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Please help!

debs1977f

debs1977f

Newbie
Messages
2
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi, i am 38 diagnosed t1 at 30,,been on medtronic pump for 4yrs just changed to omnipod. I am also super sensitive to insulin. Since changing pumps a few ago,,i have been constantly hypoing and now have no hypo awareness and am alone with a 2 1/2 yr old most days. Why is this happening and why has my awareness gone. I am so fed up at the moment and evrytime i stand to do something it feels like i am hypoing again,,i have lowered all my settings,,most days i completely suspend the pump for hours drink cans of coke and eat jelly babies just to keep them above 5. :( Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. How do i also make my awareness more aware lol
 
Hi debs1977f
welcome to the forum :)
first would be an immediate call to your diabetic pump nurse followed by some further basal testing
link here http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007

usually when people lose their hypo awareness it is because they have had tight control with an HbA1c below 6.2% for a good while. It is possible to regain some of this awareness by running high for about 6-8 weeks.
this is something you should discuss with your D care team at hospital.

all the best !
 
debs1977f said:
Hi, i am 38 diagnosed t1 at 30,,been on medtronic pump for 4yrs just changed to omnipod. I am also super sensitive to insulin. Since changing pumps a few ago,,i have been constantly hypoing and now have no hypo awareness and am alone with a 2 1/2 yr old most days. Why is this happening and why has my awareness gone. I am so fed up at the moment and evrytime i stand to do something it feels like i am hypoing again,,i have lowered all my settings,,most days i completely suspend the pump for hours drink cans of coke and eat jelly babies just to keep them above 5. :( Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. How do i also make my awareness more aware lol
Click to expand...
Hi debs,
I'm not a medic so can only go from experience. I know pumps work out their insulin dosage in different ways so this could be a problem but what has caught my attention is the pump switched off for hours and still hypo. Can you get an urgent apt with your GP for an early morning cortisol test? I asked because I had your symptoms when diagnosed with Addison's disease. Only way to get your warning signs back is to stop the hypos but that wont happen until the reason is sorted. Get hold of your team urgently.
I wonder if when you stand it's low BP and not a hypo unless your meter says otherwise.
 
himtoo said:
Hi debs1977f
welcome to the forum :)
first would be an immediate call to your diabetic pump nurse followed by some further basal testing
link here http://www.salforddiabetescare.co.uk/index2.php?nav_id=1007

usually when people lose their hypo awareness it is because they have had tight control with an HbA1c below 6.2% for a good while. It is possible to regain some of this awareness by running high for about 6-8 weeks.
this is something you should discuss with your D care team at hospital.

all the best !
Click to expand...

Any a1c between 5.8 to 6.4% will start to impair the hypo awareness
 
iHs said:
Any a1c between 5.8 to 6.4% will start to impair the hypo awareness
Click to expand...
hi, thank you for your replies, i have contacted my diabetes again but nobody really replies. My last hb1ac was 7.2 i think so not brilliant lol but recently have been going through alot of stress moving house etc but that still doesnt equate to all the hypos i keep having,,maybe the delivery of the omnipod differs from the medtronic and thats what the problem is,,but not sure how to rectify this. Would anyone also know how to change the bolus ratio on the pump so i can try reducing the amount of bolus i have. I have left a message with diabetic team but am still waiting for a response!
 
debs1977f said:
hi, thank you for your replies, i have contacted my diabetes again but nobody really replies. My last hb1ac was 7.2 i think so not brilliant lol but recently have been going through alot of stress moving house etc but that still doesnt equate to all the hypos i keep having,,maybe the delivery of the omnipod differs from the medtronic and thats what the problem is,,but not sure how to rectify this. Would anyone also know how to change the bolus ratio on the pump so i can try reducing the amount of bolus i have. I have left a message with diabetic team but am still waiting for a response!
Click to expand...
You need an urgent GP apt to test you for Addison's disease. Turning a pump off for hours and still going hypo means something is wrong IE very low cortisol levels and this is life threatening. Look up the symptoms for diabetes and Addison's disease and mention it as a possibility to your GP as most GP's never see a case in the career.
 
My goodness, I am shocked your diabetes team are not coming back to you! Get yourself booked in with your GP straight away. Wishing you the best of luck. Hope everything goes okay.
 
Are you hypoing 2-3 hours after food?
Have you gone back to basics with basal testing.

I can't help with omnipod changing bolus ratio's I'm afraid. Haven't you got a careline to phone for help to change your settings if nurses not available?
 
iHs said:
Any a1c between 5.8 to 6.4% will start to impair the hypo awareness
Click to expand...

This is untrue. Both myself and another friend on a pump have maintained our HbA1c for several years between 5 and 6 and neither of us have lost hypo awareness at all. I get excellent hypo signals. Yes some people need to run slightly higher but not everyone. I feel very healthy running lower and my hypo signals kick in between 4 and 4.5. Both I and my doctors are happy with that.
 
Personally I feel that hypo awareness is more due to the speed in which your levels drop. Certainly since I went to pump and since back on MDI I have maintained my levels consistently and achieved 5.5-6.4 hba1c levels. I even wake myself up at nights if I am high now... The only time I get a higher reason is due to trying to find out why the food I eat on a Sunday so badly affects me 15 hours later.
For me, the lower hba1cs don't affect awareness. It's the speed in which the drop occurs when you have a hypo.
If you are tightly controlled then those drops will be less quick and therefore hypo awareness is improved..I'm not talking about people swinging from 2's to 20's...I'm talking about people that on the whole have their levels between 5-8 and a SD of less than 2.3.
 
debs1977f said:
very
Click to expand...
U
MushyPeaBrain said:
This is untrue. Both myself and another friend on a pump have maintained our HbA1c for several years between 5 and 6 and neither of us have lost hypo awareness at all. I get excellent hypo signals. Yes some people need to run slightly higher but not everyone. I feel very healthy running lower and my hypo signals kick in between 4 and 4.5. Both I and my doctors are happy with that.
Click to expand...
 
Totally agree MushyPeaBrain I get the same hypo awareness 4-4.5 with my HbA1c running between 5-6 and as donnelly dogs says it can depend on what you've eaten hours earlier
 
masonbason63 said:
Totally agree MushyPeaBrain I get the same hypo awareness 4-4.5 with my HbA1c running between 5-6 and as donnelly dogs says it can depend on what you've eaten hours earlier
Click to expand...

I could definately not achieve an a1c of 5-6% and retain my awareness of the hypo feeling on a bg level of 4 to 5mmol. My a1c would need to go up to the mid 7 to 8% and have higher bg levels in order to pick up on bg dropping down to 4mmol.
I think you are very lucky @Masonbasin63
 
Yes I agree there is no way I could recognise hypo at 4-4.5 even if running higher. Have just changed to pump will wait and see. However pleased that I am still hypo aware after 48years of type 1.
Debs I am worried for you, please get help/ support immediately if you haven't yet. Especially as you have youngsters dependent on you too.
Update if anyone interested now using Omnipod 4 years and now Libre too. Hypo awareness increased with use of pump / libre but reduces if my target BG is between 3.9 - 7 advised to increase to 4-8 and awareness now much better. Hba1c 6.5
 
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