What is a LOW -- 3.5 or 3.9?? -- for members measuring in mmol/L
When I was diagnosed in the USA, I learned all about blood sugar in mg/dl. I was taught that a low blood sugar was anything under 70 mg/dl (a nice round number).
I moved to Hungary and after spending hours converting my blood sugar logs from mg/dl to mmol/L before each doctor's appointment, I finally decided to switch to using mmol/L in my daily life last year. I got used to the new measurements pretty quickly (though I still do sometimes convert the numbers). I was treating lows as anything below 3.9 mmol/L (since 70/18.05=3.87).
At one point my new CDE told me that lows are anything below 3.5 mmol/L (which is 63.17 mg/dl). Magically after that I started not feeling low at 3.7 :-) So I stopped treating the lows unless they are below 3.5. My endo still tries to keep my blood sugars above 4, but considers below 3.5 as the real lows.
But I was wondering about the rest of you who measure in mmol/L -- what is your cut-off for a low blood sugar?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jen on
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agree, 4.0 - 7.0 is my "target range" that I try to stay in, but 3.5 and below is a real low to me. If I am, say, 3.8 before a meal I will often just eat the meal rather than going, "Oh no, must get sugar now!!" Same if I wake up at 3.8 or 3.7, my endocrinologist doesn't mind this and will not consider it low, except of course I usually would adjust pump settings anyway because it's getting a bit too close to low for me. During the night I will treat a 3.8 or so, but I also treat anything below 5.0 at night, as well as after meals, because there's a good chance of dropping lower. So I guess my definition of "low" varies depending on the circumstances, time to next meal, and so on.
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Permalink Reply by Tarra on -
My endo sugguested i treat for anything below 80 but i do have really bad hypoglycemia unawareness. I remember that i blacked out driving at 50 according the the emt test kit. I tend to be really careful when im low because i really get confused and disoriented quickly. I guess thats why i treat lows sooner.
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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on -
I've been down to 32 without losing consciousness or the awareness that I needed to do something. But I don't recommend that as a habit!
I just had a 58 about an hour ago, and didn't really feel it, but I have a CGM which beeped at me. I think CGMs are a REALLY good idea for the hypo unaware -- for me it's a luxury, in a way, but a good thing in another way, since I live alone, and there's no one to take care of me if I did go unconscious (which has never happened, so far, thank goodness!)
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Permalink Reply by FatCatAnna on -
Hey Kristin - As some have pointed out - we all react to lows differently from each other. For myself, I can still function at at reading of 2.0 - though after that - I go abit wacky. For myself, anything below 3.0 is when I treat myself with some fast acting carb, test again in 15 minutes, yadda, yadda. It also depends on what isnulin I still have within my body that's still working, and what I'm about to do (e.g. going to sleep - I like to be between 4-6 - so I wake up at similar number). After all my years of being a T1 - I'm lucky I can still sense when I'm going low (and the same for going high) - but I still test just to confirm since sometimes I have been wrong with being low (nerves, stress, etc. can play wicked games with us in thinking we're low ).
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Permalink Reply by latvianchick on -
I have bad hypo unawareness - I have to be 1.8 to 1.2 before I start FEELING the symptoms. Other people notice but nobody is brave enough - except my best friend - to warn me!
Officially 4 is low, but some people can function until a bit lower. It is never good to let it down below four and you should treat it quicker because the insulin in your body does not stop working and once you are that low you will drop even lower that much quicker and there is little time to deal with it. If I can catch myself at 4 then I will treat it then and there to prevent the problem getting even worse but generally I will treat anything below 5 because for me that is already very low!
Hope this helps.
I would in return appreciate some advice on the American way of measuring. I am going there next week for three weeks and I would need the formula for converting in case I need to tell a doctor what I have been running at and what I am now.
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Permalink Reply by Zoe on -
It's easy; just multiply by 18. For example, your 4.0 is 72 in the U.S. Hope you have a good trip!
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