I’ve been reading some of the discussions and I can’t understand why so many diabetics don’t use glucose tabs for low sugars. They’re faster acting than soda or hard candy and much easier to swallow when we have problems.
I think they taste horrible! I use jelly beans & they work just as fast for me. They’re also smaller to carry around.
I keep them for when I don’t have anything else. LOL Cheesecake, Ben & Jerry’s, etc… If I am low for one tiny moment I get to eat normal(?)
I second that Keith! I love to correct lows with something that tastes good… It’s fine as long as you remember portion control! Lol
I agree with Gerri: I dislike them and they’re not very convenient to carry around. I rarely (knock on wood) go so low that I need super-immediate sugar. Something slower like skittles or soda or juice is usually okay. Although I don’t enjoy being at 60, for nonDs 60’s not that unusual, so I don’t fret too much.
For me it is because they taste like talcum powder with cool-aid mixed in. They beak into little bits and have to be handled to get them in your mouth.
I use little Skittles bags that you can buy at Halloween and Easter and they are wrapped in plastic (14 to 17 grams sugar, depending on the packaging). They can be soaked, chewed, or swallowed. The other H/E treat that works great is SourPatch and Swedish Fish packages (10-11 grams of sugar). The packages are now made out of plastic and will take a lot of abuse.
Also, they last for years and can be stashed in the wildest places for easy access.
Kristina, I agree with you. I always use Glucose Tablets for lows. I have bottles of them everywhere in my house. I keep a bottle in my car and the small containers of 10 I have in all my coat pockets and in my handbag. Call me crazy, but I do not mind the taste. I use the Grape flavor. 4 or 5 tablets will bring me up from a low in the 30 to 40 range fairly quick. When I was diagnosed 23 years ago my Dr. told me to use the tubes of cake icing…I hated that. I have never had a regular soda in my life and I do not like OJ, ice cream or candy very much. Considering the other responses to this I know I sound odd…don’t beat up on me guys 
I just find that the Glucose Tabs work best for me.
For me Glucose Tabs don’t work at all. I’ve eaten the whole tube and didn’t have my sugar level rise. My doctor thinks that I can’t process dextrose. I use Gu gel packs. They work fast, and are easy to store everywhere. I love the Vanilla Bean flavor.
UGH! Glucose tabs are awful! They actually make me gag. I use Jelly Bellys or Skittles. I do use regular Pepsi when really low, as chewing is difficult for me. No OJ, makes me throw up, I will use apple juice if last resort. I carry skittles and jelly beans in my purse, car and on the night stand. They are cheap and taste wonderful!!
I like the idea of the jelly beans or skittles in the empty tab containers…good idea. Maybe the glucose tab users will send me their empty containers.
Empty test strip containers work well, too to carry little candies.
OOOO you are a smarty!! GOOD idea…put those test strip containers to use! Thanks sweetie
I prefer glucose tabs too. I try to leave the danger zone as soon as possible. Despite from the Hyposurfer fraction (diabetics that like the feeling of being low) I think that most people prefer the solution that works quickest. If juice or sweets work similar depends on metabolistic differences and different insulin regimes. For example it was nearly impossible for me to treat a low below 50 with juice while on ordinary insulin (Acctrapid). This insulin is active for more than 4 hours and if it was acting then with insistence. Because of this I am used to glucose tabs. Now on NovoRapid the lows are less insistent and I think juice could handle them too but I keep the habit. In my view the glucose tabs can help to prevent to get accustomed to low glucose values. Of course I have no proof for this claim.
I used to use the glucose tabs but I always found them to taste somewhat chalky, so my CDE told me to try " rockets " those tiny halloween candies, each rolled package is 7g of fast carbs, they are easy to chew up and swallow, but just flat out taste better than the glucose tabs lol. And by each being 7g usually 2-3 pkgs are enough for the avg low.
I like the taste of Glucose tabs if they’re the right brand. Some of the off brands taste horrible to me and can so hard that I think I’ll chip a tooth. But then there’s other ones that taste really good and have a good variety of flavors for me to pick from. The only thing I hate is when I need glucose tabs and I open a container I’ve stashed somewhere just in case (like an extra one in the car, at my in-law’s house, in the office) and then find they’ve spoiled with those little black dots all over them.
Theoretically the glucose spray is the best, but you don’t know the meaning of YUCK! until you’ve tried it.
Cost. They’re insanely expensive compared to other similar sources of Dextrose. Glucose tabs really aren’t “special” - it’s just marketing. I’d rather not pay up to $7 for a bottle of 50 or $2 for a tube of just 10 on a regular basis (yes, I know generics are cheaper, but not by a whole lot).
I typically use smarties ($2.50 for a 1lb bag… that’s enough dextrose to treat over 30 lows with 15g… though I normally stick with 12g, since that’s two “rolls”)… if I am home I often use juiceboxes… slightly more expensive than smarties but they work faster. Back when I was a “poor” college student I’d take honey packets (like the ketchup ones) from places that offered them and carry those with me to treat lows. Sure, they were mostly HFCS, but they were free, and did a good enough job
That said I DO keep glucose tabs in my car… I found when I kept smarties in the car I was often tempted to give them to the kids to make them happy… then I wouldn’t have any when I needed them. Not so with the tabs. I actually needed some the other day and I was glad they were there. I like the raspberry and watermelon flavors… everything else is gross.
I have gotten out of the habit of treating lows with “food”… sure it may be a great excuse for a candy bar or cupcake or whatever, but there are more calories involved with doing that because of added fat and protein. I’d rather just follow up the sugar with a smarter snack to keep me steady.
We call those smarties here… I think your smarties are closer to what we know as M&M’s
Glucose tablets work much faster. I agree that the Dex 4 tablets have a tinny taste. The best were the Lemon flavored ones when they made them, which they don’t anymore. Someone said they weren’t popular. Enter the Reli-On brand from Wal-Mart. They are fantastic! They taste like bubble gum. And they come in a variety of flavors with every bottle. One is a variety of lemon, lime, orange and cherry. Another is a variety of tropical fruit flavors like pineapple, strawberry and kiwi (although I may be wrong on that last one - they don’t tell the flavors on the tropical fruit bottle, just have pictures.) And the other great thing about the Reli-On glucose tablets is they cost less! Better taste, better price; what more can you ask?
I noticed that in most discussions, it seems that most people reject glucose tabs (usually for taste or cost or both). I use them as well because they work super fast for me, the bigger size makes it easier to handle and keep track of and are also easier to just let dissolve…often when I’m low I find that act of chewing difficult to do…(probably cause I don’t notice till I’m in the low 50’s or 40’s…
Also by that time, I don’t really care about taste (and find a lot of candy tastes bad as well in a this is sugary chemically way…e.g. lemon flavored stuff reminds me of cleaning supplies) just about getting back to normal as soon as possible…
if I were to go for hard candies I think I would try smarties (the U.S. variety) since they seem like they might dissolve more or be easy to chew compared to say skittles or gummy stuff.
They are expensive, taste terrible, and for me coke works faster and helps settle the tummy (my tummy does flips flops when I drop rapidly or under 60)
I carry them but they are nasty. I prefer my little gummi bears. 6 bears=1 carb serving (and they taste good)