Do you get night time hypos?

Also known as, Nocturnal Hypoglycemia

· Type 1 Diabetes,Diabetes,Diabetes Support,Diabetes Solutions,Night time

Nocturnal hypoglycemia refers to low blood sugar levels at night in a person who has diabetes. Blood sugar levels can drop below their target range at night if a person eats too little food after taking his or her usual nighttime insulin dose or takes more insulin than prescribed in the evening.

Who's at risk?

Nocturnal hypoglycemia can affect people who:

Skip meals, particularly dinner
Exercise before bedtime
Drink alcohol before bedtime
Have infections

Symptoms of night-time hypoglycemia

Sometimes you may wake up during an episode of nocturnal hypoglycemia.

However, if you don’t, you may notice one or more of the following indications that hypoglycemia may have occurred whilst you were asleep.

Waking with a headache
Experiencing seemingly unprovoked sleep disturbance
Feeling unusually tired
Waking with damp bed clothes and sheets from sweating
Having a clammy neck

Testing blood sugar levels at about 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. for a few consecutive nights may help a person find out whether low blood sugar is causing the symptoms. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices can also help. Some of these devices sound an alarm when blood sugar is too high or too low.

What should I do if this happens?

People and their partners or roommates should learn to recognize the signs of nighttime hypoglycemia. Be prepared! Ask your doctor for an emergency glucagon kit. This kit contains a fast-acting medication that can be injected if the person can’t be woken up. Store the kit in a bedside drawer for easy access.

To sum it all up, Nocturnal hypoglycemia occurs when blood glucose levels fall below 70 mg/dl while sleeping at night and it may be prevented by decreasing the evening insulin dose or by adding more food to the bedtime snack. And do not forget to use The Spike App to send you insulin reminders!