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What's happening here?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Anonymous

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I am wondering what is going on.

Sometimes I feel exhausted, lethargic and, well, a bit rubbish. I thought I might have some kind of hypo going on. Today, I had a small glass of orange juice, and within five minutes I felt fine. Similarly, the other day when I had a flapjack which lifted me in minutes.

Is this a hypo?


I'm type 2 on Metformin only.

Dave x
 
I get this and I am diet only at the moment type 2

As I understand it, it isnt the dangerous hypo we think of that affects diabetics on insulin. Its more your normal blood sugar level dipping and feeling ill because if it. Sometimes it takes a while for your insulin production to catch up and sort out your blood sugar levels.

I find it helps to eat every 4 hours during the day and avoid too many carbs/sugars.

The orange juice works fast because it is a high carb liquid so is absorbed easily. The downside is that, if you then dont go on to eat something, you may get a rebound dip which is even lower within an hour.
 
If you're reducing your carb intake and lowering your BGs, your body will see that your sugar levels are lower than the high levels it's been used to and you can have what's called a false hypo. Your body simple isn't used to running at normal levels. As a type 2 on metformin only, you can't have a dangerous hypo the way insulin dependant diabetics can. You can get low blood sugars the same as any non diabetic can. If anyone (diabetic or not) needs more fuel (glucose) to meet their energy needs than they've taken on (eaten) they can get low blood sugar. Just means its time for your next fuel stop (meal) you don't need to panic and eat sweets etc the way an insulin user might.
I just enjoy low blood sugars (such as after a round if golf) and celebrate with a bacon Sarnie!
 
Many thanks for that. I might try to have a mid-afternoon snack just to keep things stable. I did follow up with a meal about an hour later, so I don't think I'll have a dip - or at least I hope I don't :)
 
I'm guessing you haven't got a meter ursus, but I'm afraid you're not going to know for sure without one.

One school of thought is that you shouldn't treat a 'low' with a treat, such as a flapjack but should use a glucose tablet (or part of one) instead. This way you know the glucose dose you've just administered, you've taken the most immediate and effective remedy for low sugars and you haven't rewarded yourself with a treat that you'll just crave more the next time.

I think this is what Grazer is getting at; I don't reward low sugars with a treat but I do sometimes have a treat if I have taken enough exercise to compensate (e.g. half a scone halfway through a big bike ride).
 
hi Thought I'd better make you aware, that you can have a bad hypo when on metformin, or diet only. I'ts called a reactive hypo.

If you take in carbs sufficiently to create a strong second stage insulin resoponse. you can induce a deep hypo. My partner jean gets them when she does a glucose tolerence test. and she controls by diet only.

However I don't and I'm on metformin and gliclazide.

Get yourself a test meter and check your bm's when you think you are low. As other have said you could also be getting false hypo's if your blood sugars are falling, same effect a strong second stage insulin response to food. testing is the only way you'll figure out whats going on.

Hope this helps.
 
Hi everyone. Many thanks for that. Today, I have ordered a test meter and strips because I am becoming convinced that this can give a valuable insight into what is going on inside my body! I now know the NICE guidelines and hope that this will act as the yardstick. It will give me a feel for how certain foods affect BG levels and by how much. This would be an invaluable educational tool in helping me to manage my diabetes.
 
ursus262 said:
This would be an invaluable educational tool in helping me to manage my diabetes.
Click to expand...

I agree. A diabetic without a meter can never even guess at what's going on. It's only by test, test, testing can you possibly know. I believe as a diet and Met T2 (like me) you had a false hypo. I say that simply because a T2 on Met and diet only is as likely to hypo as a non diabetic. I have had readings in the 3's and felt - nothing! No faintness, dizzyness, nothing, so I do believe it was a false hypo.
 
Think should be wary of concerning people who are newly diagnosed diabetics with descriptions of reactive hypoglycaemia. This term is normally associated with NON diabetics with either over production of insulin in phase two (not normally an issue with us) or with a lack of glucagon, a different medical condition. Glucagon is also released by the pancreas, but by the alpha cells. This is what instructs the liver to release glycogen which provides the blood with glucose. So whereas a diabetic can suffer from this, it is more often a non diabetic diagnosis. What is more likely, as already said, is a "false hypo" with newly diagnosed T2s suddenly going lower to "normal" sugar levels. All is possible however!
 
Well, I have managed to get a meter and strips for nothing although I'm waiting for it all to be delivered. I work in the medical devices industry you see, so it's a case of who you know sometimes :lol:

By the way, I did eat slightly more for lunch today, supplementing as I did with a plain yoghourt and some blueberries. Very tasty it was too, and I feel fine now!
 
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