Diabetes: Going low at night

thischarmingman

Hi All,


I've been going low quite a bit during the night recently. Is there a drink or snack that you guys use that keep your sugars at a decent level during the night. I'm putting on a few pounds and i think one reason for this due to the midnight feasts that i've been having...

tbh

well, I would look at why your sugars are going low - what's your insulin regime? Maybe you need to reduce the dosage in your long-acting insulin, but obviously you shouldn't do anything without talking to your doctor first...

thischarmingman

well the main reason i'm going low is because i'm back training after a while out. i've reduced my levemir doses to compensate and it is working to an extent but i'm still getting low. i'll talk it through with my doctor but am still interested in finding out about good drinks/snacks to combat hypos at night.

robinph

I used to be often having lows during the night or early morning. Didn't make any changes to what I was eating or doing though, but after a bit of experimentation with the specialist nurse at the hospital my long actin insulins were changed around and dosages tweaked a bit so that the background level wasn't too high at the wrong times.

tbh

there's a tube of horrible stuff called hypostop - I think it's 10g of Cho in a syrup, tastes horrible but does the job. The problem you probably have is the same as me - once you go low, it's impossible to stop eating until you feel better which is probably 20mins after you've eaten enough food to bring you back up again. I guess a couple of digestive biscuits and a glass of OJ should be ok/

mike65

I know that feeling (its great!)

to the OP, what are your readings before bedtime?

Mike

robinph

If your starting exercising again then that could be messing things up quite badly as well. I had some very strange goings on for a while where I seemed to be needing more insulin when starting running again after a long time off doing nothing.

Think I'm just a bit weird though.

DrIndy

talk to your diabetic nurse concerning this - long acting insulins vary from long acting to very long acting - there are loads of tweaks. the key here is a very good diary for a week or so and that can be the basis for the changes needed.

thischarmingman

My blood sugars are normally between 7 - 9 going to bed. I tend to go low after a hitting the gym or playing football so i reckon i'll have to tweak my levemir injections at night after excersise.

as an aside - i tend to drink a bottle of lucozade before doing a lot of excersise. what are your thoughts on that? Is there a better alternative. I must admit, it works fine and my blood sugars after running are always between 4 and 7. But as i said earlier - i'm keen to lose a few pounds and was wondering if lucozade would stop me from doing so?

what does everyone else do as preperation for excersise?

LeoGilly

thischarmingman wrote: »

My blood sugars are normally between 7 - 9 going to bed. I tend to go low after a hitting the gym or playing football so i reckon i'll have to tweak my levemir injections at night after excersise.

as an aside - i tend to drink a bottle of lucozade before doing a lot of excersise. what are your thoughts on that? Is there a better alternative. I must admit, it works fine and my blood sugars after running are always between 4 and 7. But as i said earlier - i'm keen to lose a few pounds and was wondering if lucozade would stop me from doing so?

what does everyone else do as preperation for excersise?

I usually check my blood before i do any exercise. If anywhere under 8 i'd usually eat a small bar and choc and a banana (slow releasing). I wouldn't take lucozade unless needed but always have some with me. My bloods tend to stay on the low side for the rest of the day so i reduce the insulin by about 2 units or so.

My bloods in the morning tend to be judge by how much lantus i take. If i'm low for a while i'm on too much and vice versa. I'm on 40units at the moment. Hopefully it doesnt go up cause the oen only turns to 40!!

barrabus

I leave 250 ml orange juice from concentrate cartons beside the bed, (I also leave them in the car).
I find them great for lows.
Lidl do both apple and orange juice without added sugar in 250 ml cartons. I find 250 mls brings me back up without a rebound. I also find not going down to the kitchen means I am less likely to eat more than necessary to over come my low .... it also interrupts your sleep less.

Before getting a pump I had a lot more night time lows than I have with the pump so I'd recommend a pump. With a pump there are fewer peaks and troughs in the base level of insulin in your system compared to levimir / lantus or any long acting insulin.

mike65

Good idea, or 1 banana would do - long release.

Mike.