i go low at least once a day which is a lot better than it used to be.
I go “low”, on average, on a daily basis. I go “really low” a couple of times a week. I define low as under 70, and really low as under 50. Interestingly, sometimes the “lows” feel worse than the “really lows”. It was much more frequent when I was on a serious diet to lose weight. Often 3-4 times per day.
Nearly never makes me wonder if I am not aggressive enough.
Perhaps the other side of the question is:
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How often do you go high?
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How do you define “high”?
For me, “high” means 200+. Really high means 250+. I’m high at least daily, and really high several times a week.
Big problem is how long it takes to get back within an ok range again. It can be several hours to fix a high.
Since my basal rate needs change daily I usually go low at least 1-2 times a day. Even with eating the same types of meals and being on the pump it seems like I am tweaking constantly. And then I over correct and end up going too high which for me is over 180. Then if I over correct the highs I drop too low. It’s never ending.
I’d be real worried if I went low daily, that tells me my control needs some work. I do have lows occasionally, and also suffer from hypounawareness. This can be extrememly frustrating as one can go pretty darn low indeed. Anyone who is ‘chasing’ lows on a daily basis, please be aware that it needs to be resolved and normal ranges achieved so that you will not lose your ability for symptoms.
I go low at least 3 times a day. (I’m not a good diabetic.) It’s often more than that. I go above 200, maybe twice a month.
Karen, you make a good point and it’s something we should consider - the onset of hypo unawareness that is entirely possible for any of us.
BUT I also feel that my increased amount of lows is due in part to tighter control actually. Since acheiving a lower fasting target (90-100), I am bound to cross below that threshold more often than when I held a more dangerous higher average range of blood sugars which do their damage over time. My standard deviation is tight now, but I still dip below my target throughout the day, just as I rise up to near 140 or 150 after meals.
I know that I personally need to update some of my basal rates perhaps, or maybe revisit my correction factor for highs, but nothing that I feel has put me in a dangerous predicament. I just find that, even with a cgms, I still tend to swing low (into the 60s) a couple times a day.
I’ll stop being so defensive now. You’re right that it’s an element of our control that we need to revisit.
Yesterday I went low 3 times as I spent a lot of time cleaning and not doing my normal work schedule of sitting in a cube at work.
I was doing a lot of cleaning and I fought lows all day. One was a 67 and then an awful 47 where I began crying,
I get very emotional when I go low. It is not the fact that I see that I am low and I cry, it is just what happens, I start crying on a low, I have no control over it.
No lows today, but I have not finished my day.
My endo said lows are a part of tight control.
Ha, just tested at 52, I have issues late afternoon, and had trouble posting that last post, and felt very sad, grrrr.
Hey, here are the results of a poll we ran not too long ago in the community about this topic:
http://tudiabetes.com/forum/topics/how-often-do-you-experience-a
I’ve been type 1 for 44 years. I don’t remember how often I’ve had them for the whole 44 years, but I’d say about 3 or 4 a week for the last couple of years.
Wow Cathy! 44 years! It will be 30 years for me this December!
As far as lows go, thankfully nothing too scary in the last 4 years (my pre-pump days), but I can run a good 60 or 59 once in a while, depending on the intensity of exercise. As one of the posters above, I teach, too, and you never know how much extra activity you’ll get on any given day!
I cry when I’m low, too. I get dopey, mopey & boo-hoo.
i got the question now
i usually for the whole morning become alow person!
NEVER remember being above 69 in the morning,specially in school(stop the school-good suggestion!)even if i ate a chocolate and drinked a juice or ate a sandwitch
and when i am back i usually get little lows(70’s) because i miss my snacks when i am sleep
and a moderate low some times in the middle of sleep(woke up)
wich means:(made a new formula!!
severe lows in school(for 8 houres)+moderate when sleeping(one hour)+small lows(2 hours)=3moderate lows or one severe one moderate one- light-!
sorry for my babble but i just wanted to make things clear
I also do not have hypo unawareness, and do so do not find lows particularly problematic unless I am below 50. They are very serious below 50… I am still alert, but silly and irritable… anything below 40 is close to pass out seizure timer for me… But I do not pass out, just get scared, sleepy, and weak… Unless I have a load of insulin on board, I do not slip down quickly : I do have a bit of time to get some form of glucose into me befor I slip away into unconsiousness or seizures and need medical assistance, which fortunateley for me, has only occurred 5 times in 41 years…
I worry about what going low does to our hearts. I read about a study a few months ago where older diabetics were brought under very tight control, and I think maybe they had to stop the study because so many of them were having heart attacks? For myself, I get very emotional, most of the time I over-treat it because I’m just not acting rationally, and then have a bad headache for the rest of the day and feel worn out.
With my now tighter control I get lows in the morning, when I am most active, I have put on a few pounds because I overcompensate, we lowered the insulin dose but I still keep going low. I brought my control in tight these last few weeks, I have had chest pains and eyesight problems. I get really shaky, confused and I talk even more rubbish than usual I start to feel weak at about 90, I think this is because my body was used to running high.
Sam…I found your post because I am also “honeymooning” (approaching 1 yr annv.) but had a horrible low @ 2:30 a.m. today, which hasn’t happened for a long time. I have also gone longs periods, sometimes weeks, without a low. My A1C since Dx (@9) had stayed 5.6-5.8. My Endo suggested I have a good A1C because I may go low and not realize it? (like in the night?) I don’t agree, because what I got this morning scared me so much, even tho it was only a 59, I could barely get to my meter, let alone open my juice. I haven’t sweated like that since…before Dx. I know I am “new”…can anyone shed light on this? “High” for me is over 180 and I freak out when its over 200.
Hi Jenn,
Wonderful A1c! While you may go low overnight sometimes without realizing it, you know what your other readings are & if they match up with your A1c. I’m guessing that the 59 woke you up. Many people catch their lows by waking up. I do, but mine are usually lower that 59. Normal people have their lowest BG between 2-4 AM.
An A1c of 5.6-5.8, is an average BG of 115-120. Does this sound in the ballpark of your readings? Remember, that meters aren’t terribly accurate. If you have pretty frequent highs, then you are having lows to balance out these high numbers since A1c is an average.