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Severe Hypo Prevention

R

RussellKeith_

Newbie
Messages
1
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi All, on Friday I had a severe early morning hypo where I experienced loss of consciousness and needed medical treatment. The attending paramedic asked me about my lifestyle and work and, as it’s been extremely stressful in work over the last few weeks it was suggested that this could have been a contributing factor.
I’m going to make an appointment on Tuesday with my diabetes nurse to see if I can switch from test strips to CGM patches or something similar. Apparently using this method of glucose monitoring would alert me or my wife if my sugar levels went below a certain range. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciate.
Thank you and take care.
 
I assume by “glucose patches” you mean the Libre.
This is very common in the UK (use the search function on the right of the page).
it should give you an alert when your levels are going low (it is a good idea to set the threshold so you can treat the hip before it occurs).
However, it is not a replacement for all finger pricks as it is not as accurate.

If you are based in England, these are available to anyone treating their diabetes with insulin.
 
I use the libre 2 system and yes it's amazing to be able to go to sleep with out worrying about hypos in the night.
As long as you can use a phone you will be fine.
I set my alarm to go of at 4 on the sensor so I have time to grab a apple juice carton out the fridge.
I hope this helps my fellow diabetic warrior.
 
I too use the libre 2 sensor and it is set to give me an alarm at 4.2. If it goes off either myself or my wife hears it and I simply have a small carton of orange juice which I have by the side of the bed. Knowing that an alarm will sound leads to me getting a better nights sleep.
 
As a pretty uncontrollable type 1 I use a pump which is very good but the difference to me know is the Libre 2 system I’ve alarm range at 4.3 to 12.9 far better control almost completely stopped night time hypos
 
The only problem with Libre2 is that you do get frequent low alarms at night because you have been sleeping on the sensor side and the pressure seems to trigger low alarms. Also because of the time lapse with Libre, it keeps going after you have treated the hypo. This causes me to switch off the alarm temporarily to get undisturbed sleep! Would appreciate comments from other members.
 
@Glucobabu have you considered placing your sensor somewhere different that you don't lie on to avoid the compression lows?
If you always sleep on one side, put your sensor on your other arm. If you sleep on both sides, put your sensor higher up your arm. If this is not possible (maybe you finder a higher sensor difficult to scan), some people have placed their sensor elsewhere on their body such as their abdomen. This is not approved by Abbott but is normal for other CGMs such as Dexcom.
 
In Response said:
@Glucobabu have you considered placing your sensor somewhere different that you don't lie on to avoid the compression lows?
If you always sleep on one side, put your sensor on your other arm. If you sleep on both sides, put your sensor higher up your arm. If this is not possible (maybe you finder a higher sensor difficult to scan), some people have placed their sensor elsewhere on their body such as their abdomen. This is not approved by Abbott but is normal for other CGMs such as Dexcom.
Click to expand...
On my DSN’s suggestion I put the sensor on the inside rather than outside of the arm to prevent it from being knocked off against door frames etc. I have yet to try other sites. Thank you for your suggestions.
 
Agreed, the Libre 2 sensor is very good, and reassuring, when experiencing night time lows. As far as the alarm repeating, then just rescan the Libre 2 and this will(should) provide your glucose intake to raise your reading above the alarm threshold that you have set.
 
In Response said:
I assume by “glucose patches” you mean the Libre.
This is very common in the UK (use the search function on the right of the page).
it should give you an alert when your levels are going low (it is a good idea to set the threshold so you can treat the hip before it occurs).
However, it is not a replacement for all finger pricks as it is not as accurate.

If you are based in England, these are available to anyone treating their diabetes with insulin.
Click to expand...
‘If you are based in England, these are available to anyone treating their diabetes with insulin’

Regretfully that’s not true, it’s very much a postcode lottery as to whether your NHS trust will fund it. It also depends what type you are, I’m type 2 on Insulin and stand more chance of meeting Father Christmas than getting a CGM. I could self fund of course but depending on what make it‘s anywhere between £1400 and nearly £2000
 
Charles 59 said:
As a pretty uncontrollable type 1 I use a pump which is very good but the difference to me know is the Libre 2 system I’ve alarm range at 4.3 to 12.9 far better control almost completely stopped night time hypos
Click to expand...
Hi Charles. What pump do you use please and do you use the Libre 2 as well as the pump? Does the pump alone give you low/high alarms? Im a new diabetic (5 months due to pancreas removal) and use the Libre 2. Hope to get some sort of insulin pump soon..... I think it will be the Omnipod.
 
RussellKeith_ said:
Hi All, on Friday I had a severe early morning hypo where I experienced loss of consciousness and needed medical treatment. The attending paramedic asked me about my lifestyle and work and, as it’s been extremely stressful in work over the last few weeks it was suggested that this could have been a contributing factor.
I’m going to make an appointment on Tuesday with my diabetes nurse to see if I can switch from test strips to CGM patches or something similar. Apparently using this method of glucose monitoring would alert me or my wife if my sugar levels went below a certain range. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciate.
Thank you and take care.
Click to expand...
Hi
I had the same problem and am on Dexcom which gives me sufficient warning to treat low blood sugar level. I tried Libre but it kept falling off my arm after a few hrs or a couple of days, so not practical (I do have small thin arms though.
 
Pam* said:
Hi Charles. What pump do you use please and do you use the Libre 2 as well as the pump? Does the pump alone give you low/high alarms? Im a new diabetic (5 months due to pancreas removal) and use the Libre 2. Hope to get some sort of insulin pump soon..... I think it will be the Omnipod.
Click to expand...
A pump alone does not track blood sugar levels so cannot give any alarms.
There is no reason why you cannot use a pump and a Libre - but they do not talk to each other.

I recommend doing some research into a pump. Mine has been fantastic for me but it is definitely not a silver bullet. I would say I spend more time managing my diabetes since I had one as it gives me the opportunity for finer management.
 
In Response said:
A pump alone does not track blood sugar levels so cannot give any alarms.
There is no reason why you cannot use a pump and a Libre - but they do not talk to each other.

I recommend doing some research into a pump. Mine has been fantastic for me but it is definitely not a silver bullet. I would say I spend more time managing my diabetes since I had one as it gives me the opportunity for finer management.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. I think it's crazy that the BG monitor doesn't talk to the pump. So without the BG monitor do you have to go back to finger pricking?
 
Pam* said:
Thanks for your reply. I think it's crazy that the BG monitor doesn't talk to the pump. So without the BG monitor do you have to go back to finger pricking?
Click to expand...
No, there is no reason why you cannot have the pump and Libre.
However, Libre does not replace all finger pricks. The advice is to always test highs, lows and any readings that do not match how you feel.

What is your expectation of a pump like OmniPod? It is just another mechanism for giving you insulin. You still have to tell it how much.
 
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