What causes hypoglycemia?
Many factors can cause hypoglycemia, including, but not limited to:213
- Changes in mealtimes
- Not enough carbohydrates (carbs)
- Wrong dose of insulin or other diabetes medication
- Exercise without a snack or medication adjustment
- Alcohol
- Heart palpitations
- Tremor (shaking)
- Sweating
- Changes in behavior
- Feeling irritable or anxious
- Nausea (feeling like you might vomit)
- Feeling confused
- Feeling hungry
- Headache
- Finding it difficult to think
- Tingling or numbness in your lips, tongue or cheek
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Night time hypos (nocturnal hypoglycemia)
Hypoglycemia can happen while you are sleeping. Studies suggest that almost half of all episodes of hypoglycemia (and more than half of all severe episodes) occur at night during sleep.214
Signs and symptoms of nocturnal hypoglycemia
Signs and symptoms of night time hypos include damp sheets or clothes due to sweat, nightmares, tiredness, irritability and/or confusion upon waking.213
You also might not experience any hypoglycemia symptoms, so monitoring your sugar levels is important.213
Can the consequences of hypoglycemia be serious?
If hypoglycemia is severe, it can lead to serious consequences like fainting, seizure (fits), coma or death.201
There are also long-term effects of hypoglycemia. Repeated episodes can lead to a negative impact on your health in the future, including mental health, cognitive function (thinking) and risk of death. Over time you may also become less aware of your hypoglycemia.215
Hypoglycemia unawareness
If hypoglycemia happens regularly, it can lead to 'hypoglycemia unawareness', a condition where you become less able to recognize the symptoms of hypoglycemia. It can increase risk of severe hypoglycemia up to 17 times more than someone who is aware of hypoglycemia. So avoiding hypoglycemia unawareness is vital if you have diabetes.209,211
How can FreeStyle Libre help me avoid hypoglycemia?
FreeStyle Libre can help you identify night time hypos or hypoglycemia unawareness, without waking up to do a finger prick blood test223
As a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), FreeStyle Libre keeps your glucose levels monitored 24/7. CGMs are the only tool able to detect hypoglycemia at any time, day or night, empowering you with information to help you avoid hypos.
FreeStyle Libre can show you:
Changes in your glucose over 24 hours, including overnight while you were asleep
The number of low glucose events you had in the last 7/14/30/90 days
Avoiding nocturnal hypoglycemia
When you are more aware of your night time hypos, you can then take action to help avoid them. For example:214
- Check your glucose level before bed time.
- Don't skip dinner.
- Find an exercise routine and timing that works for you.
- Be mindful of your alcohol intake.
- Create a meal routine to reduce the likelihood of having an hypo attack overnight.
Avoiding daytime hypoglycemia
When you take a reading, FreeStyle Libre shows you whether your glucose is rising or falling and how quickly it is changing. This can help you take the best course of action to avoid hypoglycemia.
If FreeStyle Libre estimates your glucose will fall below 3.9 mmol/L within 15 minutes, a message will appear on screen so you can take quick actions to curb your low glucose levels. Have a high carb snack and check again in 15 minutes. FreeStyle Libre will give you a new reading every 60 seconds.213


In a survey of FreeStyle Libre users, 95% reported a better understanding of their glucose fluctuations after 1 year.7
FreeStyle Libre reduces time spent in hypoglycemia
FreeStyle Libre reduces total hypoglycemia:

T1D patients†38

T2D patients^4
FreeStyle Libre reduces nocturnal hypoglycemia:

T1D patients#28

T2D patients‡4
Taste progress,
with right food choices.
Join the FreeStyle Libre Experience Program and gain insights into how your food choices affect glucose levels. Discover which of your favorite foods you can enjoy more of. First time user? You may qualify for a special price29 on your first starter kit!

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