Fixes for low sugar

@Dee_Meloche , I don’t understand the reason your post is just showing up on my feed. The easiest, tastiest dextrose candy is SweetTarts. The rolls are usually available at any convenience store (my police friends call them stop & robs).

The roll has 27 tablets you can crunch and absorb under your tongue. I take a roll, using my finger nail, count 9 tablets (1/3 roll), place the third in a small craft bag. I carry the craft bags or place in a plastic box. I keep some around the residence and in the vehicles.

Attached is a pix of a full roll, the thirds in craft zip locks, and then a plastic box held closed with Velcro.

Thoughts

Aren’t sweettarts kinda bitter. I am just getting over sinus problems and postnasal drip so my mouth is sensitive right now. But normally that would be a good idea. Thanks.

@Dee_Meloche, you might like Smarties Tropical Smoothies:

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I eat Jelly Belly’s for that, seems to work like a charm.

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I bought some raisins for a fix in my bloodsugars. Are they about 1 carb per raisin for most people? I bought some lifesaver gummies but the flavors were disgusting. Good thing they weren’t expensive!

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For me I would try 1 carb per raisin and see how it goes. It depends on how big they are, how sweet, plus individual variation. But that could be a good place to start.

Yeah gummies are gross.

I don’t eat candy that is chewy as it sticks to teeth. But I carry Domino sugar packets in a snack bag. 7 gm per packet so 2 are usually good for me. Sometimes 3 for a real low low. I shouldn’t need 3 now that I’m on Tandem pump but the sugar pack I just pour half at a time in my mouth, get it wet and swallow. It works fast for me. I have those glucose tabs too but… yuck.

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You know what I find so weird? Mentioned I use Those tiny Jelly Bellies (mini little jelly beans) and sometimes I only need 4 to fix a low. But of course, it depends on so many other things like insulin-on-board and my physical activity.
I’m very brittle so it’s critical that I keep my sugar boosts low or I’ll end up with screaming high numbers. So many things to keep track of can be exhausting!

Yes, I have some of those too. They help but I wish there were different sizes as I sometimes get a spike from Glucose SOS.

Crazy Candy Co. Peach rings from Aldis (cheapest) or if really low Brown Sugar

I see that people on this thread are valuing a bunch of different things – accuracy (having 3 of x raises my blood sugar by y), convenience (I can stick these in a small container and they last forever), price, taste, healthiness (um, broccoli), destructiveness to teeth…
These are all interesting and valuable, but I’m curious if anyone knows if there’s a food/candy/glucose tablet/drink that excels above all others in one quality: speed. I hate feeling low. Is there one food that you can eat or drink which will make that feeling go away the fastest…or does it really all depend…?
I would have thought that one super-sweet sugary candy or drink (without fat or fiber or protein) would be similar to any other one, but I’m not sure. For a while I used Trader Joe’s Gummies (which are basically a mix of sugar, invert sugar, and dextrose) because I liked the taste, but I could have sworn they had a delayed effect…raising my blood sugar a lot, but like half an hour after the low. I switched to Skittles (sugar and corn syrup) recently because someone recommended them on this site and they seem to work faster…but I wonder if it’s all in my head? Do I think they work faster because someone said they did? I don’t really see why they would.

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Each Swedish Fish raises my BG 10 points and take 14-15 minutes to kick in.

@Tnyc The reason I stick to using a form of glucose over sucrose and other sugars is it is fast. Sucrose is exactly half glucose and fructose bonded together. It has to be digested and than you only get half the amount of glucose. Fructose enters the bloodstream, but is of no use until it is further metabolized by the liver.

As a type 2 DM who had very high triglycerides levels before diagnosis, I avoid fructose as one of the things besides glucose the liver metabolizes fructose into triglycerides. I take a prescription fish oil product call Vascepa, which has reduced triglycerides from >500 to under 100, but I just don’t want to push it.

Glucose will enter the bloodstream through mouth tissues. Sugar (sucrose) will not.

Invert sugar is basically the same as high fructose corn syrup, except that it is made from table sugar (sucrose) and not corn glucose syrup. The glucose in both HFCS and invert sugar will not need to be digested, but it is a mixture of glucose and fructose.

Anyway if you want fast action, the more glucose present the better. Other foods, gels and beverages will possibly give a slower rise that some may find preferable.

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Similar to @Luis, I prefer glucose as best when very low or fast downward trend. Lately my favorite is chocolate marshmallow dex4 tablets.

Other times, trending slightly down, may treat with a square or 2 of dark chocolate from Trader Joes, especially if also being active at that time. Usually levels out bg or slight increase slowly due to higher fat content and tastes great!!

(3 squares = 19g carb, 15g fat, 10g sugar )

Jelly beans also work great.

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Taste is so very subjective, @Dee_Meloche . Some say bitter others say too sweet.

Thougthts?

When carb gels get old they get weirdly bitter. They still work thouh

I, too, like using pure glucose/dextrose. To make it faster, I chase it with water.

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That’s true, I found out accidentally rinsing my mouth and swallow the water.

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Me, too! :smiley_cat:

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How do you get them pure?