So, I recently re-filled my prescription for Glucagon, since last year’s dose expired. I haven’t had to use it yet, and just wondered what experiences others may have had with Glucagon…
I wish I could help… It sits on a shelf… hoping to never use it!!!
Mary Simon, M.D. A certified diabetologist practicing in Fresno, CA, Dr. Simon has type 1 diabetes and has been involved with DYF Programs since 1986 is Diabetic Youth Foundation’s Medical Director. I believe she said they can last a year outside of the exp date. Dr Mary is also in support of using the MiniGluc technique to treat low blood sugars particularly in children when they are sleeping. No juice needed and forcing food on the kids and then there is no need to get them up to brush their teeth after all that sugar. Hope this helps.
Wow! That is my daughters Dr.!!
What is the MiniGluc technique?
Glucagon “Mini-dose” Instruction
The purpose of the “mini-dose” is to avoid an emergency condition that may require glucagon rescue. This might be needed in cases such as when a diabetic child is injected with insulin before breakfast, eats, and then vomits and cannot eat again: with the injected insulin working its way into the bloodstream and no carbohydrate to balance, there may soon be a hypoglycemic emergency.
To avoid severe hypoglycemia (or alternatively avoid a trip to the hospital for intravenous glucose), the glucagon from the emergency rescue kit can be used in a measured dose to maintain the blood glucose level. Instead of the glucagon emergency syringe and its large bore needle, a standard U-100 insulin syringe can be used. The recommended dose is:
ages 2 years and under: 2 units (20µg)
age 2 to 15 years: 1 unit (10 µg) for each year of age (6 units for a 6 year old, etc)
age 15 years and older: 15 units (150 µg)[6]
The mini-dose treatment should be repeated as necessary to maintain blood sugar until food can be eaten.
Medical studies have shown that the mini-dose rescue is tolerated well and effective.[7]
as taken from Glucagon rescue
I’ve done the glucagon rescue - well not me but a friend who’s a nurse had to tend to me when I passed out.
I have had to use one a lot,
- My stroke
- A seizure
3, Another seizure - Sugar dropped one day and refused to go up
- Doctor told me to take insulin for a high…it was apparantly too much!
Check this older discussion out along the topic.
Thanks, Cynthia!
Not fun have had to have it twice and even though both times i was hypoing i cn still remember the pain and was sick for the rest of the day on both occasions. hope that helps a bit x
Here is also some reading regarding mini-dose when children has stomach illnesses. I have done it once - our general doctors is not trained in Diabetes. My son had a stomach flu at one stage and he was admitted to hospital. The doctor did not want to put on a glucose intravenously when his sugar was dropping and wanted me to stop giving long acting as well as short acting insulin. (He had ketones as well.) So everytime his BS dropped I had to give him something to eat and that upset his stomach again. He was nauseous all the time. We all know that insulin takes ketones away but then if Bs drops sugar is needed. So he was suppose to put in a glukse intravenously until his BS is round about 13mmol and then change it to a saline drip again. So I told the doctor if he doesn’t want to give him glucose intraveniousy I’m going to give him this minidose glucagon and showed him the article. So that night I gave him his longacting insulin and glucagon every 30 minutes. The next morning he felt better and ate again.