Night time hypos

[DaisyChloe]

Thanks @EllieM I actually just asked a question on the RH page before coming here and you've pretty much answered my question. And yeah you're right about getting tested for other things that could cause hypos, I have a GP appointment on Monday so really hoping it results in a referral - been trying for 10 years at least and I'm running out of mental energy.

Really is helpful on this forum. Never thought of coming here because I don't have diabetes, but figured people here would know about hypos - and they sure do!

Don't apologise for the length, it's nice to get comprehensive information!

Also, that's interesting about the false hypo. Not sure if it's the same but I experience what I call fast and slow hypos. The fast ones take me by surprise and are quite severe, and always below 4mmol, and with the slow ones I get a warning and know I have about half an hour until the symptoms get bad, which is better because then I have time to eat something substantial rather than sweets/glucose tablets etc.

Really glad you're managing yours, as a few others I've seen too. Makes me think there is hope yet.

 

[agwagw]

Hello there,

I read, while researching, that if someone has a hypo while asleep and they don't wake up, that they may know they had a hypo because of damp sheets etc.

Does that mean that the person's blood sugar levels corrected themselves in the night? What stopped them going lower? If they were still as low as they were when the hypo started, they wouldn't need to work it out from damp sheets or other signs because they would have their normal hypo signs surely?

I've not been able to find much about this. I'm worried because I sometimes have hypos in the middle of the night just before I fall asleep - what if I was asleep??

Appreciate any responses

Oh, also - I do not take insulin, I have hypos but I am not diabetic, and awaiting further tests.

Hi, your symptoms are so familiar to me - in 1984. If I had marmalade and toast for breakfast I would have the shakes and sweats by 11:00. I managed to get my hands on a BG meter and I typically dropped to 2.5mM BG. In those days the Drs treated it as 'one of those things' and didn't know that it possibly meant progression to diabetes. 10 years later I developed LADA (though it wasn't diagnosed as that until much more recently). The only advice I can give is use a low carb diet from now on - it should help stop the drops. All the very best.

 

[Lowcarb 2]

Hello there,

I read, while researching, that if someone has a hypo while asleep and they don't wake up, that they may know they had a hypo because of damp sheets etc.

Does that mean that the person's blood sugar levels corrected themselves in the night? What stopped them going lower? If they were still as low as they were when the hypo started, they wouldn't need to work it out from damp sheets or other signs because they would have their normal hypo signs surely?

I've not been able to find much about this. I'm worried because I sometimes have hypos in the middle of the night just before I fall asleep - what if I was asleep??

Appreciate any responses

Oh, also - I do not take insulin, I have hypos but I am not diabetic, and awaiting further tests.

 

[Lowcarb 2]

Thanks @EllieM I actually just asked a question on the RH page before coming here and you've pretty much answered my question. And yeah you're right about getting tested for other things that could cause hypos, I have a GP appointment on Monday so really hoping it results in a referral - been trying for 10 years at least and I'm running out of mental energy.

Really is helpful on this forum. Never thought of coming here because I don't have diabetes, but figured people here would know about hypos - and they sure do!

Don't apologise for the length, it's nice to get comprehensive information!

Also, that's interesting about the false hypo. Not sure if it's the same but I experience what I call fast and slow hypos. The fast ones take me by surprise and are quite severe, and always below 4mmol, and with the slow ones I get a warning and know I have about half an hour until the symptoms get bad, which is better because then I have time to eat something substantial rather than sweets/glucose tablets etc.

Really glad you're managing yours, as a few others I've seen too. Makes me think there is hope yet.

Hello there,

I read, while researching, that if someone has a hypo while asleep and they don't wake up, that they may know they had a hypo because of damp sheets etc.

Does that mean that the person's blood sugar levels corrected themselves in the night? What stopped them going lower? If they were still as low as they were when the hypo started, they wouldn't need to work it out from damp sheets or other signs because they would have their normal hypo signs surely?

I've not been able to find much about this. I'm worried because I sometimes have hypos in the middle of the night just before I fall asleep - what if I was asleep??

Appreciate any responses

Oh, also - I do not take insulin, I have hypos but I am not diabetic, and awaiting further tests.

Hi it could be people are ignoring the night time sweats that indicate there sugars are low and sleeping through them. My hypo used to be indicated by shaky legs but recently I been having night sweats it has taken a few hypos to realise that I am low it can be a bit difficult to distinguish between sweating because your hot and s weating due to hypo

 

[EllieM]

Hi it could be people are ignoring the night time sweats that indicate there sugars are low and sleeping through them. My hypo used to be indicated by shaky legs but recently I been having night sweats it has taken a few hypos to realise that I am low it can be a bit difficult to distinguish between sweating because your hot and s weating due to hypo

I don't particularly get night sweats, but I definitely get weird very vivid dreams if I night hypo.

 

[DaisyChloe]

Hi, your symptoms are so familiar to me - in 1984. If I had marmalade and toast for breakfast I would have the shakes and sweats by 11:00. I managed to get my hands on a BG meter and I typically dropped to 2.5mM BG. In those days the Drs treated it as 'one of those things' and didn't know that it possibly meant progression to diabetes. 10 years later I developed LADA (though it wasn't diagnosed as that until much more recently). The only advice I can give is use a low carb diet from now on - it should help stop the drops. All the very best.

Ah yes exactly the same! I’m struggling to understand how hypos develop into diabetes... does the overproduction of insulin start to develop into a more incorrect response?

Also, what is LADA?

I’ve seen a lot of people referencing a low carb diet. But fruit, veg, grains etc are all carbs and I can’t imagine what I would eat...

 

[kitedoc]

Just a thought, and one reason why you need to see an endocrinologist for diagnosis. There are other possible reasons than RH for repeated hypos. For example, there is a (rare) condition called insulinoma where a small (benign) tumour in the pancreas makes you produce too much insulin. This is curable by the removal of the tumour. You really need to get your GP to refer you to a specialist, as most GPs are pretty clueless about diabetes, let alone conditions where the insulin feedback loop is not working quite correctly.

But an endicrinologist is best trained to diagnose it and refer onto a suitable surgeon uf need be.

 

[kitedoc]

Ah yes exactly the same! I’m struggling to understand how hypos develop into diabetes... does the overproduction of insulin start to develop into a more incorrect response?

Also, what is LADA?

I’ve seen a lot of people referencing a low carb diet. But fruit, veg, grains etc are all carbs and I can’t imagine what I would eat...

Hi @DaisyChloe, in Tyoe 2 diabetes it is thought that it is the mistiming of insulin release that allows BSLs to rise to diabetic levels and sometimes later the late surge of too much insulin leads to a hypo later.
RH might be like the insulin mistiming is too early maybe or a bit sporadic and ? Later develops more into a later mistiming. This is supposition on my part but a possible explanation.
If you type LADA into the question box upper right of the Home page you will see an explanation of what LADA is.
If you look at the Home page again and at Recipes... you will see some examples of low carb foods. Less carbs means more protein and fat in consumed. And with zero carbs, essentially protein and fat only.
There is plenty of research and literature to debunk the saturated fat and cholesterol causing heart disease caper. If you subscribe to zoeharcombe.com you will have all the literature and references to refute the recommendations of naysayers, including doctors.
Worry not, the Inuit and Laplanders have existed on zero carb diets for centuries - our liver can convert enough protein to glucose to supply the 20% of our brain that needs glucose. But i do not think seal blubber absolutely needs to be on the menu!
Freash meat, eggs etc seem to be parts of such diets as i understand it.

 

[DaisyChloe]

Hi @DaisyChloe, in Tyoe 2 diabetes it is thought that it is the mistiming of insulin release that allows BSLs to rise to diabetic levels and sometimes later the late surge of too much insulin leads to a hypo later.
RH might be like the insulin mistiming is too early maybe or a bit sporadic and ? Later develops more into a later mistiming. This is supposition on my part but a possible explanation.
If you type LADA into the question box upper right of the Home page you will see an explanation of what LADA is.
If you look at the Home page again and at Recipes... you will see some examples of low carb foods. Less carbs means more protein and fat in consumed. And with zero carbs, essentially protein and fat only.
There is plenty of research and literature to debunk the saturated fat and cholesterol causing heart disease caper. If you subscribe to zoeharcombe.com you will have all the literature and references to refute the recommendations of naysayers, including doctors.
Worry not, the Inuit and Laplanders have existed on zero carb diets for centuries - our liver can convert enough protein to glucose to supply the 20% of our brain that needs glucose. But i do not think seal blubber absolutely needs to be on the menu!
Freash meat, eggs etc seem to be parts of such diets as i understand it.

I’ll look up the links you mentioned thank you. I think I will struggle a little as I don’t eat meat and I’m vegan about 80% of the time. But I’ll do some research.

Luckily my BGLs don’t go high, only low so maybe my risk of developing diabetes is a little reduced

Thanks for all your help, information is really helping me

 

[Lamont D]

Just a thought, and one reason why you need to see an endocrinologist for diagnosis. There are other possible reasons than RH for repeated hypos. For example, there is a (rare) condition called insulinoma where a small (benign) tumour in the pancreas makes you produce too much insulin. This is curable by the removal of the tumour. You really need to get your GP to refer you to a specialist, as most GPs are pretty clueless about diabetes, let alone conditions where the insulin feedback loop is not working quite correctly.

The diagnosis of pancreatic conditions is usually tests that eliminates other conditions, once there is found to have Hypoglycaemia after a eOGTT.
At the same time as a glucose tolerance test, a full blood panel which will show other hormonal/blood disorders that could cause the symptoms.
Allergy tests, breakfast test, as it called. Fasting test, usually after three to four days.
Then scans, and other tests, if no diagnosis is determined.
Of course, depending on the condition, many other factors are important such as hormonal imbalance and other conditions that could skew results.

 

[Lamont D]

I don't particularly get night sweats, but I definitely get weird very vivid dreams if I night hypo.

Have you read my blog?

I have wrote about my vivid dreams.

 

[Brunneria]

Luckily my BGLs don’t go high, only low so maybe my risk of developing diabetes is a little reduced

I would be wary of making that assumption.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition of insulin resistance, and insulin resistance starts with raised insulin production - which is exactly what happens in RH - and the raised blood glucose readings only occur after years, sometimes decades, of insulin resistance.

I don’t wish to worry you, but please do not assume that because your blood glucose doesn’t rise high you will be exempt from the consequences of raised insulin. That isn’t how it works.

I would urger you to carefully consider your current food intake, and reduce your carb intake to a level that controls your RH.
Being both low carb and vegan is challenging, but it is possible.
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/weekly-meal-plan-the-low-carb-vegan-menu/

 

[DaisyChloe]

I would be wary of making that assumption.

Type 2 diabetes is a condition of insulin resistance, and insulin resistance starts with raised insulin production - which is exactly what happens in RH - and the raised blood glucose readings only occur after years, sometimes decades, of insulin resistance.

I don’t wish to worry you, but please do not assume that because your blood glucose doesn’t rise high you will be exempt from the consequences of raised insulin. That isn’t how it works.

I would urger you to carefully consider your current food intake, and reduce your carb intake to a level that controls your RH.
Being both low carb and vegan is challenging, but it is possible.
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/weekly-meal-plan-the-low-carb-vegan-menu/

I'm definitely not assuming I will be exempt in the future of high BGLs, I just know though having tests and using my own machine that I definitely don't experience hyperglycaemia now.

To be honest I can't start thinking about that now, I have so many other health issues in addition to this and I'm finding everything pretty overwhelming. It's like I'm defined by illness more than anything else.