Type 1 hypo treatment

[Ghuzala1988]

Hi there my son is 12 years diagnosis was at 4 . We have always been told to use lucazade as a fast treatment for lows and being liquid it’s a lot fast acting and easier to consume when low especially at night. I’m so worried what impact lucazade is having on his heart body brain and teeth , he can go through so many bottles I have asked the dietitian for alternatives but they are not so helpful they just say glucotabs or glucojuice but that is so expensive and such a tiny amount. I have heard energy drinks can cause heart attacks and more and I honestly am not sleeping anymore thinking of this he’s been using it for 8 years as his main hypo treatment, I need to find something else as effective but not damaging quickly I just hope it hasn’t already done any damage. I want to ask what you guys use what are alternatives what do your type one children use? Any advice suggestions welcome

 

[Zhnyaka]

sugar. Just sugar You buy sugar sticks (which are used in coffee shops) and drinking water.

With hypoglycemia, you pour a bag of sugar under your tongue and wash it down with water. It tastes disgusting, so the child will not want to do it unnecessarily, it removes hypo very quickly and it is very cheap (you can buy a supply of sugar for several months at the price of a couple of bottles of cola)

 

[Ghuzala1988]

Thank you

 

[In Response]

Have you thought about using Jelly Babies or similar sweets?

 

[Ghuzala1988]

I have no idea which ones would work for him how much carbs and sugar needed I don’t want something not to work or him to go high later

 

[Rokaab]

I find Jelly Babies useful for myself and know that the ones I get are 5 carbs each (obviously this may depend on brand/variety) - so its easy to work out how many carbs I've had with them (they are also pretty indestructible in my pocket and dont mind the warmth, the cold or being speared by my keys or whatever else gets thrown in there).

Sometimes you may overdo the hypo treatment, that's ok, it does just sometimes happen, you can correct that later, the important bit is getting out of the hypo - even after a lot of years I can still easily overdo it.

Noting that any hypo treatment would probably be considered bad for your teeth as it has to be heavy on sugar/glucose

 

[EllieM]

Noting that any hypo treatment would probably be considered bad for your teeth as it has to be heavy on sugar/glucose

My dentist reckoned that fizzy drinks were worse than still ones as regards tooth decay and suggested hopefully that I try rinsing my mouth with water after a night time hypo treatment...

But my understanding is that lucozade reduced their sugar content significantly a few years back so you need to buy the "original" version for max hypo reversal.

I guess if you want the simplest hypo treatment then sugar in water isn't bad (table sugar is 50% glucose and 50% fructose) but it looks like you can also buy powdered glucose fairly cheaply, so you could make up your own glucose drink.

@Ghuzala1988 how often is your son having these hypos?

 

[Ghuzala1988]

Thank you for that info I will get him to try these for him and see how well they work for him I’m not too worried about his teeth it’s the caffeine intake and the colouring in lucazade that’s stressful but I will definitely have a look at jelly babies

 

[Ghuzala1988]

He usually has them on his way back from school or around 10,11pm ish at night so if I used sugar in the water would I need to put anything else or would the sugar be sufficient

 

[In Response]

If he is regularly having hyupos at the same time of the day, I would look at his insulin dose.
If he has a pump, it would suggest his basal is too high at those times.
If he is on MDI, maybe he needs a little snack on his way home from schools (especially on days where he does sport) and maybe his target level should be higher when he goes to bed.

I suggest talking to his dsn about the number and timing of his hypos. The focus should be on reducing them so he doesn't need as much hypo treatment.

 

[EllieM]

He usually has them on his way back from school or around 10,11pm ish at night so if I used sugar in the water would I need to put anything else or would the sugar be sufficient

Sugar should be sufficient but I have to say it tastes disgusting so you may find your son unwilling to drink it... You just need some sort of fast acting carbs. What I admit I'm not clear about is how much difference it makes whether the sugar is pure dextrose/glucose or whether it also contains fructose (table sugar is 50% fructose)). For a normal mild hypo I personally wouldn't care, but if I was having an extreme low it's probably faster to take pure glucose?

 

[Rokaab]

Sugar should be sufficient but I have to say it tastes disgusting so you may find your son unwilling to drink it...

Yeah, that's what my parents used when I was young and I hated it, they had to force me to drink it cos I didn't like it at all and would refuse to drink it

 

[Jackson91]

Yeah this sounds like a insulin control issue be it deliberate so he can have the lucozade that he loves or accidentally due to insulin doses needing adjustment. Keeping in mind that on days in which his activity levels are increased so will his insulin sensitivity meaning on days were he has p.e or sports at school he is likely to need less insulin. But in any case sugar and water is plenty capable of treating a hypo, you want to discourage hypos not encourage them with tasty treats just incase he is overdosing so he can drink what he likes.