Hypos. how do you treat them?

[-sammy-]

i've just had a hypo, my reading was 3.3
and so i had 5 tea spoons of sugar and a rich tea biccie.

i was just wondering how you guys treat your low blood sugar when your having a hypo or are to low.

:)

[Lizzie G]

Hi Sammy

For me it depends on the circumstances and the actual reading...for example, if my reading is 3.8 and im sitting around on the sofa and i have eaten a meal thats low GI or quite fatty and I know the food will catch up with the insulin soon, I wont treat at all but will test again in a half hour just to make sure.

If my BG is below 3.5 I would tend to treat regardless of circumstances as I would probably feel rubbish. These days the main thing I avoid is overtreating; if my reading was 3.3 i would initially probably take 3 4g glucotabs (ie 12g fast acting carbs 45 calories) which would bring me up to around 4.5 to 5.0 within 10 minutes. once id taken them and the edge had gone off my hypo id then thinking about why i was low, whether i still had active novorapid going on and needed to eat a slice of toast or something, or whether id be ok. mostly with a mild low i find that several glucotabs does the trick and i dont need to stuff my face with loads of food. id always test another half an hour later especially if i was going to drive or do anything active.

i would say make sure you treat your hypos with something horrible like glucotabs/dextrose sweets, this way a)you will know how many grams of fast acting carb you need and are taking and b)you wont get caught up in the delightful taste of lovely sweets and biscuits and spend the rest of the day going round in circles. also this is probably the lowest calorie option; indulging your hypos can make you fat!

[-sammy-]

when im out and about i have dextrose sweets. but when im in the house i only have sugar from the sugar pot lol.

sometimes i gat scared of having hypos and i have gone mad before when ive had a hypo and ate too much because it makes me hungry aswell, but i try my best not to overeat or anything like that.

but im guessing my hypo i had was down to the fact i gave myself 10 units novorapid to bring down my sugars because they were 21.6. so i wanted to bring it down, so i had some novorapid and waited. maybe i gave myself too much, im guessing it was that anyway.

[notme]

Generally, I treat with four to six Starbursts. They are small individually wrapped candies that will bring my blood sugar back up without adding a lot of calories. If I am lower than 40, I will eat more substantially.

[Gary_W]

Hello Sammy,

Your teaspoon my vary from my teaspoon, but I just weighed a teaspoon of sugar on my digital scales and it's 9g of pure carbohydrates. 5 teaspoons of sugar will probably be around 45g of carbs, then you had a biscuit as well to take you up to 55g of carbs. This is not a good idea as you'll have a good chance of a rebound high.

The safe way to treat a hypo is with 15g of fast acting carbs, then test again after 15 mins. If you are still low at the 15 minute point, give another 15g and test again after 15 mins.

The carbs should be a quick as possible. Glucose tablets are typically 3g each, so 5 glucose tabs and wait a bit is the safe way. A MEASURED amount of sugar in tea is also fine, but go steady on it; 5 teaspoons will not be your friend :)

Gary

[-sammy-]

ooo ok thanks for telling me that.
my friend is type 1 and she has fruit pastilles for her low blood sugar.
i think i may start doing that because i might even save a little money as like starburst or fruit pastilles are 20p or more cheaper then buying dextrose tablets.

but thanks i will do that next time. i just get anxious sometimes and eating a bit more sugar then im actually supposed to and then yeh ending up with high sugars. pooooo lol

[Lizzie G]

when im out and about i have dextrose sweets. but when im in the house i only have sugar from the sugar pot lol.

sometimes i gat scared of having hypos and i have gone mad before when ive had a hypo and ate too much because it makes me hungry aswell, but i try my best not to overeat or anything like that.

but im guessing my hypo i had was down to the fact i gave myself 10 units novorapid to bring down my sugars because they were 21.6. so i wanted to bring it down, so i had some novorapid and waited. maybe i gave myself too much, im guessing it was that anyway.

yep things get a bit tricky when you get high and dont know how much you need to correct and it varies a lot person to person and even within the same person depending on time of day etc. i find that 1 unit of novorapid would bring me down between 2 to 3 mmol. when you are that high it can take more to bring you down, but always remember what insulin you last took before you correct anything, if you ate a very high GI meal and didnt pre-bolus you could spike very high (altho probably not THAT high!) and it could take the insulin already present a while to catch up, so be really careful when correcting, you may have lots of insulin still to work as even the 'rapid' ones take a good 3 or 4 hours. these things come with time and experience. even if i was as high as you were and knew i hadnt taken any novorapid in the last 3 hours i would still proceed with caution and personally would never take more than 4 units in one go, id wait and see how things went over the following 2 hours and take more if necessary. i dont know if im just weird on this but to come down really quickly from 20-something makes me quite anxious and unsettled and i prefer to bring myself back to normal gradually..and if you can avoid getting there in the first place better still!

[viranth]

Sometimes I drink some juice, and if we have chocolate (non sugared) I grab a little of that (bonus yay!).

Other times I might just grab an apple, and wait out the pain that comes with the hypo.

My lowest ever was 2.5 and that was after I'd eaten a slice of bread and two glasses of apple juice. It jumped back up to 10 after a while, but for a minute there I was scared of it going further down.

So... One glass of apple juice usually gets me up 2-3 points. (mmol). And maybe down again depending on how much novorapid is in my system.

[UpNorth]

Glucose tabs mostly if i'm out and about, and at home i can have juice or syrup :T Or a spoonful of Nutella :D

[Eddy]

For a 3.3, I use raisins or fruit juice. For raisins, I chew them well, swishing water around my mouth all the while.

Once I get below 3.0 or so, I prefer to stick with non-caffeinated soda. N.B.: I fought off my worst-ever -- a sub-1.1 that didn't want to quit -- with fruit juice, LifeSavers (!) candy, and table sugar. That was before I'd learned about the wonders of dissolved high-fructose corn syrup...

[blue eyes]

Jelly babies lately. Sometimes I have a glass of milk with milo or an akta-vite box drink (poor choice but I like it). I use glucose tabs when I'm not at home.

[pokie]

OOh! I like the Starburst idea, I can keep a pack of them in my glovebox fro when I am out and about (alternative to nasty glucose tabs...)

[cheryl]

Ok for those activity low's where i am getting low because I am active, peanut mm's LOL....and i don't rebound so I don't want to hear that chocolate rebounds for all, cause if your active it don't for me LOL.....When I have a low right after a bolus, I go for a 4 oz juicy juice box, if I am low before I eat, ummm well, more mm's....

I love peanutmm's.....and kitkats....but for severe low's i use juice.....and in the middle of the night, I use sweet tarts......five of them, even though low's feel awful in the middle of the night, technically they are the worst kind to overdo, so I have to literally condition myself to just eat 5 -7 sweettarts and go thru the shakes and lay there till I feel better.....if I even give in, I am gonna suffer, so amongst the survival mode one feels, I fight that off and try to think of what will the morning hold if I ransack the kitchen like a werewolf....

Cheryl

[Eddy]

Now that I'm done answering the question as intended...

How do I treat hypos? With respect! ;)

[RobiJo]

Juice or regular pop/soda.

I keep Capri Suns (20g) in my desk at school.
Usually 20-30g of OJ or apple juice at home.

I love juice, and because I try to drink my carbs at meals, I get my juice fill using it for lows.

[TenderVittleS]

Juice! 1 box raises mine by about 40 points. 2 boxes if I feel I took too much insulin and my activity level.

[Eddy]

Juice... yum.

TenderVittleS, I'm curious: What size of juice box? I observe a 40-point response from 125 mL Juicy Juice. The 200 mL boxes are a bit more than what I usually need. I also have 6 oz. cans of pineapple/pineapple-orange cans for when I want a 55-to-60 point hit... assuming that I don't need the speed of soda.

[TenderVittleS]

6.75 oz boxes. They work really fast for me. Sometimes they raise it a little too much, but I usually feel fine anywhere from 100-190 so it suits me well.

[BigcityRich]

When you're Hypo, you need treatment, not a treat.

I actually like the Walgreens grape Glucose tabs. 1 or 2 is all I need. 1/2 can real Coke works well also. I have small juice boxes in the fridge too.

[RobiJo]

[SIZE="5"]
I love juice, and because I try to drink my carbs at meals, I get my juice fill using it for lows.

Just realized I missed a word... I try NOT to drink my carbs at meals. Woops.

[Lizzie G]

its just occured to me i could make things way more fun for myself and use beer! for some reason beer sends me sky high, and much more fun than some of the other alternatives people are suggesting :D

[bella1974uk]

Hello everyone! This is my first post!

I usually treat any blood sugar lower than 4 as a hypo.
I eat 2-3 Jelly babies followed by either a cereal bar or a slice of bread. It seems to work quite well- I hardly ever rebound.:)

[Wild Hawg]

Hi folks,

I'm new to the board but not to treating hypos. I usually have some chewable, simple sugar candy around like those little valentine hearts with messages printed on them. That kind of candy works just as well as glucose tablets for me and is much cheaper. I always buy marked down candy after the major holidays when stores carry lots of candy. I get enough to last until the next holiday sale.

[MarieD]

A mini can of cola or other full sugar soft drink is the ideal 1 and a half quick acting needed to bring me back up and then I'll generally have a few jelly babbies or a biscuit to sustain.

[ant hill]

Ok for those activity low's where i am getting low because I am active, peanut mm's LOL....and i don't rebound so I don't want to hear that chocolate rebounds for all, cause if your active it don't for me LOL.....When I have a low right after a bolus, I go for a 4 oz juicy juice box, if I am low before I eat, ummm well, more mm's....

LOL Cheryl, I also love M&M's too as that's my wepon for lows, But for severe low's is Orange Juce with a leathal dose of sugar!!! :eek: :eek: :T

[stlduckhunter]

RobiJo, I am with you. Capri Suns really straighten me out and I keep them everywhere----desk, car, hunting bag, and at home.

[Real4]

a rich tea biccie.

What is this? - being on the west side of the pond, I've never heard of a "biccie".

[Lizzie G]

What is this? - being on the west side of the pond, I've never heard of a "biccie".

in the UK a biccie is a biscuit; but a biscuit here is not what you would call a biscuit there, its a cookie! (my partner is canadian, im english, so translation is a hobby of mine ;) ) dont get me started on pants and fannies though, it all gets really inappropriate! LOL

[-sammy-]

yeh biccie is just another word for biscuit lol :D
lizzie G you make me laugh lol :D

[Tattoo azz]

2-3 glucotabs are what i use to treat bg's below 3.5 ish, or a glass of oj, then i retest after 10-15mins, because glucotabs and oj will come out of my system quickly i also have a couple of digestives too or a slice of toast just to have something that will last a bit longer and is slow releasing.

[Eddy]

in the UK a biccie is a biscuit; but a biscuit here is not what you would call a biscuit there, its a cookie! (my partner is canadian, im english, so translation is a hobby of mine ;) ) dont get me started on pants and fannies though, it all gets really inappropriate! LOL


(At the risk of dragging things OT... I know biccie/biscuit and fanny... but what means "pants" in British?)

[Tattoo azz]

ok in Brit "pants" are underpants. What you call pants we call trousers.

[Eddy]

in Brit "pants" are underpants. What you call pants we call trousers.


Ah, thanks. I knew about "trousers", but didn't know about "pants".

IOW: A hole in one's pants that exposes one's fanny... big difference, depending which side of the Atlantic. (But perhaps not as big of a difference as someone "borrowing a rubber" from a co-worker before stepping outside to "suck a fag"! :eek:)

BTW: We have a brand of tissues called "Puffs". :D

[Eddy]

Nancy, how long does it take you to escape the sub-40s using Starburst? I found them too chewy for such drastic corrections... but now wonder if my limited samples were non-representative.

Of course, they also have those pesky dyes. :mad:

[Jules49]

I always have the small boxes of Juicy Juice handy. Might have a couple or crackers with it also. I tend to have lows in my endo's office. I am talking in my 30's. When I stay home don't have that many lows. Know what I am eating. My doctors are all about 100 miles away so have to eat out.

[Eddy]

chocolate (non sugared)


Whiskey tango foxtrot, over!

I skip the chocolate and go for the sugar. :) Or did you mean that you eat the chocolate for fun, not for treating the hypo, and I just misread? :confused:


My lowest ever was 2.5 and that was after I'd eaten a slice of bread and two glasses of apple juice. It jumped back up to 10 after a while, but for a minute there I was scared of it going further down.


Setting hypo records always stinks.

You get used to them, though. I don't want to come across as more cavalier than I am, but:

Yesterday, I was using a shop-vac to suction up water. I dumped a few tubs worth, then began feeling funny... 2.3, and it had sneaked up in a hurry. I had a 355 mL can of soda -- 5.3 points worth -- and wound up at 6.1. Conclusion: Ignoring the effects that additional physical activity would have had, I was cruising for a sub-1.0 within fifteen minutes.

(And that, my friends, is why I partake of HFCS when treating hypos below a certain level. HFCS is evil, no doubt... but I'll take that over a nasty plunge into uh-oh territory!)

[Real4]

Sometimes I drink some juice, and if we have chocolate (non sugared) I grab a little of that (bonus yay!).
If you were low, why in the world would you want "non sugared" chocolate. It only has about 9 grams of carbs per ounce and it has a lot of fat to slow down the absorption of those few carbs.

Sweet chocolate works OK. I use Hersey Kisses myself.