Treating hypos

[Verve09]

Hi everyone,

I'm a type one and I've been very happy with the low-carbing lifestyle. However, I've recently had a bit of difficulty with my control and I've been having more hypos. I wanted to know how other type one low-carbers dealt with low BS. I'm assuming we all deal with it with glucose i.e. tablets/orange juice/ jelly babies as this is the most sensible thing to do, but how does this impact upon our low-carbing lifestyle?
Or do people 'nip the hypo in the bud' with nuts etc. before the hypo really sets in?

For example, I found I went hypo (about 3.4), dealt with it with some jelly babies but then hit 10 before I knew it and was then swinging up and down for a few hours. Would my body then be confused as to which energy source to use?

Has anybody else experienced problems with this?
Thanks,
Beth

 

[cugila]

For example, I found I went hypo (about 3.4), dealt with it with some jelly babies but then hit 10 before I knew it and was then swinging up and down for a few hours. Would my body then be confused as to which energy source to use?

Has anybody else experienced problems with this?
Thanks,
Beth

Hi Beth.

A hypo is not peculiar to Type 1, anybody can hypo for whatever reasons. How you deal with them is another matter. I prefer to try and avoid them as I basically feel like cr*p ! As soon as I get the awareness I immediately eat a carby snack to stabilise the levels. If I have suddenly dropped too low and it's a definite hypo then I take one or two glucotabs, or a slug of Lucozade. You can have too many Jelly Babies, although it almost makes a hypo worthwhile....I love 'em !

Balance is all about getting it right and not yo-yo'ing from one extreme to the other.

 

[totsy]

hi,
if im hypo say 3.4 -3.8mmol i will have one glucotab, under that i tend to have 2 or 3 glucotabs which usually sort me out,

i used to use lucozade and found it was taking me too high whereas each glucotab is 4g carbs/sugar

 

[kegstore]

Although not a low-carber myself, the problem you have happens easily to any diabetic who has a hypo, that is to overdose on the sweet stuff. I tend to stick to a fixed amount of my hypo cure and never go over this amount.

Bear in mind too that the lower you go, you may need incrementally much more than for a less severe low. My cure of choice is a 200ml bottle of juice, which has 25g of carb (yes I know but read on!). At normal bg levels (5 mmol/l) this amount would send my bg skyward, probably to around 12-14. But from a hypo of less than 3 I will top out at around 5 with the same amount.

 

[Verve09]

Thanks for your responses, guys, it's good to hear what others do.

Yes, I normally know exactly how much glucose I need to take to raise a low, but I think this day was just an off one. I had been low earlier and was also rushing around quite alot, so I think a combo of things that i hadn't planned for set me off balance.

But do other low-carbers just have to eat the glucose (carbs) and try not to worry about off-setting low-carb diet? I'm fairly strict with my carb intake, not going above 25-30g, so I don't want to ruin it by going hypo and having glucose. Having said that, maybe I shouldn't worry about having a bit of glucose when low as I don't have many carbs to start with ?

Thanks,
Beth

P.S sorry if this is confusing but I just wanted to get it straight in my head!

 

[scottishkate]

Hi Beth,

Assuming you're following a low-carb diet in order to achieve better control then having some glucose won't 'ruin' it if you are low and need to raise your levels. I think you might have got a bit mixed-up with using a low-carb diet solely for weight loss when the aim of the game is to avoid carbs in order to stay in ketosis? Low carb will help to even out your levels but if your levels fall you have to raise them with a bit of glucose (and since low-carbing I've found I need much less glucose to do this - 2 glucose tabs max for me nowadays).

katie

 

[gateian]

Personally I use dextroenergy tabs. I know that taking one of these will raise my blood sugars by about 1mmol. So if i'm sub 4mmols, i may take 2 tablets just to get it up to 6mmols. It will then usually settle down to around 5-6mmols somewhere.

However, if you continue to have them, even when you are treating it, you may need to check your basal dose. I recently had a few days of continuous hypoing. Even having a few dextroenergy tabs only temporarily brought my level up before it dropped again.

So i noticed my fasting blood sugars were coming down slightly. So I adjusted my basal level slightly and now it seems better.

Also remember that if you have good sugar levels, any activity you do will require a bit of glucose before hand. So if you go out for an hours walk, you will need a certain amount of glucose.

 

[Verve09]

Thanks again for the help.

Katie, no, weight loss isn't my sole aim. My goal is to improve my blood sugar numbers and I was worried and frustrated that after being hypo I'd hit 10. I hadn't expected it to rise so much, that's why I was wondering how others dealt with hypos. It's probably just the case that I don't need as much sugar as I ate. Furthermore, I'm sure I read on here that a low-carber always used nuts if they felt their blood sugar was a little low. I'm assuming this works when one is so finely tuned to one's body they can prevent a sub-4mml level. It'll just take a bit more practise I guess!

Gateian, yes I'm going to have a look at my basal rates tomorrow, probably by fasting to see if the numbers stay constant. I've got a feeling they're a little out, which makes the bolusing pretty inaccurate!

Beth

 

[hanadr]

T1 husband, who is a DIFFICULT person to plase. WON'T use glucotabs, says he doesn't like the taste. so has a glug from a bottle of Lucosade followed by a biscuit.
Hana
Since reducing his carbs, the lows have been less frequent and less low. Insulin doses have just about halved, but weight is still an issue. I suspect those biscuits, which are meant to be for emergencies ONLY.

 

[gateian]

Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't get the bolus amounts right. We're all striving for perfection, but even if you weigh every single bit of food and read the labels, you still can't really be 100% able to calculate how much insulin you will need.

But yes it's trial and error in the end and all part of the learning process.