I find candy, juice, or regular soda works the best for me. When I get below 60 it takes over 50g of carbs to bring me back to normal range. These are less expensive than the glucose tabs. The only advantage the tabs have is they are eligible for FSA spending.
I hate glucose tablets. I find their consistency to be difficult to choke down in the throes of a low sugar episode. So of course I was excited to find little tubes of glucose gel at CVS. I had the occasion to use one recently, and man, was that a mistake. The tube exploded with very minor pressure, leaving my car floor covered with goopy sugar mess. And here's the kicker: can they REALLY not make sugar GEL taste good? It was really seriously yucky. :)
Dude, juice boxes are where it's at. Not those Capri Sun ones -- maybe it's just me but sometimes when I'm low I cannot get those suckers open. But, you know, Hi-C. I try to buy organic juice boxes, but sometimes the quick trip down the road to Family Dollar and their super-cheap Hi-C is hard to resist. I really don't even quite "get" glucose tabs. When I'm low, I want to chug some sugar water and raise it up quick.
I like the idea of juice boxes, but the damned things always do the backward-siphon maneuver on me, and my shirt ends up getting more carbs than I actually do. :)
depending on how low i am i will use 1-4 tabs to start. then, i test 15 minutes later. the problem i always have with glucose tabs is that at 15 minutes my BG is great, and at 30 minutes i'm back to ground zero. I use them mostly to get me to the kitchen, where i can eat a real snack.
cvs watermelon tabs are delicious. i usually only use 2 tablets so that my bs gets up to about 140, but i'll admit that this doesn't always work as quickly as 3-4, so all that lag time where i have to sit around to feel better is a little annoying
New experiences with glucose tabs:
Low BG at dinner time, 63. Gave him 2 tabs. 15 minutes later, 93. Didn't eat anything. One hour later, 98. No rebound high later. Awesome.
Scary overnight low of 44. The tabs turned into a chalky, gooey substance in his mouth and he couldn't eat it. Lesson learned.
See?!! That's what I mean, exactly. To a T. Many people might think, oh, sweet tarts, perfect. For me, the chalky consistency actually makes me feel like I'm going to gag, and I often have started to choke on them during really bad lows. Maybe part of the physicality of going low includes some of the muscles in the throat or esophagus. It just seems to me that juice is safe since it's not going to get caught in your throat if you're having a hard time swallowing anyway.
That said, of course, juice isn't going to work miracles. Once I was in Times Square in NYC and I went into the weeds BIG time, and the ambulance that was summoned got there just in time to witness a bad car crash on another corner there at Times Square. Because that situation seemed more emergent than mine, they went to deal with the car crash. By the time they got to me, I had a very light pulse and they tested my sugar at 17. Most of the orange juice the nice folks tried pouring down my throat ended up on my new brown suede jacket which ended up having to be cut off me for some reason I'll never quite understand.
So I guess really prevention of the lows is the best treatment, followed by whatever can get down the easiest and fastest. But at the end of the day, 17 is 17, and juice may not be of use. Of course, neither will glucose tablets! ;)
[quote user="Jacquie CDV"]
See?!! That's what I mean, exactly. To a T. Many people might think, oh, sweet tarts, perfect. For me, the chalky consistency actually makes me feel like I'm going to gag, and I often have started to choke on them during really bad lows. Maybe part of the physicality of going low includes some of the muscles in the throat or esophagus. It just seems to me that juice is safe since it's not going to get caught in your throat if you're having a hard time swallowing anyway.
[/quote]You did try to warn me. I can't get him to drink juice for a low. I still offer it once in a while, but he refuses. I gave him cake icing when he was a baby, but once he started eating the gummies we stuck with that.
It must be very scary having a baby with T1. I was 12 when I was diagnosed; I could at least communicate when I didn't feel well. I guess you kind of just have to roll with whatever works and adjust when and if necessary. That's got to be challenging. .
I keep a roll of tabs in my purse for Cassidy in cause we are out and use up her juice and what not that we have in her kit. I also keep a juice box in my purse just in case ;) After looking at the different stores and the brands of tabs out there I have come to find that they are all made by the same company, Can Am care. They make the Dex 4 and the walmart brand relion ones. We just got a sample of the orange ones sent to us from them and inside they had a flier showing the different brands that are made by them.
When I read your post these song lyrics popped in my head: "All I can do is all I can do and I'll keep on trying." A male country artist sings it, but I can't remember who. Maybe Trace Adkins(?)
Oops. This quote was supposed to go up there^
[quote user="Jacquie CDV"]
It must be very scary having a baby with T1. I was 12 when I was diagnosed; I could at least communicate when I didn't feel well. I guess you kind of just have to roll with whatever works and adjust when and if necessary. That's got to be challenging. .
[/quote]Now the song lyrics make since, right? ;)I knew what you meant! ;)