BG going down - what do you eat?

[jane1754]

Any helpful ideas as to what you can eat/drink when your BG is between 3.9 and 4.5 and sinking and you don't want to end up with a hypo, but neither do you want to eat and find your BGs riding up too fast? Do you take any insulin if you eat when your BGs are going down, and if so, how much? Or is it all a matter of trial and error because we are all different?

 

[Knikki]

Well in order of preferences for me is,

Gluco tabs, berry flavour
Jelly Babies
Jaffa Cakes

Contents of the fridge.

Well actually not the whole fridge. The first ones the Jelly Babies and Gluco Tabs are about 5grams carbs each, the Jaffa Cakes about 9 grams, but will be slower to absorb.

Do I inject for the above? No as the insulin would counter the carbs..

Thats what I use and works for me, and yes it is a bit of trial and error.

 

[Antje77]

What @Knikki says sounds more like what I would do for a full blown hypo, not for slowly heading towards hypo territory. In the latter case I may have half an apple, a cracker with cheese (5 gr carbs or so), some coated nuts, a couple of squares of chocolate or a handful of dorito's (yes, I freeze them in very small portions to prevent myself from eating the wholw bag). Mind, I choose one of those, not eat all of it!
When I'm very lucky I'm somewhere where I can lay my hands on a small piece of a fresh roll, soft on the inside, chewy on the outside with butter and cheese, or even a third of a fresh, still warm croissant. That only works when I'm with someone else, though, because someone has to eat the rest of the fresh roll/croissant before I eat the whole thing...
And should I eat too much of it, I inject for it after eating and a little less than I would normally have, to allow for my bg to go up a little.

Mind, when I'm dropping faster I definitely use faster acting stuff, the above is only for special cases!

 

[jane1754]

What @Knikki says sounds more like what I would do for a full blown hypo, not for slowly heading towards hypo territory. In the latter case I may have half an apple, a cracker with cheese (5 gr carbs or so), some coated nuts, a couple of squares of chocolate or a handful of dorito's (yes, I freeze them in very small portions to prevent myself from eating the wholw bag). Mind, I choose one of those, not eat all of it!
When I'm very lucky I'm somewhere where I can lay my hands on a small piece of a fresh roll, soft on the inside, chewy on the outside with butter and cheese, or even a third of a fresh, still warm croissant. That only works when I'm with someone else, though, because someone has to eat the rest of the fresh roll/croissant before I eat the whole thing...
And should I eat too much of it, I inject for it after eating and a little less than I would normally have, to allow for my bg to go up a little.

Mind, when I'm dropping faster I definitely use faster acting stuff, the above is only for special cases!

Thanks, that's helpful. I do sometimes have a cracker with cheese. Also tried half a n apple but seems to be overkill so I'll need a bit of insulin as well. I keep being told I'm "very sensitive to insulin" but not how to respond to that information! Definitely a tight-rope walk which is why I posted a cry for help.

 

[Antje77]

Also tried half a n apple but seems to be overkill so I'll need a bit of insulin as well.

I happen to have 13 guinea pigs, so no problem eating just a couple of bites from my apple or pear. They love the leftovers
When half an apple is too much you could always go for a quarter apple and get yourself some guinea pigs or a goat as not to waste food !

 

[Chook]

Bit random this but I keep a bag of Sainsbury's frozen sweet cherries in the freezer - I eat them one at a time from frozen which makes then easy to not over eat.

 

[WuTwo]

One or two glucotabs depending how low I am. The tub says each one is 4g of carb. I have a tube of them in my bag which I refill from the tub. Cheaper to buy that way.

Test again in 10 minutes and if still headed south then I'll have a biscuit or two. If I'm really not hungry I have small boxes of OJ or small tins of full sugar coke. Each tiny tin has 20g carb.

If I'm in the 2's then I won't be capable of rational thought and like @Knikki I'll probably just devour everything in sight and sort out a compensation injection when I'm able to think again and I've stopped being weak and trembly.

 

[Tophat1900]

It all depends on how fast it is dropping.... I use brown sugar I keep in an empty test strip container... how much depends on how rapid the drop. If sugar stops it, but it drops again, say 10 mins later then I will use more sugar and some low carb bread. It just depends on the circumstances, people use differing methods and you kinda get good at guessing how much of what you use as a counter.

 

[KK123]

Good question and of course we have to be careful in answering because only WE know our own bodies. If I drop to between around 3.5 and 4, I have a cup of coffee with milk which I know always raises me to above 4. If I am due a meal and my levels are in the mid to high 3s, I have my coffee, then I wait until it has risen slightly then I take my insulin for the meal I am about to have. Sometimes I might have a unit less of insulin to counterbalance the aforementioned low but that depends also on what I have been doing that morning and what I am about to do...and on and on and on. I know that the advice if you drop below 4 is to treat it as a serious hypo and to take fast acting remedies followed by carbs and I see the sense in that. If I am below 3 (occasionally), I always follow that advice to the letter. It's just that borderline reading between 3.5 and 4 that is tricky. We most definitely are all different, I know that my insulin starts to work very quickly.

 

[jane1754]

Bit random this but I keep a bag of Sainsbury's frozen sweet cherries in the freezer - I eat them one at a time from frozen which makes then easy to not over eat.

I like that idea. I'll look out for the cherries next time I'm in Sainsbury's. Thanks.

 

[jane1754]

Good question and of course we have to be careful in answering because only WE know our own bodies. If I drop to between around 3.5 and 4, I have a cup of coffee with milk which I know always raises me to above 4. If I am due a meal and my levels are in the mid to high 3s, I have my coffee, then I wait until it has risen slightly then I take my insulin for the meal I am about to have. Sometimes I might have a unit less of insulin to counterbalance the aforementioned low but that depends also on what I have been doing that morning and what I am about to do...and on and on and on. I know that the advice if you drop below 4 is to treat it as a serious hypo and to take fast acting remedies followed by carbs and I see the sense in that. If I am below 3 (occasionally), I always follow that advice to the letter. It's just that borderline reading between 3.5 and 4 that is tricky. We most definitely are all different, I know that my insulin starts to work very quickly.

Yes, you sound a bit like me. If I'm below 4 and have a glucose tablet or a fruit pastille, I'll shoot up to 6. So I've learned not to do that unless I am down to 3-ish. I have to figure out something which will take me up just enough. And then it depends when the next meal is. Thanks for your comment - it helps knowing I'm not the only one facing this challenge.

 

[jane1754]

One or two glucotabs depending how low I am. The tub says each one is 4g of carb. I have a tube of them in my bag which I refill from the tub. Cheaper to buy that way.

Test again in 10 minutes and if still headed south then I'll have a biscuit or two. If I'm really not hungry I have small boxes of OJ or small tins of full sugar coke. Each tiny tin has 20g carb.

If I'm in the 2's then I won't be capable of rational thought and like @Knikki I'll probably just devour everything in sight and sort out a compensation injection when I'm able to think again and I've stopped being weak and trembly.

Thanks, but I think this would be overkill for me. It seems I only need very small amounts of something to take me back up. How different we all are.

 

[Traceymac23]

Got to be ice cream

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

Large gulp of lucozade will normally do me. I find bananas work well also. The little tiny but sweet ones..

 

[LooperCat]

One 3g dextro orange tablet raises me by 0.6mmol, so if im below 4.2 and dropping, I'll take two and switch my pump off for half an hour.

 

[jane1754]

I happen to have 13 guinea pigs, so no problem eating just a couple of bites from my apple or pear. They love the leftovers
When half an apple is too much you could always go for a quarter apple and get yourself some guinea pigs or a goat as not to waste food !

Can guinea pigs become diabetic? I used to have lots of guinea pigs and rabbits and white mice, but those days are long gone. Never mind, the compost heap can benefit, or the blackbirds - they love apples.

 

[Antje77]

Can guinea pigs become diabetic?

I'm not sure but I suspect I had a guinea pig dying from diabetes shortly before my own diagnosis. It got very skinny like guinea pigs are prone to do in old age before dying. It lost all its hair as well, but not sure how that was related. But unlike other old guinea pigs it died at least 4 months later than I expected from its skinny looks, it has surprised me every morning by still being alive. Very hungry too.
Only after it died I noticed it took the remaining guinea pigs twice as long to empty their water, so in hindsight that one skinny piggy must have drunk as much as the other 12 or so guinea pigs together. Looks like diabetes to me although it's not proof.
I only recognised the symptoms after my own diagnosis some time later. Should it ever happen again I'll try testing its bg!