I sometimes wake up and notice sweat dried on my body and had been wondering if I was experiencing lows during sleep. But the only time I have sweated when low was an extreme rapid drop to 38. I took my blood sugar a couple times when I woke up during the night and it was fine, so I figured my down comforter was just too warm for the climate here.
Then last night I stayed up reading later than usual. Around 2AM when I was ready to go to sleep I took my blood sugar and it was 60. I was nervous to go to bed that low so I waited about 45 more minutes and I dropped to 53 so I took a couple glucose tabs. So now I wonder if I am dropping low during the night a lot despite normal numbers at bedtime and when I get up? I'm not sure what would cause this; I recently split my Lantus dose and only take 6 at bedtime and 7 in the morning (I used to take 10 at bedtime).
So I'm wondering if there is a difference between your blood sugar if you are asleep or if you stay up? Does it drop lower if you are still up and don't eat? (I had dinner at 7PM). I really don't want to snack before bedtime and would prefer to change my basal, though I thought I was at the right dose to stay steady during the day.
I recommend to set the alarm clock to 3:30 or 4:00 and test your BG for two or three days in a row. Otherwise you will never know what is happening. If you are going low at night the dosage at bedtime is not correct.
BTW: for me it is hard to understand why you did not eat glucose tabs at 60. What have you expected to happen?
Holger Schmeken is spot on you need to know whats happening with your body during the night.I used to wake up with high readings in the morning and my nurse thought I might have been sleeping through hypos but I was sure that was not the case but went along and checked my levels at 3 am for 4 nights and I was right.
So test test test.
Sounds like good advice, you two. Thanks. I’ll set the alarm and test for a few nights and then I can decide how to make any needed adjustments.
For reasons that make sense to me, but are not entirely rational, Holger, I really hate taking glucose tabs. I usually don’t treat unless I’m under 60 so I was stalling to see if it would go up.
Recently with moving towards I:CHO vs the rough guestimates I was using (bit of trial/error) I finaly figured out why i woke up at 3 am… I was starting to low… Think as a result of I:C I have sort of stopped grazing and the grazing that usually kept me fine at night (as long as i was above 120 or so… showed i had slightly too much Lantus… If you wake up at night, its usually a good idea to test. If you think you are,set an alarm and try around 3 or 3:30… for some reason it always happened about 3 like clockwork.
I was always taught anything under 60. If I’m in the 60s I just keep an eye on it, or else I go ahead and bolus and then eat right away. I guess we are all different, Kathyann.
For me, John, I think I’ll test around 1:30. I take my Lantus at 8:30 so that would be 5 hours the so-called peak, and last night when I was low it was at 2AM.
Of course your way is respected. I just think that the meters are that inaccurate that you can not draw an exact line at 60. You might have 72 or 48 because of the inacurracy. Both values are to low and should be treated. But furthermore in my opinion early treatment helps to not get used to low values or become unaware of lows.
I’m constantly dropping while I’m sleeping. I can get it steady for a few weeks and then I always end up back at dropping during the night. I set my target rate to 140 before bed time and drink juice before I go to sleep if it’s below 120.
What about changing the basal profile of your pump? With your pump have all the forces under control and you should address the problem (the basal setting) and not the symptom.
