Number of hypos a week

[emmay]

Hi
I recently had my annual review and although my HBa1c was good, the additional comment made was that DAFNE’s guideline was not to have more than 2 hypos a week!!. I do not meet this criteria at all and am lucky to not have 2 hypos a day, I understand the reason I am having them as I am so sensitive to insulin any variation affects me, but what I was really wanting to know is am I the only one, do any of you have more than 2 hypos a week?

 

[emma_hughes3]

I was suffering hypos all the time like you at least two a day and now Iv lost my hypo awareness, my nurses have cut down my lantus now and I'm not having as many but still a few a week and I can go dangerously low before I or anyone around me knows I'm having a hypo. I find it very scary

 

[emmay]

I was suffering hypos all the time like you at least two a day and now Iv lost my hypo awareness, my nurses have cut down my lantus now and I'm not having as many but still a few a week and I can go dangerously low before I or anyone around me knows I'm having a hypo. I find it very scary

That’s what I’m dreading, but also having a good HBa1c is pointless when you know it’s made up of low readings which are no better than high ones really. I hope things pick up and you get your symptoms back x

 

[emma_hughes3]

Yeah my last hba1c was the same, looks good but just a mix of hypos and slightly high bs.
Iv just been put on a trial for the libre sensor, had it put in yesterday and I find it brilliant, I can keep a constant check on my bs and treat any hypos before it's too bad x

 

[emmay]

I have a libre it’s great, shame I didn’t get mine on nhs tho as is very expensive but well worth it.

 

[phdiabetic]

I haven't had anything below 3.9 in a couple of weeks now Been making an effort to avoid hypos after having a couple of scary drops a while back. However, there are many times during the day when my blood sugar drops and may have become hypo if I hadn't done something, like maybe 5 times a day? Hard to say.

 

[DaveTC]

Most weeks I probably have 2-3 hypos. How often do you check your sugars, I've found it a lot easier to keep control since testing more often (though I was brought up testing once a day rotating through meal times and bed plus for hypos).

 

[novorapidboi26]

Normally I don't, but have been having more now that I am doing the 25 minute walk to the train in the morning......

if sensitivity is your issue then your straight on to a pump.........or the next step would be half unit pens.....but failing that....pump...

 

[emmay]

Normally I don't, but have been having more now that I am doing the 25 minute walk to the train in the morning......

if sensitivity is your issue then your straight on to a pump.........or the next step would be half unit pens.....but failing that....pump...

Hi @novorapidboi26
Thanks for your message and sorry to have not replied sooner. I’m already on half measures for both my background and my fast acting. I have however just been given a new insulin Fiasp which means I don’t have to inject 30mins before I eat. Since starting on this I have noticed my hypos decrease as I only have to wait 10mins now so less can go wrong

 

[sweetbloodsher]

I'm in the process of reducing my hypo's right now. Trying to get down to 2/week; was going low every other day. Dr. warned that this can lead to early onset dementia. I haven't seen a discussion of this on this website, and wonder if the rest of the world is aware. Was pretty shocked by this news.

 

[Juicyj]

Hi @sweetbloodsher - I have a philosophy in regards to hypos, and it’s that you should always be able to know why your bg levels dropped, so exercise, too much insulin, not enough carbs etc. It’s important to analyse and to watch for patterns so that you can look to avoid, they go hand in hand with managing type 1 but it’s part of the knowledge of knowing more about your own self management. Do you know what’s causing yours ?

I haven’t heard anything about dementia that’s a new one - did they explain further as to why they believe there’s a link ?

 

[barrym]

Hi @sweetbloodsher -
I haven’t heard anything about dementia that’s a new one - did they explain further as to why they believe there’s a link ?

At my last consultant session I had my wrists slapped for too many hypos and the young registrar said that there was some linkage between hypos and cognitive degeneration. Nothing specific provided, not strong enough to be 'evidence' yet.

 

[donnellysdogs]

Yeah my last hba1c was the same, looks good but just a mix of hypos and slightly high bs.
Iv just been put on a trial for the libre sensor, had it put in yesterday and I find it brilliant, I can keep a constant check on my bs and treat any hypos before it's too bad x

Be careful... the libre is not that accurate on its very first day... if you continue its worthwhile putting the new sensor in 24 hrs ahead but not starting it.
Just dont judge anything as accurate on the first 24hrs with libre.
Certainly test and be just wary about making any changes.

 

[Levy]

Hi
I recently had my annual review and although my HBa1c was good, the additional comment made was that DAFNE’s guideline was not to have more than 2 hypos a week!!. I do not meet this criteria at all and am lucky to not have 2 hypos a day, I understand the reason I am having them as I am so sensitive to insulin any variation affects me, but what I was really wanting to know is am I the only one, do any of you have more than 2 hypos a week?

Since starting on Libre I'm having lots more hypos purely because my levels are more in range rather than too high most of the time. Because I now have a lower margin of error (ie my levels are already between 4 and 9 most of the time) I'm having more hypos as a result. I'm having at least one a day.

I know this is something I need to sort out, I know the potential dangers of having too many hypos. I haven't been able to see a consultant since starting Libre, so for now I'm just happy that I've been able to generally improve my control (with an estimated A1C of 6.4% down from 8.2%). Reducing the hypos is the next step I'll be taking with the help of my diabetes team.

What I'm trying to say is - you're not alone!

 

[sweetbloodsher]

Hi @sweetbloodsher - I have a philosophy in regards to hypos, and it’s that you should always be able to know why your bg levels dropped, so exercise, too much insulin, not enough carbs etc. It’s important to analyse and to watch for patterns so that you can look to avoid, they go hand in hand with managing type 1 but it’s part of the knowledge of knowing more about your own self management. Do you know what’s causing yours ?

I haven’t heard anything about dementia that’s a new one - did they explain further as to why they believe there’s a link ?

I was just taking too much basal insulin. All is well now. My occasional low's are happening at 4 or 5 AM, which is still weird b/c I inject basal around 7:30. Regarding the study, here's the link:

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/848519

Hope you can get there. They seem to have only recently begun studying T1's and dementia. In the past, heart disease is what got us, I guess; and the big improvement in our care is recent--1990's. If the link doesn't work, it is based on a Northern California Kaiser Permanente study in 2015.

 

[emmay]

Thanks for all your great messages, this last week has been so much better, for first 5 days only had 1 hypo, then low and behold Thursday had 3 in one day!!!
@Juicyj I agree with you in you should know why your sugar goes down but that doesn’t always mean you can prepare for it, for instance with my work I am very active some days this doesn’t affect my sugars and they will be fine other days if the temperature is a bit hotter my sugars will drop, however I don’t always have time to sit and analyse what is happening or gonna happen and thus lows occur, which is very frustrating. I am quite a positive person however so if I have one bad day i to try and start the next with a new outlook, but it can be very hard, especially when you see some people’s comment that their sugars never go above 8-9, I do wonder what they do in the day!!!

 

[emmay]

Since starting on Libre I'm having lots more hypos purely because my levels are more in range rather than too high most of the time. Because I now have a lower margin of error (ie my levels are already between 4 and 9 most of the time) I'm having more hypos as a result. I'm having at least one a day.

I know this is something I need to sort out, I know the potential dangers of having too many hypos. I haven't been able to see a consultant since starting Libre, so for now I'm just happy that I've been able to generally improve my control (with an estimated A1C of 6.4% down from 8.2%). Reducing the hypos is the next step I'll be taking with the help of my diabetes team.

What I'm trying to say is - you're not alone!

Thanks so much @Levy I do feel like the only person with diabetes sometimes, as I don’t know anyone else who injects, a group of people I have met all use pumps and although we have the same issues generally I’m not sure it’s exactly the same.

With my libre I feel it’s the same my levels have vastly improved but because of that I only need to do a bit more in the day or not be as precise then I have a low, it’s horrible to have to be so perfect all the time it’s just not realistic and life doesn’t allow you to be like that

 

[diabetesknow]

I used to get a lot of hypos as well until I added a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) to my insulin pump. It cut down my hypos about 75%, I also added the threshold suspend feature so when my sugar hits a specific number it suspends the insulin delivery for up to 2 hours, it helps big time!!!