Keto and hypoglycemia. Stop insulin?

[Cebubeach]

I am type 2 and on metformin for 12 years. 2 weeks ago Dr gave me insulin pen. I decided to start keto 4 days ago and today had first ever Ng reading of 3.7. No symptoms but very worried. My levels have dropped from 9 or 10 too average 5.2. Morning fasting 8 but drops super fast. I didn't take insulin last night as thought no need with such low evening readings. I have done fasting diet before and no hypo ever. Coukd it be be because I started insulin?

 

[Boo1979]

The insulin will be lowering your BG - thats what it has been prescribed to do, presumably because your hba1c has got out of ccontrol?
3.8 isnt something to worry about at the moment - its an indication that you could experience hypos on the insulin dose you are on and that it might need adjusting, but I wouldnt take it as a reason to stop taking it
I think it would be a good idea to do some intensive BG monitoring over a couple of weeks to get a good picture of whats going on and then to discuss with your medical team.
I would also suggest having a small snack (5-10g carbs) if your sugars are below a 6 before bed to guard against any night time hypo - the other approach would be to have no snack but to set alarms to monitor your sugars every 2 hrs ot so through the night for several days

 

[Brunneria]

If you have adopted a keto diet then your medication needs (including insulin) are very likely to change.

Are you currently on a fixed amount of insulin every day, or do you carb count and adjust your insulin dose depending on carb intake?

If you have been using fixed doses for your old way of eating, and have now switched to a new much lower carb way of eating then your insulin needs may decrease.

Can you contact your doc, nurse or clinic and discuss this with them?
Prepare for some surprise on their part.
They don't often get type 2s who make such changes and end up with significantly reduced insulin needs.

And I agree with @Boo1979
You need to monitor your blood glucose closely until things have settled. You also need to know what to do in case of a hypo, and have hypo treatments with you at all times, as a precaution.

 

[Resurgam]

Eating fewer carbs is a powerful tool to use for lowering blood glucose, so insulin at the same time is not (in my opinion) at all sensible - particularly if the insulin dose is calculated on your former diet.
Eating carbs to counteract a medication doesn't seem at all logical - you need to consult your prescriber and let them know that you are going hypo or unusually low and maybe suggest that you delay insulin until you can see what effect the change of diet will have.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I am type 2 and on metformin for 12 years. 2 weeks ago Dr gave me insulin pen. I decided to start keto 4 days ago and today had first ever Ng reading of 3.7. No symptoms but very worried. My levels have dropped from 9 or 10 too average 5.2. Morning fasting 8 but drops super fast. I didn't take insulin last night as thought no need with such low evening readings. I have done fasting diet before and no hypo ever. Coukd it be be because I started insulin?

Just guessing, but did being put on insulin scare you enough to try and take more control?

If you have radically changed your diet you should go back to your GP and share this; starting an insulin regime at this time might not be sensible. Changing two things at once makes it very hard to work out which is having an effect.

I would suggest that you discuss with your GP holding off on the insulin until you have settled into the keto way of eating and are happy that this is a way of eating that you can sustain long term.

This will also give you a new baseline against which to decide if you need insulin, and if so how much.

Interested that you went straight from Metformin to insulin, without trying anything in between.

What have your HbA1c results been over the last couple of years, and did you have any extra blood tests to check how much insulin your body is producing?