Last Modified: 7:34pm 18/03/2021
Medication Related
- Insulin injection site problems- lipohypertrophy or hypertrophy. Either can affect how well insulin is absorbed.
- Reducing or stopping steroid based treatment without reducing insulin dose (associated with increased insulin sensitivity).
- Alcohol or Quinine use.
- Sulphonylurea related hypoglycaemia likely to occur 4-8 hours post dose
- Polypharmacy (?drug interaction increasing hypo risk – review ALL drugs)
Always try to find a cause and review glucose testing and driving advice knowledge where relevant.
Regardless of cause, always ensure that HBA1c is not too low (48mmol/mol or below).
Review usual diabetes treatments to make sure they are still correct for the patient.
Older, frail patients, patients with co-morbidities or patients living alone may need extra care and a treatment review.
(Joint British Diabetes Societies: Diabetes at the Front Door, Feb 2020)