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Should i feel worried

akindrat18

Well-Known Member
Messages
579
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Over the past week and a half my blood sugars have been between 4 and 5 and i test myself 3 times a day; once in the morning, afternoon and evening before i have my meals.

I am scheduled to see my doctor soon as i had a hypo yesterday in the morning for the first time since being diagnosed and it wasn't a false hypo as my blood sugars were 3.6, but since then i don't know whether or not i should have my medication taken down from 2 metformin in the morning and evening to 1 metformin in the morning and evening.

Some help would be muchly appreciated especially from people who have had a similar problem.
 
Actually I don't know of anyone who went hypo just on Metformin. You can go hypo from exercising too much, anyone can but I can't explain why you did so.

Another point worth mentioning is that the arrangement I have with my nurse is that I can adjust my own medication providing I let her know and we discuss it over the phone or in her office at the next review according to the urgency. She says she is not here to make matters worse.

If you are sure the Metformin is the problem then talk to your nurse and get her agreement to cut down.
 
When you say you "had a hypo", did you have all the symptoms of a hypo as well as the BG level of 3.6? If you have previously (ie, before diagnosis) been running high BGs, it is possible to have hypo feelings as your levels come down - ie, false hypos. What was your BG level at diagnosis?

I am not doubting what you say, but metformin is not a hypo-inducing drug, and 3.6 is an acceptable level for a non-diabetic (the range is 3.5 to 5.5 before meals/fasting), so I don't see why it shouldn't be okay for a well-controlled Type 2. I try to keep within the non-diabetic range, and I feel okay in the mid to high 3s. But I was never very high to start with - they caught me early. Many people prefer to go no lower than 4. We are all different!

If you do have hypo symptoms with low blood glucose levels, eat a couple of glucose tablets and then test again after 15 minutes. Two tablets should push you up over 4; if not, have another, and test again 15 minutes later. Once your BGs are rising again, eat something carby - oatcakes or a plain biscuit, and maybe a bit of cheese - to keep you stable. I always carry glucose tablets just in case, but I've rarely used them.

You say you test 3 times daily before your meals. Levels between 4 and 5 are very good, well within the non-diabetic range, which is where I like to keep mine . You also need to test 2 hours after eating, to see how your body is handling the food you eat. Your BGs than should be no higher than 7.8; if they are above this, you have eaten something (usually carbohydrate) that your body can't handle.

I can only cope with small amounts of carbohydrate, and I like my glucose levels to be within 2 points of where I was before I ate. That is, if my pre-meal test is 4.8, I would like to be about 5, 2 hours afterwards. I didn't manage that initially, but I've now been diagnosed nearly 3 years and things are much better than they were.

There is a thread somewhere on here about hypos and how to treat them. If I can find it I'll edit this post to tell you where it is.

Hope this helps!

Viv 8)
 

On my diagnosis of diabetes type 2 my BG levels were at 40 and the nurses gradually got it down to 16. Since then i have gradually got my levels down and experienced 2 false hypos and not real hypos.

Whenever i go out, i always carry with me my monitor pack and 1 roll of fruit pastils, just in case i need to raise my BG levels and so far i haven't used them yet.

When i was having the hypo i had just woken up from my sleep and felt dizzy, shaky plus i felt like i was going to collapse soon but i didn't. Anyways I got told by my doctor that whenever i experience hypo symptoms is to raise my BG levels and then phone him up to tell him my BG levels so he can record them and afterwards he said to me ring him up again if my BG levels go below 4.

When i test my BG levels i use to test them 6 times a day, but after 3 months i had a regular pattern ranging from 4 to 6, so i then decided to test my self 3 times a day and they have been the same ever since, except for a hiccup on New Years Eve.
 
A number of people go by the saying "four is the floor", and always treat for hypo (as I described, or with your fruit pastilles) if they go below it. If those are your GPs instructions, then stick with them.

Viv 8)
 
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