I keep glucagon kits at home. They have saved me from many e.r. trips in the past as I have a tendency to go low quite a bit. I keep one in my gym bag as well as one in my diabetic bag so that no matter what bag I grab on my way out I know I have them. I also keep glucose gel and tabs in the house and in both my bags as well. I am consider I considering getting an extra meter to keep in both instead of just transferring the meter from bag to bag. My roommate also knows where I keep them and knows how to administer them if for some reason I can’t do it. I have started to go into shock and thank god I caught it before I went into full blown shock and was able to treat myself.
Up until this past week I had never had a glucagon kit! I have been a diabetic for 22 years at that! But I got one anyway. I live alone, so it would do me no good here, but I have instructed the friends I am around the most on how to use it. I also work with a lady who’s husband is diabetic and she has had to give him a couple of glucagon shots, so she knows how. And another of my best friends is a EMT. So I thought it might be a good idea to have one. It stays in my purse with all my other diabetes “junk”. I hope I never have to use it, but you never know what will happen.
Yes we do. I used to not until Father’s Day of 2007. I woke up to my child in a seizure and immediately knew what to do GLUCAGON kit and 911, we ended up in hopital for the day and night. It did make her very sick so of course she could not eat from being sick so it was an emotional day. I used to think what is the need for this I will never let her get low enough to need it and I had already threw a few of them away due to exp. dates. But Thank God I kept buying them. If not she may never had ever woke up from it.
We have several of them. For the first five years we never used it and I felt it was too expensive. Now we have to use it about 3-4 times a year. He goes into a sezure when he goes low and this is the fastest way to get him out of it. Even faster than going to the ER. In the ER they take forever to figure out what to do even if you tell them what is wrong with them. They take so long checking the sugar and vitals before treating the low blood sugar. One thime they wanted my to sit him in a chair while he was having a sezure to take his temp. He is now 14.
We have one at my daughter’s school and we also have a little pink backpack that goes with us everywhere, no matter how short the outing is.
In that backpack I have Glucogon, glucose tabs, snack, juice, EpiPen Jr., Benadryl, among other less significant items. It’s like carrying a little pharmacy with you 
We never had to use one, even though we already experienced one seizure that she came out of with some sugar fairly quickly (oh, I panicked at 3am, with my husband out working the night shift and three small kids in the house… so I actually FORGOT all about it. I was on the phone talking to 911 operator and she never mentione it, so…) Now, I have it on all the time.
I have never owned a Glucagon kit in my 20 years as a T1. I have had 2 ambulance calls in the last year (one due to a new medication prescribed to me by my doctor and the other due to a bad reading on my meter) but have yet to get one. I think it is good to have just in case but won’t really do much good if you live alone or if someone who lives with you or looks in on you does not know how to use it. Note to self: Buy Glucagon kit next time picking up my prescriptions. Thanks for the reminder Manny
Yes we have the glucagon, and we have it in a place in my son’s dorm room where his roommates know where to find it if they need it. I hope and pray they have the courage to use it, if it’s required!
I keep a kit besides the bed and one in my bag. I am very sensative to lows, but just because I can feel it doesn’t always mean I can always keep it from continuing to go down or get it to come back up. That doesn’t happen often. Usually the standard treatments of apple juice followed by cheese works to at least stabilize the low. The last time I had a completely unmanageable low was 9 years ago. That was s-c-a-r-y. It felt like the world was being tugged away and I was completely helpless.
A kit is kept by the bed because I am a deep sleeper. Sometime a low wakes me because I feel really sick from it. Sometimes I am in just too deep a sleep. We used to have a lot of trouble with that. Now my husband wakes up (poor man) and tests my sugar either at 3am or a 2am and 4am on the really bad nights. Its been 4 or 5 years since we have actually had to use a kit though because we catch the low early enough to treat them before trouble hits.
My suggestion is to keep one around just in case. It may not be the best time to bet that the paramedics are going to make it over in time when your are passed out or borderline gone. It only takes one really bad low with out proper help to end everything. Why take the chance? In the worse case you just have a case kicking around that was never used. I am not one for being wasteful, but in that case I’d be happy to “waste” a glucagon kit just in case.
Yes, I have one at home and at work! I haven’t used one at all but just in case… :} :} :}
I hate when people say things like “I just don’t let myself get that low”. I do not “let” myself get that low. I have developed insulin antibodies and even before that I could drop from 400 to 20 in less than ten minutes. I have needed 7 glucagons since April. They are life savers. I have one in my bag at all times, one in my bf’s nightstand and one in the kitchen. Even if you live alone you should have one. You should have your friends and coworkers know where they are and how to use them. Just because you haven’t needed one up till now does not gaurentee you never will. Better safe than sorry.
100% worthless stuff…
No pun intended but I would genuinely rather be dead (with absolutely no hesitation what so ever) than to ever be forced to endure the after effects of having another glucagon shot.
No hesitation, no reservation in any way on the subject.
Tubes of cake icing works perfectly…
Nobody ever gets scared using it
Nothing pointy to be scared of
Dont think they can expire… do they???
Stuart
I just looked in my drawer, and mine is outdated too. July 2006! The only time in 16 years I have ever used one was when I gave it to myself. I couldn’t keep any food down, so I could not get my blood sugar to come up. I finally just gave myself a glucagon shot, and it did the trick. I suppose I should have one on hand, because you may never know.
No, I don’t. I have no idea of how to even use one. It’s one of those things I’ve continually procrastinated on.
Yes, I have several. I get 3 at a time with a refill. My husband has used 3 or so in the past year. I live in a very rural are so it would take significantly longer to get a paramedic here that it would in a suburban situation. And while the after-affects are not pleasant I would much rather feel like I had a bad hangover than be dead.
I keep one in my purse–it goes where I go…home or away. male friend of mine heeps his in hip pouch (not sure what they are officially called) that goes everywhere he does…wiht the rest of his d stuff
I have sneaky lows that I don’t feel a comin…
Absolutely …YES A backup plan always makes sense …the downside to having one and not using it is a few dollars wasted. The downside of not having one when you need it can be death…
My wife recently used an expired one we had around for years on me a month or so ago…Thank God it was there even though I hadn’t needed one in years…things go wrong for whatever reason and it’s always good to have insurance.
I guess I have never thought of it as something you would not have…it has always been a given that there is one in the medicine cabinet.
Keep Going…Peace, Bob
I keep it on hand at all times because I have a tendency to go low fast. I also don’t trust the local hospitals or paramedics here so my doctor lets me treat my lows with the glucagon instead of going to hospital.
As the parent of a T1 toddler, I ABSOLUTELY keep glucagon in the house. We actually have two kits – one that stays home in the medicine cabinet, and one that goes everywhere my son goes in his diabetes bag.
Though we haven’t had to administer full-blown glucagon due to a severe low, we did use the mini-glucagon rescue protocol when my son was sick with a stomach bug and we were struggling to keep his BG out of the 60s.
my glucagon kit is in my purse and goes everywhere i go. no matter what.
As a T2 controlled by diet and exercise, I’ve never needed one. However, reading through all the stories of people who have needed, or could have used, it, I’ve come to understand the following:
- Most first-response rigs are not equipped with either glucometers or glucagon
- Basic-level EMTs are not trained in the administration of either glucagon or epi-pens, and are therefore prohibited from using them, even in time of need. They are not trained in the operation of glucometers, so, ditto...
- Depending on the area in which you live, first responders can take anywhere from five minutes to over an hour to respond to a call
- There have been instances in which people have died due to non-administration of glucagon -- either due to inavailability, or to there not being a first-responder trained to administer glucagon, or both
- keep a non-expired kit with you at all times
- always make sure that at least one person, anywhere you go, knows how to check your blood glucose levels and how (and when) to administer glucagon