I bought a case (4 six-packs) of Polar Orange Dry diet soda from Ocean State Job Lot, a discount store, and had one today along with my usual mid-afternoon snack of yogurt and fruit- about 30g carbs in all, including the 4g in the soda. I did 3 units of Novolog, which usually works out fine. An hour later I was feeling shaky and thought I might be a bit low so I tested and my BG was 203. I couldn’t believe my eyes since I was 80 beforehand. I tested again and was still 187. I finally thought to look at the can and it was regular soda with 48 grams of carbs. At first I wondered if I had inadvertently picked up a 6-pack of regular, since the packaging is almost exactly the same, but then I checked another 6-pack and found that there were 5 cans of diet and one of regular. I have no idea if there was a mix-up during packaging at the factory or if this is a case of product tampering. Perhaps someone thought it would be funny to switch one of the cans. I called the store and they will check their stock and sent the company an email. I went for a bike ride and had a reactive hypo, going down to 59 in half an hour. So I did more than a 250 point swing in a short period of time. It was a very unpleasant experience. Anyone else had this problem?
Wow, what a mess up. I’ve never heard of the Polar brand, but I would definately write the company, and keep a look out! Thanks for the heads up.
I often have this issue in restaurants, is it regular or diet? A trick I’ve done is, dip a finger slightly to get it wet in the soda and rub your fingers together until they dry. If its sticky…suger, If not…diet.
Libby,
So sorry you had such a nasty shock!!!
I’ve bought the wrong stuff in the past, but the taste is so dramatically different from the diet stuff that I’ve never sucked down a whole can.
Save it for treating desperate lows. I keep one can of regular coke in the fridge for just that reason.
FWIW, your quick recovery from the high suggests that you still have quite a few functional beta cells. That’s good news, not bad. A lot of us would stay high for several hours after taking in an unexpected 48 grams of carbs.
Yep, I have a pretty dramatic Phase 2 response. My BG has been screwed up since that unexpected high. I had a wierd experience at dinner last night, took my usual 3 units of Novolog, waited 20 minutes, ate the same amount of carbs (exact same meal as last 2 nights) and suddenly felt like I was going to faint. I tested and sure enough I was 46! I didn’t eat anything else and slowly came up to normal. Today, I have been low all day. I’ve felt irritable and dizzy and every time I test I’m about 60. I did less insulin and still ended up at 66 so had to eat twice as much. The school nurse told me that my BG can be a bit screwy for up to 48 hours after such a wild swing. Have other people experienced that?