I tested 2 hours after breadfast and got 89. Good. Then I was supposed to have lunch an hour later, but couldn’t. Tested half an hour after I was going to have lunch and got a 66. Was feeling ok, but a bit shakey. I had some hard candy in my bag - mini chuppa chups about 6 g each and had 2 of those and seemed to be ok. Tested after about 15 minutes and it was 82 so ok.
Is this approach ok?
I am trying to be vigilent with eating in the morning (small snack / lunch on time) as I am taking a mix insulin and would guess that the short acting insulin would be having it’s main effect in the morning, rather than the afternoon (and anyway, I seem to handle carbs a little better in the afternoons).
Under 70 is usually considered low. Typical low symptoms are sweating, feeling shakey, hungry, foggy-headed, depressed, some people get numb lips & see flashing lights before their eyes.
Fasting acting glucose (candy, glucose tabs, a small amount of soda) is best to raise a low. You did exactly the right thing! Food digests too slowly. Letting glucose slowly dissolve in your mouth works fastest. Following the glucose, eating a small amount of protein helps keep BG level.
There’s the 15-15 guideline, but this isn’t necessarily best for everyone. It’s taking 15 grams of glucose, waiting 15 minutes to test & then taking 15 grams more if BG isn’t rising. This is faulty because 15 glucose grams effects people differently depending on how much they weigh & how sensitive they are. Fifteen grams of glucose raises me 150 pts, for example. I’d be soaring high following this rule. The other problem with the 15-15 thing is that it can take up to an hour to see the full effects of a correction. People end up over-correcting. I wait 30 minutes before testing.
Good to experiment to learn how much 1 gram of glucose raises your BG & you’ll know an exact amount to use.
Many people are most carb sensitive/insulin resitant in the morning & less so in the afternoon.
Yes, hypo symptoms are very much like inebriation symptoms, since both are caused by lack of glucose to support brain function. As Gerri said, 15 grams of carb are often too much for most of us but testing to learn how much you really need for a given level is the best idea.
Myself I aim to get 1 gram of carb for each 10 mg/dl I’m below 70 or 80. Of course getting something with JUST that many grams of carb may be hard to do, so a bit too much is preferred over a bit too little. The other thing is that it’s possible that your level was dropping faster than expected when you got symptoms, hence the test 15 minutes later rule makes sense. Of course if you still have symptoms at that point input more glucose.
That’s the kind of thing that has helped me survive 54 years of Type 1 diabetes now.
Sounds like you were right on the money, Sally. I use glucose tablets which I carry everywhere. Two 4 gram tablets usually works well for me and then I check 20 minutes later and might take one more if I haven’t gone up or if the original low was lower than usual. I usually only treat lows under 60, some people treat under 60, some 70. I don’t like eating sugar if I don’t have to, but I also have more free time to watch my numbers.
If I test and I am in the 70’s I wait and test again about 20 min later to see if I am still going down. If I am going down I start with one candied orange slice (12gm). I have woken up in the 40’s and I eat everything I can get my hands on - 40’s scare me. I stay up until in am in the high 70’s. I also keep glucose tabs in my truck, wife’s purse, her car, desk at work, bed side. Still like the candies orange slices best. I also keep regular rootbeer 12 oz cans in the ice box…
Sally, don’t worry about the number of questions! How else will we all learn?
If I can feel a low coming on, I’ll “regulate” with a couple pieces of hard candy or one or two glucose tabs. But if I missed the low’s onset and have already dropped into the 50s, it’s five or six ounces of juice.
Gerri’s and Theodore’s experiences on the 15-15 thing aren’t unusual – but then, neither is Zoe’s. For me, glucose tabs are pointless in emergent situations because they take too darn long, but occasionally I need the entire 10-ounce bottle of juice to get me just about to 80 or 90. Keep experimenting to figure out what works best for you in different situations.
First - you continue to test which is the only real way to change BG patterns…great job. My nutrish suggested breakfast be about fat and protein…bacon and eggs kinda stuff vs. oatmeal, bagels. That causes my morning BG’s to remain fairly level and I don’t need a snack mid-morning, nor am I hungry. Don’t take insulin if your BG is below 90. You don’t say what your pre breakfast BG was so it’s hard to tell if the BG of 89 should have been a red flag. Non diabetics get a rise of about 40 points around that time frame after a normal meal. I always suggest glucose tablets for those lows under 60. One tab for me raises the BG about 15 points. I recommend them because they don’t have fat and are low cal. Your liver has it’s own schedule and may release glucose around the same time as you’d normally eat and alot of D’s need less insulin mid morning and late afternoon for some reason.
Then, yes I’d say that 89 reading two hours after the meal would be a red flag. Have the cheese and cracker kind of snack at that time and you should be OK. Around 15 carbs total. If the regular candy is too much temptation don’t carry it for lows. When I’m low I rarely appreciate the rescue snack anyway. If the glucose tab container is too difficult to deal with when you are low, put them in a baggie or some other easily opened container. Remember you need to follow the carb rescue with a fat or protein to keep from going low again if you are not going to have a meal within the next hour or two. Whatever you decide to use for rescue carbs, 100 percent simple sugar is the most effective - anything with fat will slow the absorption down - 1/2 12 oz can of regular soda works just fine also.
You eat small enough fast acting sugar and then you wait about 15 minutes and test again. I always carry the glucose tablets with me (the sorts sold in drugstores and are about $1.50 a tube in the USA). So yea, you’re doing it right.
When I’m exercising I’m a bit more hardcore. I always bring a banana or bottle of OJ with me just in case I dip low. There have been times that during a workout I’ll eat a banana and then have OJ too and leave with normal levels (I’m trying to lose weight that I gain when I was abroad, so sometimes I’ve got the energy to push and I’ll need the fuel to do that.)
When I get low, I go for 4-5 sugar tablets or a pack of Smarties. These get you back up quickest, or so I am told by my diabetes educator. If it is not near a meal time, I usually check my blood sugar 15-20 minutes after my low. If I am low near a meal, then I just go ahead and eat. I feel that being anything under 70 is cause for concern. When you get low, you should try to eat something with about 15 carbs or so in it. Maybe you need an adjustment on your fast acting insulin if you keep getting these lows in the am. Just some suggestions! Hope you get things figured out soon!
Please do not apologize for asking questions. This is what we are here for please ask as many questions till you feel comfortable.
The only way I can described a LOW is like being a crack addict. Now you are a sugar addict as we all are. Its pretty much the same symptoms. Your body is going through a minor withdrawal because it needs glucose (sugar). Just like what other people have described with the shaking and sweating, dizziness. Have you ever been in a standard transmission car where if the engine did not recieve enough gas it started to buck. Your body is not recieving the energy it needs so it started to buck.
Instead of eating candy or soda is totally fine if nothing else is available… There are glucose tablets and gel in the pharmacy section that are especially for these types of situation. You should have these with you all the time. Orange juice is probably the quickest reliever of the LOW. In either case it will take about 15-20 mins for you body to notice the difference.
This is all about the learning process in becoming a diabetic. You will eventually have to figure out what works for you.
