Correcting a low BG: what is your go-to solution

although i would rather have a piece of chocolate for a minor low, i find that glucose tabs are the most accurate solution. they don’t taste great, but they are very predictable. i know that if i am in the 80s trending down, i can short-stop a low w/ one tab, and i will stay quite comfortable and in range. at around 60 BG, 2 tabs do the job. below 60, i will go for 1/2 C of OJ. i correct modestly and wait about 1/2 hour patiently w/out panicking.

over the years w/ D, i have experimented w/ all different sorts of solutions to my own lows. my husband, who is not D but who experiences it vicariously (to some degree), panics when i go low, and his solution is to pour me a gallon of juice or a large bowl of grapes, et al. because when i am low, i get disoriented and obstinate. my husband points this out, insisting that i don’t know whats good for me , i.e. how much i need to bring my BGs back up. it always ends in a fight. when i give in to his protests, i spike high (obviously) and then we argue some more. i have even insisted that he come to my endo’s office and have the endo explain how to properly handle the LOW situation. my husband has had all this info for over the 21 years of our marriage. but still (ugh) :frowning:

what are your solutions and do you experience difficult situations w/ partners/family members?

i drink juice or take glucose tabs for my lows

and then I’m hungry lol

the hunger just kills me! :smile:

I hate the high blood sugar hunger. So @Daisy_Mae is saying your husband wants you to eat a lot when your bg is low? One I hated but whatever is the nurses made me eat a meal saying, “You had glucose and reduced your basal rate and it’s umpteen hours since you overbooked but you know sugar won’t keep your bg up.” Well they had some good training. Unfortunately it’s complicated.

My husband use to think I hated him because I fought him and said horrible things to him while I was in those horrible lows. Even my parents couldn’t get him to understand that I didn’t hate him it was the brain screaming for food. It wasn’t until he came with to an endo visit when he was told the same thing by my doctor did he finally get that I didn’t hate it al all.
With my Dexcomwe rarely get to the point where I need his help but we just have the glucose tablets all over the house and in every car. He now understands just four should do it and it takes time for me to come around. Hard to do when your loved one is in such sad shape to sit and wait but her owns that waiting is a big part of the diabetes game plan.

i think that what happens is that however many times i go low, my husband becomes terribly frightened. on occasion, i appreciate that, but after 21 years of marriage to a D, you’d think he would understand the protocol. we also keep glucose tabs everywhere. bedroom, every pocketbook, backpacks, car, travel bags, kitchen, parents homes…i know that he loves me dearly, he just becomes terribly impatient when it takes some time before my BGs get back up to a reasonable “safe” level.

thanks for your post.

Low BG sucks, but I love the silver lining of being able to wolf down a piece of fruit or juice that otherwise wouldn’t match my relatively low carb approach. For me, having a CGM is enormously useful in seeing low events before they become super low.

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I can tell you what I should do but the truth is…I do not have a regimented go to solution, I do carry D4’s and a Glucagon kit, but it could be some sugary delight it really depends on when, where, what I need to do, and whats going on during the next hour or so…I probably only correct lows maybe 2 or 3 times a month.

I do have blood sugars in the 60’s around lunch and dinner many times but I just eat my meals most of the time and my pump reduces my bolus insulin automatically. It’s just my wife and I, we hardly ever sit down and eat at the same time, shes not a diabetic and can eat anything and she does. My wife has been with me since my Dx she’s my Yoda when it comes to low BG she can tell just by looking at me and many times she knows when shes talking to me on the phone. She also has been with me through pump school and Betes education and has dealt with me when I was moments from departing this life…She even preemptively warns me about times when I’m fixing to do something that’s going to drive my BG down, shes seen it all…

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my husband has been w/ me to the endo too many times to know better than to try and push a gallon of OJ down my throat when he can tell i am going low. as i am writing this my BGs slipped down to 71 (2 1/2 hours after dinner) and i can tell its time to take a glucose tab. i can’t imagine going down to 60 and being able to see straight. i have been D for over 30 years and have been higher than my glucometer can read and as low as 30. this is obviously not something that has happened w/ any frequency, but it has happened, and i know that having patience for correction during those times is precious.

my cgm is a life saver. i can always tell if i am trending down by just pressing a button and reading the screen. i’ve only been using one for the past year, and i am shocked at how much information i have been missing about my D. it’s like getting a doctorate (PhD……pun intended) in diabetes management. :wink:

as much as i love the junk food that my husband leaves around the kitchen, i still go for those silly glucose tabs. always reliable. tried, tested, true.

orange juice for me, and probably no more than 1/2 cup all said. It works and about 15mins after, I feel much better. My bs at 60 or less makes me feel very bad. It is difficult for non-D people to understand sometimes. I’m married to one as well who thinks I can eat the cake and ice cream. I’m slowly turning him to foods we can BOTH eat. I actually explained how low bs feels by referencing Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias. Although her acting it out was of course, dramatic…it pointed out how out of control it can make me feel. It registered for him. Take him to school, Daisy…lol.

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I don’t fear lows at all. I’m pretty hypo-unaware and it isn’t something that bothers me. if I’m 55- 70 I eat 10 fast acting carbs (usually these little fruit gummy strips) and re-check in 20 minutes. If I’m lower then I’ll usually have 14 carbs of juice (I have fruit punch Capri Suns right now). If I just need a little bump up, say before I drive or something, I’ll have 7 carbs worth of peanuts.

I do keep glucose tabs in the car for emergencies in case I forget to bring something with me. They last a long time (do they expire?) and I don’t have to worry about it. Otherwise I don’t really use them.

My mother thinks I need to eat everything when I’m low and she thinks that anything under 100 is low. I was talking to her on the phone the other day and told her I was 67. She was like “OMG! Do you have any Coke in the house? What about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” Haha, I just had a Miller Light and a small handful of peanuts. My SO tends to get annoyed if my CGM goes off at night since he has to get up early for work, but otherwise he lets me handle it. Once I got to the point where I needed help and he brought me a bunch of stuff but only let me have one thing at a time until I was okay.

I’m not saying this is a good example, ugh I’m slowing down from low. Cgm showed fast drop and I ate slice of pizza now cgm is alarming… I have to get a peach. Still alarming ugh I forgot to chew the peach…what was I thinking… okay had a glucose gel. Earlier today I was steady at 111 but I was afraid because I was going to get a massage, I ate mega sweeties same as glucose tabs, about ten of them, 2 grams carb each, then the cgm started ringing high about eight times during the massage. Good way to keep from falling asleep. Oh jeez I’m still getting a four beep warning after a slice of pizza, a peach and a glucose gel. I did over correct but last night I had the experience of bg not conning down. I even tonight pulled Afrezza out of the fridge. Glad I didn’t take it. Friend came over with pizza so I changed my dinner plan and became distracted from my continuous closed loop feedback diabetes infernal ball and chain.

No CGM here; it’s all finger sticks. When I’m low I take glucose tabs.

In years past I used to think of a low as a way to eat a treat such as a slice of toast. But once that first bite of food goes down I’m alternately repulsed (everything tastes hideous) and ravenous. Every time I tried to correct with food, I ended up way high, then way crashy. Not a gentle roller coaster; more like being strapped to a sickening pogo stick.

I gave up on the notion that I can correct my lows with food. If I can avoid that first bite, I’m generally OK with the hunger pangs, but it can be hard to convince my foggy-brain self to eat glucose tabs and wait it out…

I use anything that contains Dextrose. It’s the fastest and most accurate way to get out of a low without over-correcting. Glucose tabs, skittles, smarties, runts, etc. I’ve found that I tend to drink too much juice when I’m low.

Sarah :four_leaf_clover:

That’s why I only use juice boxes, and I make sure to get the ones with around 15 carbs. Usually Capri Sun or Fruitables

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I have the same experience! It is hard for a non-diabetic to understand that one is just not themselves during such an extreme low. But thank goodness I do eventually listen and eat what he is giving me! I also use the Dexcom CGM and it has helped w/ the extreme lows but I am still working on reducing the non EXTREME lows. I also use the glucose tablets, preferably the ones which do NOT contain color dyes. I carry them with me and keep them bedside. I usually just take one tablet but if it is really low, I may eat part of a banana as well, which can sometimes overshoot for my low:(

my husband gets crazy over my lows. tries to force all food substances w/ sugar down my throat. but i identify w/ your CGM going off in the middle of the night. he wakes up and moans, “what is it now? high or low?” and then complains i have interrupted his sleep.he goes back to sleep while i wait for my BGs to either go up or come down. there are some people on TuD who actually turn their cgm alarms off during the night so that their sleep is not interrupted. i am not one of them.

  • Smarties for on the go quick corrects. 6g of pure glucose per roll. Available in bulk for much less than glucose tabs.

  • Juice Box (late night easy solution)

  • Lindor Truffles, the solution for when low hits and I am sitting on the couch sipping an American craft ale.