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Why am I having extreme thirst with hypoglycaemia?

I was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic 7 years ago at the age of 63. I was pescribes a short acting insulin with meals and and 46 units of a long acting insulin each morning because I could not tolerate metformin. I have been well-controlled with my "normal" fasting glucose ranging between 6 and 8 mmol/l (108 and 144 mg/dl). About 9 months ago I woke up one morning with a reading of 4.7 (84.6) and in subsequent days the lower readings continued. Over a period of about 6 weeks I stopped taking the short-acting insulin at meals and since then I have been reducing the long acting--at present I am taking 34 units--but the low morning readings continue. I have to take meds (for another condition) at midnight so I usually take a glucose reading at that time and those readings are also trending low. Eating a carbish snack at that time seems to exacerbate the low, driving it even lower.

In the past few days I have noticed that when my glucose is below 6 I have dry mouth, like my mouth is lined with cotton fluff. I tested about an hour ago and I was 5.7 (102.6). Yesterday morning I was 4.7 (84.6) and the dry mouth. I take a diuretic-type blood pressure med due to a tendency to accumulate fluid around my ankles but I have been taking it for a year and a half so I doubt it is related to this.

Can hypoglycaemia cause dry, cottony mouth and thirst? Or should I be looking for other causes? My diabetes specialist is baffled and has me titrating the long-acting down, 2 unit reduction at a time, trying to find a number that stabilizes my levels. So far no luck. Any ideas or suggestions?
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Avatar universal
i would think because, it could also have something to do with cotton mouth or your system isn't digesting the healthy fluids you need, so i would drink lots and lots of water :)
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Avatar universal
Oh my goodness, I've been having same issue lately.  Did you or have you quit drinking soda ?  Since I quit drinking soda 2.5 months ago, and experience low's a lot, I am always thirsty.  Just as you describe, dry, cottony mouth, somedays I can drink several gallons of water.  Don't know maybe it's my mouth recovering from soda.    
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231441 tn?1333892766
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi,

normal glucose levels are typically in the 4.4 - 6.6 range, so your levels are not actually low, nor would they be considered hypoglycemia.

While everyone is different, dry and cottony mouth, with normal blood sugars is likely unrelated.

Have they checked your insulin levels?

Hope you can get to the bottom of this. Sounds befuddling.


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