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)