i recently started buying Dex glucose tablets to keep in my bag rather than sugar packets(that i seem to forget about or rip by mistake).
they only have 4g of sugar though...which seems useless. i was at a movie and went low, couldn't test so i started popping them til i felt better...7 of the 10 tablets in the package later..i felt better and when i tested after the movie, i was barely 6. the thing is..i didn't feel very low, so i was probably about 4-ish.
how many tablets does SHOULD it take to go back to normal??
when we were going through training when i was 6 and just dx'ed..we weren't told to have X amount of carbs to treat a low..we were told to have a glass or two of apple juice or coke, followed by a few crackers or two cookies, wait 15minutes and then repeat until i was above 6. considering a can of coke is 42g of carbs, 4g doesn't seem like close to a enough to treat a low...or even start.
I take 3 or 4 when I go low. Brings me back up to a normal range. If each has 4 g of carbs, 4 would equal 16 g carbs, which was what I was always told to take to first correct a low. Then wait 15 minutes and check again. Usually 4 tablets does the trick.
By the way, how many grams of sugar does a sugar packet have?
So I guess that means it's the same as one glucosee tablet. Though I agree, it's easier (and tastier) to pour a sugar packet into your mouth than to be crunching on a sugar tablet (or four!)
My diabetes educator told me that I should eat four sugar tabs which is close to about 15 grams of carbs. Then wait 10 minutes or so and check. She also told me that a pack of smarties does the same thing in case you hate sugar tabs like I do! They actually have smarties the size of sugar tabs, so I usually eat four of those!! Much better tasting!
I couldn't stand orange.....grape and fruit punch are ok.....yeah, you can buy the big smarties at Wal Mart, at least you can at the one in Hanover, PA!
I try to take 3-4 when im around 60-70 low, if I'm lower than 60, I'll take a few more. I try to hold myself back from eating more than I need, but for who knows what reason, I have fallen in love with the taste and texture of glucose tabs over the years. I won't even buy the raspberry ones (my favorite) because I know I WILL overeat them lol.
Oh, and if you're on a pump do a temp basal at 0% for a half hour with the glucose tabs if you feel really low (you could also suspend it for the same amount of time, but if you're like me you'll forget to unsuspend it and go high)
Next time you're low record your blood sugar, eat x amount of glucose tabs, wait 15min and test again and see how your body reacted to them. That should give you an idea of how many you will need in general.
I try to take 3-4 when im around 60-70 low, if I'm lower than 60, I'll take a few more. I try to hold myself back from eating more than I need, but for who knows what reason, I have fallen in love with the taste and texture of glucose tabs over the years. I won't even buy the raspberry ones (my favorite) because I know I WILL overeat them lol.
Oh, and if you're on a pump do a temp basal at 0% for a half hour with the glucose tabs if you feel really low (you could also suspend it for the same amount of time, but if you're like me you'll forget to unsuspend it and go high)
Next time you're low record your blood sugar, eat x amount of glucose tabs, wait 15min and test again and see how your body reacted to them. That should give you an idea of how many you will need in general.
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I think that's my problem..unless with most of the ways I treat, I start to feel the sugar sooner than with the tablets..so I eat more of them thinking I'm not rising enough.
If I hadn't been in a movie theatre, I could've tested..but I couldn't even determine what my actual level was(I was in Iron Man 2..couldn't leave! haha)
I carry and use them, but they don't seem to work well for me. i usually need more like 20-30 g of carb to get better, so I would rather have the small bottle or can of sprite or coke they are a lot cheaper than the tablets. I can test at say 60, take the recommended 15g and 15 min later be lower, another 15g and then I start going higher. Everyone is a little different.
I have trouble with eating way more of those than I need. I think my BG is probably back in a safe range, but the rest of me doesn't keep up and I still "feel" really low, so I eat more, which usually makes me go higher than I actually wanted. I carry the tabs in my bag and only use them when there is no other food available. If I could do a blood test every 15 minutes or so, I probably wouldn't have this trouble, but of course I only need them when I am in a situation where sitting down and doing a blood test is not really an option. Sometimes I think I should eat a couple and then chew some gum or something, fake my brain into thinking it is still eating so I don't eat five times what I really need.
You probably weren't told a specific number to take because everybody responds a little differently. Plus what you are doing at the time is also important. Sitting down vs. walking around, that sort of thing.
3-4 seems to be the "recommended" amount but it definitely varies person to person how many carbs are needed. I don't like glucose tabs very much because they taste bad (except the BD ones that are very expensive) and I don't think they raise my blood sugar as fast as straight sugar or a sugary drink.
Do you usually retest 15 minutes after you treat your low? I don't, but I'm curious to see if other people do.