Over-Treating Hypo's

[CycloneKitty]

I seem to have a problem with over-treating hypo's when I have them. Especially when I get the hypo at night-time. I find that I can't stop stuffing my face until the shaking has stopped. And I often am extremely hungry when i hypo so just go to town on anything that is in the fridge or cupboard. On a typical hypo I will consume between 2-4 slices of toast, and 2 glasses of OJ. But in many instances it may be up to 6 slices of toast, 3-4 glasses of OJ, raid the ice-cream, as well as a few choc-chip cookies or any type of chocolate i can get my paws on. And then I wonder why i wake up with a BG of over 20. Sometimes I know I have pigged-out way too much and have some insulin to compensate for all the food i have consumed, but usually when i'm in a hypo state and recovering I forget to do that. Just doesnt seem right to inject insulin when u have just come out of a hypo.

I just want to know if other people have problems with over-treating hypo's, and if anyone can suggest what I can do so I don't go over-indulging when I do hypo.

[Simon]

Not an easy one this. It does require a lot of self control.
Having a pre-measured carb fix helps. If you know a given snack will raise your bs by say 2 mmol/l then you know you can only have one of them.
The best solution is not to have hypo's in the first place. If you're basal is right you shouldn't be having night time hypo's anyway.

[2high]

I just want to know if other people have problems with over-treating hypo's, and if anyone can suggest what I can do so I don't go over-indulging when I do hypo.

stop smoking pot and u wont get the munchies!

:rofl:

[DeusXM]

I'm exactly the same with nighttime hypos - my body just panics and I keep eating until I don't feel hungry - and then 10 minutes later I feel absolutely stuffed.

Self-control in that sort of situation is near impossible. There aren't many feelings worse that lying in bed after eating a few glucose tablets, waiting for them to kick in. The best solution is to obviously prevent hypos. However, when I do let myself down, I go by my 'fullness' and comp. bolus about 10 minutes afterwards. It's not a perfect solution but it does limit the aftermath.

[2high]

However, when I do let myself down, I go by my 'fullness' and comp. bolus about 10 minutes afterwards. It's not a perfect solution but it does limit the aftermath.

I do that too, Deus...

naughty, but better than going hyper

[Stuboy]

i've done this a couple of times! Had a hypo and felt awful... i just stuffed myself with every sweet thing i could find in the kitchen, i knew i shouldn't be doing it but felt an "urge" to do it. boy was i high after!!

That was on mixtard, so if i do that again i might try what's been suggested, take a bolus afterwards!

[Cyborg]

Rule of thumb for treating a hypo, is 15g carbs (fast acting glucose), then retest in 15 minutes. Repeat if necessary...

Of course this goes against the urge to stuff carbs until you feel better. Overtreating usually leads to a "ping-pong" effect where your numbers take awhile to settle down.

[JediSkipdogg]

Rule of thumb for treating a hypo, is 15g carbs (fast acting glucose), then retest in 15 minutes. Repeat if necessary...

Of course this goes against the urge to stuff carbs until you feel better. Overtreating usually leads to a "ping-pong" effect where your numbers take awhile to settle down.

That's the rule of thumb but that doesn't do much for someone like me....Here's why....

1 unit of insulin is 35 mg/dl for me. 1 unit of insulin for most parts of the day is 19 grams of carbs. So....

15 grams/19 grams per unit insulin = .8 units of insulin
.8 units of insulin * 35 mg/dl per unit= 27 mg

If I'm running 50, that only bumps me to say 77. And we all know carbs don't work instantly, so that bumb may take 30 minutes. That and 77 is still not a safe zone. The rule of thumb is good, but not foolproof.


Here is what I do. I indulge, and count the carbs of my indulgences. Then, once I'm full, I see what math I need to do and then give the insulin for it. That then makes the food react before the insulin therefore meaning I won't take my low and go lower (unless I eat a pound of cheese with the OJ.) So far, it seems to work for me with no problems. Then again, when I wake up at night I'm awake enough to do the math in my head while stuffing my face with food.

[Cyborg]

Here is what I do. I indulge, and count the carbs of my indulgences. Then, once I'm full, I see what math I need to do and then give the insulin for it. That then makes the food react before the insulin therefore meaning I won't take my low and go lower (unless I eat a pound of cheese with the OJ.) So far, it seems to work for me with no problems. Then again, when I wake up at night I'm awake enough to do the math in my head while stuffing my face with food.

And your last a1c was????

[Stuboy]

I guess we come back to the famous statement here...

Everyone's different!!

[JediSkipdogg]

And your last a1c was????

I'll let you know in 48 hours.

[ProudNanaof5]

I do have hypo's here recently... I have been changing up meds and so I haven't come up with right solution yet... I have started excersize classes and that sometimes brings on the hypo. I carry a small bottle of oj with me at all times. I know I feel like I could just eat and eat but I try to catch my hypo before I get to that stage. Around 60 I still have my facilities about me to control my munchies. But at 55 I start the shakes and at 45-50 I start my not responding. I sorta go into outer space. Hubby starts asking if I'm okay...I know what he is saying but I don't care... Anyway, if I catch myself early enough I go for my oj. So far it has helped in about 5-10 min. I sure don't like those feelings.

[Cyborg]

I love OJ. I used to buy it all the time and enjoy it when I had lows. Now if I buy it, my son drinks it all before I get a chance... Fresh squeezed Florida orange juice is really really good. :egg:

[kgm0612]

I try following the "Rule of 15" when I'm low. I start out doing so, and then that inner voice inside says "you're low........eat the donut"! LOL

I find I'm better off taking my 15g of food and leaving the kitchen area. When I stay in the kitchen, I tend to eat way more than I should.

Karen

[mageerobin]

I pig out also with nighttime lows. I think it's a psychological issue. I think, for me, the hypo is a little more advanced because I'm asleep. Then when I wake I'm in full animal instinct mode. Just like when you give table scraps to a dog and no other animals are around and they eat everything in about 30 seconds. Some of us diabetics do this with hypos. My brain is telling me after the third cookie (or whatever I'm eating/drinking) to stop and wait for it to digest, but I honestly can't stop myself. And for all you goody goodies out there, yes I have tried to limit myself to two gluco-tabs or 1 piece of peppermint... The URGE is just to great for me. I guess I'm weak minded and my a1c is also horrible.

Robin

Ps Halloween Confession: Under the light of a full moon I turn into a werewolf and no matter how hard I try I cannot resist the URGE to howl.
I'm weak............WEAK I tell you.

:evil:

[Scratch]

I've had a few of those night time lows resulting in gorge fests, something about waking up, knowing you're hypo, and just wanting to make sure that if you go back to sleep, you aren't going to be hypo again. Chug chug chug or gorge gorge gorge.

I've gotten better about it though. Just one in the past 6 months where I went crazy drinking orange juice in response to a nighttime hypo, which I had woken up from in that dazed and confused state and it was very hard to think. The only thing I could think was, "Food now!" There wasn't enough glucose up in my brain to complete or extend the thought.

I woke up in the morning at nearly 600. Eeps.

[grace girl]

I used to do that, especially when I was taking the mix insulin. The desire to eat until I felt better was nearly uncontrolable! I've been working at stopping all that, though. I hate feeling so horrible for hours afterwards because of the roller coaster effect. One way that's helped is to plan ahead and know exactly what I'm going to do if I go hypo...part of the problem for me when it happens is not really being able to think straight enough to make reasonable descisions.

Of course, I'm a little weird, after all the years on the mix with the terrible hypos it brought on I really go out of my way to avoid them. I probably over check my bs, if that's possible, and if it gets somewhere to where I know I'm at risk I'll eat something with some protein..that usually stops it in it's tracks but doesn't make it go up. For me, if I have to choose, I'd stay a tad high before having a low.

[Cyborg]

I find the more often I test, the more likely I know what my bg is doing. Since control is fairly tight, my lows are usually not extreme and by checking frequently, I am able to detect them early enough so 1 or 2 glucose tabs does the job pull my bg back up or to avoid the low altogether.

[FrankDr]

I find the more often I test, the more likely I know what my bg is doing. ... I am able to detect them early enough so 1 or 2 glucose tabs does the job pull my bg back up or to avoid the low altogether.

That's much easier when awake. It's the early AM 'suprises' that get me. Not very often, but sometimes after serial-bolusing for some wierd food.

One trick I've tried is to grab something with just enough to cover the low and then keep your hands and mouth busy with zero carb stuff - diet drinks / water and my favorite - Diet Jello. The trick is to make your body think something is on the way down while the tabs I've downed are working their way into the system

Later-

[spring]

How timely! I just overtreated my 4am low last night (er, this morning...)! Though granted not as greatly as some (I'm a poor student and there isn't a great deal in the cupboard to indulge with) just drank the entire can of pop and sucked down the juice box next to me, but still woke up with a reading of 12.4.

What I find helps (hah, as I'm one to give advice?) is to have enough next to your bed to treat a low, just enough for one (my mistake last night to have both options), and then do-not- leave your bedroom (or hey, even your bed!) It makes it easier to fall back asleep, and then you can be just awake enough to stuff a straw in a juice box, wait for a bit and test for a bs rise and then flop back down on the pillow. That way you're not even standing.

[spike]

I've raised overtreating hypos to an art form! When I'm slightly low, I can restrain myself, but when I'm under the mid 40's I eat and eat and eat. Invariably I need to bolus for all the junk I've eaten. (But the good news is I didn't pass out from the low. <g> )

[notme]

I have figured out the best system for me and night time lows. It seems in the daytime I am able to use restraint, at night I went nuts. So I keep Starbursts in my nightstand. I have to unwrap them and it is annoying at night. I don't want to bother with it but it keeps me to only eating about four and then I go back to sleep. If I hit the kitchen at 3 am, I need to bolus for all the junk I eat. bleck

[Ailsa]

My thoughts are that the brain is telling us to keep eating as long as we are shaking, since what we've already eaten hasn't filtered through yet.
I used to do this, but now try to eat something non/low carb once I've had enough to fix the hypo. Cheese or nuts for example. It seems to help.

[xMenace]

Got 911'd at 3am a couple of weeks ago. The ambulance guys wouldn't leave until my sugar was normal AND I had eaten something substantial. I told them I didn't need to, but they said they'd have to take me in if I didn't. I ate it, smiled, and bolused when they left. They'd never seen a pump before either.

[lilituc]

I've done this before, but I just take some insulin for whatever I ate over 15-30g. But I suspect this works because my lows are almost always explainable, like carb counting error. So it's not likely I'd need more than 15g of carbs to fix it. It might be too hard if you have other things going on, like unpredictable insulin action or stacking.

[TenderVittleS]

One small box of juice will do it for me, usually just one is more than enough, you have to tell yourself that you'll be back to normal within a few minutes, if I overeat it just makes me feel like **** the whole day. I think juice is the best since you can absorb it the quickest.

[poodlebone]

One good thing about being hypo unaware is that I don't feel panicky when I go low, and don't get the urge to eat everything in sight anymore. Sometimes even if I know I'm low, I'll put off treating if I'm in the middle of something. Bad, I know. But I can treat lows conservatively now and usually don't need to worry about a rebound high.

When I did feel lows nothing was safe. I know I'd even eat non-carb foods, like leftover chicken. Eventually I started to leave two mini juice boxes (15-17g each) on the table by my bed. I'd drink one and lay back down and if I still felt weird after awhile I'd have the other one. The problem was remembering to replace the boxes after I used them, otherwise I'd end up in the kitchen. One thing I used to do was grab a box of crackers and stumble back to bed with them. I'd lay in bed eating crackers, making a huge mess, until I felt better.

[jeggeman31]

I just want to know if other people have problems with over-treating hypo's, and if anyone can suggest what I can do so I don't go over-indulging when I do hypo.


Lows that I can't make it down the steps in the middle of the night, I will eat my Gluco tabs that I have in my room. One night I ate an entire bottle, but that was a very low night.


If I can make it down the steps to the kitchen, then it seems that I eat anything that is not tied down. Until my shakes are gone. Then I see what I ate and just go to bed. Wake up high in the A.M. and bring it back down then.


As for something that you can do to stop over indulging, I have no clue, waiting for someone to post that as well.

[spike]

I have figured out the best system for me and night time lows. It seems in the daytime I am able to use restraint, at night I went nuts. So I keep Starbursts in my nightstand. I have to unwrap them and it is annoying at night. I don't want to bother with it but it keeps me to only eating about four and then I go back to sleep. If I hit the kitchen at 3 am, I need to bolus for all the junk I eat. bleck

I tried Starbusts but they stick to my teeth and get stuck in my throat. I had to switch to Skittles and now I use the Wild Berry ones. Yum!

[Cyborg]

Halloween is here and now I have all these chocaloate mini's. I wonder how many carbs are in just 1... :hmmmm:

[gettingby]

I use the little packs of Smarties candies. Only 6gms per little roll.:)

[Diana]

One trick I've tried is to grab something with just enough to cover the low and then keep your hands and mouth busy with zero carb stuff

Thats what I do to try to reduce my hypo panic eating! I treat the hypo (I use jelly beans), then get a big glass of diet coke or whatever diet drink I have, and sit and drink that. I also make sure I leave the kitchen.

[troop'er]

I'm so grateful I found the perfect plan for myself for the night time eebie jeebies. I get a can of chunk pineapple (46 grams of carbs) and a big glass of Crystal Light (any flavor, right now I'm hooked on Fruit Punch). The pineapple seems to work fast enough that I can go right back to sleep. I usually wake up with a bs of 125-145. So far, so good.

The scary thing for me (and I'm sure for most of us) is waiting for the plan to not work, and you go lower for some reason. I've had a couple of close calls already, and I don't want to have any more.

[CycloneKitty]

Well it seems Im not the only one who over-treats hypos. Alot of really good info from everyone, which I will try to put into effect. I do seem to need about 60g of carb when i hypo. But trying to not double that is difficult. Keeping the little OJ boxes at the bedside is a great idea, as it just having what I need to treat the hypo and then going onto non-carb foods. Maybe just eat and skip the OJ and have pepsi maz and water instead. And yum ... diet jelly sounds ideal. Sweet tasting and can let me brain think its getting glucose when its not. I have put diet jelly on the shopping list .... along with pepsimax. Leaving the kitchen after treating a hypo is a good idea, altho in the middle of the night (which is when I have the over-treating problem) it's more difficult as Im so out-of-it that i can get off the chair. Will keep it as a thought tho. I would love to keep lollies by the bedside - but Im afraid that I would just eat them when Im not hypo ... so that's out of the question. Maybe those OJ boxes can be kept at the bedside, and one of my spare meters to test my BG ... not getting out of bed sounds like a good idea.

If all else fails and I do over-treat - Im guessing I can just have a bolus. I didnt think it was right that I did that - but seems so many people are in the same situation. Glad Im not the only one :-) Im sure our endo's would love to know we did that!!!

:party:

[JJeenn]

I find that I am fine at treating lows in the day when I know I'll be awake to test and see if I've come back up, but at night I'm really bad. Thankfully I don't have many lows at night anymore, but the last one I overtreated was a 1.8 an hour or so after going to bed and I went crazy, and woke up at 18.6 the next morning. In the end I'd rather wake up high than not wake up because of a low (had that experience enough when I was younger, thanks).

I think having food next to the bed in pre-measured amounts of 15-30g or so is a good idea. I find if I go in the kitchen at all I'm pretty much doomed, because I often still feel low even when my sugar has come back up and am therefore still in "eat mode" even when I'm way past needing to eat anything.

[blue eyes]

I've never really had a hypo, just feel low when I'm not low...
I've treated a 9.8mmol/l as a low, 5.2mmol/l with a bottle of powerade - which I think contributed somewhat to the first time I had to stay in hospital for diabetes - that was a few of of weeks ago nearly...

I still can't handle anything (usually) under 5mmol/l, though I have woken up with a 3.2mmol/l and felt fine.

I just have to try and take the advice of the diabetes educator that a 4-5mmol/l is better than over treating and going too high!

[Gangrel]

My endo calls it the "overeating effect". She seems to love her effects, as I've also heard about the "rushing effect" (spike in BS as you get ready for work due to the rushing and adrenaline), and the "stress effect" which affects blood pressure results as you first arrive in her office. ;)

[sofaraway]

i also overtreat my lows, mainly when they are before bed or during the night, i think it's out of fear of dropping low again whilst asleep.

i always find myself very thirsty when low, so i don't use jucie or lucozade to treat lows becasue i will drink as much as i have avaliable. i have glucose tabs by my bed.

[June91]

One trick I've tried is to grab something with just enough to cover the low and then keep your hands and mouth busy with zero carb stuff - diet drinks / water and my favorite - Diet Jello. The trick is to make your body think something is on the way down while the tabs I've downed are working their way into the system

Precisely. Works for me. Also, don't stay in the kitchen after grabbing the food, rather go back to bed and you won't bother getting up to eat more later on.