I have glucose tablets (mega smarties) in right front pocket, fruit squeeze pouch in left front pocket and Nerds box next to wallet. First went for fruit squeeze, not enough so five glucose, low bg hit hard so five more glucose, total 20g, mega smartie are 2g each. First symptom or pre symptom was thirst, drank water, then started sweating profusely, then became disoriented, then waited for bg to rise, it was severe, 2.5 hours after insulin bolus. I checked com and it had just inflected from slow decrease at 90 to a fast drop and at 77. Then I stayed below 70 for 25 minutes.
I am glad Iām not the only one who isnāt afraid to be low like that! Sometimes if my blood sugar is low in the early morning 60-70 (though I only really consider lower than 65 low) Iāll just go back to sleep until itās actually time to get up. There is a HUGE difference between lows like that and severe lows. If I wake up and Iām 40, Iām going to treat it right away. I know I start losing control of myself around 35 and I start blacking out around 30 (though I can usually help myself still at that point). Little lows are okay to let ride (for me) big lows are not.
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me too! I use juice mainly when Iām at home because it seems to work the fastest for me. And I donāt drink it otherwise so itās nice.
i only drink juice when i am very low (40s) as it works very fast and i donāt need that much of it (1/2C). i love it too for the exact same reason. its like a delicacy.
At Halloween and Easter they sell āfun sizeā packets of Skittles. I stock up on those, they are by far my favorite. They donāt melt, you can fit them anywhere, and one packet is a perfect 14g of carb. As you chew them the sugar gets in through the membranes in your mouth to give you a head start on coming up. Glucose tabs work well too, but the chalkiness sometimes makes me cough.
Iād like to change my answer! I am now a firm believer in Smarties! Apparently sometimes all I need is 6 really fast carbs. Been using these to stop lows before they start (sometimes not quite a whole roll), and I have not overcorrected since I started using them. They work so insanely fast for me, too. And they taste good, but arenāt something I would want all the time.
I used to use Juice boxes before realizing it just spiked my sugar, and I had bad control at just drinking half a box for half the sugars.
Recently Iāve picked up these small packs of prunes, 3 in a pack and 17g carbs. Taste great and level of my sugars perfectly. Fits in all my pouches, my car and my pockets.
my BG Glucose tabs take btw 15 and 25 minutes to fully work; but, i never spike when i take them. i will only take one if under 80 and 2 if i am in the 60s. when i go below 60, i go for 1/2 Cup juice.
when you say that yours work insanely fast for you, how much do you consider āinsanely fast?ā
prunes shoot me to the moon. total spiking every time. (what a shame. i LOVE prunes)
About 15 minutes, which is insanely fast for me. When I was using gummy strips or juice, I had to wait a good 20 minutes for my BG to start rising. The Smarties donāt make me go high, Iām assuming because itās such a small and controlled amount of carbs. If Iām really low, Iāll have a pack of Smarties (6 carbs) and a piece of white chocolate (~5 carbs).
Sometimes being low is fun!
there have been times, i must admit, that i looked forward to going a bit low just so that i could indulge in a bit of sweets. but i guess finding that i would always over-do it, i switched back to the glucose tabs b/c they have never caused me to spike. i just have to remember not to panic when they donāt take effect as quickly as i would like b/c it keeps me from munching on too many (and then, obviously, i do spike) yet, if i am in the 80s and trending downward, i will have a little piece of chocolate, and that seems to help a lot. Mmmmmmm, yummy.
There is ālooking forwardā and there is the bad practice I have of sometimes overbolusing for a meal so that I will be low and absolutely must have some sort of desert.
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i donāt ever intentionally over-bolus. if i really want a piece of chocolate, iāll bolus for the chocolate. please donāt misunderstand me about ālooking forward to going low for the excuse to munch on something sweet.ā giggles. 
Iāve been there, done that, will do it again! Especially at family gatherings. Oh, gee, I think I need a cupcake, how did that happen?
My goto solution is either a substantial glass of orange juice, if Iām home and itās in the fridge. Away from home I carry Dextrose tabs or āRocketsā (candy about the shape and size and glucose content of the tabs, but much cheaper. In winter I sometimes carry a Skor bar or similar instead, as they melt in summer.Interestingly, I find the whole chocolate bar only raises my BG from about 3.5 to about 5.5. Thatās about 27g of carbs. I take 5 tabs usually for a low, with the same result
If i was really low (say < 50), I would take either a banana if I have 1 available or a sachet of sugar (the type you get in restaurants. I always keep a few sachets along with my test kit).
If I am just a bit low (and it also depends on the time of the day), then I would just have a snack (maybe some peanuts, cheese, vegetables - in an ideal world)ā¦ I woke up this morning at 2:30 am, not feeling low - but I couldnāt sleep so I tested (i have an internal low blood sugar body clock that wakes me up if Iām low)ā¦ and 51. So I ate 2 capsicum and some cheese, and had a cup of cocoa without sugar. Went up to 96 in 30 minutes, and had to bolus to stop the riseā¦ I use very little bolus insulin, so my lows tend to be slow and more easily dealt with.
No one deals with this but meā¦ so no input from family members. thus I am very careful.
This is exactly what I do as well. If I go for food I always over treat.
had an argument with my husband the other night. my BGs went down to 46. he panics and wants me to take juice, ice-cream, chocolateā¦and then some. at 46 i am not thinking rationally, so i follow his directions. i know in the back of my mind that this will be a disaster, but i do it anyway. i should have stopped at the 1/2 glass of juice and the 2 tabs, but b/c of his insistence, i kept shoving sugar into my mouth.
i would have done well if i hadnāt listened to him. 2 glucose tabs and the juice would have been just right. instead, my BGs went from that 46 up to 200+
why do i even bother telling him how low i am to begin with? it can get ridiculous sometimes.
re food/ overtreating,I will hit the low BG with fast carbs to get it to 70 and bolus as if it were at 70. I havenāt had issues doing this although itās probably frowned upon. Like I get home, go for a run, making dinner and BG is 63. Iād probably have 4-5 SmartieBeans or maybe a craftier beer, a la @Khurt_Williams to nudge me up, if dinner is ready right then, just eat normally and keep an eye on my CGM. Thereās all kinds of ways to play those scenariosā¦