Do you try to prevent hypos?

[NewishT1Mum]

If in the low 4s (4.2 etc) do you let yourself keep dropping to then treat hypo under 4 or do you try to prevent?

We had never been given any indication that we should try to prevent hypos like this but last night and today I have given my daughter one/two jelly babies when in low 4s and this has brought her up nicely and seems better than waiting for the inevitable drop to then treat and have a high after from treatment.

Second question - do you give carbs after hypo treatment?

Thank you :)

Caveat I am NOT medically qualified, just someone who has helped support a couple of people with diabetes (but 20 years ago so can't say if thinking has changed).

We would always try to prevent it happening, so yes, give the jelly babies, and yes, we would then look at when they had last eaten, and potentially feed afterwards.

However, don't you have a diabetic nurse to ask these questions of ? Surely that would be better than asking people on the internet, who, quite frankly, could be anyone, and could know nothing.

Yes, you should definitely try to prevent hypos. People can act unpredictably when they have one. It may be hard to get glucose into them or they could injure themselves. I agree your diabetes nurse should be helping with these questions.

Family member is Type II diabetic, although not a child so I am not commenting on children and am very much not even a lay expert on diabetes.

But yes, of course. When said family member does have a hypo, there is much concern from the medics about it. It's both handy therefore, but also concerning, that the only time they ever HAVE a hypo is in hospital when in for something else. Rest of the time it's controlled by daily medication, diet, symptom tracking and finger-prick testing when it seems necessary. As it should be. Repeated hypos aren't going to be good for the brain or body, are they?

Absolutely prevent. Having cared for a diabetic relative, hypos are not desirable. I definitely think you need to speak to your child’s diabetic nurse or indeed contact her unit for advice. You should also speak to the dietitian. Are you keeping a food diary?

And yes carbs after treatment, she’ll need some slow acting carbs to keep her levels up but you’ve said the treatment gives her a high? In my experience it spikes it but we then had to give some food to keep it up but it would never be high.

Im a bit concerned at your post, you shouldn’t be having these extremes. It doesn’t sound like you’ve been given enough education on caring for someone with diabetes and this needs to be addressed.

DH is Type 1 and he always tries to prevent.

Wow ok. Thanks but no thanks.

@Pollywoddles was your diabetic relative a newly diagnosed child? If not then your post is just mean.
It is HARD when your child is diagnosed. Most people know very little if not absolutely nothing about type 1 when their child is diagnosed. You're given a quick run through of what to do.. some books and leaflets and sent on your way until your next appointment. Of course other parents or peoples advice and experience is important.

Anyway 🙄

Hi. I have 2 type 1 children.
If possible get the libre2 it will tell you if the bloods are going low or high or stable.
If the bloods are dropping then something to eat will be helpful. You don't need to treat a hypo unless it's a hypo.
It's a world of information and don't worry about calling diabetic nurse for advice as that's what they are there for but remember they are medical people not real life and I took some of what was said with a pinch of salt that's why I liked to chat with parents who also have type1 children. Join a Facebook group and depending on age of your child you could go to one of the JDRF socials tht are arranged.

How long has it been?

How exactly is it mean? I’ve said she hasn’t been given the information she needs, encouraged her to contact the healthcare professionals with responsibility for her child and answered her questions. Was there something else expected? Honestly 🙄

Bags of current T1 experience here – me and 2 of my 3 DCs. My biggest piece of advice would be: do what works for you, or rather for your DD, and ignore what doesn't. If prevention works better than cure for her, than go with that (my only proviso would be that your DD does need to know what a hypo feels like when she goes properly low; so maybe once or twice a year allow that to happen). You're clearly being proactive in your approach, and that is the most important thing.

Not everyone needs longer-acting carbs either, that advice is somewhat out of date. Neither of my 2 DCs do that. Ignore the PP saying that your DD shouldn’t be having extremes, bounceback from a hypo to a reading in double figures is a common phenomenon – it comes from your body telling you to cram in food to recover from the hypo, and consequently having too much. It takes a supreme effort not to do this! All you can do is be aware of the possibility of this happening, which is arguably easier when your DD is little and you are in charge of hypo treatment.

Agree with @Rolypolyup that the Libre helps, it will give you a picture of what effect exercise, stress, different types of food, etc have on your DD's readings. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the rate at which your DD’s bloods are rising or falling can be more important than just the figure itself, which is an instant snapshot but doesn't tell you the trend. HTH.

Insulin dependent diabetic here. Hypos make me feel so ill, and do take time to feel better from, even when blood sugar goes back to a decent level (6mmol etc) I still feel drained and very tired. So, personally, as soon as I get around 4.2 I try to "head them off" with a jelly baby or two. If I'm having a hypo - below 3mmol etc - I find a small carton of orange juice followed by half a slice of bread & peanut butter sorts me out. I assume a child, being smaller than me, would need less sweets/orange juice or whatever to bring their blood glucose level up.

I agree with @thing47 about the temptation to cram in sweet things. I've done that in the past out of anxiety and it's just led to high blood sugar reading, which also makes me feel rotten.

Also agree with @thing47 about knowing what a hypo feels like so that when your daughter is managing her own diabetes she knows when her blood glucose level is going too low.

Glad I bumped this for you, to get some more 'current' information.

There is no need for anyone to be nasty to @Pollywoddles - her post wasn't mean at all. Several of us have said there should be ongoing conversations with nurse specialist as you get used to this.

What is scary at first soon becomes every day life.

T1 here- 40 years with T1, plus young man son T1 too. The thing about hypos that non diabetics don’t quite grasp is they are horrible, make you feel trembly, make you confused, can make you difficult and argumentative. They take time to recover from too. Avoid them where you can.

Be aware that it is a programmed need to get food into yourself when having one, hence lots of us stuff our faces and go sky high and end up over injecting to get it down, have hypo, over treat with food, go high repeat …

I don’t know where you are, but your child should be on either freestyle Libre or CGM pump, which makes life so much more manageable. I have a CGM pump and high and low blood sugars are much rarer now. I think you should have a chat with Diabetic team and see how you can get hold of pump and Libre.

Agree, I head them off. Often I don't even need a libre, I can feel myself dropping and I know how steeply I'm falling, I can feel it all. That's how I know to take something to head it off.

Hi we do prevent them for my daughter ( depending on time of day and what she is doing at the time but was not advised to do this when first diagnosed. We was told to wait ( use dexcom) as sometimes the body can get itself out if it. We was repeatedly advised this and I had to get the school care plan ameded once I had a better understanding of managing on a day to day basis .This can happen and maybe if just eaten I would wait a little maybe for 1 or 2 readings. With experience you will start to have an educated guess if you need one or not

You are mixing up type 2 and type 1. Type 1 is insulin dependent. Hypos are side effects of insulin.

Some type 2s require insulin as well.