Prescribed Metformin but wondering I can do this on diet alone

It finally settled and started broadly agreeing with my meter yesterday morning. Identical readings on both, and they're 0.2 apart this morning, giving the Libre 15 minutes to catch up.

Should I be worried about that drop in the night? I woke briefly and tested at 2.4. I didn't feel at all unwell. Still not on any medication, so hypos really shouldn't be a thing for me. Is this just what happens if you sleep on the sensor? Or is something else strange going on here?

 

I should have been clearer. Yes, it was 2.4 on the Libre. I assumed it was a misread, and didn't bother to do a blood test.

But that's 4 hours spent below 4.0 according to the Libre, and while I tend to sleep on my side, I alternate between them throughout the night.

 

And it's all gone Pete Tong. Getting false hypo readings during the day as well, now. That last read of 2.7 is 8.5 according to my meter. Less than an hour after eating, so I'd expect it to be around this level.

Which is a shame, because I've had a couple of days of staying almost flawlessly below 8.5 according to the Libre. I was finding that quite reassuring until this happened.

Time to contact Abbott perhaps?

 

It's now reading 'LO' rather than giving any figure at all. I've recently adjusted the band of the protector I had on it, which may have been a bit snug. I'm going to let it breathe for a while and then test again, but if it still isn't making sense, I'll contact them in the morning.

 

New sensor on the way, with a prepaid envelope to return the old one. Though told that unless I buy directly from them, future ones might not have the same cover. £54 from Amazon, though I can claim around £10 VAT back if I can be bothered. £48 ex VAT to buy direct. It's probably worth the extra as insurance.

 

New sensor seems to be behaving a lot better. I'm staying in range (which I have decided for myself is 4.0 to 8.5) pretty much 99% of the time as long as one don't eat anything stupid. I would say the lows are more worrying than the highs, and I wonder what the occasional 3.8 (such as the one I had midnight last night, after half a bottle of wine and two measured double G&T's) would be like if I were on Metformin. So right now, I think diet only is the safest route for me, even if a very occasional act of stupidity might take me to 13 or so.

One thing I'm noticing with Libre is that individual readings can sometimes fall outside of the recorded history. For example seeing a 13.2 on a test, but the dot sitting above the peak of 12 on the graph.

 

I'm sure I'd read that, even only on Metformin, hypos were a risk up to 24 hours after consuming alcohol. Googling suggests that Metformin "doesn't usually" result in hypos unless combined with other medication, but "doesn't usually" doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm mostly concerned from a driving point of view. I suppose I could always do a finger prick test and make sure I have some fast acting carbs if I read below 5, before driving.

My figures seem to be all over the place within the range of 4 to 8.5, but staying within those limits as long as I stick to a low carb regime. Even the occasional small portion of chips with a meal doesn't hit me hard. Then again, 5 chicken pakoras spiked me massively the other day, whereas 6 (from the same packet) on a previous occasion gave me no rise in blood sugar at all. There doesn't seem to be any logic to this.

One of the reasons I bought a Libre was to see if, when and how badly alcohol spikes me. I don't seem to pay for the carbs later on, even with beer. Thursday, I went out with friends and must have spent about 6 or 7 hours in the pub. No idea how many pints I had, but there were 3 of us, and I bought 5 of the rounds, checking my contactless transactions. I still stayed within range the whole time, and right the way through the following day.

 

I've had an AlcoDigital AL7000 breathalyser for well over a year now. It's apparently the most reliable sub-£100 unit you can buy. I use it mostly for morning after testing, and won't drive unless it shows me less than half the legal limit (and preferably zero.)

If it's a case of "you won't go hypo once the alcohol is out of your system", then happy days. I'm probably flapping over nothing.

I perhaps don't fully understand the workings of Metformin, either. I understood that it boosts insulin sensitivity, but also reduces the amount of sugar your liver releases. It's that second part that worries me, if it reduces it when I need it, since the Libre is already showing me dipping below 4 sometimes.