Glucose tabs

[BillE]

I had a nasty hypo last night around 8:00pm (50 - for me, very low). Luckily, I was at home and had my trusty Walgreens glucose tabs handy. I've never had to use them before - I used to use hard candy, but finally broke down and bought some tabs. The problem - how many glucose tabs to take? There were no dosage instructions. I ate 3, and everything was fine. Does this depend on your hypo number? Or is there a usual dosage? Or is it the typical YMMV?

[DCaplinger]

The rule of thumb for correction of hypoglycemia is to take 15 grams of carbs (that would be 4 tablets), wait 15 minutes, then test again. If still low after 15 minutes, take another 15 grams and wait 15 minutes. Once sugars are above 80... eat something solid.

Regards,

D

[jimhuck]

about glucose tabs is that they work very quickly and don't have an "after effect" like candy does. Candy, even hard candy, has slightly more complex sugars that can raise blood sugar over a period of time.

You don't really want that.

And be careful what "solid food" you eat after a hypo. You may feel really hungry and want to eat 4 hamburgers, 3 large fries, and a couple of milkshakes. Call me crazy, but I think that's a bad dietary choice for a diabetic.

[poodlebone]

As the others saud, 15g is the standard number. I dose depending on my reading, whether I've got insulin on board, upcoming activity etc. Glucose tabs can really shoot up my BG so it's rare that I need 4. 2 is my usual dose. When I was on injections using long acting insulin I would often need more carbs to treat a low.

Another alternative to glucose tablets is Sweet Tarts or Smarties. Those are basically just glucose (dextrose) with some flavoring. The mini rolls have about 6g each so I'll often have one of those if I don't think I need 2 glucose tabs and am too lazy to break one in half. Also much easier to chew than hard candy. You don't want to break a tooth while treating a hypo!

[DCaplinger]

I actually dose 2 at a time as well, unless I've gone below 60, then I dose 3 of them. Each tablet raises me about 10 points, so I have to be careful not to over do them. Now, if I'm in the middle of exertion (like mowing the lawn), I'll take 4 or 5 just to be on the safe side. I'd rather run a bit high while performing mild/moderate exercise than to go hypo.

Regards,

D

[BillE]

3 tablets took me to around 100, so I guess I got lucky. Mine are sour apple flavor and actually taste a lot like sweet tarts. Thanks for the info - never really thought about it until it was too late :)

[kgm0612]

I use Starburst candies rather than glucose tabs.
Each one contains 4g of carbs and will raise my BS 20 points. And.......they taste better! LOL

Karen

[poodlebone]

I used to use Starburst as well but when I had really bad lows I couldn't get the paper off! I can't tell you how many Starburst wrappers I must have eaten. They also don't work as quickly as glucose tablets but I was still avoiding the tablets then. The Starburst will also get hard after awhile even though they're individually wrapped. I pulled a filling out of a tooth one time and stopped using them.

[Constance1]

What I like about the glucose tablets is that they don't taste that great, so I'm not tempted to eat the whole jar.