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Strangest hypo - no. 2

I guessed that it wasn't you that said it and you are going by info given to you that a doctor has clearly gotten wrong,


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Juicyj said:
I do generally only have one hypo a week, but after you've done your carb count accurately and eaten your meal as you should do - then a few hours later do some gardening or a shop at the supermarket, or attend a meeting which runs over it's quite easy to have a hypo. Also when you're ill and your body isn't digesting food at the same pace or too quickly, hot weather, excess exercise - the list goes on.

I don't feel though it's a fair comment to say it's a diabetic's fault though for any of these reasons.
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that's the problem with MDI, once it's in there you can't stop it, so if something changes you have to react and you can't always do that quick enough.
 
All insulin can give hypo's.. Just that some insulins are (old style porcine) gave better indications of hypos. Novorapid especially is known for unrecognised hypo's.


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There are many T2's on insulin or tablets that can cause hypo's. I agree with many of the other comments in that food is not the only factor to consider in a diabetic's regime. Stress, exercise, illness and adrenaline can and do affect BG levels. Having said that, tight control should reduce the number of hypo's, not eliminate them. Diabetes is a condition that raises BG, it doesn't lower them.


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Juicyj said:
I do generally only have one hypo a week, but after you've done your carb count accurately and eaten your meal as you should do - then a few hours later do some gardening or a shop at the supermarket, or attend a meeting which runs over it's quite easy to have a hypo. Also when you're ill and your body isn't digesting food at the same pace or too quickly, hot weather, excess exercise - the list goes on.

I don't feel though it's a fair comment to say it's a diabetic's fault though for any of these reasons.
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Yes I quite agree Juicy, a bit of pre-planning can avoid hypo's when you know your going to be particularly active, it's when it isn't pre-planned that it can catch you out :)

Gardening is the worst, I need so little insulin if I spend a day in the garden it's unbelievable!!!
 
noblehead said:
Yes I quite agree Juicy, a bit of pre-planning can avoid hypo's when you know your going to be particularly active, it's when it isn't pre-planned that it can catch you out :)

Gardening is the worst, I need so little insulin if I spend a day in the garden it's unbelievable!!!
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I always carry sweets around with me for those unplanned extra exercise things. I am lucky, I can usually feel it when my BM is at about 4 and usually have enough time to take corrective action. Quite often hypo's for me happen when eating out. At home I can weigh everything, read labels etc, and get my bolus dose bang on. When out, it is a bit of a guess, and sometimes I get it wrong!
 
Perhaps the Dr was referring to a severe hypo and for people who ignore their warning signs? With good control, we should be experiencing one to two mild hypos a week - these are the guidelines given to me through DAFNE (which I highly recommend!). I have had some varying advice since my diagnosis, but always like '4 is the floor'! Lucky that I have good awareness and symptoms happen as I'm approaching 4, but did have one once with no warnings, just happened to test and was low!


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One to two hypo's a week?? Is that dafne guidelines?? My goodness my consultant would goes mad if I have 1 or 2 lows a week..


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tomvonc said:
I always carry sweets around with me for those unplanned extra exercise things. I am lucky, I can usually feel it when my BM is at about 4 and usually have enough time to take corrective action. Quite often hypo's for me happen when eating out. At home I can weigh everything, read labels etc, and get my bolus dose bang on. When out, it is a bit of a guess, and sometimes I get it wrong!
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The nature of the beast Tom, I'm pretty good at guessing the carb count in restaurant and pub meals but still weigh everything at home, no idea why tbh I just like it to be as accurate as possible.

For unplanned exercise I just snack on a banana or oat crackers if I've still got IOB.
 
donnellysdogs said:
One to two hypo's a week?? Is that dafne guidelines?? My goodness my consultant would goes mad if I have 1 or 2 lows a week..


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It's not a target ;)

What they said on my course, is that with tight control where you are minimising the risk of long term complications, you shouldn't be having more than one or two mild hypos a week.

Personally I try to avoid them, aiming for stability. Most of my hypos come about from exercise.
 
Going slightly off tack here, you mentioned the long-term effects of hypos. My mother was a nurse on the diabetic ward at the local hospital (back in the days when they had diabetic wards) and most of the patients were elderly and had all sorts of diabetic complications, my mother always insisted hypos kill brain cells and that's why they were all nutty! Now I just presumed that was my mother being typically cheerful, until 2 months ago on a hospital visit my consultant said practically the same thing! So apparently hypos do kill brain cells! One more thing to look forward to!
 
Oh and I have hypos with no warning signs to get back to where this started, even though I'm on the pump.
 
The recommended route for not recognising hypo's is to raise your levels and this is meant to bring back awareness.

The thing that worked best for me to raise my awareness to really, really, really good awareness was to stabilise the swings in my levels to a minimum... I
By keeping my levels without swings I havent had a single time when my OH has said 'check your blood'. He sometimes used to wake me and say check your blood, but for past 18 months now I have woke myself up and tested and treated before he has even woken up and felt concern. He sleeps through my hypo's now wheras previously he used to say.. 'Check your blood'.



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Sounds like you've taken too much insulin or not enough food the insulins job is to maintain the balance and your job to administer the correct dose

Think that makes more sense !!!


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Very mild all full on.. To me it makes no difference to be honest... I used to have mild ones over night but hubby would still wake me and say check your blood... They were mild, because I could still check my blood and treat myself....

Nowadays there is such a difference in my life, because my hubby doesnt actually wake up anymore. I wake 1st and treat myself, he doesnt even realise.

That is solely from keeping my bloods raised a little higher and from no seings outside the limits...


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I have been run high for the last 10 months to try and get some warnings back. I have to say I now excel at running high!!!! Still no warning signs though.
 
Are you swinging though (thats sounds wrong!!) are your levels consistently between 6 and 8 or are they varying from 4 to say 12. All levels need to be consistent, and really shouldnt be done for more than 5 weeks...

You will never recognise all hypo's-the dvla will revoke your license if you say you do!!

Do you recognise any at all... By that I mean... Not necessarily thinking .. i'm hypo... My immediate thoughts when I am low are " got to check my blood" - I would say that is the thought I get in my head 60% of the time. Probably cos my hubby never says to me "your hypo" but at nights he used to say to me "check your blood"


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