Im a Wild Berry kinda guy. I get the big bags at Walmart, and I think my wife gets them or a smaller bag, at Target.
I like sweets, and I like the taste of the WB Skittles, but I never eat them for fun. There are other goodies Iāll eat for fun. Pop tarts (also when Iām low, but they are way, way too slow to get me up quickly for a severe low).
The biggest thing I value with glucose tablets is the specific known value of carbs not laced with things like āpartially hydrogenated palm kernel oil.ā Going low makes me susceptible to over-treating lows and limiting myself to x number of glucose tabs allows me to make an unthinking high percentage move. Thatās nice when itās 3:00 a.m. and I donāt have to use many brain cells or any will-power.
SO, you can limit yourself to as many skittles or whatever else you might use to treat a low. At one carb each, itās pretty easy to count the carbs and itās great for fine tuning that carb intake you are concerned about. My wife is sensitive to carbs/insulin so she will eat just a few skittles if low. Iāll eat much more than her because Iām big and my I/C ratio is far lower than hers. I doubt she would want to eat an entire glucose tab when low.
Iāll often bite a 4 gram carb tablet in half, taking 2 grams. Whatever works.
For me, itās simply because what I first turn to has a known carb content and provides a fairly consistent, predictable response. Cakes, donuts, cookies, chips, etc., vary in carb value (and fat content, affecting the absorption of their carb), and when Iām low I donāt want to be futzing about with nutrition labels and scales. And anyway, cake doesnāt do that well in the bedside drawer. 
2 Likes
I have Swedish fish everywhere In my car, on my nightstand, in my sports jersey pockets etc. Each Swedish fish raises my blood sugar 10 mg/dl so I just eat however many I need to get my blood sugar back to where I want it. I have tried hard candy and other treats but most come with some form of inconvenience, like they melt in your pocket when you exercise and pack gets warm,
1 Like
I suspect weāre all different in how we absorb glucose. We know we are different in our insulin to carb ratios & correction boluses.
I prefer to use something that I know will work in a certain amount of time. My preferred treatment style is the same as mremmers and Terry4, fine-tuned. Itās all good if it works. 
Interesting that you complain about hard candies melting. Iāve been carrying Skittles for many years and that includes in high-temperature areas like Phoenix and other areas of the Southwest. I havenāt had them melt yet.
I always use gummi bears/swedish fish/etcā¦ They never go bad and they only melt into a bigger gummi
1 Like
I use mini box of raisins
I use part of all of restaurant sachet of sugar. Absolutely no risk of eating it when itās not required. Easy to carry. Readily available. I put it in a small ziplock bag along with my tester.
Mini juice boxes for me (15g) bc they work quickly & I can easily carry one in any bag I have. Plus smarties. One roll usually brings me up quickly too, so I always keep those in the car, pockets, bedside, etc. I also use them to stack on top of juice if Iām fighting a bad low.
I did buy some insta-glucose gel though for serious lows in case I have any. I read some reviews before purchasing that it can be used on someone who canāt treat themselves but Iām not sure about that. Anyone ever tried it before?
Sports energy gels, with or without caffeine. They contain more than 15g CHO, but Iāve always needed 20-25g at least.
Failing that, Mentos brand chewy lollies. A whole packet/tube.
At home I might use glucose powder (beer making supplies), or just eat whatever.
I hate juice, and am not so keen on glucose tabs or hard lollies either.
Good to see someone else uses Dextrose, Morrisminor72.
I first used Dextrose (Glucose momohydrate) Glucose +a water molecule, about 5 years ago when a stubborn low of 1.7 mmol/L (Performa) would not move after eating about 100g of Jellybeans. My son, who was into home brew, mixed 20 grams of dextrose in a cup of water. My first reaction was āDid you put enough in. It isnāt sweet enough.ā It did the trick.
Since then, it is all I use when working outside, when readings fall to 2.8 mmol/L. I now take it in the powdered from and may wash it down with water.
It comes as a fine white powder which stores well in a small Ovaltine container.
Dextrose is not an overly sweet sugar, about two thirds as sweet as Fructose, which is the sweetest of the natural sugars.
It stores better than past Hypo treatments that I have used and I am not tempted to finish off the opened packet of Glucojels.
It is also cheep about $3 to $4 a kg.
What is Elovate? I have never heard of that. Is it food, a pill, an injection? Do you need a prescription? Please educate me.
Do you know of a link to this product?
I also use marshmallows! The are lightweight, cheap, donāt spill, 6 g carb. each, & easy to carry.
In Australia, Brigalow Natural Products distribute the product but I suspect they import the raw product, Dextrose Monohydrate from USA and package it here in Queensland.
I know that many Gym enthusiasts use Dextrose for quick energy boosts and my son bought it on line from America. I canāt remember the company who supplied it but it is made from corn starch in USA.
Terry4, it should be available in stores that sell home brew supplies but donāt buy products that are not 100% Dextrose or Glucose Monohydrate. Many products contain Maltodextrin although having a reported GI of above 85, they still have a chain linkage of 3 to 20 Glucose molecules.
1 Like
I have a problem that Iām a stubborn b#%!h when Iām low and just donāt want to eat anything. Glucose products tend to trigger the puke reflex. Fruit snacks are the only thing I can stand to force down. 2 g each or 20 g per pack. Easy math. Theyāre probably a little slower than a pure dextrose product because of the protein, but minimally so. I went through a jelly belly phase, too. Now Iām curious if I could handle the Skittles.
1 Like