• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2026 Survey »

Over correcting

planehazza

Active Member
Messages
40
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I have a big issue with overcorrecting hypos. I woke again last night to 3.0 (think my basal needs adjusting). I had half of a cup of pepsi and two chocolate break away biscuits (smaller than penguins). Now, other than half a cup of coffee with milk, I've had nothing to eat since then (3AM this morning). I've just tested and it was 11!

Am I over doing it, or eating the wrong things? The proper stuff to use (dextrose + bread for example) is horrible and fed up of the taste of it.
 
I would guess that the pepsi would have been enough on this occasion. I would try to investigate why this is happening and prevent it, you suggested it could be your basal ? Keep a diary for a week or so. Write down insulin doses, BG readings, carbs eaten, exercise and hopefully you may see a solution. If not, post here or speak to your DSN.
 
Liquids raise your bg levels faster than solid foods so be cautious that way.. If it's an extreme hypo have sweetened liquids to normalize the levels quickly for mild hypos along with hunger take solid foods with some water rather than cold drinks.. That's how I do but yeah I guess everyone does that "overcorrection" in hypo because at that moment we get into a sort of eating frenzy haha

I'LL EAT WHATEVER I SEE LOL
 
Rough guess but you probably consumed approx 40-50g of carbs for the hypo, so it's not surprising your bg is sitting at 11mmol. Why not use Jelly Babies for the hypo's, they taste much better than Dextrose and Glucotabs and work just as fast, I think everyone at some stage have over-treated hypo's and its only by testing afterwards can you determine how much glucose to use which gets you out of hypo land.

If the night-hypo's are a regular occurrence try cutting back on your basal insulin and test for a few nights.
 
I've found the best way to counteract a hypo would be to use glucose jellybeans that way you know exactly how much glucose you are using and if that's putting you over. You may want to consider the timing of your basal, you may be having it too early and need to bump it back a bit, that or its too high and you are overdoing your correction.
 
15-20g of quick acting carbs should do the trick, you can then check 15 minutes later and have another 15-20g if still low......

there could also be an effect from the hormonal release we all experience in the morning, specifically cortisol, which increases our insulin sensitivity.....

my preference for hypos is 250ml isotonic sports drink from Asda, which is half the 500ml bottle, its quick and around 15-20g of CHO
 

Good advcie Novo, there was some little glocose drinks that were mentioned on my DAFNE course that contained 15g of QA glucose but I can't think what they were called, do you recall the name?
 
I don't sorry...........

my course was back in 2009, and we had jelly babies and small cartons of fruit juice up the back for hypos, think there were some biscuits too.......

I didn't need to use them........
 
novorapidboi26 said:
I don't sorry...........

my course was back in 2009, and we had jelly babies and small cartons of fruit juice up the back for hypos, think there were some biscuits too.......

I didn't need to use them........
Click to expand...

Thanks anyway, they were from Boots as I recall and they recommended them for treating hypo's which were quite low, just thought they might suit the OP better.
 
Cool thanks all. I'm obviously having too much. I thought perhaps 100ml of pepsi but those two biscuits would be the right amount, but obviously not. As said above, I get a real case of the munchies mid hypos - I've just remembered I also ate a slice of corned beef and a sausage roll haha. Too much carb for sure.

I have my basal dose at midnight most days, but try to keep it as close to 24 hours apart as possible. I never really stock jelly babies or dextrose any more which is shocking I know. It just adds more to the feeling of a chore having to stock it all up etc. I guess this is opening my eyes a bit as to how frequent my hypos/yo-yoing has become :/
 
noblehead said:
Good advcie Novo, there was some little glocose drinks that were mentioned on my DAFNE course that contained 15g of QA glucose but I can't think what they were called, do you recall the name?
Click to expand...

Glucojuice, they were recently half price so I bought 10 lol most of my hypos occur an hour or so after eating so I find it much easier to drink rather than eat something. Also hard to have too much because they're small


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but that sounds like too much short acting for the meal?
 
RosieDred said:
Glucojuice, they were recently half price so I bought 10 lol most of my hypos occur an hour or so after eating so I find it much easier to drink rather than eat something. Also hard to have too much because they're small
Click to expand...

I think that was the name Rosie, thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…