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night hypos
- Thread starter lynbrown
- Start Date
mentat
Well-Known Member
The short answer is probably "because you took too much insulin".
If you took as much insulin as you normally take for the same amount of food, there could be many reasons why you needed less last night.
The usual candidates for reduced insulin needs are exercise and hormonal changes (including menstrual cycle). However, weight loss as well as improved diet can increase insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing the amount of insulin you need.
Stress tends to increase the amount of insulin you need, so conversely, if your stress levels go down, you may find you need less insulin.
Finally, in newly diagnosed diabetics, the beta cells which produce insulin are usually "exhausted" because they have been overworked. When you improve your blood sugars they are given a rest and sometimes start producing more insulin than before. If your beta cells produce more insulin you need to inject less.
If you took as much insulin as you normally take for the same amount of food, there could be many reasons why you needed less last night.
The usual candidates for reduced insulin needs are exercise and hormonal changes (including menstrual cycle). However, weight loss as well as improved diet can increase insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing the amount of insulin you need.
Stress tends to increase the amount of insulin you need, so conversely, if your stress levels go down, you may find you need less insulin.
Finally, in newly diagnosed diabetics, the beta cells which produce insulin are usually "exhausted" because they have been overworked. When you improve your blood sugars they are given a rest and sometimes start producing more insulin than before. If your beta cells produce more insulin you need to inject less.
Glen
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 66
- Location
- Devon
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
- Dislikes
- Diabetes, DIY, winter,
As can something as simple as switching on the central heating. Being warmer will increase the speed at which your insulin is absorbed. Don't worry about a one off too much. Maybe check BG's at 3am for a couple of nights and see what's up.
Hello, I'm new to this forum but have been a type 1 diabetic for the last 20 years and I am certainly no stranger to night time hypoglycaemic attacks with blood sugars dropping on some occasions down to 1.5 and lower. This can make me a little difficult to stir, but I digress. A rule of thumb to me is if my blood sugar is at around the 5mmol/litre mark at midnight, I generally need it to be around 7 when I get up. I am a 16 stone 6ft+ tall man and I find that oddly about 50-100ml of lucozade does the trick for me...but be cautious as it may throw you the other way. I also get up at 530am so it lasts for the 5-6 hours needed. The way I see it is that it is better to have undisturbed sleep as not, because that will mess things up too due to stress levels and adjustment of metabolic rates. :thumbup: Hope you sort it :thumbup:
