I am sure this has been covered repeatedly, but it’s hard to do a search for it. I’m just wondering if I am way out of the norm as far as frequency of lows. I am actually having a really good spell right now. I just realized that it’s been well over a week, maybe ten days since my last low. And that may be as long as I have ever gone. My usual frequency is probably somewhere closer to several times a week and it is not at all uncommon for me to have two or three in a day.
It depends on what you mean by “lows”. Do you mean below 70 or below 50 or something else? I don’t think its possible for a T1 to keep themselves from dropping below 70 occasionally unless they are running their BG’s very high. Maybe a CGM in use 24 hours everyday would make it possible or an extremely predictable life with no variation in food or exercise.
I have been changing my diet and have been continually decreasing my basals for two weeks now. In the meantime I’m still having lows. The past two weeks I’ve averaged 2-3 a day (below 70)…most in the 40s.
When I’m NOT going through diabetic turmoil (haha), my typical average is about 2-3/week.
I believe this to be a result of my tight control (latest A1c 5.6%).
I’ve also had a solid week or 10 days of only one low. Often I’m in the 50s several times a week. Like Kari, I’m aiming for tight control (last A1c was 5.0) – I’d rather go low than run high.
I feel a low at about 70-75. I can’t write my signature at 70 because I shake. I therefore take 1/2 glucose tablet to get me out of there, to 85 or so. I haven’t had a low below 70 forever. If I wake up at night I’m at 70-75. I take 3 halves to put me up 40.
I use low carb to keep a tight rein on where i go, and my target when correcting anything above 140 is 100.
I have a little problem: I’m on prednisone for arthritis, so when I go off that, I’ll have to halve the Lantus!
I have a low and a high almost daily.
My endo stated with tight control you will have lows.
For me every day is different and it is not an exact science, hence the reason I test every two hours or even more.
I give serious props to you folks who go on and off steroids and still have the control you do. Good job!
It sounds like maybe I am within a normal range. My husband seems to think I should be able to do something about it. I have times like recently where there are fewer (and actually my control has been pretty good), but I agree it’s near impossible to cut them out entirely and still have decent control.
husbands what do they know, don’t you love the comments of non-D family and friends. Ohhhh and then did I mention then hormones kick in and everything is changed once again.
My range for lows < 50 is about two per day to one every three days. My average is probably around 1/2 to 1 per day.
Lows < 70 but > 50 are much more frequent. That’s just the nature of the game. Good blood sugar numbers live in a bad neighborhood!
“Good blood sugar numbers live in a bad neighborhood!” Brilliant!, have to tell my family that one. At least one a day, this active summer vacation. Tight control, with cgm and they still can’t be totally avoided, but at least we catch them early.
I agree that’s brilliant. I run lowish all the time but I dont worry about it unless it’s like 30-40. I am not totally precise at counting carbs and do a lot of guesstimating that leads to +/-- variability in BG which, in turn, will run into the 60s pretty regularly. It doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal.
Love it! Yeah, I’m often ~70 but don’t count that as a real low. Certainly not a “husband, go fetch me a juicebox” low.
I had a really bad low on Monday morning. My CGM had been beeping all night, and I treated the lows maybe 4 times. Woke up to get ready for work and tested. I was 23. I was out of juice in he bedroom, so I tried to walk to the kitchen. My husband was in the basement when I called for help. He came right upstairs, sat me down, fed me juice and a little breakfast thing. I layed down for awhile and it actually took me 2 hours to get above 70. He sat right next to me the whole time.
I am a very fortunate person to have such a wonderful helper. He has been around this for 35 years, so he has really had T1 also in spirit…
Since I’ve started pumping - It has only happened once… And it was MY fault (forgot to change basal while doing a lot of yard work for 5 hours straight!) Before that, I’d drop below 60 maybe once a week.
Must be frustrating, you’ve been a T1 diabetic for nearly two decades and barely manage to make it past a week without experiencing low blood sugars. Do you easily register your low blood sugars, live off a tight time schedule, look after multiple people other than yourself, have dietary issues?
I haven’t had a noticeable/measurable hypo (in the 50’s or below) since last fall. For me the key was spreading my exercise out through the day (fifteen to thirty minute increments) rather than walking for two or three or four hours all at once (training for walking a 10K), which was giving me delayed onset post-exercise hypos the next 24 to 36 hours after the longer exertion.
But I also run too high sometimes (last A1C was 7.4) so that’s also a big part of it.
Of course, the easy solution is to just run high all the time. I think my endo would prefer that. I reject that tactic. It smells like defeat to me.
I worry though, as I get older, that a decline in cognitive function will be the beginning of the end for me.
The thing I try to avoid is deep lows, say less than 50, or long duration lows. These conditions seem to get my liver all upset and my control on the upside rebound is destroyed. Like you, acid, lows in the 60s or 70s are no big deal if you’re aware of them. I’m a fiend for finger-stick testing and I watch my CGM closely.
Sometimes I wonder if I live to test or test to live.
me too