Skittles, Jelly Beans and for a very extreme low with alot of fast acting on board...REGULAR soda. (juice upsets my stomach) A friend of mine gave me a bunch of the Glucose Gel Tubes, havent tried those yet. I have always hated the Tabs...yeck!!
4 carbs treat your lows? I find that I need close to 15g if I want to keep on functioning until my next meal...
1 Like
DEX 4...I DID NOT SAY I DON'T LIKE THE FLAVOR...I SAID I ALMOST CHOKED ON THEM BECAUSE THEY FEEL POWDERY :(
AS A MATTER OF FACT I BOUGHT TROPICAL FLAVORS & RASPBERRY TODAY .THEY WERE ON SALE AT RITE AID 2 FOR $9 FROM $7 EA.& SMARTIES & DOVE peanut butter milk choco. squares & dove almond dark choco.will try them will see...
I use Smith Brothers Cherry cough drops. Their main ingredient is glucose syrup. They are cheap, individually wrapped, and don't taste too bad.
The chocolate & peanut butter will have too much fat in it to be used for a low. They won't raise your bg fast enough. Sometimes I'll double-treat my lows--two glucose tabs and then a bite of chocolate for the fat content to get my bg up and keep it there a bit.
I AGREE WITH YOU BUT WHAT'S LOW FOR ONE IS TOO LOW FOR SOMEONE ELSE.THERE'S " LOW" & THERE'S " HYPO LOW".
I use regular coke when I'm dropping fast because I find it works faster for me than juice (I've never been much of a juice person anyway). I've used the glucose gel tubes a couple of times and they work well too except I found it hard to get all the gel out of the tube so for dosing it's hard to tell if you're getting the full amount.
The only flavor I've seen in the gel though is orange and I've never liked orange since I was a kid and had to chew orange flavored baby aspirin...yuck.
I've used skittles (mostly). Occasionally sugary coke if it's around. Another very useful treatment is Honey. Squeezable container... 2 "shots" in my mouth are quickly and easily swallowed. If someone else ever had to "treat"me for a low, squirts of honey are good (minimize risk of choking).
Starburst peppermints :3 = 15g. Carry them everywhere although I haven't had to use them much yet
I like to keep treatments for lows everywhere. Pop and juice can freeze in my car, and some candies can melt. So I tend to keep the glucose tabs there. Walking around, it's easy to keep the glucose tabs, Skittles or Rockets on me. At work, I have more options. I can keep juice or pop in my desk. I used to keep jellybeans on my desk, but my co-workers would steal them.
As for pop, I was always told no colas because they will bring up your sugars excessively and keep them up. I go with 7-Up or Sprite instead.
If I have a BG of 50, how much should i take to bring it up to 100? Do I reverse engineer my correction factor?
No, everyone is different and the only way to do it right is actually do a test with a candy which you know how many carbs on each candy and how much BG each candy brings you up. I use Swedish Fish at 2 carbs each and each brings me up 10 units of BG. You donāt necessarily rise at the same rate and quantity you descend so reverse engineering could be off by quite a bit.!
Thanks for the information. Iām using glucose tabs. 4 g per tablet. Iāve recently had some bad lows. I suspended basal for 30 mins. I had a 40 and some in the 50s and 60s. I wasnāt sure how many tablets to take because I have never had bad lows before. I also lowered my overnight basal slightly and came out okay in the morning. I guess Iām going to have to figure it out. I canāt use candy because I eat it all. K
1 Like
I find it really odd and wonder why no one ever says they use what I do which is packets of sugar. Each packet has 1 tsp sugar (I have measured those in the Domino box I buy) which is 4 grams. Easy to rip open in any of my hypo conditions and put in the side of my mouth. It melts fast.
I carry them in a snack size plastic bag when out and about as they tend to tear open with age and fill my pocket with sugar if left too long! Voice of experience.
I do not like chewy candy as it is hard to get off my teeth, especially during night when I have the occasional low. My dose ranges from 2 to 4 packs. The 4 pack is for a serious low when I am barely able to think, it is more instinct than thought.
Works for me. I hate the chalk taste of glucose tabs. Horrible. Sugar works faster for me anyway.
It depends on how you got so low.
Is there an insulin bolus still active (aka - Insulin on board, IOB)? If so, how much do you think? (Of course, for me one of the difficult things to do when Iām low is to think clearly, so thatās just one of the factors that can make me over-treat a low.)
As an example, though, if I have 1U of IOB and my I:C ratio is 1:15, Iām going to need 4 glucose tabs (16g carbs) just to counteract the IOB, PLUS at least two more to bring me from 50 mg/dl (2.8 mmol) to 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol).
These days, I pretty regularly set a zero temp basal rate for 30 minutes when Iām low, especially if my Dex is giving me a downward trend and arrow.
Itās a lot of trial and error though. Like all things D, no two lows are the same.
1 Like
This is incredibly helpful. I am so grateful for your reply. I didnāt even think of the IOB.
The reason Iām having the lows is because Iāve been off of chocolate. It is a lifelong battle for me. I compare it to heroin. Without the chocolate my fat intake and hence my insulin resistance just drops.
Iām at 81 with a straight arrow and zero IOB. I just ate half a slice of italian bread (9g). I hope the 9g will be enough. I donāt know whether or not to suspend my basal now since Iām not below 80. I know my liver will be going into overdrive when I sleep so I think Iāll be okay.
I have much more to learn. Thank you again, Kelly
Bluebird, thank you for posting. I am not sure I can be trusted with sugar packets, due to my severe sugar addiction. The tablets are safe because they donāt taste that great. I donāt mind that because it doesnāt trigger my cravings.
Itās still a great idea to share. Thanks, Kelly
1 Like
A real key to consider is the glycemic index (GI) of the foods you are eating. All else being equal, the higher the number, the faster it will raise your BG.
So, glucose (dextrose) tabs have a GI of 100. Table sugar (sucrose) has a GI of 63. OJ (depending on the ripeness and type of oranges used) has a GI between 52 - 76. Breads have an incredibly wide range based on the ingredients from 32 - 95.
How did your half a slice of Italian bread work out?
Hi @Kelly35 
- While many consider 80 mg/dl the threshold of going low, I would be satisfied if I could run that BG level all day (my target is 83 mg/dl or 4.6 mmol/L).
While bread isnāt part of my diet plan, I have to wonder if you intended to raise your BG by eating and not using a correction bolus. Which brings up the question, are your basal levels too high? Youād mentioned you had no IOB, but you do realize that your basal insulin is not included in the IOB. In other words if Basal is too high, you actually are eating to compensate for too much basal.
Bread isnāt a great hypo life-jacket, can you use Dex-tabs if youāre addicted to candy (which I am too)? Controlling lows with small measured doses of carbs tends to smoothing out the BG rollercoaster
Yoga,
The bread worked great. Itās a low carb (17 per slice), low sugar bread. The only bread with a lower GI is sourdough. I didnāt spike and I woke up at around 100.
As you have said, it takes time to figure things out. But your replies have been comforting as well as informative. I didnāt feel as alone as i had felt before I posted and received your replies. Thanks to everyone who has posted.
My next check-in appointment with the NP is in about three weeks. I suspect she will comb over my numbers and help me adjust my basal rates and ratios.
The Freestyle Libre allows me to put foods in a ālibraryā and when I do, I am prompted to enter calories, fiber, protein, carbs, and fat.
Iām sure Iāll get the hang of it. Thanks again,
Kelly
1 Like