Hello.
My son is getting low blood sugar at 3 am . But giving him any sugar drink like a nightmare specially while sleeping …
Any one has alternative to give him without wake him up?
Also any idea what can be given to avoid the low blood sugar and what time?
He sleeps at 8 to 9 pm
I highly appreciate your responses
Thanks
Hi Yousof,
I'm so sorry you're son is having night time lows. I'm an adult type 1 so I'm not sure if my advice will help but here is what I do to avoid nighttime lows. First off I'm nocturnal and due to having night time early am lows and dawn phenomenon I stay up most of the night now, more than I would have normally. I take my second basal dose between 3-5 am to stop dp. Whenever I take my basal I have a protein snack of cheese/nuts and tea. I have read that other people take carb snacks to get their bg higher before they sleep. Also, I'm not sure if this would help with not waking him but maybe you could try rubbing some honey on his lips/gums to stop the low? I have read that this is recommended for cats and dogs who are unconscious from hypoglycemia.
I'm sure someone else with a type 1 child will come along with some better advice soon.
My parents used to give me Lipton ice tea during the night, only thing i would swallow at that time.
Best thing is to try avoiding the low before it happens, which means snack before bedtime and/or lower basal dose for the night.
I do snack at bed time … but it comes low around 3 am
snack more? ;)
or, as i said, lower basal, that might be the trick. it cant be that you have to feed him every night at 3am, that kid needs his sleep...
My thoughts...
I'm in the lower the basal camp. Maybe the basal is too high and it is covering bolus carbs during the day. The night time snack is increasing BG, so the basal insulin overnight is not only covering that, but it is also causing a low later. My guess is that the decrease in BG happens gradually throughout the night, but the high from the night time snack gets covered by around midnight, and then he starts going low. Maybe he needs higher basal rate during the day, but that can be covered by more bolus corrections a lot easier. The dawn phenomenon might become more pronounced with a lower basal and you'd likely have to test him at 6 AM and bolus for it.
When you eat because you have to cover a low, you had too much insulin in your system. It's needed at times because this stuff is pretty complex, but the ideal basal rate is one in which there is very little change in blood glucose when a person hasn't been eating. And to me I'm more concerned with night time basal rates.
Another thought is to give him a high protein snack (gets digested slower and some gets converted to protein) before bed and maybe that will counter the low. An insulin pump would resolve this problem (simply change the late night basal settings).
Older insulins with different curves could be part of the solution, but it would be pretty complex.
I agree with the others who advise lowering basal. I also advise against trying to give him liquids when he isn't fully conscious; that can lead to choking.
In the past I have experimented with mini-doses of injected glucagon to turn around a low. There have been some formal studies done on this but I don't have them at my fingertips. I stopped doing this because the current commercially available glucagon is a powder that must be mixed with a provided liquid. This solution, as I understand, is only potent for a few days.
As others have already said, the root of your problem is the current background, or basal, insulin that your son takes. A perfect basal pattern, whether delivered via a pump or syringe, will match the glucose output of the liver only, no more, no less.
One way that I've temporarily solved this problem in the past is a bedtime snack of peanut butter. It has protein and fat and digests slowly. I would try to use peanut butter that has no added sugar.
Good luck. My heart goes out to you. I couldn't imagine managing the blood glucose of another person! I would recommend that you look for forums that target parents of young children with T1D. There are some here but some communities are almost exclusively parents of T1Ds.
Thank you all for the valuable information
I see your son is taking shots. What kind of insulin is he taking, and when? Getting safe overnight results can often be accomplished by adjusting insulin types, amounts, and timing. For example, he may be taking a basal insulin like NPH which is peaking at 3am, which can be helped by changing to a different basal insulin, or as swisschocolate recommends changing the amount of NPH or the time it is given.
Preventing the low is your #1 priority. Is your child on insulin? If so, on a pump or syringe given?
on syringe