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Type 2 Type 2 and hypos

AlexMagd

Well-Known Member
Messages
184
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
As a T2D on diet treatment only - am I at risk of hypos? I only ask as sometimes my overnight Libre readings are quite low (sub 4.0 at times) though I've never felt any ill effects from it. Far as I understood I'm not at risk, but seeing that red line does make me a little concerned!

Ta!
 
Unlikely you will have a hypo, any more than any non-diabetic would. If it happens when you wake during the night, do a finger prick check. If you are going low your liver and hormones should compensate. Our livers and hormones keep us alive during the night and when fasting/between meals.

The Libre is notorious for low readings overnight because the sensor can be "disturbed" if you lie on it. My overnight readings are often in the 3s, which I know are false as I occasionally wake to visit the loo and finger prick. My Accu Chek Mobile reads in the 4s and above at differences greater than it ever does during the day.

This is one reason my Libre's estimated HbA1c levels are sometimes in the 20s!
 
I have no experience with libre but see advice saying double check it with prick meter.
I hope I don't get a libre, they sound very temperamental.

Hypo level is deemed below 4mmol/l but I don't have symptoms til I'm 3.2 because I'm on betablockers.
Some people don't have hypo awareness but they are all insulin takers, I've found.
In sleep we need less glucose but if you slowly reach for prick meter and do it without raising your sleeping heartbeat you may get a very close reading to your libre. Once you start moving around adrenalin and liver glucose comes to your aid to increase any 3s, is my guess.
 

That's normal for me. I have my lowest range setting as 3.9 and on Friday the line never went black. Today it also hasn't gone into the black and is 3.2 at the moment. I am eating btw.

Occasionally it reads in the 2's had read as low as 2.3. When it first happened I did panic and ate a couple of biscuits to get it to rise. Once I got a finger prick meter I used that to check and I stopped worrying.

According to the Libre my average glucose for the past 7 days is 3.4, 14 days is 3.4, 30 days is 3.6, 90 days is 4.2. On Wednesday I'm having my 1st A1c since being diagnosed the results are going to be interesting.

Edited to say that I sleep on my left hand side and have the sensor on my right arm normally. For the first time with the last sensor I put it on my left arm and it hasn't made any difference to my overnight readings. I've decided that I've got odd arms.
 
woodywhippet61 said:
According to the Libre my average glucose for the past 7 days is 3.4, 14 days is 3.4, 30 days is 3.6, 90 days is 4.2. On Wednesday I'm having my 1st A1c since being diagnosed the results are going to be interesting.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you have a duff sensor.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
It sounds like you have a duff sensor.
Click to expand...

A duff sensor? I've been using the Libre for 3 months now, that's a lot of duff sensors. It might be a faulty reader though.

Interestingly though when I was first diagnosed I had to have checking fasting bloods and of course another A1c. I scanned just before going into the phlebotomists office it read 7.9 results of the fasting bloods were 6.6.

Apart from the first 2 weeks when my levels were coming down every sensor has read the same. Each time I change them I wonder if this one will read higher (more like the finger pricks) but no they are still between 1-2 lower if I check. I have sometimes thought about getting another finger prick meter but that seems a little extreme to me and I still wouldn't know which one to believe
 
@AlexMagd - As an otherwise healthy, unmedicated T2, it is unlikely you would have a medically concerning hypo.

I have often posted that I run fairly low, and certainly low overnight. I don't consider I have ever had a hypo, never mind a medically concerning one.

I keep my Libre data mainly on another machine, but of the handful on this laptop, I've just picked a couple of random days from the first report set I clicked on, just to illustrate where I go.

I usually have more 3s in the afternoons and later evenings than those days show, but I'm not too concerned about that either.



It really does make sense that you listen to your body, and if you have concerns about anything, or feel off with a low number, then do something about it. But otherwise, personally, I wouldn't be overly concerned.
 
Thanks all! Next time I get a low result I'll finger test to check it. Doesn't sound like I have anything to worry about
 
AlexMagd said:
Thanks all! Next time I get a low result I'll finger test to check it. Doesn't sound like I have anything to worry about
Click to expand...

I'd tend to agree with your conclusion Alex, but it is also important you listen to your body.

If you feel rough, have a bit of a think about things, and maybe have something gentle like a cup of tea. Unlike T1s, or those an aggressive glucose lowering drugs, we don't generally need to grab the carbs, something gentle like a cup of tea will just nudge the numbers up a little, but enough to stop feeling rough, but also to prevent a yo-yo line on the Libre.

Those who have experienced it often report the blood glucose yo-yo as being rather uncomfortable and tricky to break.

I think you'll be fine. You seem to take a balanced approach to things.
 
FYI
"The glucose level that defines hypoglycemia is variable.[1] In people with diabetes levels below 3.9 mmol/L (70 mg/dL) is diagnostic.[1] In adults without diabetes, symptoms related to low blood sugar, low blood sugar at the time of symptoms, and improvement when blood sugar is restored to normal confirm the diagnosis.[5] Otherwise a level below 2.8 mmol/L (50 mg/dL) after not eating or following exercise may be used.[1] In newborns a level below 2.2 mmol/L (40 mg/dL) or less than 3.3 mmol/L (60 mg/dL) if symptoms are present indicates hypoglycemia."

from here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoglycemia

I have on occasion experienced the odd hypo but they didn't last too long and were easily sorted with a few extra carbs.
 
I've found that I need to leave my sensor to acclimatize for about 48 hours before activating it - otherwise I'll get a lot of very low (mainly overnight) readings. Part of it is that I tend to use my right arm - the side I sleep on - for my sensor , but I rarely get these lows after delaying activation...

So, immediate activation:



And after waiting 2 days:



Robbity
 
Hi what name this application
 
DCUKMod said:
It's the data from the Freestyle Libre Flash Glucose sensor.

https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/li...MIzeL6ne_o1gIV1rgbCh3NgQ1SEAAYASAAEgL0KPD_BwE
Click to expand...
Hi DCUKMod
Error link


Webpage not available

The webpage at https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/li...MIzeL6ne_o1gIV1rgbCh3NgQ1SEAAYASAAEgL0KPD_BwE might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.

Suggestions:

Make sure you have a data connection
Reload this webpage later
Check the address you entered
 

As I understand it, the Libre is not available in all countries, so it may well be it isn't available where you are, but if you type, "abbott freestyle libre" into your search engine, hopefully something will come up for you.
 
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