More Crazy lows ...

[Josh's Mom]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my previous thread ... and all the good wishes and welcomes ... we had another crazy low Wednesday night ... Josh sometimes tries to test the limits too, which we think contributed to this low ... Josh was playing with a friend, and sometimes they leave early to go horseback riding at a nearby farm ... so wanting to leave early, he tested about 5:30 pm (which is about an hour early) ... tested in the normal range ate his supper meal and did his insulin shots ... went to play and ride horses ... with the usual busy night and being a boy in the summer, I finally got him to stand still long enough about 10:15 to have his snack and take his lantus (which is about 1/2 hour later than normal) ... about 10:20 he tested 107 ... took his lantus ... had his snack ... and was getting ready for bed when he felt a low coming on ... about 10:40 he tested 38 :eek: ... so within 20 minutes he'd gone from 107 to 38 ... AFTER eating a snack ... this is the second time this drastic of a change has happened. We had him treat ... and after two juice carbs got him back to about 127 ... he went to bed, I woke him up about 3:00 to check him, he was 83, which to me is too close to a low for my comfort, so I gave him more juice ... and at 7:30 the next morning he was low again ... 67. Thank God I treated him during the night. All day yesterday he was normal ... and today he's been normal so far. It's so scarey when he goes that low ...that fast ... He acts like he's drunk so I don't know if he'd be able to test and treat himself if he happened to be alone during one of these crashes ... I've got a call into his Dr. today to discuss it ...

[phil413]

We ended up switching our Lantus from night to morning to help prevent nighttime lows like the ones you are experiencing. You might want to check with your endo about doing that.

Also, when our daughter has an evening that includes physical activity she will actually drop a few hours later as a result. I have been told that the sugar store in the muscles gets replenished during the night by taking sugar out of the blood stream. So when they have had a particularly physical evening it can cause lows during the night.

Hope that helps!!

P.S. Riding horses at a neighbor's farm sure sounds like fun! I won't tell my daughter, she would be jealous!!:)

[Abby-Dabby-Doo]

During a very active day my child will run high. But at night when she's sleeping, it catches up to her and we get lows in the middle of the night.
Although I do think your probably in need of a change in your insulin dosage.

We always gave our Lantus in the morning- it's just the way we did it. We dealt with the Lantus peaking (working it's hardest) during the day, and the Lantus wearing off (22 or 23 hours) and her blood sugar becoming higher in the morning. But that doesn't make it right for everyone. Plenty of people had luck with giving Lantus at night too.

YDMV

[missnme]

Our only extreme low, that ended up with a small glucagon injection, was around 3:30 am after a day at an amusement park. She had been on the high side of normal all day and even with lots of extra snacks, she ended up 38 and unwakeable. Since then, we have noticed that she goes low about 6-8 hours after extra activity.

[MelissaC]

Boy those lows really are the pits!!!! I am sorry you have to deal with them especailly at night because I am sure you got no sleep -

Avery will go low at night after a day of extreme activity so maybe that is what is going on! We were just in FLA and had a very similar situation - scary but controllable but it left me anxiuos the whole next day :(..

hang in there - I ended up dropping her Lantus by 1/2 dose after that night and she has been ok since - she too takes her Lantus at night about 9 -9:30..

hope this helps...

[Heather(CA)]

Is he eating any free snacks for all that exercise??? Even though he just had dinner, it's covered by insulin, so he either needs to have some free snacks, or less insulin at dinner because he's going to be exercising...;) I'm sure he wont mind that lol

Also a snack with fat in it, like go gurts, yogart, or ice cream are good snacks for exercise nights. I'm also wondering if he's still honeymooning??

[Josh's Mom]

Yes, he was diagnosed in March so we are pretty sure he's still honeymooning ... it's just so hard to pinpoint causes ... too much activity ... honeymooning ... change in time schedule ... :confused:

[Amy C.]

In this case, I think the lows were caused by the increased activity. The shots, especially the humalog don't have to be at the same time every day. The late Lantus would have caused his sugar to go up, not down.

He sounds like an active child and probably needs to eat a good sized snack before he goes to bed on his especailly active days. When my son was on Lantus/Humalog, it was quite common that lows occurred for hours after a wild day of playing.

Activity has a huge effect on blood sugar.

[Heather(CA)]

I would also say it's the activity, give him free snack to cover the activity. That will help:D

[sam1nat2]

Also, the BG lowering effects can continue to the next day if he has had heavy exercise.
Do you send him off with a cell phone when he goes out? My ds has one which he takes when I'm not around. He thinks it is cool, to me, its an electronic leash where i'm able to remind him to test:) So hard to get them to remember when they are having fun!!

[Mama Belle]

Also, the BG lowering effects can continue to the next day if he has had heavy exercise.
Do you send him off with a cell phone when he goes out? My ds has one which he takes when I'm not around. He thinks it is cool, to me, its an electronic leash where i'm able to remind him to test:) So hard to get them to remember when they are having fun!!

Exactly! Samantha has swimming and softball every Wednesday. Yesterday (the day after) she had 4 lows, with a temp rate running. I'm not even joking. Sammy also has a cell which she uses just for D stuff.

[Josh's Mom]

Thanks for the great advice ... we'll try upping his free snacks on active days ... which is most of the time ... LOL ... and keep track of activity vs lows to maybe find a pattern. Josh does have a cell phone and that usually works really well ... It's a lot of stuff to think about ... and I know when he has these lows ... it really hits home to him about how important diabetes management is ... and it gives him an eye opener ... but the very next day when he was maintaining normal bg levels ... he went to the park to play without his monitor and an emergency carb ... kids!! ... even after all the talks we've had with him.

[Heather(CA)]

Also, the BG lowering effects can continue to the next day if he has had heavy exercise.
Do you send him off with a cell phone when he goes out? My ds has one which he takes when I'm not around. He thinks it is cool, to me, its an electronic leash where i'm able to remind him to test:) So hard to get them to remember when they are having fun!!

Seth has a cell phone too, I don't know whether I could keep my sanity without it...Since he has one, the other boys have them too of coarse LOL