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What Cause An Abrupt Low Blood Sugar Levels In A Diabetic Patient?
My father is 87 and on insulin and metformin. Recently his blood sugar levels have been dropping drastically overnight ... example .. 9:30 pm it is 205 ..... 8:30 am, it is 61 ..... Can you tell me why this is such a drop or give me advise to help him reach a better level in the morning? (two weeks ago, my mom found him unconscious in the morning and had to call an ambulance. ) Thank you very m
Thu, 28 Jun 2018
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.
Metformine do not cause hypoglicemia or low blood sugar. Insulin is the cause of hypoglicemia. Your father has fasting low sugar and this means that very probably it can be attributed to the basal, long lasting insulin in the evening. I need more information about the regimen and the name of insulin that your father has recently used.This will help me to answer better to your question. Anyway my advice is to consult physically your father's treating endocrinologist because it is necessary to adjust the insulin doses to normalize his diabetes numbers and to avoid hypoglicemic episodes in the future.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Metformine do not cause hypoglicemia or low blood sugar. Insulin is the cause of hypoglicemia. Your father has fasting low sugar and this means that very probably it can be attributed to the basal, long lasting insulin in the evening. I need more information about the regimen and the name of insulin that your father has recently used.This will help me to answer better to your question. Anyway my advice is to consult physically your father's treating endocrinologist because it is necessary to adjust the insulin doses to normalize his diabetes numbers and to avoid hypoglicemic episodes in the future.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
I find this answer helpful
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.
There are a lot of reasons for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) at night like inappropriate dosages of insulin and other anti diabetic medications,mistakes in taking these medications,inappropriate food intake and exercises, over enthusiastic usage of medicine for very strict blood glucose level control may also cause low blood sugar levels.
Advise:blood glucose level monitoring with help of glucometer before dinner and before sleep is very helpful so that the insulin dosage can be adjusted depending on levels discuss with your doctor regarding the levels and insulin adjustment. Please check if your father is using apt insulin syringe that suits the strength of insulin he is taking
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
There are a lot of reasons for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels) at night like inappropriate dosages of insulin and other anti diabetic medications,mistakes in taking these medications,inappropriate food intake and exercises, over enthusiastic usage of medicine for very strict blood glucose level control may also cause low blood sugar levels.
Advise:blood glucose level monitoring with help of glucometer before dinner and before sleep is very helpful so that the insulin dosage can be adjusted depending on levels discuss with your doctor regarding the levels and insulin adjustment. Please check if your father is using apt insulin syringe that suits the strength of insulin he is taking
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
I find this answer helpful
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