Too many hypos and can't control it.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Campana on February 20, 2008 at 4:49am

Rebekah,

Take a deep breath. We all, and I meand ALL, have our ups and downs. I was in a pretty bad rut until I found an old friend who I went to diabetes camp with and found this site. I work in the incredibly stressful world of advertising for Goodyear. My suggestion would be that your basil insulin whether on a pump or using lantus is probably working better than you think and you may be a little too aggressive with the short term insulin either bolus or Humalog. If you are going low about the same time every day try backing off the coverage you used right before you were going low. The foods you eat can also be absorbing at different rates which is a whole different can of worms. Processed or fatty foods can take longer to absorb so if you take your shot pre-meal or quickly post-meal you may go low before your body starts to break the food down.

Just my 2 cents, hang in there!

-Mike

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Permalink Reply by Ozgur Ulupinar on February 20, 2008 at 4:57am

Hi,

May it be due to delayed stomach emptying, gastroparesis? If you have it, then the insulin you are using for covering the meals may work earlier than the speed glicose is entering your bloodstream, which results in a hypo.

Maybe not. Just an idea.

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Permalink Reply by Gaelyne on February 20, 2008 at 5:24am

Hi Rebekah,

I had a diabetes course too. One of the first things they taught us, that you can take back to your manager and use anytime anyone puts you on the spot about your diabetes, is that EVERYONE is DIFFERENT. What affects one person and causes a high, or a low can very well have the opposite reaction in another person. Don't let people like your well meaning manager make you feel less because your diabetes doesn't fall into line with what he has experience with. We're all different and we're all our own experts (and super sleuths too as we figure out what causes various reactions).

Sending you lots of hugs -- I too have been very frustrated lately with trying to do all the right things, so I know what you're going through!

HUGS,
Gaelyne

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Permalink Reply by mollyjade on February 20, 2008 at 8:05am

Stress makes me go low, too. So you're not alone there. Have you checked your basal levels lately? When I am taking too much basal insulin, I have a lot of problems with quick-dropping lows (though three hours doesn't seem that quick to me).

I wouldn't worry so much about what your manager is saying. Everyone has an opinion about diabetes, and most of them should be ignored. It doesn't matter how his relatives treat their diabetes. They could be type 2 or let their blood glucose run a steady 200 for all you know. All that matters is that the number of hypos is bothering YOU.

Brittle diabetes is a mostly outdated term for "we don't know how to make your blood glucose levels stay in target." There are a few people who have a very difficult time keeping the numbers in range, but "brittle diabetic" is often used as an excuse for not trying by either doctors or patients.

I hope you figure this out soon!

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Permalink Reply by Sara on February 20, 2008 at 8:53am

I'm just here to reinforce everything that has already been said. Mike is right-on when he says that you should think about what you do (eat, give insulin, etc.) three hours before your lows in order to see if that is part of the problem. MollyJade's idea to do some basal testing is also a good one. Take one period of the day and don't eat anything or take any insulin, and then test your BS every hour. This will let you know if the problem is with your basal or your meal boluses.

As far as brittle diabetes goes, I am on board with MollyJade's definition. There are some people who have a harder time controlling their diabetes, but if somebody is experiencing the symptoms of "brittle" diabetes it is probably due to a diabetes management issue than can be fixed over time. Don't give up! Keep working at it! I went through a period where I had routine lows, and once I got a better handle on my treatment plan I was a much happier person.

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Permalink Reply by Libby on February 20, 2008 at 9:02am

Hi, Rebekah,
One of the most useful things I ever read about diabetes is Dr. Bernstein's "law of small numbers." If you do very small amounts of carbs and the corresponsing very small amount of insulin, you will have a much better chance of avoiding highs and lows. 3 hours is definitely not a quick drop. When I mistime my insulin or eat more than about 20g per meal, I will go up to about 200 and within half an hour or so drop down to 60. I feel terrible when I am on that rollercoaster so it is easy fro me to stick with a very low carb diet. How low are you going when you are hypo? Some people feel hypo at normal levels because they are so used to high BG.

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Permalink Reply by Bill on February 20, 2008 at 10:29am

Hi Rebekah,

Like everyone's been saying, you are not alone in having trouble getting off the low/high roller coaster. It took me a while, but if I had all the great suggestions from the people here, I'm sure I would have gotten in control much quicker.

The only think I can add to the outstanding suggestions people have made already, is about the finger tests. I was originally told to test my finger on the pad (meaning the front, fingerprint part of the finger). After testing more and more, the pain was definitely more noticeable (and since I am at the keyboard all day for my job, that was something I couldn't deal with). What I do now is test the sides of my fingers. I don't go below the first knuckle of each finger, and while sometimes I still get some pain, it is very temporary. Using the keyboard now, it doesn't feel like I have upside down thumbtacks for keys either. By the way, I test myself 15 or more times a day now.

Keep at it Rebekah, and I know that you will be able to get your lows under control... and that will be GREAT!

-Bill

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Permalink Reply by Rebekah Humphrey on February 20, 2008 at 2:59pm

Hey.

Thanks everyone. You are all so supportive. I don't know how I coped before I found this website.

I was just havinga downer, but it is because I am so sick of everyone getting on at me all the time. They seem to act like I don't try to watch my sugars.

I do have a very supportive boyfriend, so that helps.

I don't get any symptoms of going low until I am low. Usually it is between 2 and 1, but has gone as low as 0.4 (in the US terms it is 36-18 and as low as 7.2)

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Permalink Reply by Steve RRR on February 20, 2008 at 6:02pm

Rants are ok. This disease is never easy.

Here's a noisy question for you: Can you still detect and avert these lows by yourself?

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Permalink Reply by Rebekah Humphrey on February 21, 2008 at 4:31am

No. I don't feel them anymore until I am low

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Permalink Reply by Sara on February 21, 2008 at 6:54am

That sounds like a problem to me. Do some research on hypoglycemia unawareness. I am lucky enough to not have developed it yet, but there are some people on the board who understand what you're going through. Have you considered switching to a pump with a CGM? I know of at least one TuDiabetes member who got her insurance to pay for a CGM because she had documented cases of hypo unawareness.

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Permalink Reply by Rebekah Humphrey on February 21, 2008 at 7:16am

I am in the UK so we don't have CGM yet. And we have to fight for the pump. I am in the process, with my diabetic nurse, of fighting for it.

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