I know that I’ve used more energy and need to consume carbs. Does your grandson carry carbs with him all the time?
I know that it’s dangerous to sleep before my blood sugars are above 5 and steady as I’m likely to hypo and be unable to treat it if I’m asleep, even if my blood sugars are making me really want to go to sleep.
It’s hard looking after yourself when you’re 13.
Does your grandson know how to treat his own low blood sugars?
Have you been able to get the monitor to work again?
Does he have a friend at school who can keep an eye on him?
 
Last edited:
Hi @Ditzy47 - hope you grandson gets through ok.

There could be lots of reasons why he's going high in the night, my guess (and it is a guess) is that the background (basal) insulin might not be working correctly so would need adjustment, but could also be juvenile hormone rises etc.

Worth a thought - everything has glucose in it (except water) and its different from sugar free foods (they just don't have sucrose in it, but might be loaded with fructose - the body just digests it and turns them in to glucose so carb-counting is the only way to know, so watch if you give him 'sugar fee' sweets etc). A no-carb supper will have some carbs regardless.

Keep talking to the diabetes team (this can be hard and stressful to get answers that you can understand (been through that myself as T1 for 53 years now)) as they are the only ones who can help your grandson safely.

P.S for treating a low BG consider a bit of fast acting and some slow acting carbs (like a mouthful of lucozade or a glucose tablet - glucose straight through the stomach into the bloodstream without needing digesting, and then some slower acting carbs like a biscuit - just don't let him over eat as that can result in a ping pong blood glucose effect) - a bit at a time to learn whats needed (but its always a bit of a panic when first learning).

On the positive, lots of us here are life long T1s, takes a lot of learning but its safer and better understood now than ever - but there is no instant fix as all of us are different so it takes time to find what works
 
That’s interesting, thank you. He does just lie down and sleep at any time. Always has but we must obviously watch out for that now. He hasn’t needed to carry a snack with him before as he was at home or a grandparents’ house over Christmas but now we are having to find out what is the best snack for him. Last night, the Biscoffs worked well and didn’t spike the BG so we are going to try a couple of inches of banana next time. Regardless of his evening food, his BG rises in the night. That is what’s confusing.
 
If his mother doesn’t understand the diabetic team’s answer she should get back to them and ask them to explain in plain English. Often, the people who work in a certain field aren’t aware that their language and ways of saying things may not make sense to outsiders.
As @CheeseSeaker says, it’s likely he’s not got enough insulin in his system to see him through the night.
Is he using a pump or injections?
 
Thank you. Both his mother and I have been counting carbs for a long time, never eat ultra processed foods and are good mathematicians. My daughter has lipidoema that she is struggling with. We are all very aware that different foods affect different people differently. We don’t eat or drink anything that has artificial sweeteners or additives we wouldn’t find in home made things. Glucose so Lucozade won’t fit the bill at all. Also, he would not be allowed to have that at school. The hospital team gave him both glucose tablets and glucose drink. Half a tablet sent his BG sky high so just started a yo-yo effect, it was obviously just not the right thing for him except in an emergency. We are really trying to find a solution to why his BG goes so high in the night. Mine does towards morning because of a liver dump, dawn phenomenon or whatever one calls it but we don’t know if this happens with Type 1.
 
He’s very new to this. He is injecting at the moment but they will see him in a couple of weeks to start him on a pump. Unfortunately, we have found that asking people to explain something they have said very often leads to them saying the same thing in the same way but slower or louder or with words that still don’t make it clearer. If you are persistent, they get frustrated, probably because they don’t know why you don’t understand or because they simply cant explain it themselves.
 
The team have already been told about the night rises. They said that the basal insulin is already very high but that as he’s running high most of the time they would agree to increasing it so they did that on Monday night. He went up to 20 that night.
 
I think thats human nature (repeating slower and louder) an yes - not understanding enough (if we can't explain it in simple terms - we don't understand it enough yet)

So for info dawn phenomenon is where the body (any of us) gets ready for the morning get out of bed, and the liver dumps extra glucose into the bloodstream. usually only about an hour before normal getting up time - so not related to the night-time high BG, so I suspect the background insulin is at fault and needs adjusting (either time its injected or quantity - but can't advise there).

The new type of pumps make life waaaaay easier (as they are now intelligent) - but still need setting up with a user-profile so it knows where to start - gathering info from injections is a good start to helping build the profile though.

Was told years ago (by a diabetes consultant) - there is no such thing as high insulin use - just whatever works for the individual.

Sometimes people in white coats can be 'challenging' and at other times plain wrong, but there are some geniuses too so stick with it and keep being pleasantly annoying till you get the help you need.
 
Blood glucose levels took several weeks to stablise for me, when was inititally diagnosed (t1 / later as t1/lada). Regards CGM ensure to let whichever manufacturer know if stopped working altogether, sometimes with libre2plus sensor it say 'running continuous quality checks' and very occassionally final error message telling you to remove. They will replace faulty sensors, doesnt cost anyone that way.

Regarding not understanding what the Dr's/dsn explanation, I would ask if they could perhaps put into written format, which hopefully will be a little easier and stop any potential raised/slower repeated same wording. Clinic i attend has an email address (they can take a while to get back to you), maybe his will have as well? Can take a while for basal & bolus dosages to get right, activity levels can change requirements too. Hopefully has been offered some structured eductation if not would do so, that will assist with various levels of activity dosing.

Best wishes
 
Thank you all for your advice and reassurance. Tonight, the Dexcom app refused to open unless he upgrades his operating system. He’s thirteen and bullied at school so he only has an old iphone 10 that can’t be upgraded. Now we are all digging around to see if one of us has an old phone that will upgrade. One of her friends has come up trumps for now and my husband has ordered a newer phone for himself so Charlie can have his current one. But what a confloption and why didn’t Dexcom give some warning of this. For goodness sake, life is hard enough already.
 
Hi @Ditzy47 ,

What time of night are the BGs rising? (At its peak?)
How long after evening meal is the timing of the highs?
 
Which background insulin is he on? I could never get Lantus to behave but Tresiba less of an issue overnight. My blood sugar generally rises a couple of hours after I go to bed but lowers by dawn - I never realised until I got the libre.

What time is his final meal?
 
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