Is it normal for a diabetic to have a hypoglycemia episode every day?
Posted by admin on Nov 11, 2009
My grandma recently began taking insulin shots for diabetes. Every day between breakfast and lunch, however, she’s been having a hypoglycemia episode with shakiness, sweating, and weakness. This doesn’t seem right. Today she even had 2 breakfasts, but still had an attack at lunchtime. She is the first one in our family to have diabetes and be on insulin, so we’re all new at this. Is this normal?
Thank you so, so much for your answers!!!
It’s not right… diabetics WILL have hypos – sometimes it’s unpredictable and catches us out. But if a diabetic is having too many hypos, or a hypo at the same time every day, it means it’s time to adjust the insulin.
Has the doctor put her on set amounts of insulin, or is she matching it to what she eats? Set doses are trouble, because every meal has a different carb load which needs to be calculated before you inject.
Perhaps your Gran needs a little less insulin with breakfast? Or perhaps her background insulin is too strong, but that would probably lead to hypos at other times of the day too.
How many times does Gran test her blood sugar a day? It’s a good idea to do lots of extra tests when you’re having a problem like this. Then you can see the trend and catch the low BEFORE it happens 
It’s actually a good idea to test lots *any* day, even if there’s no trouble. Then you know you’re safe and able to make minor adjustments.
Time to talk to the doctor! A hypo can leave us feeling pretty icky for a time afterwards and often makes the rest of the day feel grotty, so it’s worth working this out.
Ah! One last thing! Is Gran on NPH? (Otherwise known as Protophane, lovingly nick-named ‘Not Particularly Helpful’). NPH is known to peak a few hours after taking it – usually between 4 and 5 hours after injecting. This could be what’s catching her out. NPH is famous for being a pain in the butt. If she’s on this, see if she can change to one of the 24 hour insulins which give a much better flat line and offer so much more freedom.
Lastly, organs aren’t damaged by lows as bonsyler said – only highs. Lows are a pain, and can be dangerous if left, but there’s no long term damage involved.
Good luck!
It is NOT normal.
The goal for diabetics is to manage their doses and meals so that blood sugar levels stay as steady, as possible. (it’s normal for levels to "curve" around meals, but you want it to be as little as possible)
Talk to her doctor, her dosage has to be adjusted.
Go soon.
This is potentially serious. In addition to the shakes and weakness, her organs are being damaged by this.
Good luck.
References :
It definitely is not normal. It is possible that the insulin doses are lowering her blood sugar more than they should. When this happens, she needs glucose (sugar). Even though she doubled her breakfast if there was not enough glucose, it wouldn’t prevent a hypoglycemic episode.
References :
Personal experience, My late Step-Mother suffered from type II diabetes.
It’s not right… diabetics WILL have hypos – sometimes it’s unpredictable and catches us out. But if a diabetic is having too many hypos, or a hypo at the same time every day, it means it’s time to adjust the insulin.
Has the doctor put her on set amounts of insulin, or is she matching it to what she eats? Set doses are trouble, because every meal has a different carb load which needs to be calculated before you inject.
Perhaps your Gran needs a little less insulin with breakfast? Or perhaps her background insulin is too strong, but that would probably lead to hypos at other times of the day too.
How many times does Gran test her blood sugar a day? It’s a good idea to do lots of extra tests when you’re having a problem like this. Then you can see the trend and catch the low BEFORE it happens
It’s actually a good idea to test lots *any* day, even if there’s no trouble. Then you know you’re safe and able to make minor adjustments.
Time to talk to the doctor! A hypo can leave us feeling pretty icky for a time afterwards and often makes the rest of the day feel grotty, so it’s worth working this out.
Ah! One last thing! Is Gran on NPH? (Otherwise known as Protophane, lovingly nick-named ‘Not Particularly Helpful’). NPH is known to peak a few hours after taking it – usually between 4 and 5 hours after injecting. This could be what’s catching her out. NPH is famous for being a pain in the butt. If she’s on this, see if she can change to one of the 24 hour insulins which give a much better flat line and offer so much more freedom.
Lastly, organs aren’t damaged by lows as bonsyler said – only highs. Lows are a pain, and can be dangerous if left, but there’s no long term damage involved.
Good luck!
References :
Definitely NO. A patient on insulin shouldn’t develop hypoglycemic attack every day. You shall go back to the doctor who start your grandma on insulin to have a doses adjustment. It is very dangerous when diabetes patient develop hypoglycemia. Good luck.
References :