Hypo treatment

[Richard F]

Good morning,

Just wondering what you use?
If I'm at home I use orange juice, out and about I use Glucogel which seems to work well. I know some people use Dextrose tablets but for a 10g hit of carbs I would need to eat 2 whole packets (0.3g per tablet 14 tablets in a pack)
I've seen glucotabs but not tried them, and not much info on the internet; 4g of carbs per tablet. Have you tried them? are they easy to chew/swallow? and how quickly do they bring your blood sugar up compared to glucogel?

ETA. I've just rechecked the dextro energy website and they quote in units of carbs per tablet (whatever a unit is supposed to be?) not grams, very confusing.
Boots website would indicate 3.6g per tablet.

 

[CarbsRok]

Gluco tabs are 4 carbs each and dextrose 3. something each Gluco tabs you can buy in packs of 50 or tubes of 10. The refill tube is very handy. They taste ok as well. Personal choice is raspberry flavour

 

[Richard F]

Great, how quickly do they work? I used Dextrose yrs ago but didn't seem to get into my system very fast.

 

[noblehead]

You can also use Jelly Babies, they are my preference for treating a hypo, for a severe hypo your better using liquid glucose like full sugar Coke, Lucozade or Glucojuice.

 

[jackois]

My vote is for Jelly Babies, Wine gums, or fruit pastilles...

I used to use glucotabs, but compared with Jelly Babies and so on, have the same speed to get into your blood at a huge price mark up. I also keep some 150 ml cans of coke strategically placed at home, in the car glove box & in the bottom of my golf bag... in case of emergency.

 

[Natalie1974]

My vote is most definitely for Jelly Babies too...so much more enjoyable than glucotabs.

Actually I have a funny story to relate whilst on the subject. I was hypo last week whilst with a friend of mine who'd not seen me hypo before and was amazed at the effect a few jelly babies could have. He coined a new phrase...three jelly babies short of a picnic...it did make me chuckle. Does anyone else have other terms they use for hypo?

 

[noblehead]

Does anyone else have other terms they use for hypo?

I do but its unprintable

JB's are great, they work out much cheaper than Glucotabs, especially if you purchase them in some of the bargain stores, I use an old Glucotab tube to carry my JB's around when out and about, that way they don't get squashed.

 

[LucySW]

Richard, Dextrosols are 3g carb each, period. Not 0.3. Two or three will deal with a little hypo.

I bet jelly babies are nicer though.

I carry a Kitkat round with me, because one finger is 7g carb.

 

[iHs]

@noblehead
I was in Wilkinsons the other day with OH who wanted some bicycle puncture repair patches and he picked up some in a plastic hinge lid container. When we got home, I looked at the plastic container and thought I wonder if JBs would fit in it and yes they do. I get my JBs in Aldi but I think Wilkinsons pick n mix might be the same shape

These plastic containers are very lightweight so are handy

 

[Richard F]

How many grams of carbs per jelly baby? JBs seem to be recurring them which brand is favoured? and how long do they take to get you're sugars up?

 

[iHs]

Depending on the size of the JB...they are about 4g carb each baby. They work just as quick as glucose tabs and are easy to eat. Depending on how low my bg has gone, I use 2 JBs if bg on 3.6mmol and 3 JBs if below 3mmol. I use a pump though so if using MDI or twice daily insulin, it would take about 1 JB followed by a 10g carb snack to take up the remaining action of the insulin. JBs and glucose tabs only last for about 1.5hrs so thats why the carb snack is also needed.

 

[himtoo]

somebody else mentioned fruit pastilles earlier in this thread -- they are my glucose of choice.
the rowntree's are 2.5 carbs each -- never seems to be loads of green ones though ( my favourite )

 

[Nicola M]

I use 1/4 cup of Lucozade and then a biscuit that has 10g of carbs in it. Works like a charm for me and brings me out of a hypo pretty quickly.

 

[noblehead]

@noblehead
I was in Wilkinsons the other day with OH who wanted some bicycle puncture repair patches and he picked up some in a plastic hinge lid container. When we got home, I looked at the plastic container and thought I wonder if JBs would fit in it and yes they do. I get my JBs in Aldi but I think Wilkinsons pick n mix might be the same shape



View attachment 11544


These plastic containers are very lightweight so are handy

That's ideal, what a good find

 

[sunshine84]

I love jelly babies as a hypo treatment! My sister is a nurse and went on a course where a consultant recommended 3 and a head of jelly babies, as being a perfect amount. Which makes me laugh cos who has the will power to stop eating at the head of a jelly baby?! And what do you do with the rest of the body?!

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Charalloyd]

Jelly babies do the trick for me

 

[Heathenlass]

I love jelly babies as a hypo treatment! My sister is a nurse and went on a course where a consultant recommended 3 and a head of jelly babies, as being a perfect amount. Which makes me laugh cos who has the will power to stop eating at the head of a jelly baby?! And what do you do with the rest of the body?!

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

LOL ! Err, I do ! Through trial and error I discovered that the maximum amount of jelly babies needed for me is one and a half, and I'm not too fussy if it's the legs or the feet that make the half . I keep jelly babies in a small plastic container, so the half goes back in the box for another time, after I've ripped ' em apart . Sorry for sounding like a complete barbarian !

Signy

 

[misswhiplash]

I love jelly babies/fruit pastilles etc, but can't really make them work for me - they just don't act quickly enough. Ditto the glucose tablets.

I generally find those wee cartons of ribena are best - they're not very nice, but they are a v convenient size and they work almost instantly.
I like orange juice better, but find it a bit slower to act.

I've tried to compromise/indulge my love of jelly sweets by using them for "fine tuning" - ie popping a Percy Pig when my Libre arrow is pointing downwards in a scary way - they're great for that

 

[misswhiplash]

(Also - re jelly babies - I like to eat the feet first, so that they can see me doing it )

 

[dtennant9]

When first diagnosed I always used Fruit Pastiles but I quickly realised that they weren't working fast enough for me.

My treatment of choice now is the small tins of full fat coke.

I may try JB's though as never tried them for a hypo before.