My seven year old keeps having lows after he falls asleep. I usually check him around 10:30 just before I go to bed. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Disneyland and this is when the late evening lows began. We chalked it up to all the walking he did and swimming in the evening.
Now, he is back in school and he is back having lows again around 10. He swears he is eating his snacks and lunch at school. The only thing we can think of is that extra activity at school is not being fed extra carbs that he needs. Usually, we have to increase his insulin during the school day as he is sitting at his desk more during the day. I will have to talk to his teacher to see what physical activities he is doing each day.
Just when you think you have a handle on his numbers these crazy (scary) lows start to happen.
Lori 2 questions 1 have you thought of having your son use a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) and 2 dose your son take insulin shot to cover meals? I am responding to you at 3:00 am because my CGM woke me up telling me my blood sugar dropped below 60. As far as insulin goes I am using the ratio method. That means I take 1 unit of insulin for 7 grams of carbs. However I am in training for a bicycle race across america in June of 2012 so I train for 3 hours after my work day. So maybe asking your diabetes educator about your sons insulin to carb ratio and using a CGM as a backup might help your son.
Sorry to hear about the lows! What long acting insulin is he taking and at what time?
I actually often have lows 3-4 hours after a meal when my fast-acting insulin wears off. This usually means that I got a little too much insulin for the meal. I wonder if his insulin needs to cover dinner have changed.
Some people use a different insulin to carb ratio for dinner.
I’m sorry you are having this issues with your son. If this were me, I’d wonder if I took too much insulin at my evening meal. You mentioned you have to increase his insulin during the day. Do you change this in the evening to a lower dosage?
I concur with the previous post, I would have to reconsider his ratio, esp. for the evening. Does he eat less at supper time?
I wish you both well and hope you can resolve this dilemma soon. Keep us abreast of his progress and good luck.
I will check out the CGM. I’m so sure my son will be thrilled with that. But we’ll see. I like the idea of a monitor waking him up when he goes low.
He receives short and long acting insulin at breakfast and supper.
I talked to his teacher and asked her to give him an extra little snack just before gym even though he eats his lunch before. We have also decreased his insulin in the evening. It has worked.
I wish you all the best for your bicycle race across America. I’ve trained for half-marathons but nothing like that. When it happens be sure to post about it on here.
Short acting insulin (Novolog) lasts 4.5 to 5 hours for us. So, depending on what time he eats dinner, it could be he needs to cover some of the IOB a few hours after eating. Kind of suspect the evening fast acting since you only mention him dropping at 10:30 and not all through the night, which would be more basal. Short acting insulin can have more of a duration than we were told at diagnosis. Had to test it over time to get the true picture of how long Novolog takes to leave her system.
Thought I’d ask to add you as a friend as you are in Edmonton and that’s where we were medivaced for my son in November 2009 when he was diagnosed with Type 1. He is almost 7 and we are finding this all to be quite a rollercoaster, the ups and downs, do you use injections or a pump? We are doing the shots, anyways, if you’d like to chat as it seems we have lots in common, I’d really appreciate it. We are the only kid/parents at our school and in our town in the NWT with Type 1 diabetes so we don’t really have any support here. Thanks. Maureen in Inuvik
Thought I’d ask to add you as a friend as you are in Edmonton and that’s where we were medivaced for my son in November 2009 when he was diagnosed with Type 1. He is almost 7 and we are finding this all to be quite a rollercoaster, the ups and downs, do you use injections or a pump? We are doing the shots, anyways, if you’d like to chat as it seems we have lots in common, I’d really appreciate it. We are the only kid/parents at our school and in our town in the NWT with Type 1 diabetes so we don’t really have any support here. Thanks. Maureen in Inuvik
