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Low (for me) bedtime bg reading

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WWood56

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Insulin
I am newly diagnosed (4 or 5 weeks), type 2, poss 1.5 on insulin - Levemir, 16 units at 8pm, 32 units at 8am.

My bedtime bg readings are never under 12. Generally they are between 16 and 12 and my waking reading is between 5 and 6. Tonights reading taken just now says 7.4. I know Levemir is a long acting insulin but will I be ok going to sleep with a low (for me) bg reading? There is only me and the 3 young children here and I am a bit worried (and tired!).

Any advice please?

Fwiw I generally go to bed between 10.30 and 11.30pm so tonights bg was taken at my usual time.
 
I don't take insulin, but going on what I have read on here, set an alarm for 3 am and test then.
 
Hiya!

I'm not Type 2, but use Levemir as my background insulin. It is meant to keep background levels stable. If you are dropping by 8 - 10 mmol overnight your dose is too high. Your bedtime levels are also damagingly high. It's early days for you, but I'd go back and see your nurse. I would think you need either a mixed insulin instead of Levemir or a bolus insulin added to your regime so you can get your levels down after your evening meal without using so much Levemir that you drop so badly overnight.

Denise is right about the 3am test - we use that if we are unsure or worried what our BG is doing overnight.

Smidge
 
Thanks.

Well, my morning test said 5.9 which has just baffled me more than ever :banghead:

I have talked to the nurse before about not being happy with my high night time levels but she is pleased that they are normal in the morning and says the Levemir is doing the job. My 2 hour post meal readings are high too. She keeps mentioning maybe going on a mix but then just ups the morning Levemir instead. I have got a telephone appointment tomorrow (again) so I will see what she says.
 
Yep. This isn't working for me. Bedtime test was 12.6 at 10.30pm. Now it's 3.2 and I am eating a carby snack. Feel sweaty, sick and shaky. Ugh!
 
I think it's fairly clear there that your nightime dose is too big if you're dropping that much.

One thing to discuss with the DSN is adding more morning dose and taking away some evening dose.

Are you eating a late, carb rich meal that is causing a pre-bed high,and if your dose has been based on that, could well be wrong. Are you doing both post and pre meal checking or not? A lot of T2s don't.

A lot of advice above is from others like myself who have been on DAFNE, or similar courses for T1, which is all about tailoring your dose to you specifically, so please bear in mind their perspective, but I think you would find it helpful to talk to a DAFNE trained DSN as well as I would not be entirely sure of my ground when talking about insulin doses for a T2.
 
Yes. As I have a liver problem I have to have a low salt, high carb, high fat diet and a night time carby snack is especially important. The nurse knows about this.

I do pre and post meal checking even though the nurse told me post meal was not needed. From that I typically have pre meal readings of anything from 6 to 12 and post meal (2 hour) levels of between 10 and 16.

I think the liver issue and the fact I cannot alter my diet is an important factor. I have seen a dietician who says I must continue with my liver diet or my body is going to start wasting away again. This time last year my bmi was 14.7. Now it is 19.8.
 
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