I accidentally treated hypo with a sugar free drink...

bgst

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Hi! Quick share that I would love to get some feedback on...

I had a hypo this evening and accidentally took a sugar free drink to help raise my sugar levels. I would have expected this to result in disaster, however it appears as though something in the drink (caffeine?) was enough of a stimulant to allow sensible management of the hypo even though blood sugar levels were still very low.

Makes me wonder about my hypo management process - is management with sugar / nutritive food the right way to go or should we all be reaching for stimulants of some form as the first course?

Has anyone else had similar experiences?
 
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EllieM

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Well, I guess your liver will kick in and produce sugar, so if your hypo isn't too bad then you'll probably come out of it eventually anyway? Can't say I've ever deliberately not treated a hypo, though if I'm about to eat anyway I generally don't bother with the glucose unless it's really bad (ie less than 3.5).
The problem with not going for sugar straight away is if you're about to have a severe, pass out hypo. You don't want to risk falling unconscious, having a seizure etc etc....
Interesting, but not a trial I'm personally willing to take! Thanks for sharing, though.
 
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Juicyj

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Hi @bgst I wouldn't repeat this as an experiment, there could of been other factors at play which helped the rise, however hypos need glucose so it's best to reach for the sugar version next time this happens.
 

Lamont D

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Hi! Quick share that I would love to get some feedback on...

I had a hypo this evening and accidentally took a sugar free drink to help raise my sugar levels. I would have expected this to result in disaster, however it appears as though something in the drink (caffeine?) was enough of a stimulant to allow sensible management of the hypo even though blood sugar levels were still very low.

Makes me wonder about my hypo management process - is management with sugar / nutritive food the right way to go or should we all be reaching for stimulants of some form as the first course?

Has anyone else had similar experiences?

First of all, I'm not T1!
But I do have experience in treating hypos.
I have a condition where if I have any carbs, I go hyper, then after a couple of hours, I go hypo. It is to do with my pancreas. I have a triggered response to produce too much insulin.
One of the first things I learned about treating my hypos was to avoid the rebound effect. This was because I would continue to go hyper then hypo again and so on if I had too much to try and treat the hypo.
During an eOGTT, I was given lucozade and other carbs because I was going going very low. I spent the next five hours in the hospital, because I lowered my treatment to a couple of plain biscuits, enough to just nudge me gently back into normal levels. Avoiding the rebound effect.
I do understand that being T1, you need to have above normal levels, so my treatment would not be advisable, but in my experience, you only need enough to get you back where you feel comfortable. And not over treat the hypo.
Hope this helps.