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Morning Hypos

marktype1

marktype1

Well-Known Member
Messages
75
Location
Liverpool
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Bad blood sugars, not being able to eat chocolate fudge cake.
Hi peeps. I have been diabetic for 18 years now (since I was 8 ) and only within the past year have I been put on Basal - Bolus Insulin. The results are great so far, Hba1c result has been the best I've ever had and I feel I can control my sugars much better.
However, recently I have been experiencing many more hypos. I've been on the Basal - Bolus for a year but for the last 2 months I have been hypo about 4 or 5 mornings out of 7 each week. I also experience late afternoon hypos occasionally and at the moment I'm having at least 1 hypo per day but more like 2 on average. The morning hypos are horrible, waking up really confused and unable to think clearly plus shaking and extreme hunger.

I have tried lowering my Basal dosage by 2 and 4 units and still getting this problem, I don't want to reduce it any more than that incase it causes high blood sugars.

I joined the forums today becuase I'd like to start learning more about better control and thought that others may be or have gone through similar occurrences.

Should I move my Basal injection form nighttime to morning? Should I split the dose to 2 injections? Should I decrease it more?

Thanks for reading!
 
Hi Mark - welcome to the forum. It looks like you have a lot more experience of diabetes than I do, and I still use mixed insulins so my knowledge with basal / bolus is limited. But I'll tag @noblehead and if he cannot help you he may be able to suggest others who can.
 
Hi Mark, it would help us if you could explain the insulins you are using, dosage, and an indication of where your blood glucose levels are normally. Also, when do you test glucose levels and have you changed anything in the last few weeks that might cause more Hypos (diet, exercise, job, family).

Welcome to the forum and I hope we can help!
 
Hey Tim thanks for the reply. I am on Lantus for 24 hour insulin and Humalog for fast acting insulin. I take the Lantus at around 11pm and currently am injecting 22 Units. My fast acting insulin is taken 3 times a day (breakfast, dinner and tea), although a lot of the time I only eat dinner and tea. I usually take around 4-6 at breakfast, 6 at dinner and 8 at tea.

There are no changes that would involve me having hypos that I am aware of. Glucose levels are normally ok most of the day between 7 and 12 usually. Hypos occur in the morning and range from 2.4 - 3.8. Also getting some highs later in the evenings but if I take more short acting insulin at tea, a hypo will occur.

Thanks for the help guys
 
Your pattern sounds pretty typical of what quite a few people have seen with Lantus. Have you done a basal test recently? I think that might be a good place to start. Following that, you may want to look at timing or splitting the dose, but you should undertake the test first.
 
I've never heard of the Basal test before. what is it?
 
marktype1 said:
I've never heard of the Basal test before. what is it?
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Its a test to see if your background (basal insulin) is set at the correct dose, basically you eat a low-fat meal then start testing your bg levels 4 hours after you finished the meal, you then skip your next meal and test until you would normally eat again, when finished you review your bg results and decide if your basal insulin needs adjusting.

The following information is for pump users but it explains very well how you do a basal check:

http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007

If your having hypo's on a morning then its more likely that your basal insulin needs to be cut back again.
 
When I was using Lantus and started going hypo in the morning, I firstly tried reducing my dose which made me a bit hyper. My DSN suggested I take my Lantus with my evening meal, rather than wait till bedtime. This worked for me - but, as we all know, we are all different.
 
I am so glad to see your post as this is exactly what my husband is experiencing at the moment and he is on lantus. He was on 42 but was told to bring it down 10% but hypos still happening so he is down to 32. All advice welcome and I hope you get it sorted Mark
 
I was on Lantus and had many night/morning/afternoon hypos

I,m now on Degludec and they have stopped apart from the afternoon ones which is probably down to my job as a chef and working alone, I think Lantus only works for certain people. Discuss it asap with your dbsn
 
Thanks Mrsass :P

I have decided to move my Lantus to morning time and reduce it by 4 units. Bloods have been great all day (well when I say great I mean no hypos or bad highs). Have been between 8 and 11 which is not to bad. Shall keep updating over next few days in case anyone else wanted to try it

Thanks so much for the help guys :)
 
Good to know Mark, would love to know how that works out for you and I may suggest my husband tries the same :-) he was at hospital today but they sent him away to keep a diary for a week
 
Dusty13 said:
Good to know Mark, would love to know how that works out for you and I may suggest my husband tries the same :) he was at hospital today but they sent him away to keep a diary for a week
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See this is why I joined the forums, the doctors seem to just tell me to monitor my blood for a week and come back and they then tell me to adjust by 2 units and it keeps going round and round without anything really getting better. Its time I did my own experimenting. Thanks for commenting, I will give you a message after a few days to let you know how it goes.
 
@marktype1 I've found over the years I know myself best so change doses myself, if I'm really concerned about something I speak to my DSN but otherwise I sort it coz no one knows me better than me ;) x
 
Mrsass said:
@marktype1 I've found over the years I know myself best so change doses myself, if I'm really concerned about something I speak to my DSN but otherwise I sort it coz no one knows me better than me ;) x
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Yeah I've realised that too. I feel like a lot of the doctors advise is second best. I had a doctor when I was younger who was Diabetic himself so had a much deeper understanding. Maybe we should all become Diabetic specialists after we fix our problems :P
 
I think one of the key aspects of being a successful diabetic is the willingness to experiment on yourself. You have to have a bit of that in your mind set in order to deal with the vagaries of the condition.
 
marktype1 said:
Yeah I've realised that too. I feel like a lot of the doctors advise is second best. I had a doctor when I was younger who was Diabetic himself so had a much deeper understanding. Maybe we should all become Diabetic specialists after we fix our problems :P
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Great plan! Haha x
 
Thank you very much I would appreciate that. My husband didnt have a hospital appt today, he basically camped out in the diabetes clinic for hours until someone would see him and after all that he is no further forward....
 
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