LOL I just noticed the joke in your post about van halenbetes is this because of the M&M's? But yeah that goody bag is a good idea. I'd have trouble not taking snacks out of it though that's like the only reason I don't treat lows with candy. Glucose tablets aren't as appealing.
Oh this is big problem
while i was eating lunch my BS dropped to 40 my legs start trembling sweating .i just take any fruit drink or chocolate rest for a while till some normalcy that is all
The juice is a good option. The problem with chocolate is the fat in it. Which makes it delicious, but it also takes longer for your BG to come back up!
I use apple juice when I am home and glucose tablets other times. One half of a bottle is usually perfect. I always follow this up with some kind of protein unless it is close to mealtime and then I just go ahead and eat the meal. Roller coasters are no fun, that's for sure.
ok, so I do not have all the new found goodies for D (although I have had D for almost 30 years now), but none the less.. There are these berry flavored small juice things over in the diabetes section of Walmart that work in about 2 minutes. I call them juicy juice. The brand is Reli-on and they can be found with the glucose tabs. They get 2 thumbs up. I seldom get low these days, but when I did ave my Omnipod and didn't eat when I was supposed to it was like clockwork I would have a severe reaction. After I found these juice juice things problem was solved almost instantly, and as long as you only drink one and follow it with something solid, it won't make your bs go too far in the opposite direction. Good luck!
My go too for a low sugar trend is a bowl of cereal with milk. Of course, this is only for a low not recouping as this treat usually is a definite trouble maker. In fact, yesterday was fighting lows all day - because of activity - at 29 decided it was time for the cereal and milk - had a rebound but expected after hours of too low.
I use Glucose Tablets that I buy (now) at Walmart for $3.98 per 50 tablets. That's the lowest price I've found anywhere.
I've been using the tablets for about 10 years for these reasons:
- each tablet has exactly 4 grams of glucose
- the impact is predictable, based on the number of tablets I take (usually 3-4) for BG less than 70
- for me, the tablets take effect faster and more predictably than candy, juice, or other food sources of glucose
- before using the tablets, I often over-dosed on candy or sweets because I could never be sure how much glucose I was actually taking
- unlike gels or candy, the tablets are unaffected by weather temps
Before I started using the tablets, I experienced what you describe -- a low, followed 45 minutes to an hour later by a BG over 200 that in turn caused me to take insulin to correct, a phenomenon I call, "chasing blood sugars."
Lows can be scary, but the standard content and action of glucose tablets helped me to get off the blood sugar roller-coaster.
Hello Alisha:
Drinking much easier method get sugar into us than chewing/eating anything.
Regular soda (because of the carbonation) gets into the bloodstream very fast.
Half a bottle, the whole 12oz can of the stuff I keep around is about 20-30 grams of carbs somewhere. Nothing to chew, nothing to count/find, just DRINK period.
Alone, worried, confused, much rather play with any possible bounce than the ER bill because I was too cautious.
Excellent post, IMHO.
Have you ever been tested for gastroparesis? I was having the same symptoms (treat a low....nothing happens sometimes for even an hour or more, so I keep treating, then I am super high later...) and it ends up I have gastroparesis (essentially: slow stomach emptying). Now that I'm eating a more gastroparesis-friendly diet and taking a medication to promote digestion, I am able to correct lows much faster.
One regular coke works great for me!!!
I know this discussion was started back in October, butā¦.I have to say, the roller coaster phenomenon is the most aggravating aspect of T1 for meā¦.because it feels like my efforts to correct my bs, in either direction, just make things worse! Lately, if I have a low and it looks like I'm bouncing back up, I will take a brisk 10-15 minute walk and this flattens things out. It's not always convenient or possible to stop whatever I'm doing to do this, but it seems to put a stop to the bouncing; being too high from being too low from being too highā¦.
I think otherwise I get too reactive to what the CGM or meter is saying at the momentā¦.like turning the steering wheel too sharply in a narrow alley, out of fear of hitting one side or the other. Then the bouncing begins. So, exercise seems like a softer correction of the "wheel". (enough with the driving metaphorā¦..)
I think the best way to cut off "rollercoastering" highs after lows is to take less carbs for them. If 15 sends you up higher than you want to be, try 12, or 10. While "medical science" has the whole 15/15 recommendation which is very safe for fixing lows, 15 almost always will blow my BG way the hell up there. I do much better with like 5-10 (I weigh about 190 lbs...) and waiting a bit longer for the carbs to deploy more thoroughly.
It's best to maybe wait until say a weekend or other day when something hits when you aren't rushing around (ha) to mitigate any risk involved in making an adjustment like that but I think you may find that 10/20 may work more smoothly than 15/15?
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can't stand glucose tabs which I used for many years (far too many).
I use skittles, esp when I am out of the house. Each skittle is 1 carb.
Hersheys chocolate milk in about 4-6 oz of milk is SUPER FAST at getting my bgs up. don't be misled by the fact that hard chocolate is lousy for treating highs. Hersheys liquid is FAST!
I have gastroparesis also and have had many problems because of it if I bolus correctly for dinner I will get too low by bedtime and then 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. I Skyrocket real high.
what medication do you take for the gastroparesis?
Iāve tried fruite juice and candy but usually ended up riding the glucose rollercoaster. I now use 15gram tubes of glucose.
If I am below 70 I take one tube and wait 15 minutes, then test. If my glucose is raising I wait another 15 minutes and test again. If it has stayed the same of gotten lower I take another tube of glucose gel and test again and repeat as necessary.
Acidrock, I wholeheartedly agree with you on the take what you need approach. for me the usual 15carb recommendation is a bit too much unless Iām critically low. like 30s levels. Based on how low I am I dose accordingly. If 60s I may do a single tab and go slow. The confusion level is my greatest bio indicator. My endo during childhood recommended the countdown by 7s test. You start from a number >100 and count down by sevens. 106 - 99 - 92 - 85 - 78 - 71 - 64 - 57 - 50 - 43 - 36 - 29 - 22 - 15 - 8 - 1 etc.
I used to make a spreadsheet with these written down for people to test me with. Most of the time when Iām low Iāll say Iām okay when Iām not. I tell people if they donāt believe me Iāll test to prove it.
Iāve always heard medics and emergency personel say or advise me to eat some slow acting carbs like a sandwich or some real food because fast acting sugar raises bg fast but doesnāt last long and your bg will likely crash again.
Emergency teams will usually over treat you and cause 300+ bgs later on. To prevent bg from sliding up and down I usually aim to treat them slowly like if 400 shoot for 200 and then treat again if it remains high. By doing so itās alot easier to not overcorrect in either direction.
If itās super low Iām sure all of us over treat. Your mind is not itās sharpest at low BGs and you may not accurately count or remember how many items youāve had tablet drink or Sugar Packets wise. Brown Sugar is real yummy but you can at least count the packets in front of you. 
Juice is easy and doesnāt need chewing, crunching. Iām not sure whether dissolving and imbibing is faster but I usually eat one tablet dissolve another if for no other reason tasting it and know itās working on raising BG.
Mike
When your lizard brain is screaming āFEED ME NOW OR DIE!ā it can be a little hard to be cautious as to carb intake, yeah. My absolute favorite factually incoherent but emotionally spot on account of what your brain is saying during a hard crash:
