I know everyone has their own way to go about treatment. I was just curious to know how everyone else treats hypoglycemia.
Also, I am trying to lose weight, and I am afraid going low and having to eat interferes with that. any suggestions? Besides trying not to go low in the first place 
My best tactic for dealing with lows and avoiding unwanted calories is to stick to the âyuckyâ stuffâdry, chalky glucose tablets. Coconut flavor are the best ones!
Back when I was diagnosed as a kid, the standard treatment for a low (based on older, longer acting insulins) was to have 1/4 cup of juice or Coke plus âa little snack.â The snack was typically peanut-butter crackers. I think that conditioning lead me to years of overtreating lows. Usually, the âlittle snackâ is not necessary and just adds needless calories. Especially if you have the opportunity to continue checking your blood sugar at 15-minute intervals to make sure itâs rising.
Treating lows with glucose tabs is pretty precise. You can figure out how much of a blood sugar increase to expect based on number of tabletsâI use only 1 (4 g carb) or 2 (8 g carb) tablets to treat an a.m. low, but may need 3 (12 g carb) or more for afternoon lows. And, I can get reimbursed for the purchase of glucose tabs on my medical flexible spending accountâcanât get reimbursed for candy or Coke.
And, funny enough, no one else ever tries to eat my glucose tabs.
Yeah, I would agree with the glucose tabs. You will not be tempted to eat too many, and they are pure sugar so thereâs no extra calories from fat, such as in a candy bar. Plus they are very portable - easy to carry around in your pocket or purse.
I was diagnosed in '74 and we didnât have them. I carried some sugar cubes wrapped up in tin foil, except theyâd always crumble and leak out into a big mess.
Iâve sometimes used Balance bars or some other sort of granola bar. They vary in carbs from 20 to 45 or so and are pretty healthy. The only issue is theyâre not always fast acting. I usually try to figure out Iâm getting low and eat something before I actually get low, and Iâve found that the bars take you up fairly quickly. But, if youâre looking for something fast acting and youâre like me and will eat stuff that tastes good whether youâre low or not, definitely glucose tablets. (I hate the raspberry.) I also grew up on those cans of dole pineapple juice. I donât know if I just donât like the stuff because I remember being forced to drink it as a kid, or if the stuffâs actually disgusting, but theyâre pretty small and not too expensive.
If Iâm aware, which isnât always the case, I take 4 4gram glucose tablets, wait 15 minutes, retest and repeat if still below 70. My favorite flavor is orange. If my wife catches me but canât get me to respond, she sticks a finger covered with Karo Syrup in my mouth and repeats until she can communicate with me. In really bad times, maybe a dozen over my 52 year history, she calls 911.
I use jelly beans. Cheaper than glucose tabs & very easy to put in baggies & stash in the car, desk, purse. One jelly bean is 1 carb of pure sugar & I donât like them enough to overdo it. For me, 1 carb sugar raises me 10 pts every time, so sometimes the 5 gram glucose tabs are too much if Iâm not super low.
Denise-
I always use glucose tabs to lift me up from a low. 3 tablets and Iâm back up! You can buy them at the local pharmacy. My favorite flavor is apple, fruit punch and orange. The good thing about using the tablets is you donât experiene going up too high and crashing again
Hey. I used to use jelly beans. When Iâd go for my evening walk Iâd just shove a handful in my coat pocket. Well, one winter is was way below zero here in Minnesota and Iâd been outsdie for 30 minutes and was feeling low. Well, I reached for the beans and they were frozen solid! Fortunately I made it home without laying facedown in a snowbank.Anything has has cornsyrup in it, like jellybeans, licorice, or gummies works very fast. These are also items that I tend to overdo on because they tasete good.
You should use the glucose tablets to bring your BG back up to your target goal. They wonât make you go low again. Everyoneâs body responds differently, so you need to know how many grams of the tabs raise your BG how many points. When youâre low, take one & start testing to figure it out. Most people see a rise in 15-30 minutes. For some, takes 1 hour to see the complete change.
If youâre low, youâre low & need to treat it. Overnight lows are scary.
I prefer glucose gel over the tabs. The tabs are far too chalky for me 
I use half a cokeâwhole one if its badâhelps two waysâbrings my BG back up fastâand quenches the nausea I sometimes end up with after having been low
i feel the same way about orange juice actually anything orange. that being my low treatment for so long as a child. it seriously makes me sick now. lol
I always try to have a box of raisins with me.
I usually drink a juice box and follow it with a granola bar. The juice box will bring me up fast and then the granola bar will keep me stable. If I donât follow it with protein or complex carbs I will be right back to low in about 15-20 min.
I had actually had a similar experience with jelly beans where I had kept them in my car and became too hard to eat. Luckily I had also been carrying plain glucose tabs with me at the time.
I usually use glucose tabs myself since theyâre more precise. However, if I know I will be excercising hard core or something like that Iâll eat something in addition to avoid dropping low again.
As for not gaining weight⌠well if you count what youâve eaten (carbs/calories) for treating the low and then cut back that amount in a later meal or do additional excericise once itâs stabilized then it shouldnât cause weight gain. I know for myself I often donât think about the food I consume when low as being food/calories, but unfortunately it is
when you are trying to loose weight, ex> eating perhaps less and exercising more you may have to do some adjusting, so ask your doctor about lowering your basel a notch when you are exercising, eat lots of protein, which helps build muscle as well it revâs your metabolism and doesnât cause sudden spikes in sugar. Usually hypos i treat with glucose tabs which have like 2 calories haha, maybe some protein, like mixed nuts and almonds which are super good for you, natural peanut butter or juice.
I do the glucose tabs as well, really only need them when i get carried away at the gym. I had a scary experience last week, i got hypo and passed out somewhere between the eliptical and my locker where my tabs were. I woke up to the enployees opening my shirt and charging the defibulator. I really need to get one of those bracelets <<shudder>>
i use the relion glucose drinks and tabs, the little shots look like those 5 hour energy shots and cost about 1.90 each they have exactly 15 g carb/bottle and i hate chewing up those tabs or eating fat laden things to bring my bg back up!
I know i go low after, its a âemergency bandaidâ for me until i can get something more substantial. If i need them at the gym ill typically call my workout at that point and go home for a better snack or meal.