[candy43]

Hey ya'll

my numbers at night are scaring me. They keep going down to the eighties last week...I've never had numbers that low. I'm usually lucky to get 105.

like last night they were 82 at 11:pm...it kind of scared me so I had 1 cup of bran cereal and low-fat milk....This was after a 7 o-clock meal of having a 140 post-prandial reading at two hours after eating 2 baked chicken thighs with 2 tablespoons Jack daniels bbq sauce, stir-fried veggies, salsa and 10 blue corn doritos. Then sugar-free hunts jello for dessert.

It happened the night before with 2 chicken thighs, stir-fried veggies, and greek yogurt. My number was 89 at midnight.

I should mention again that numbers this low are highly unusual for me. I didn't exercise either day b/c it rained. The only thing I have changed in using a splenda lemon add in as my drinks. I think it mentioned these having citric acid.

I didn't take my metformin last night because I was scared I'd go even lower. I currently take 1000 mg a day of Metformin.

I left a message with my doctor but she is out of town and won't be back till tuesday. Can anyone shed some light. My numbers on arising today was 105, I think b/c I had that cereal snack...

Thanks for any insight.

Candy

[princesslinda]

Candy, your numbers are begining to normalize, which does make you feel like you're going low, even though you're not.

Under 70 is considered low. I often run in the 70's, and when this first happened, I felt shaky and "odd," but as my body adjusted, I didn't notice the shakiness anymore.

Your metformin, diet and lifestyle changes are giving you numbers to be proud of. I see 80's often, esp in the evening (its those pesky morning #s that give me trouble).

If you take your evening dose of metformin at bedtime, you could take it with supper. I found taking it later in the evening helped my morning #s, so I often took it just before bed.

Sounds like you're doing well. If you start going 70 or below, then you might want to see about decreasing your metformin. though 500 mg twice daily is a pretty low dose.

You're doing well!

[The_QUIET_one]

The eighties arent bad, I think this means things are going better not worse. The seventies are when you can start worrying although bedtime hypos might be a bit of a problem. you just need to test more mabey? How sudden is this change? Are you new to this medication? Did you try anythign new recently like excersise or diet change?

[candy43]

oh, wow PrincessLinda..thank God..I didn't really know the numbers for going hypo...it just seemed so new and odd for me. I also didn't mention that I have been been cold at night having to turn the a/c off and I live in Sunny Florida!!

I have been known to have 120 in the morning in the past. (dawn phenomenon?) It is great to know that I'm most likely improving. Do you eat a small snack before bedtime? Do you know of a bran ceral without high fructose corn syrup? Even All-Bran I think has high-fructose corn syrup at the top of the ingredients. Thanks a million.

Candy

[candy43]

Hey The QUIET One.

Well, I'm testing quite a bit, even at one hour AND two hour now to find my peaks...um..lets see

This has been happening all week. My post-prandial numbers haven't been "great" but have been at or below 140. With one exception, one day I blew it and had steak, potato and a bunch of high carbs and was 169 I think. Usually, they are at 120 or below but its rained all week so hardly any exercise.

I have been on Metformin for over a month now...hey, I just thought the dr said it would take time to kick in so maybe its kicking in and like PrincessLinda said, i'm doing better. Yay!!!

I have reduced my carbs or tried to and the only new thing I've tried is Splenda lemon water add in with the ingredient "citric acid"...I'm also new to sugar-free jello at 10 calories so maybe eating less. Thanks for replying.

Candy

[princesslinda]

Its easy to be anxious when you start seeing "different" numbers....I've been at this longer than you, but when I had shingles, I had 180's A LOT...and I was so scared. Fortunately, these stabililized as I started feeling better.

I'm only on Byetta now (stopped metformin as I was in the 70's a lot), so I don't routinely have a bedtime snack. I used to take my evening metformin dose at bedtime with a snack though just to avoid stomach problems.

As for cereals, they are hard to manage...I have found I can eat some of the Kashi brands (I like to mix 1/2 serving of the "Go Lean Protein" and 1/2 serving of the "Kashi Heart Smart" brands when I have a cereal urge)...just watch the portions. These are good with cinnamon on top as well.

On the weekends when we stay up later, i'll tend to splurge and have an evening snace of some low-carb ice cream or something like that. Otherwise, I eat later in the evenings due to working a 2nd job, so I don't have time for a snack before bedtime even if I wanted one!

You might want to try the "Hood Calorie COuntdown" chocolate milk...good low carb, before bedtime idea....or have some cheese or nuts....or even pork rinds if you have evening munchies.

But don't worry, its sounds like you're doing well and responding very appropriately to your meds.

[Kim_in_TN]

From what my DE has told me, Metformin is not known to cause hypos! I think you are just not used to lower readings, and you can even get shaky from them until your body gets used to them! Try not to worry!

[candy43]

PrincessLinda,

Thanks for the tips on bedtime snacks. I am going to try the Kashi too. I bought a cereal yesterday called "Uncle Sam". (with flax-seed for heart health) It seemed good when I glanced at it in the store. I was noticing when I got it home however, that it is loaded with carbs but low sugar. A lot of that is fiber, so not sure if applying that over 5 rule would work for me here. I need to have more confidence in that fiber rule b/c right now, I don't typically consume anything high in carb on a daily basis, fiber or no fiber. This limits my diet quite a bit. I guess I should try. Thanks again.

Candy

[candy43]

Thanks Kim. I appreciate your encouragement.

Candy