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Metformin and (false?) hypos

LittleGreyCat

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
4,388
Location
Suffolk, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
I have read in various places that Metformin cannot give you a real hypo (BG less than 4, I think) - firstly, is this true?

We visited a friend from years back last weekend and it turned out that we are both T2 diabetics.
I am still on diet and exercise, but he (if I understand corrrectly) is on Metformin.

There are T1s in their family/friends so they are familiar with hypos, and they say that he has to eat regular small amounts to avoid hypos, and can get very distracted and irritable if he doesn't do this.

I suspect that he may be having 'false' hypos as discussed extensively here but this assumes that Metformin cannot give you 'real' hypos.

Which brings me on to 'false' hypos.
Does this chain of logic hold up?
A hypo is your brain reacting to a lack of blood sugar - essential to power the brain.
[Or does something apart from the brain trigger the symptoms - the wooziness being a secondary effect?]
Diabetes can be the inability to get sugar out of the blood and into the tissues - insulin resistance.
Can your brain be insulin resaistant?
i.e. be unable to effectively remove and utilise sugar from the blood.
Or is it only the major organs and body tissues?
Because if the brain is insulin resistant then the hypo could be real - the brain running out of fuel because it can't extract the sugar from the bloodstream despite the reasonably high level.
The alternative is that there is a warning mechanism in the brain designed to slow down or stop activity before the body crashes due to total lack of blood sugar, and this has been recalibrated by constantly high blood sugar levels.
So which is it?
[and does this mean that if you run at constantly low blood sugar levels the warning level will be recalibrated downwards so that you can go very low without hypo symptoms?]

Which finally brings me to the best way to treat 'false' hypos.

Do you treat them just like real hypos and hope that in time your body recalibrates the warning level, or do you tough it out to force your body to recalibrate?

It seems possible that if you treat false hypos like real ones you are maintaining your blood sugar levels artificially high and you may take a much longer time to get your numbers down.

Are false hyops, in fact, a good thing?
Should you be cheering them on (after testing to confirm BG levels) because they are a sign that your treatment and diet are reall working well?
Usual warnings about driving and operating machinery obviously apply.

Cheers

LGC
 
False hypos happen, when you had high blood glucose reading for a very long time and when your blood glucose drops, your body naturally reacts to it with "false hypo" symptoms, even if your glucose readings are between 6-7 or it can even be higher... It's just your body thinking that you are suddenly running very low on blood glucose, nothing more. A real hypo happens when your blood glucose levels drop below 4mmol/L

I have had very regular false hypos as I had very high glucose readings for a long time and now I'm starting to come down to single figure readings. I check my levels when I feel funny and if they are not too low, I just sit down a while and close my eyes till the feelings pass and then carry on as normal. I wouldn't go eating or drinking something to bring my levels back up as high levels are not healthy and you really want to get used to having the lower levels as part of your diabetes control.
 
I've seen and heard different opinions on 'false hypo's'

Personally, when i had them after starting to gain better control after having extremely bad control for a while, i treated them, but with small amounts of glucose.

This was so my body stopped giving me these false signals, but at the same time i gradually learnt what hypo levels really were if that makes sense.

It's like when someone loses hypo awareness, they run their levels slightly higher to allow the body to recognise the hypo at a higher level. I was allowing my body to slowly recognise them at a lower one.

This was what my DN advised me to do, and it worked well for me and after a few false ones i no longer experienced them.

as for metformin, i'm not sure if it's a hypo inducing medicine or not, i shall let someone more experienced than i tackle that one :)
 
Metformin, dependent on the dose will typically lower Bg levels by 1-2 mmol/l.

It is also the case that Met is not supposed to cause a hypo, but as anybody, even a non-Diabetic can hypo then it stands to reason that even someone on diet only or just Metformin can hypo. There have been many reported instances from various Members where this has happened.

There are several reasons why someone can hypo, not enough food, unusual amount of exercise, delayed or missed meals, stress or even hot weather........
 
As far as I understand it, metformin doesn't cause your pancreas to produce more insulin, but helps lower your bg by lessening the insulin resistance in your cells, so that you are able to use the glucose in your blood for fuel more easily.

This means that your pancreas doesn't have to work so hard producing extra insulin, and should give it a rest (I hope!)

Presumably, if your insulin resistance is lowered by the metformin, but at first your pancreas is still producing its accustomed, pre-metformin (high) amount of insulin, this would clear the glucose out of your blood quite quickly and could lead to hypo symptoms? but your liver would quickly release more glucose to stop you going fully hypo.

Or have I misunderstood the whole thing?

Viv :)
 
I misunderstood what my doctor said I think... Maybe one of the moderators could zap my previous post LOL ... Don't want to put wrong things across to others :)
(Consider it done. cugila. :wink: )

Metformin assists in lowering blood sugar levels by stimulating the pancreas, the organ that creates insulin in the body. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas has stopped producing insulin, so Metformin does not work for this type of diabetes. Metformin decreases the level of sugar available from the diet. When the blood sugar level is too low, the liver produces sugar to add to the bloodstream. When the blood sugar level is out of control, the liver loses its ability to sense the blood sugar levels and will pump sugar into the blood even when the sugar level is high. Metformin helps to suppress the production level of sugar by the liver. By lowering the blood sugar level, Metformin helps the body respond to its own insulin production. This promotes the burning of sugar, so the blood sugar level can stabilize at a normal level
 
Don't know the science behind all this but I am on Metformin and I can easily get levels below 4 if I don't have snacks between meals and have even been down to 2.8 once.....so not false hypos!!
HTH
Angie
 
ref :
http://www.diabetesuffolk.com/Drugs/Met ... c181371508

How does it work?

Metformin works by reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver and increasing the uptake of glucose by the cells of the body. This has the overall benefit of reducing blood glucose levels by 3-4 mmol/l.It does Not increase how much insulin is made by the pancreas unlike other drugs such as Gliclazide.

Metformin is also thought to help by lowering component of blood fats, that are often high in people with type 2 diabetes. It also decreases your appetite which helps you lose a few pounds in weight.
Click to expand...
 
:) Thank you muchly cugila ;) ( ummm what does cugila mean? Just being nosey like)
 
viviennem said:
Rather cold-blooded, I thought? but warms up nicely in the sun! :wink:

Viv :)
Click to expand...

Cold blooded.......sometimes....... :twisted:

A final clue.........a Glasgow greeting, a goodbye or maybe a challenge ........ :wink:
 
LMAO I tried to google cugila and all that came up were pages of Diabetes UK posts by cugila or that had cugila written in it hahahaha And for the pictures, I got all the avatars everyone is using :lol: OMG That made me laugh so hard I almost peed on the sofa!!!!
 
"A heavy, slow-moving lizard, up to 60 centimetres (2.0 ft) long, the Gila monster is the only venomous lizard native to the United States . . . Though the Gila monster is venomous, its sluggish nature means that it represents little threat to humans. However, it has earned a fearsome reputation . . ." (source - wikipedia).

Well, at least one part of that is right! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Viv :wink:
 
Viv.
Well, I 'aint heavy, I 'aint sluggish (low carbs) so I suppose that only leaves one other conclusion.......

I'm nice really........it's the other bu**ers !! :twisted: :wink:

I do hope the OP doesn't mind all this .........'banter ?' :lol:
 
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