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Very Low Blood Sugars, Not Increasing With Carbs

EllieM said:
Have you set an alarm for the middle of the night? Just not sure what will happen if fast carbs are the issue and they make you go very low earlier than the morning....
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Hi EllieM, yes I set an alarm for 3 hours sleep, I was not too worried, as I was doing this for 30 days before, as I was asked to by a diabetic nurse. On waking, BG was 5.0, I then had a soft bake bar and 8 more Dextro tabs and back to sleep, and on waking up today my BG was 4.6, meaning my experiment did not work. Or maybe it did, as all info may help the GP/endo Dr?

So I really don't know what is going on, but it seems eating much more protein from fish and meat could be helping, I'll do some research later tonight to see if that is a thing, but I did stop eating all meat/fish for over a year and a half, my only source of protein in that time was from nuts, and a little from porridge, and then more recently seeded wholemeal bread, and not long after starting to eat bread and veg soup again, about 35 days ago is when my BG dropped to below 2.9, for about 30 days straight.

Maybe my low BG is because of eating so little food for so long.
I'm just rereading my food diary, and on the start of February 2025 till the 7th of April I only managed to eat 2 Brazil nuts per day, and on that last day of the 7th April I called NHS 111, and saw a triage doctor as I was so weak and in so much stomach, back shoulders, neck, and chest pain, and he thought it wasn't angina, but instead GERD and pancreatitis, so he put me on Omeprazole 40mg and within 20 minutes my pain started to go away. I could not believe it I had been in bedridden pain (waiting for a scan) for around a year and a half, and it wasn't angina.

What makes it harder to diagnose is that I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia around 2015, and have had RLS and RAS for 20+ years now, it's gotten so bad in the past that the only way to stop it, is by hitting my hands with a hammer, and even much worse, that I don't know if it's OK to say it here, but I can mostly control both RLS/RAS buy not drinking any alcohol, or eating processed or junk foods, and strictly no additives like monosodium glutamate, or blue purple and red food colouring additives.

I hope it's OK to talk about this here, as reading everyone's comments helps me clear my mind, and I'm hoping it's OK to keep putting my and the Dr's finding here?

I just add Dexcom have posted the BG tester, I'm not sure which one it is though, and It's been nearly a week and not heard back from Libre, but they did say they were posting out 2 Libre 2's, so maybe I get them soon.


Thanks all :)
 
Very frustrating that you aren't spotting any obvious patterns as to causes of the lows, but more data has to be better.

hardergamer said:
Maybe my low BG is because of eating so little food for so long.
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People who have eating disorders can get all sorts of strange symptoms, I have no idea whether this applies to you. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4381361/

Forum rules don't let us diagnose, but we are here to listen, give moral support, and make helpful suggestions that don't cross the diagnosis line. So you are fine to keep posting. I think there are quite a few of us who have been listening to your journey and hoping that you get the help you need.

Just a quick heads up on the dexcom trial, since you are about to be using one. Sometimes (not always) I find them very inaccurate for the first few hours, usually reading low. Dexcom customer support told me it is because of the body reacting around the insertion site, and told me not to calibrate for the first 24 hours.

Good luck with it all
 
EllieM said:
Just a quick heads up on the dexcom trial, since you are about to be using one. Sometimes (not always) I find them very inaccurate for the first few hours, usually reading low. Dexcom customer support told me it is because of the body reacting around the insertion site, and told me not to calibrate for the first 24 hours.
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Had similar lows to start with with libre insertion trauma found that inserting 8to12 hours prior to activating helped to solve that for me alongside a little more accurate overall Vs fingerpricks (after take delay into account)
 
Thanks EllieM & grantg, I did like you said and fitted the Dexcom One 10 hours ago, and just scanned it with my phone, but it was way off, It was reading 6.8, when my finger prick meter was showing 4.9, so I calibrated it, but I'm not going to even look at it again until tomorrow, I give it some time.

EllieM, That's an interesting read on Anorexia nervosa, and i'm only about 20% in, so will finish it tomorrow now, and I'm happy with the help I've had here, and just suggesting things to read, what to look into, of what others here have been though is all I'm looking for.

****, I forgot you said: "not to calibrate for the first 24 hours" I was following the APP
 
Don't worry too much over calibration earlier. Next time however if calibrating remember there's delays around 10 to 15 mins. So if fingerprick says eg 5 wait 10to15 mins to see if readings are close if not and graph is reasonably flat then calibrate.

It's important not to be dehydrated for cgm. So ensure drink plenty fluids.

Have a look at image

 
grantg said:
Don't worry too much over calibration earlier. Next time however if calibrating remember there's delays around 10 to 15 mins. So if fingerprick says eg 5 wait 10to15 mins to see if readings are close if not and graph is reasonably flat then calibrate.

It's important not to be dehydrated for cgm. So ensure drink plenty fluids.

Have a look at image

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I'm now drinking a good 3+ litres of just water each day, but I know what dehydration is really like as back in Apr I ended up having delirium, from struggling to take on water, as I was being sick with diarrhoea etc.

That's a handy chart, I'll keep hold of that. :)
 
Just a little update, I'm still doing OK my BG has mostly been between 4.0 and 7.0, but after eating only carbs for just under two days I got it to drop to 3.5, and then one hour after taking 6 Dextro tabs it dropped more to 3.0, then I eat two jacket potatoes with cheese coleslaw and mackerel, it shot up to 11.2 in under 10 minutes, shown on my Dexcom One+ and checked again by finger prick tester which was showing 10.8. The One+ seems to always be 0.4 higher than the finger tester, even after I keep calibrating it, and the graph does move about, from 4.0 to 7.0 every 2-3 hours, as I eat ever 2-3 hours. But I'm happy with One+ as it's close enough.
 
glad to hear the one+ appears to be working a lot better for you :) armed with data from it, i'd try to see if you can get that. hopefully your consultant will be able to find out what the underlying issue is and be able to provide advice which works to remain from going too low and at the same token higher than normal levels keeping you within normal ranges. best wishes. ps most likely worth trying sharing data from dexcom with consultant and asking if can get the dexcom one+ on repeat prescription until at least they've diagnosed and worked out the exact reason and know how to control drops alongside an effective treatment of lows, without dropping afterwards from the usual dextrose tablets.

I'm curious if lift tablets have the same effect afterwards as dextrose tablets appears to have. gl
 
grantg said:
glad to hear the one+ appears to be working a lot better for you :) armed with data from it, i'd try to see if you can get that. hopefully your consultant will be able to find out what the underlying issue is and be able to provide advice which works to remain from going too low and at the same token higher than normal levels keeping you within normal ranges. best wishes. ps most likely worth trying sharing data from dexcom with consultant and asking if can get the dexcom one+ on repeat prescription until at least they've diagnosed and worked out the exact reason and know how to control drops alongside an effective treatment of lows, without dropping afterwards from the usual dextrose tablets.

I'm curious if lift tablets have the same effect afterwards as dextrose tablets appears to have. gl
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What are lift tablets exactly? And I really hope so to, my next appointment with my diabetic Dr is just under a week away, but right now I'm worried about my dad who has internal bleeding shown by jet black stools and blood, along with being sick with blood etc, he's in pain, he's bed bound and completely blind living in a care home, so after finding out of his bleeding his GP called for an ambulance so was taken into hospital needing a CT or MRI scan, and needing a keyhole camera inserting into him. But, the main hospital here has stopped all scans and testing, and 80% of surgery rooms are closed from the doctor strikes, and on the local news it's the same everywhere till the 30th, also on the news it said the picket lines are stopping doctor from even entering hospitals to work.
 
hardergamer said:
What are lift tablets exactly? And I really hope so to, my next appointment with my diabetic Dr is just under a week away, but right now I'm worried about my dad who has internal bleeding shown by jet black stools and blood, along with being sick with blood etc, he's in pain, he's bed bound and completely blind living in a care home, so after finding out of his bleeding his GP called for an ambulance so was taken into hospital needing a CT or MRI scan, and needing a keyhole camera inserting into him. But, the main hospital here has stopped all scans and testing, and 80% of surgery rooms are closed from the doctor strikes, and on the local news it's the same everywhere till the 30th, also on the news it said the picket lines are stopping doctor from even entering hospitals to work.
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Sorry to hear about your dad, stress can effect sugar levels as well both higher and occassionally lower. As priority looking after your own health should be of utmost importance which will help your dad in the long run allowing you to help him. I've found most care home staff to be exceptionally friendly and the vast majority of staff are really caring and i'm sure they will do an excellent job of looking after him :) hopefully the hospistal will be able to diagnose the issue and treat accordingly nice and quickly despite the upcoming strikes. Try not to stress over something you don't have any control over instead place your efforts on something that you can have direct impact on ie your own health.

Intentially skipped your first question about lift tablets as I believe above is more important. Lift tablets are VERY simular to dextrose tablets, however they have different ingrediants, lift tablets have a slightly more complex makeup containing a fatty binding agents alolngside some fatty acids which should in theory although still fast acting carbs don't think will be as fast acting as dextrose tablets and appear to be very slightly slower to digest (not much in it tbh). the main ingrediant in both is Dextrose just a different makeup maybe worth a try should you be lowish check with your nurse/dr.

(edit fixed typo farbs to carbs lol DOH i should look at keyboard and check screen when type)
 
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Emergency surgery is still taking place in all hospitals.
The NHS has not stopped treating people.
Surgeons and specialists are still working.
My family has nurses working today and it is quieter, but there is cover .
 
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