So your liver kicked in when that happened, Kelly?
So far it has kicked in but I always worry about the day it won’t! I was spending on average, 3 hours unconscious – based on what I could remember before zonking out. It was dangerous – I gave myself a black eye & bloody nose one day. Another time, I was actually making breakfast and had put my eggs on the stove. Luckily I passed out before turning the stove on. My neighbors did call 911 on me on night because I was screaming & banging on the wall. I stopped screaming before the cop got there & he was going to leave. Fortunately, they convinced him to get the manager and come in since I was unconscious on the floor.
We keep glucagon in the butter compartment of the fridge, the school nurse has one, and another in a spare bag where we keep supplies to go. We have never had to use it and do not take glucagon with us in our day to day life. Glucose gel and/or cake gel is in the car, nurses office, medical supply bag. Usually, we rely on individually wrapped Lifesavers which can be carried on her at all times or juice. She checks blood sugar often and we cover IOB when her blood sugar gets to be about 100 to 110. The covering for IOB is how we have prevented many lows.
I have a new glucagon kit sitting in my fridge and I have two expired kits there. The expiration date for glucagon kits is too strict in my view. It is just a hormone and it will degrade slowly over time. If the kit is outdated the hormone will still be good for a reaction of the liver. So in my view it would be better to inject the expired kit than just wait for the paramedics to arrive.
Nope, I have never even seen one. I’m Type 1, been diabetic for 52 years. I have only lost consciousness once - that I remember B-}.
Besides I like Werther’s candy better.
I have them at home and at my friends house where I hang out at a lot, but I don’t carry one with me unless someone I trust is with me. My reasoning is simple - If I’m out and about and pass out I don’t want a stranger injecting me, and if they call the medics then when they get there they will use their own stash of drugs to treat me, not grab something out of my stash. So unless one of four or so people are with me it stays at home. Where my roommate can stare at it with a pale look (he HATES needles, so teaching him how to use it was awesome).
I’m T1.
I have a total of 3 kits, and I would never be the one to use it, it would be used on me.
Same here, Type 1 and have had some severe lows
Keep one in my desk drawer and one in my Laptop bag
Gary
I never had one. I have MANY easy to chew candy and juice boxes though.
Lots of questions…I could google answers but that would be selfish 
A few of you say you have an expired kit. If I bought one today how long until it expires???
Also what is the cost of the kit if you pay cash (im just curious what the $ value is)?
Does it expire quicker when not cooled like insulin?
Can you inject in muscles/fat or vein?
The one SUPER low I had that required paramedics, they couldn’t find my vein easily (they had an IV bag with glucagon…I think?) So they went into my kitchen and got me bread with jelly and juice and yelled at me to eat it…LOL. I don’t think they had a glucagon kit like you describe it just looked like an IV bag. Eventually after a couple bruises and smeared jelly on my face, they got the IV bag hooked up.
I doubt I would get a kit but I’m curious.
Also I think it’s funny TuDiabetes website spell check doesn’t recognize the word “glucagon”. I did spell it right, right?
T1 36 years and have kept one in my kitchen for the past several years and take when traveling. I don’t feel lows even in the 20’s and it has saved my butt several times.
T1 for 51 years and never had (or needed) glucagon. Even more interesting - over all those years not one of the squadron of endos who’s treated me since 8 mos old has ever mentioned it. I had no idea what it was until I read a reference to it on this board several months ago.
My control has always been good and I’ve never had a serious episode so I will never purchase it. That doesn’t mean it’s not useful or important. It’s entirely a personal choice.
It expires at least 1yr after manufacture. I get mine in January, expires in December.
Mine are free (VA benefits) but I’ve heard anywhere from 130-200 US.
I’ve read/heard multiple stories on refrigerator/room temp, and the consensus is no one has a clue! In the pamphlet that comes with it it states 36-80 degrees F and explicitly states do not freeze. I keep mine in the little drawer in the fridge with all my insulin. I figure insulin is stored in the same temp. zone, so might as well keep the whole stash in one place. However, according to the pamphlet and the nurses at my endo’s office it state it will last the whole year at room temperature.
It is injected into muscle. The ideal muscle is the outer part of the thigh (no major nerves/vessels on the outer part). The butt is also a good choice BUT the Sciatic Nerve runs in that region - apart from sever pain if you hit that nerve it can cause major complications. It’s administered similar to an Epi-Pen (without the auto-inject feature) or the nerve agent kits if you have military training. There is a video on how to use it free.
Medics use a Glucose IV to bring up your sugar. Instant sugar, no waiting for carbs to digest or your liver to start kicking out glucose. Glucogon, BTW, is not glucose. It’s a hormone that causes your liver to release every ounce of glucose it has stored up. That’s why as soon as possible after use you need to eat carbs so your liver can rebuild those stores.
Firefox is horrible at the spellcheck bit. My favorite is it wants to make carbs into crabs 
My two packs in the fridge butter compartment are dated 1990 expiry and I got them in 1986.
I did always think that they might still be somewhat useful, as they are not yet mixed together.
The question now is does anyone know of any person who has used an old package and regretted it?
I once had a portion of a tablet of the same niacin that causes flushing and even though it is over 10 years old, I still could feel the result. So I think we can’t assume that old things are that much less potent, just not reliably as effective, the question is will there be harm done? I tend to be a “waste not, want not” person, so I won’t throw everything out on the day of expiry.
I’ve had glucagon twice in the past 30 years.
It’s not like popping some Pez. Glucagon is the “Davey Crockett” nuclear howitzer of blood-glucose-raising possibilities. Only after all other means of stopping the Russkis from coming across into West Germany are you to use it. (OK, I’m dating myself, keep falling back to cold war analogies).
Glucagon left me feeling like complete and total crud (did I mention the super-nausea? Complete inability to keep food or even liquids down?) for most of a day afterward.
That said, it probably did save my life.
If you were living or going camping in the wilderness and cut off from civilization then glucagon might be actually necessary. But IMHO if 911 and an ambulance with EMT’s available to get you out of hypo coma then that would probably be preferable. Just my two cents, because the EMT’s (if you get lucky) will use a glucose IV rather than glucagon should it come to that.
Glucagon is the “Davey Crockett” nuclear howitzer of blood-glucose-raising possibilities. Only after all other means of stopping the Russkis from coming across into West Germany are you to use it. (OK, I’m dating myself, keep falling back to cold war analogies).
LMAO!
I guess we also have to remember that Davey Crockett died at the Alamo along with some 115 fellow defenders. Amazingly they failed to defeat the thousands of Mexican solders under Santa Ana. I guess they forget their Glucagon pen.
ps. Apologies to any Texans out there who feel I have committed heresy.
I’m A Type 1 and ALWAYS keep atleast 3 on hand for those really low times and my husband along with my daughter’s g-daughter’s and g-mother all know how to use it (that is all but the 2 year old g-daughter and the 1 year old g-son Hey my 4 year old g-daughter knows what to do with it) I tend to be hypo unawear and when I fall I FALL FAST then pass out and start to seize so to me they have been a life saver more than once!
Note at least a little resemblance (if out of scale) between a Davy Crockett launcher, and a glucagon kit. To my eyes the vial looks a LOT like the M388 nuclear charge:
M28 120mm Atomic Battle Group Delivery System (Light) M151A1D 4x4 T…
Glucagon really does expire rather quickly. It’s a hormone & doesn’t have a long shelf life. It’s supposed to be kept at room temperature & in a dry location. Refigerators aren’t dry. Glucagon is delicate because when mixed it has to be used within one hour. Seems unlikely that it would be potent 11 years past the expiration date. The harm done would be that it wouldn’t work to raise BG.
LOL
Oops, typo. I meant to say “21 years” not 11 years.