BGL suddenly drops to Hypoglycaemia level, for no reason.

@waynerkk: My diabetes saga is similar to yours… long time type2. I am 81 female with CGM that seems to “alarm” me more often now. I wish I had a clear solution to the high’s & low’s with no apparent cause. It drives me crazy trying to figure out the cause so I can make changes. Could this phenomenon happen just to type2’s with mucho birthdays?
I have found I am keeping my 2insulin pens with me wherever I am and a sack of things to eat to rise numbers just in case. The additional insulin brings numbers down quickly, but low’s take more food than I would think appropriate to get the numbers higher. I do drink a lot of water too!
I’m sure these hints are not new to you. Please share if you have a successful high/low BG plan with me.

Hi dbamos1945
Thanks for your response and for sharing my frustration with needing to carry rapid action insulin for unexplained highs and glyucogel jelly beans for unexplained lows.
In Australia we have Accredited Diabetic Nurse Educators. The last time that I visited my ADNE, she suggested that I had probably developed Type 3C diabetes, which would explain my wild BGL swings. I have found that many GPs are not very well informed on the management of BGL. I wish you well.

@dbamos1945
Hi again,
I forgot to mention that my ADNE said that it is not uncommon to develop type 3C diabetes after an episode of Pacreatitis. I've had Pacreatitis 3 times in the past 5 years.

Type 3C! First I've heard of this. Google asserts it's been known since the 1990s but I gather an official designation has occurred only in the last year.

Sounds difficult to cope with, more like type1 than type2.

I would ask two questions, first if you are still taking diabetes meds to lower blood glucose, and second if you can associate the low blood glucose events with anything - diet, exercise, or even just time since last meal.

I wonder if there are some slow-digesting foods that you might find that help to steady things out.

"I would ask two questions, first if you are still taking diabetes meds to lower blood glucose, and second if you can associate the low blood glucose events with anything - diet, exercise, or even just time since last meal."

I am still taking Forxiga 10mg and Metformin 1000mg every morning.
For 20 years my BGL was really good with 12 long acting insulin in the morning and 12 in the evening. After the infection sepsis)caused by a bile duct stone ( my BGL is all over the place. I'm currently using 15u long acting morning and 3-5 Novorapid before each meal.
I eat pretty much the same meals every day, do the same exercise, and use the same insulin doses. Some days BGL is within range, other days I will get a BGL crash down to 2.3mml/L (41.4 mg/dL) suddenly and with out warning. Other days I will get a spike of 16mml/L (288 mg/dL) suddenly and without warning????
My HBA1c has always been around 6.0 - 6.4 for 20 years. With all this happening, I have no idea what my next HBA1c will be.
Maybe type sC is the explanation, but there is no diagnostic test to confirm it.
SO FRUSTRATING!!
Thank you for your interest and for allowing me to ventilate my frustration 🙂

@waynerkk yes you did say insulin, so I should have seen that before asking, apologies.

It would seem to me that, with even a suspicion of this type 3C, that your ADNE should be getting you with the doctor to talk about adjusting your meds, especially the insulin. I'm no expert on this though I was on insulin for a short time, but reducing the long-acting and then perhaps increasing the short-acting a little, would seem indicated.

Even now, when you get a spike reading like 288mg/dL, are you taking an additional short-acting shot? With the CGM you might know - how long does such a spike last?

Maybe with these symptoms you qualify to talk with a specialist doctor, in the US that would usually be an endocrinologist? Certainly it seems the trend world-wide for the GP/PCP to know less about ... almost anything, in the US we often get quick referral to specialists if you even sneeze wrong (though OTOH I've heard many stories of people with serious, long-term diabetes still treated only by GP/PCP when it would seem something more is needed, especially now with the Ozempic class of meds).

Hey folks, long time diabetic here (51 years). I never heard of Type 3C until now. Regarding type of diabetes, I had a Mayo endocrinologist tell me “what is diabetes? Too high blood sugar, type doesn’t matter.” I think that might be over simplifying it a bit and the type probably does matter in terms of why you have diabetes and more importantly how best to treat it. I believe the point the good Dr. was making is that diabetics need to focus on controlling blood sugar regardless of what caused the diabetes.
Another thing I know for certain is that when you have diabetes it affects ALL aspects of your health and vice versa, other aspects of your health affect the control of your diabetes condition. I was reminded of this when the discussion author told about the bile duct condition. The treatment for the stone could have led to the need for adjustments in diabetic the diabetic treatment.
In addition to my previous point I know that just like “types of diabetes”, diabetes affects people differently and treatment will differ. Some things are fairly constant. You need to have a target range of blood sugars to aim for and instructions on what to do when you are above or below that range. This pertains to treating hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. If insulin is part of your treatment you need to be prepared for a hypoglycemic event because that can happen quickly, critically or even fatally! At home my remedy is a fruit juice (15 - 30 grams), wait 15 minutes, test again and repeat if necessary. This method assumes that you are conscious and can swallow. There are other prescription products available (inhaled, injectables) that require the assistance of a helper. Make sure your family &/or friends know your situation and can help if needed. Someone mentioned glycogel; a helper can put that under your tongue &/or smear it on your gums if needed.
Lastly just because a treatment has worked for a LONG time, sometimes the body acclimates to it and there may come a time when you need to change things up a bit. Thankfully there are new meds and treatments being continually developed. (Or just a dose change might be in order.) Your provider can help you make necessary changes.

@waynerkk
Oops sC
Should read 3C