[wully]

jenny
Sorry should have said that, how bad your hypo feels depends on how you rate them,3.9
would be ignored by me if I did'nt feel hypo but 2.8 definately=-- anything under that totaly out of it. lol
I was told that Lantus reaches its optimum level after about 2 hours then "tables",stays steady for the rest of it's duration,  which I believe can be anything from 6 to 12 hours, and reducing glucose levels by about 1-3 mmol's per hour, therfore giving a background amount of Insulin to aid the fast acting you may be taking, but please ask your Diabetic Nurse to confirm this, as it is as I'm, sure you are aware, differant for each indevidual.
My meter Freestyle Mini has an alarm built in that I use if I have to be up for the 3:00 test, maybe yours has the same?
I see from your profile that I am on the same Insulins as you, I take my injections 3 times a day which I expect is the same as you were before they changed you regime,I can only say that, blood results are very important to me to detarmine what the Novorapid is doing to my bg's and that I can lower my bg,s over night by as much as 8-9 mmol's with 12units of Lantus.
This is differant for you, as any other diabetic, so I would suggest you keep checking your bg's and make sure you have enough carbs before you go to bed.
I dont know if this helps but, dont let it get you down, you control your diabetes not it controls you!!!!
hope this helps
Wully

 

[jenny]

Hey,


I wonder if one is supposed to be 'non compus mentis' at 2.8?  I've got out of the car, gone into the house, felt a bit odd, tested and been 2.5!  I swear I felt OK up to then - I had even done my customary 7-point turn on our drive avoiding parked car, caravan and the fence!!  Since then I usually test when I get to the car!!

And the day I hypo'd at my desk work I was completely aware of everything that was going on, the people round me, their conversation, them ringing the ambulance, I even told them which number to ring my husband on.  I can still hold a conversation at below 1.8!! - don't know if it makes any sense to anyone else though LOL  After that I can remember thinking, I really hope no-one tries to remove my denture - how terribly embarassing that would be!  They were told to get me off my chair and lie me down, took 4 blokes to do it.  Apparently, I was rigid.  I know I couldn't speak or move anything by this time. (They were told by the Ambulance service to remove any false teeth - manager knew I have some, but told me afterwards the way my teeth were clamped together, she decided not to risk being bitten at the time.  Clearly my jaws were still in touch with my brain, even at that stage!  LOL)

Paramedic arrives, pricks a finger, says 'it's giving me NO reading', puts a drip in my arm.  I start coming round, they put me back on the chair.  Conversation with paramedic.

Ambulance arrives - they make me walk down 2 flights of stairs and up the road to where they had parked.  Couldn't even lie down in the ambulance and almost crashed the thing when I started to cry and was shaking uncontrollably with cold (all quite normal for me, they were very lucky I didn't throw up as I normally do!)  Took me into A&E, sat me in a corridor, found a drip-stand, took their blanket and buggered off.  

Husband arrived.  Found a nurse, demanded another blanket.  Half an hour goes by, he goes and finds a nurse.  She pricks my finger, says "7.5 - I'll take the drip out and then you can go home"  Husband says, "But she'll need something to eat!"  Nurse, "She'll have to wait till you get home".  End of hospital visit.  My husband was just about to argue with her but I told him I hadn't got the strength for it, so he took me straight from the hospital to McDonald's drive-through just up the road.

So I would like to avoid that happening again if at all possible!  

Would be interesting to know, at what point do other people lose consciousness?
Jenny

[Joerg Moeller]

Jenny,

the hypo counter in SiDiary doesn't count hypoglycemias, but the hyposymptoms you've felt. And there are only 2 ways: - or -- (light and heavy hyposymptoms).

If you enter 2.5--- it would be count as the same as 2.5--

You can have a normal BG with hyposymptoms as well as a low BG without hyposymptoms. The medical definition of a hypoglycemia is "every BG lower than 50 g/dl or 2.8 mmol/l is a hypoglycemia; symptoms or not".

[wully]

Hey Jenny

What was your blood after the McD's, about 20'ish mmol's ?
I know what you mean about the cold, I've driven my wife crazy with teeth chatter,
and shivers on many occations lol. I dont know how she puts up with me at the best of times.

One quite seriouse thought, if I may, dont you test your blood before you drive???
I only went out the game once, but my wee wife, who is a marvel managed to get me round just as the paramedics arrived and did'nt need hospitalized, my blood was 1.9 when they got there, but I could answer them and  I knew who I was and where I was.
 Thanks to Lugozade and th' wife went and had lunch, shivering all the way, nearly scolded myself with coffee,managed to shake a couple of sandwiches down my throat and with a bg of 25.6 some 2 hours later, drove home, heater in car on full blast, but no more shakes.

Its a curse, lol

Wully

[jenny]

 Thanks Jorg (sorry, no umlaut on this British keyboard!)

Thank you for educating me - up till now I always truly believed that 'under 4' was hypo, didn't even know the 'clinical' definition was 2 point something (it varies from 2.2 to 2.8 on the websites I have trawled since reading your reply!)  Of course I do realise the 'difference' ie if I am under 4, I need to do something about it immediately whereas if someone 'normal' was 'normally' a bit under 4 - then that would be 'normal' LOL  Isn't this internet a wonderful thing?

Wully

Fortunately I have also got a VERY understanding husband, who even knelt on the floor to administer a glucagen jab to me when he had a broken leg, a broken collarbone and (at the time undiagnosed - long story, don't ask!) 5 broken ribs and a collapsed lung.  Thank God. (we won't mention the projectile vomit either LOL)

I had a number (but isolated) of 'ambulance/hospital' incidents during the period 1972 - 1998, I had a fairly spectacular one about 5 years ago whilst out with my husband, we weren't far from the hospital where we were but unfortunately we were on the motorbike, so he had to call an ambulance.  The A&E doc told us we could get a Glucagen kit on presecription, so we did.  At the time I was on Humulin which turned out (after me suffering a number of 'close calls) to be a faulty batch!!!
My doctor said it couldn't possibly be the insulin because it was clearly 'in-date' - I was at my wits end because my BS was swinging all over the place.  In desperation I consulted the pharmacist at Boots - who immediately telephoned Eli Lilly - who instantly slapped a recall notice on it!!

Since the last time I renewed my prescription (April 2005) it hasn't been used. (Exp April 2008!)

I have no idea now what my BS was after the McDonalds (that incident was about 2 yrs ago) - I always 'largely' ignore the after-effects of a hypo (and the treatent thereof) for several hours (or overnight if they occur in the evening) because I have absolutely no idea at what stage, or how much, the glucagen 'dump' from your liver affects the BS - or whether there has even been a 'dump'.  I didn't even know about 'liver dump' until the doc at telford explained it to me!  Does it ALWAYS happen after your BS reaches a certain level; what is that level, how long after the drop in BS does it happen, how much does it increase your BS???

And is there any definitive info I can get, to tell me how many grams of carbohydrate are in a banana thickshake?  I usually avoid them - but it would be nice, just to be able to indulge myself 'once in a while' without pure guesswork!!

I do know that the other evening about 45 mins after treating a hypo (1.9) I had a sudden 'hot flush' and remember thinking 'Oh no - I thought I was over that!' - as I am a woman of a 'certain age' LOL - then I wondered if it was caused by 'liver dump'?  (And if so, how many times in the recent past when I woke up during the night with a 'hot flush' - was it actually really a hypo?)

I carry Lucozade too, as I can usually drink quite easily. (and have a large handbag LOL)  I do find it difficult to chew, just after a hypo though - I bet those sandwiches tasted like sawdust!  Best for me by far, is something sloppy (eg Weetabix & hot milk) or a few eg. digestive biscuits dunked in coffee.

And yes, I do USUALLY test before driving - always in a morning before I go out, or if I am taking a 'non-commuting' drive at any time - but it's the coming home from work drive when testing is not automatic.  Always seem to be in such a rush to get out of the building so they can lock up, (and I'm always very pleased to get out of there, let's be truthful!) then 5 min walk to the car - I usually think 'sod it, I feel ok .........'  I know I shouldn't; perhaps confessing this on here will make me see the error of my ways.  It's not the fear of crashing the car or damaging myself (would be my own fault) - it's the danger of who I might take with me, of course.  

Yes, I feel VERY guilty indeed now, and promise to do it, starting tomorrow!  

And I decided to go back to the previous timetable so today I had 'usual' Novorapid with breakfast & lunch, 10u Lantus at lunchtime and will 'do' 4 tonight - and see what happens.

Thanks again for your support.

[wully]

Jenny,
sorry if my last answer sounded cheeky in any way,I too have glucogen script and thankfuly,never had to use it, spouses rule, dont they?
As far as milk shakes go,McD's=70 grms of carbs,regular ouch! heavy!!!
I used to try anything to get my bg's up after a hypo,tins of custard,Mars bars, any sweets I could get my hands on..he he lol,  to get over it as fast as possible, it is only recently that I found out that, sweets are not the best to combat hypo's as they take too long long to come into effect! and that fast carbs i.e Lugozade,should be followed by slower acting, steady carbs like the dreaded but effective digestives lol  30 years and still finding out, what chance have you got? and yes, the sandwiches were a bit minging llol
I'll keep an eye out for your posts and hope your bg's/Insulins seatle down soon
good luck with it

Wully

[jenny]

Gott in Himmel, mein Precioussssss!!!!! 70g - EEEEK!!!!!

[Joerg Moeller]

By the way: her is a list of McDs food: http://www.dwlz.com/Restaurants/mcdonalds.html