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New type 1 with lots of hypos!

jessie

Well-Known Member
Messages
275
Location
Gloucestershire
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi,

I found out I had Type 1 in April this year. My BS readings started off in the 20's but I have managed to get them down to between 5 and 8 most of the time. I had my first HbA1c a couple of weeks ago and scored 6.9% which I was really pleased with. I felt like I must have been doing all of the right things. I eat really healthily and have cut down on carbs a little, trying to bulk out meals with salad or vegetables. Although I'm slim, I do have a good apetite and tend to snack regularly on things such as carrot sticks, yoghurt, fruit or wholemeal toast if I'm really hungry. I had a low BS reading this evening - 3.3. This seems to be getting more and more frequent and I can't understand why. As I said, I eat plenty, and I don't think I am taking too much insulin. I am on NovoRapid of which I take 3 - 4 units depending on the size of my meal (for example I had wholemeal pasta tonight - about 2 and a half handfuls, tomatoes, salad etc and took 4ml) and I take 8 units of Lantus every evening. I have just looked through my readings and I have had 11 hypos (below 3.9) over the past 3 weeks. Is this more than average? I can't see any pattern, it can happen at any time of day, whatever I am doing or whatever I have eaten. I always manage to get it under control, a mini Mars Bar seems to work best for me , sometimes followed by a crumpet or peice of toast. My BS will then go up to about 10 or so which I guess isn't ideal? What worries me (amongst many things!) is that I often don't realise when my BS is low. The other day I tested it randomly and it was 2.4, I felt fine! I sometimes get blurry eyes but don't always feel shaky. I live by myself so would love to get this under control, as I am concerned that if something happened to me then no one would know until it was too late :? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks. x
 
hya,
you need to see your dr/diabetic nurse as you must be taking too much insulin for what u are eating,i too go through stages of hypos but im only on lantus and just lower it,you may be on the honeymoon period too which will mean u are still making some insulin which mixed with what u are taking can cause hypos,get in touch with your care provider.
take care
 
Thank you Totsy,

I have an appointment with a consultant on 1st Aug but I guess I should probably speak to my nurse before hand. I've not heard of the honeymoon period but it does sounds like a possibility, also I read your previous comments about Lantus with interest, but I guess in my case it's early days and will be a while before things settle down anyway. Thanks v much for the advice :wink:
 
It sounds like you might be over-treating hypos. Mini-Mars aren't the quickest acting hypo-fixes - you're better off with something more quickly absorbed. Liquid glucose sources like lucozade, normal squash, even fruit juice, are faster. About 150-200mil of those will give you 5-20g carbs that should act within 15 minutes. You don't always need to follow these with slower carbs - depends how long til your next meal and whether there is still fast acting insulin in your system. Testing after 15 minutes where practical will guide you as to how well this has worked.

For example, I sometimes find myself a bit low at 5pm when I am about to leave work. All I need at this time is 15g fast acting carbs as my lunchtime Apidra is out of my system by then and it's not too long before dinner. I usually have either 5 lucozade tablets or a 200ml carton of orange juice. However if I find myself a bit low after my early morning swim, when there's still up to two hours worth of Apidra working, and a long time till lunch, I need a fast acting burst plus a slower one such as a cereal bar or a banana.
 
jessie said:
Thank you Totsy,

I have an appointment with a consultant on 1st Aug but I guess I should probably speak to my nurse before hand.
Click to expand...

Oh god no.

...

Anyway, when you do go hypo just take the one thing (like your mini mars bar) and leave it at that. See how you are half an hour later.
 
Thanks guys, all of your advice is so helpful. I can see now that I am over treating my hypos, I think I panick a bit and ram loads of food down my neck rather than waiting 15 mins. I started off using the glucose tablets but they're so sweet they hurt my teeth and gave me little spots on my tongue! I do find that chocolate works quite quickly but understand it nay not be the best thing for me.

The 'honeymoon period' thing is definately making sense and would explain why I'm having hypos even when taking less insulin than I was in the first 2 months of being diagnosed.

So thanks again all
 
Hi Jessie,

I am currently in the honeymoon period and have been for about 7 months, I was having hypo's at least twice a day. I had my insulin reduced down til they stopped me having it altogether. I was fine for about 4 weeks not having any highs then they started happening again till I was regularly hitting 20, I have been put back on 2 units novorapid at lunch and 4 at tea, nothing a breakfast as my BS are always fine before lunch. I am still not back on my Lantus. I up or down my novorapid depending on how I have been that day and the previous day. I am finding though that once again I don't need so much insulin again as I am prone to hypo's again. I am in regular contact with my nurse and they are very good at giving me the confidence to know my own body. Lots of hypo's got me down so I would contact the nurse if I were you, just for some advice.
 
It could also be worth looking at your basal insulin. Twice daily basals often give a more even blood sugar pattern than once daily. When stabilising your basals look at the 3am readings. If you have a significant dawn phenomenon upping the basal could give more night hypos.
 
Thanks guys,

Does anyone know how long the honeymon period can last or does it vary from person to person?

I have put down my basal (Lantus) to just 7 units every evening and my morning readings have been around 6 for the past couple of days which I guess is ok? And I just have 2, 3 or 4 units of NovoRapid 3 times daily. It would be good if I could cut down my injections though!

I'll be setting my alarm for 3.30 this morning then :?

Must speak to my nurse, I'm so rubbish!

I was also wondering how it was decided as to which insulin you are put on. It felt like I was just given them randomly when I was admitted to hospital...

Thx.
 
Jessie

When I asked how long the honeymoon period can last I was told how long is a piece of string. I have been to see my nurse today as I have started having hypos again, and it does not seem to matter how much I eat. She said that I am still in the honeymoon period and do not want to take me off the insulin again but to try snacking between meals to keep me going. As I said previously I have been in the honeymoon period for 7 months with no sign of this changing. I have been told I am an unusual case. Did you speak to your nurse?
 
Hi, Jessie, I was diagnosed Type 1 in June 2007 and my honeymoon is now over. It lasted till early 2008. Many months is usual and up to a year quite common with longer a possibilty. You can ask for a test for C-Peptides which are byproducts of your own insulin but not of any you inject. If they're there, you are honeymooning still. My result showed negative.

Are you carb counting your meals? Novorapid is for meal carbs as you obviously know. Pasta, bread, spuds etc load in the carbs - more than veggies do. You mustn't just shoot units of Rapid without matching them to the carbs you're eating. The result could be high, low, anything. Presumable you realise that restricting your carb intake is good sense? The standard advice dished out to diabetics implies that you can eat what you like, carb rich or not, provided you match the carbs with Novorapid. Some people can, but most get much better control by keeping carbs to under 100 grams a day. That means cutting out or right down on, bread, pasta, potatoes and sweet things like cake, biscuits etc and also even on quite a lot of fruit. Bananas are very carb rich for example. A bit of Googling will soon tell you what's what.

There's a really good book on daily management of diabetes. It has helped me enormously and it's only about £6 from Amazon. 'Using Insulin' by Walsh and Roberts. Other forum posters speak highly of it also. You'll soon find you know enough to match the nurses! It tells you how to check that your basal doses are correct. That's particularly important to avoid overnight hypos. NB No-one in the NHS has ever said that to me and I found out for myself thanks to the book.

Regards qrp
 
qrp

Have you ever not carb counted? with my diabetes being so eratic I am not carb counting even though I am using Novorapid. I was suffering with highs in between meals so I am using the Novorapid to bring my BS down quicker and to ensure I am not still having highs after 4 hours. Did you ever think that the honeymoon was never going to end. Was it just your BS that was showing you that the honeymoon was over or did you have other symptoms?
 
Hi, I must say I'm being a bit slack on the old carb counting front, I did try it, last time I saw my dietician she told me to try a ratio of 10g carb to 1m insulin but then, like you Willogs, my readings became eratic so I started giving myself less Novo Rapid before meals and eventually stopped counting the carbs. This is something I need to get back into the habit of I know. After taking advice from this site I have now reduced my carb in take anyway although am finding this hard as I used to live on pasta, toast etc. Hope you manage to get your readings under control Willogs, it's difficult when you don't know how your body / pancreas is reacting from day to day.
 
I would suggest plenty of testing. Like every waking hour for a few days. That way you can see when you start to drop. I found that my Lantus dosage was too high and causing my hypos. Also if there are no warning signs with the hypos and your newly diagnoised I would say its the Lantus. But thats just my opinion.
Cutting injections is good but I personally find more small amount of insulin works better for me. Less chance a serious hypo.
I take two lot of lantus per day which total sixteen units. So yours could be a little high.
 
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